As a result, the radio stations that grew up were largely commercial enterprises that needed to recover the initial investment plus make a profit. There were several non-governmental organizations, universities and religious bodies that too set up radio stations. But these were largely focused on narrow listener bases.

Another disadvantage of the physical radio stations was the range. These radio stations could operate in a radius of 30 to 40 kilometers. This limitation is still there, because even today most transmitters can broadcast sound in a small radius only. After that the signal becomes too weak to be picked up a radio tuner.

In contrast, the advantages that free radio stations provide are immense. Today, a listener based in India can listen to the latest rock bands playing live in the US; a child in Africa can tune in to an educational broadcast emanating from Europe; a farmer in Brazil can hear to a British scientist talking about hybrid seeds. Most important, these programs can be heard live, or at a later hour.

The broadcast on Internet radios is not lost. A user can click on the hyperlink and hear the audio file again, not once but as many times as possible. These radio stations also provide interactivity through chat rooms and message boards. The listener does not have to hunt for program schedules but can click on hyperlinks to find out which programs are playing. The listener can also subscribe to playlists.

It is not a surprise to see the popularity of free radios stations growing. The segment where this can be felt most is music. More and more sound tracks are now being streamed on the net. A few can even be downloaded – free of cost.