Streaming Radio Stations in Windows Media Player
Learn how to play radio stations in Windows Media Player, add your radio station to the Radio Tuner, and create an Internet radio station.
Answers refer to Windows Media Player 10, unless otherwise noted.
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How do I access the Radio Tuner?
Windows Media Player 10 no longer has a Radio Tuner button on the Features taskbar. However, the Radio Tuner feature is still available so that you can access all of the radio stations provided by WindowsMedia.com.
To access the Radio Tuner in Windows Media Player 10
1. | Click the Guide button on the Features taskbar. This will display the WindowsMedia.com Media Guide Web page in the Player. |
2. | Click the Radio Tuner link in the Web page. |
The WindowsMedia.com Radio Tuner is the same page that is displayed if you click the Radio Tuner button on the Features taskbar in Windows Media Player 9 Series or earlier.
Note that a "Radio" button may be displayed in the Online Stores area of the Features taskbar, depending upon which online store you have chosen to be active in the Player. The radio stations provided by your online store may be different from the radio stations that WindowsMedia.com provides in the Guide feature of the Player. Not all online stores provide access to Internet radio stations.
How can I add radio stations to my library?
You can add a radio station to your My Stations list in the Radio Tuner in Windows Media Player 10. To maintain the radio station entries in your My Stations list, cookies must be enabled for your Web browser. If you don't want to enable cookies for privacy reasons, you can add a radio station to a playlist in the library instead.
To add a radio station to My Stations
1. | In the Radio Tuner, locate the radio station that you want to add. For more information about accessing the Radio Tuner, see the previous question. |
2. | Click the radio station name, and then click Add to My Stations. If the radio station is playing, click the Guide button to return to the radio station listing first. |
To add a radio station to a playlist
1. | Make sure that the radio station is playing in the Radio Tuner. |
2. | Click the Library button on the Features taskbar. |
3. | Click the Now Playing List button (above the List pane on the right side of the Player), and then click Save Playlist As on the drop-down list box. |
4. | In the Save As dialog box, type a name for your playlist (for example, the radio station call sign) in the File name box, and then click the Save button. |
The playlist for your radio station will be saved in the My Playlists folder in the Contents pane (on the left side of the Player). From now on, whenever you want to listen to that radio station, just play the playlist. You can add only one radio station to a playlist.
Why is the My Stations list in the Radio Tuner empty?
Either your Web browser settings are configured to block cookies or the cookie that stored your list of radio stations was deleted. To maintain the radio station entries in your My Stations list, cookies must be enabled for your Web browser. If you don't want to enable cookies for privacy reasons, consider adding a radio station to a playlist in the library instead. For more information on how to do this, see the previous question.
What can I do if I have trouble listening to a radio station?
| • | Make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements. If you are streaming a radio station from an online store, the online store provides information about system requirements for playing the radio stations it lists. If you are having trouble playing radio stations in the Radio Tuner, you can check the System Requirements for Windows Media Player 10. | ||||
| • | Many radio stations make their content available through an announcement file, which is a Windows Media metafile with an .asx file name extension that provides the Player with the information needed to connect to a Windows Media server to receive content. Make sure that ASX files are registered in Windows Media Player for radio to work. This is normally turned on by default, but installing other media players can interfere with this setting. To register ASX files
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| • | Windows Media Player will try to adjust to a lower bit rate if the available bandwidth suddenly drops. For example, on a cable modem or corporate network, you are sharing bandwidth with other users so it may fluctuate during the course of a song. Sometimes, these fluctuations in bandwidth can result in buffering and a song will pause or skip momentarily. This type of interference is usually temporary and will stop as soon as your connection speed is restored. However, if you continue to experience problems with the audio quality, you should contact Technical Support for your online store (if you are listening to a radio station through an online store). If you are having trouble playing radio stations in the Radio Tuner, you should contact Microsoft Help and Support. | ||||
| • | Windows Media Player may stop responding (or if Windows Media Player is embedded in an Internet Explorer Web page, the browser may stop responding) if the Internet connection is lost and the Player tries to reconnect. You may be able to fix this problem by installing a hotfix. For more information, in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, see Article 840648, "FIX: Windows Media Player 9 Series quits unexpectedly while you are playing online content." Note that this hotfix will also work for Windows Media Player 10. |
How do I record a radio station that I'm listening to in Windows Media Player?
Radio stations that you receive with the Player are streamed and can't be recorded or saved to a file.
How can I block the pop-up ads when I play a radio station in the Player?
Web browser pop-up windows (such as advertisements) might open if you use Windows Media Player to listen to certain radio stations. (The radio stations, not the Player, control whether any windows are opened and which Web pages those windows display.) To prevent pop-up windows from being displayed, adjust your Web browser settings. See your Web browser Help for more information about making these adjustments.
Note that if you use Internet Explorer to access the Internet, you can install Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), which contains a pop-up blocker for Internet Explorer. This pop-up blocker can also prevent pop-up windows from being displayed when you visit an online store in the Player. For more information, see Block Pop-up Windows with Internet Explorer.
What is a Net Only radio station?
A Net Only radio station is a radio station that is available only through the Internet; it doesn't broadcast a terrestrial radio signal (that is, you can't tune it in on your radio dial). In Windows Media Player, these radio stations are marked as having a Net Only location. You can play most Net Only radio stations in Windows Media Player; however, in some cases, you must visit the station's Web site in order to play radio station. If this occurs, a link to the Web site is provided in the Player.
How can I add our radio station to the list of radio stations in Windows Media Player?
To add your radio station to the list of stations in the Player (or to renew, modify, or delete your listing), send an e-mail message to tuner@microsoft.com. If you are requesting a new listing or renewing an expired listing, a customer service representative will ask you to fill out a form with details about your station. After all the paperwork is complete, your station will be displayed in the WindowsMedia.com Radio Tuner, which is available through the Windows Media Player Guide feature.
How can I create a Net Only radio station using Windows Media technologies?
Internet radio typically is audio played over the Internet that sounds like a terrestrial radio station, with various elements (music, commercials, and DJ segments) put together in a program. On the Internet, this sort of experience is usually created in two ways:
| • | Live stream. Like live radio, a DJ produces the program live, and then the audio signal is encoded into a live stream that is broadcast from a Windows Media server. End users connect to the server using Windows Media Player to play the stream. For more information about putting together an Internet radio station that uses live streaming, see the Creating an Internet Radio Station video. |
| • | Playlist. In this method, the radio experience is created much more economically by playing content in a playlist file (with no live audio). A producer creates individual audio files for each program element (announcer segments, music, commercials and so forth), builds them into a playlist, and then saves the playlist as a Windows Media metafile. Windows Media Player can then connect to the server, and play the content listed in the metafile. For more information about playlists that run on a server, see the Windows Media Services SDK Playlist Reference. For more information about playlists that run on the client computer, see Introduction to Windows Media Metafiles. |
If you don't find the answer to your question in this column, be sure to check the Archive. Media Advice is not an official Microsoft Support channel. If you need immediate help for an urgent problem, we recommend that you visit Microsoft Help and Support.