14 DAY TRIAL // What is the one thing the Internet leans on? Users. If there weren't users and their networks there would be no Internet. We keep it alive and enrich it with content. So all Web users are connected with one another and can freely exchange information of all sorts, be it short messages, video files, software or music. In fact, when it comes to music lots of users have built up their own radio stations broadcasting their favorite music to the entire Internet world.
But the truth is that the vast majority of online radios webcast pure crap (at least I haven't found one that would broadcast music to my taste). True that I haven't been scouring the Internet for them but that's because I never liked to be compelled to listen to what others send.
Based on P2P technology Mercora IM Radio is a free, nifty looking application that allows you to search and listen to the music YOU like. It already reached its 5th and a half version (5.5.0.192 to be exact) and has gathered quite a community of users. Now when all these users are online you practically have unlimited access to music files.
Mercora is a new breed between an audio player and music webcasting. The principle is simple. Let's say you create a playlist with all your favorite songs and load it into Merora for listening. Each song in your playlist is broadcast to whoever wants to listen to the file. No downloading, just listening.
The great thing about the application is that you don't have to create yet another account in order to access the community. Your GMail account will do the trick just fine. Type in your Google username and password and you're in. And next time you open Mercora all the information is automatically submitted and logging in is done in an instant.
The interface is quite spartan in options and features, but has incredible looks. In the left hand side there is your music station complete with search function all over Mercora community, personal Library, Playlists and Friends.
As soon as you access search function a panel loaded with artists will appear before you. Clicking on any artist's picture will take you to its page and display all the available songs. Right in the middle there is the search bar allowing you to find your favorite artist or a Mercora DJ. Yes, there are DJs on Mercora providing you with quality music, personal charts and comments (you can leave one yourself) and there is even a Top 100 Mercora Djs.
When the list of results is returned you will notice that all the displayed items have a star at the end of the name. If the star is full then the user is online and broadcasting.
To make the most of the application for all the artists I've searched (and there were some obscure names) there is even a short biography provided by All Music Guide. This way you can have a peek at an artist's background.
As Mercora is based on a community of users the Friends section allows you to invite your friends to the community. The nice part is that once they have their playlists running you can access them and listen to their music. The streaming will not affect the sender or the receiver.
Chatting is another feature of the application that helps you stay in touch with your friends or any other member of the community (as long as you know the name). It comes complete with options for formatting the text, changing its color or sending smilies.
Mercora's options allow configuring it to keep broadcasting the songs even if you are offline (from Mercora servers), automatically configure port forwarding, alert when a friend or groupmate goes online or offline, when s/he is playing a new song or starts listening to music.
Being part of a community privacy is a valuable thing and Mercora has the adequate options in this sense. The two privacy levels that can be set are Low (everyone can send messages but only friends can add you in their list) and High (only friends can send you messages and add you to their playlists). But advanced options permit configuring who can send you messages, browse your music, listen to your webcast, see your profile, see your friends and add you to their friends list. The three categories are Everyone, My friends and Their Friends and Only My Friends. It is enough to drag the slider to the desired category and press OK. If you have some users you want to block chatting with Mercora options is the place to add them.
The Good
The application is completely free and the community is quite large so music will be available. It is very easy to use and does not require creating an account.
There are few options to configure and everything is intuitive.
The Bad
I wish there was a queue list you could add webcast music to. The application will display a progress bar only if you listen to music in your own playlist.
Adding a buffer time the user can set on his/her own would really improve the streaming and allow users to adjust it to their own bandwidth.
The Truth
There is nothing complicated about it and everything's legal. You are not downloading any music file and if the songs are pirated it is not your fault, it is the sender's. Practically all the members of the community are turning their computers into a radio station.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
