MP3 Insider

Slacker Radio on the Motorola Droid.

(Credit: Slacker Radio)

It's been about a month since we got a peek at the first generation of the for the Android platform. We liked what we saw. On Thursday, other Android users can also cast their own vote about Slacker Radio 1.0 for Android by downloading it for free from the Market application on their Android smartphone.

Like Slacker Radio on other mobile platforms--and also similar to other streaming radio and music discovery apps like Pandora and Last.fm--the app lets you stream music from pre-programmed genres and stations, or from stations you set up yourself online. You'll be able to view album art and bios, block a song or vote it a favorite, and skip ahead--this is limited in the free version and limitless in the premium upgrade. Like what you hear? You can share a link to that station on SlackerRadio.com via e-mail, SMS, or MMS via .

Upgrading to the premium Radio Plus subscription service brings you song lyrics in addition to those unlimited skips and no ads.

While the upcoming version will more or less mirror this Android build, Slacker Radio on Android makes one feature unique--the Now Playing home screen widget that shows you what's playing now. The widget, which you install by giving the home screen a long press and selecting Slacker Radio from the Widgets list, is embedded with pause, skip, favorite, and blocking controls. However, it currently lacks the capability to change stations.

Motorola Droid owners can also grab Slacker Radio in the Verizon channel of the Android Market. Slacker Radio has optimized the Android app for the Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Eris, HTC G1, and HTC MyTouch.

Note: Last.fm and CNET share a parent company, CBS.

Correction: Updated 11/6 at 8:25 am. You can share a link to a station from Slacker Radio for Android, not a link to a particular song.

These days, there is a plethora of audio content available to stream over the Internet. Even traditional terrestrial radio often offers content streamed over the Web, diversifying the choices for how consumers can enjoy music and other audio. Although the legality is questionable, there are--and will always be--ways to record these streams. Streamed audio recordings for music are not going to offer the same sound quality as a ripped CD or even a purchased MP3, but it's a good option for talk programs and mixes that might not be available in other formats. This tutorial will show you how to record streamed audio as an MP3; just be sure to read the usage rules for any recording source before beginning.

Editors' note: This tutorial was completed using Windows XP.

Cost: Free

Time commitment: Varies

System Requirements: Windows

How to record streaming audio

I've had a lifelong love affair with radio. I was a huge Howard Stern fan, back when he was funny, and I'm into political talk, but music has always been the biggest draw. I find most of the new music I buy on the radio.

A great DJ can turn you onto great music. They work as filters, filtering out the crap, and playing stuff you might not hear anywhere else. That's what makes them great DJs.

Scelsa's on Sirius-XM's "The Loft" channel.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

I've been listening to Vin Scelsa since the early 1970s, starting with, I think, WABC-FM in New York City. His sets, now on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio can go on for 30 minutes or more, and the way he weaves together tunes from rock, jazz, classical, world, strange and wonderfully obscure music is unmatched. His deep knowledge and vast music library (he broadcasts out of his house) should be cited as some sort national treasure. There's something about the way Scelsa makes musical connections I never tire of.

FM to the Internet: I ain't dead yet. The average person listens to 17 hours of terrestrial radio every week, and that's according to a Pandora executive.

Sure, you've loaded a fabulous collection of digital audio tracks onto your MP3 player, but what do you do when your tunes begin to sound just a bit too familiar? That's where an FM tuner comes in. In many places, FM radio still offers plenty of worthwhile content for your listening pleasure, and it can provide a refreshing break from your regular rotation. Plus, it's a great extra to have at the gym, allowing you to tune into the TVs and take your mind off that vigorous workout.

So, if you're not among the uberdiligent who always remember to sync up their players for fresh content, be sure to pick one with an FM tuner onboard. Unfortunately, although many players come with this nifty feature, not all of them deliver quite as advertised. In fact, we've come across a few that cut in and out even with strong signals.

But don't fret. There are several players available with decent FM tuners; in fact, I easily found six with great-sounding radios. Not only that, but each of the players here offers an autoscan function and at least 10 preset slots, so you won't have to fumble around finding your favorite stations. Moreover, several of them, such as the iPod Nano and Zune HD, offer RDS and song tagging.

Check out the radio-worthy MP3 players.

Digital music site Last.fm is like Pandora on steroids. The site allows devoted music fans from around the world to compare tastes, stream music from their favorite artists, stay up to date on local shows, download free MP3s, and create their own custom radio stations.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Last.fm's open API has given rise to hundreds of user-created applications, plug-ins, web tools, mash-ups and widgets. No other music site offers more tools or more features to help users connect with each other and the music they love.

Unfortunately, the deep features that makes Last.fm so appealing to hardcore music nerds, can also make the site a little intimidating to first-timers and casual listeners. Like a freshman dance, folks will often just find one comfortable corner of Last.fm and lose sight of everything else going on around them.

If you're interested in breaking out of your Last.fm rut, I've put together a quick video guide and slideshow, illustrating some ways to take your experience further.

How to do more with Last.fm--screenshots

Disclosure: Last.fm is a property of CNET parent company CBS.

In mid-July, Verizon began automatically pushing Slacker Radio to BlackBerry Storm phones. Starting Tuesday, Verizon's partnership with Slacker Radio begins extending to BlackBerry Tour devices in its U.S. network as well.

As part of the agreement, Slacker Radio will hook into Verizon's V Cast store (which itself taps the Rhapsody catalog), giving BlackBerry Storm and Tour users the capability to purchase one of 4.5 million songs.

Slacker Radio's streaming music player competes heavily with similar Internet radio services, particularly Pandora.

(Credit: Slacker Radio)

Don't have a streaming radio application on your BlackBerry Storm yet? If you're a Verizon user, all you have to do to get one is wait.

On Thursday, Verizon started rolling out the Slacker Radio application to every BlackBerry Storm user in its U.S. network. The free version of Slacker Personal Radio App will appear as an icon on the Storm home screen. Those who would rather opt out can hide the button and ignore the service.

In addition to discovering and rating songs, Slacker's edge on BlackBerry is its ability to cache stations for offline listening. This is particularly useful when traveling through weak Wi-Fi areas or dead data zones that would make streaming music a challenge.

A hook into Verizon's V Cast service, which itself taps the Rhapsody catalog, gives BlackBerry Storm users an opportunity to buy one of the service's 4.5 million songs without interrupting the tune's playback.

Verizon will begin pushing the Verizon version of Slacker Radio app to BlackBerry Storm users over the air Thursday and will continue to do so in waves. Slacker Radio operates a two-tiered service. The free, basic streaming service pushed to the phones can be upgraded to a premium subscription, Slacker Radio Plus.

TuneWiki turns song lyrics into subtitles so you can read along while you listen.

Remember Lyrical, the free app that lets you look up lyrics for the currently playing song? TuneWiki does it one better, spooling out lyrics as the song plays. (All that's missing is the bouncing ball.)

If the name sounds familiar, it's because the TuneWiki social music site has been around for a while, and recently unveiled a TuneWiki plug-in for Windows Media Player.

With TuneWiki for iPhone (and iPod Touch), you choose a song from your library (using the TuneWiki interface, not the standard iPod menus), then watch the lyrics scroll past as it plays.

That's assuming, of course, the song has already been "time-synced" by another user. If not, you'll have the option of advancing the lyrics yourself so the app will know the sync points in the future.

TuneWiki also lets you stream music from countless Shoutcast radio stations, and works the same lyric-subtitling magic with most songs.

The app includes a YouTube video search option and supports both Twitter and Facebook: it can automatically update your status to show what song you're playing. It even emulates the TuneWiki site's mapping option to show you who's listening to what in various parts of the world--including yours.

In other words, it's a pretty cool app--or would be, if not for the generally atrocious interface. Browsing your song library is a slow, awkward process, in part because TuneWiki lacks the alphabet-shortcut menu on the right edge of the screen.

Meanwhile, menu options and icons aren't logically designed or organized. Most buttons don't look like buttons; it's too easy to get bounced out of the app by, say, the YouTube or download buttons because you didn't know their functions.

On the other hand, once you learn your way around, it's pretty cool--especially if you like to read lyrics while you're listening to music. The subtitling works pretty well, and it's hard to complain too much about an app that costs nothing to use.