FINDING INTERNET RADIO BROADCAST STREAMS

The most popular radio broadcast for MxO players has to be Radio Free Zion (RFZ). It's a 24/7 live stream with a variety of DJs, who quite often are actually jacked-in to MxO while they broadcast. This goes a long way towards promoting the community-driven aspect of The Matrix Online. While the majority of their air-time is dedicated to the music library of the current DJ, Radio Free Zion also breaks-in with "as-it-happens" news during official, and some player-run events. It's also not uncommon to find RFZ hosting raves at one of the numerous Megacity clubs. So as they say: "Jack In, Crank It Up!"

(Update Note (06/01/05): Radio Free Zion has transformed into <a href="http://www.awakenedradio.com/">Awakened Radio</a>. The old RFZ links are no longer valid.)

Of course, the Matrix is all about choice. So perhaps you'd like more options for your Internet radio selections. Even if you've found good broadcasts while web-surfing in the past, you may not be sure how to add those sites to your MxO Favorites List. This can be tricky at first and also depends on the streaming method of the broadcaster. The most successful method seems to be finding stations who broadcast in the Windows Media *.ASX format, then determining the proper ASX URL address to add to your list. For some broadcasters, obtaining the ASX URL address is obvious, but other times, it requires some investigation.

Here's one quick example:

Using Windows Media Player 10's own built-in Radio Tuner, I found an interesting Dance station called Music One:

With a few clicks, I was able to make my way to the broadcaster's website (and not just "through" the Media Player's browser; but in a separate Internet Explorer window):

I found their link for a Windows Media Player compatible broadcast and selected it. Then, by using Internet Explorer's History panel, I was able to discover the ASX URL for the stream:

Back in MxO, I tried the  /radio play  slash command followed by the newly discovered URL to see if it worked and was successful!

Of course, I can now also add that URL to my Favorites List.