Improve Rhythmbox in Ubuntu by Adding Streaming Radio Stations to Your Computer Music Library

Rhythmbox is the Ubuntu Linux operating system flagship music player. Rhythmbox performs many of the same functions as Apple's iTunes software. For example, you can use Rhythmbox to play songs from your CD library or download new music the Ubuntu One Music Store. You can sync your music library to your personal Ubuntu One account, and then stream your personal music library to your Android or iPhone no matter where you are. It is like having a personal radio station of your own music that you can listen to anywhere, anytime.

You can also listen to any radio station that is streamed across the Internet using Rhythmbox in Ubuntu Linux. The default setup of Rhythmbox has a limited amount of Internet radio stations available. You will need to search around the Internet to find your favorite station and manually add it to your station list. This can be a cumbersome process if you like to listen to a variety of stations.

Instead of manually searching around for links of radio stations, you can maximize your Internet radio choices in Rhythmbox by installing the Internet Radio Browser plugin for Rhythmbox. The Internet Radio Browser plugin adds thousands of radio station choices to your Ubuntu Linux Desktop. The Internet Radio Browser plugin can easily be installed using the Ubuntu Software Center by going to Applications --> Ubuntu Software Center. Once Ubuntu Software Center starts, then type "radio browser" in the search bar and select and install Internet radio browser plugin for Rhythmbox from the choice of software.

After the Internet Radio Browser plugin for Rhythmbox is installed, start the Rhythmbox application and select Edit -> Plugins, and check on the "Radio Browser" check box to enable the plugin. You should now be able to access thousands of traditional and Internet radio stations all around the world by selecting "Radio Browser" in the Rhythmbox sidebar.

The Internet Radio Browser taps into station lists at Icecast, Shoutcast, and Radio Time. Each of these sites have databases that keep track of radio stations that stream their programming over the Internet. Theses database also contain updated information on thousands of on-line stations that provide streaming content. Stations can be searched, categorized by country, location, and genre. You can also record the streaming content using the StreamRipper plugin in conjunction with the Internet Radio Browser plugin for Rhythmbox.

The Internet Radio Radio Browser plugin for Rhythm works quite well. However, the program does have one minor glitch when downloading the Shoutcast music database. The Shoutcast database is quite large, and when the stations are updating it can cause a slowdown with Rhythmbox. You may need to click once or twice on each genre within the Shoutcast folder and wait for a while to allow the station list to download. Just remember to be a little patient when dealing with this portion of the program.

Happy Listening!