With AM and FM frequencies jammed with stations, and governments giving licenses to the radio stations it accepts, it was only natural that with the increase in broadband internet, the web was the next step for radio. Nowadays, anyone can broadcast, with the advent of the podcast, but people will always turn to radio stations for their music. There are unlimited opportunities for internet radio broadcasters.

Just where people will turn is the big question. More and more people are listening to more and more music, and they are looking specifically for certain genres. Indie music, once an underground pursuit enjoyed by few, gained cult status in the early 1990s, and has now exploded overground, bringing out a whole range of sub-genres such as alternative country, grunge and low-fi. Other genres previously considered as "cultish" have experienced a renaissance, such as metal or punk. As more and more people look towards specialized internet radio stations, one particular service is providing not just a genre-by-genre approach to internet radio, but a festival to celebrate its most popular bands.

Blue Beam Radio's competition to find the best emerging artists from its many streams allows independent musicians and bands to register for free, have their music available for the public to listen to, and win the chance to play in New York. The Top 10 artists on the website will all go forward to play in New York in the fall. The concept takes the internet community idea one step further by actually bringing the bands together physically, making Blue Beam an innovator in internet radio.

While downloading music online for free has effectively been reduced by a large number of fake mp3s circulating the internet, and the increased offer from i-Tunes and other providers, many listeners have decided to stop downloading and start streaming. Many have found out that the best way to listen to new bands is to choose an internet radio station, and choose a genre. When they find a group they like, they are often led to the group's website for further information. The chance, therefore, to find a number of the groups they like on the same stage, is an entirely new concept.

Festival organizers usually have to rely on agents to fill their bookings, making each festival a mix-and-match of groups and genres, while having to satisfy the public who buy the tickets. With an online festival organized around the most popular groups of an internet radio station, the groups are involved in a competition, while the audience is given the music that they listen to most - on stage in New York.

From Woodstock to Glastonbury, the music festival has a glorious past, associated with a carefree lifestyle and alternative music. Traditionally, the day will open with lesser-known bands, and as each day of the festival goes on, the bands become better and better known, and indeed, more and more popular. Mass, organized festivals like Glastonbury feature several stages over several days, and almost always end with major industry bands headlining. Glastonbury itself is a major indie music event, bringing together hundreds of thousands of people in a field in the south-west of England.

The internet has brought with it a revolution in the way that festivals are handled. Minor festivals take place across the world thanks to the internet, which brings groups together from far and beyond; groups that are not necessarily linked geographically. For instance, Paris is witnessing an explosion in music from female solo artists because of an internet movement called "Girls Doing It For Themselves". The collective has organized a variety of festivals along with major venues in the city, and has gained a reputation firstly through the internet for bringing through emerging artists in a scene that is saturated with indie bands.

Each of the artists in the collective acknowledges the effect of the internet on their career. Emmanuelle Cadoret, for example, is a Breton singer-songwriter who came to Paris several years ago to advance her music career. On her website and her myspace, you can download music for free, and she quickly became known on local internet radio. She explains that it is because of the community that she has been able to progress, and the internet promotion of emerging artists such as herself, Marjolaine and Lè(c)a.

Music events are organized across France much in the same way. Another organization, the "White Rabbits" (Tilapinblanc) have been at the centre of much indie music in the French capital, promoting their music on band pages and on internet radio. Originally made up of a few groups, the organization has swelled to include more than 30 groups today, allowing visitors to the website to download free music online, and organizing regular festivals featuring the groups.

However, Blue Beam Radio's festival is the first of its kind, bringing together an eclectic range of bands that have been proven to be the most popular on its website, giving them the opportunity to perform on stage in New York. Listeners to the radio have the opportunity to vote for each band, making the site in effect a "battle of the bands" that any group can join. The site, which is funded by its sponsors, is free to listen to, and free to subscribe to, bringing musicians and listeners together like never before.

The bands, for example, can create their own band pages on the site, and even buy advertising space. Emerging artists around the world will be crossing their fingers that by December, they will be in the top 10, and playing live in New York.

It really is a case of from the speakers to the stage.