Is it legal to record songs when listening to Internet radio stations - And if yes, how is it done?

I would think it is legal as long as it it just for your use and not being sold. I don’t see how it is different than recording a movie on my tv, or making a cassette tape from the radio like back in the day.

I just wondered, why would people still buy CDs? They could setup their computer with terabyte disks and just keep recording. Eventually the songs will be played by some station somewhere in the world, right?

An Internet radio will tune in an infinite number of stations. The stations have URLs just like web pages, like http://radiostation.com/streaming But instead of a web page at that address, there is an audio stream

The radio’s simplified controls let you store a few favorites. Think of it as a hardware version of RealPlayer or WinAmp or whatever software you might use to listen online with a PC.

As far as recording, you wouldn’t use the radio. Install software on your PC which can schedule recordings.

I’ve used Replay AV for years. It has an option to split tracks into separate files based on song recognition patterns.

http://www.applian.com/replay-av/

@mattbrowne why would people still buy CDs?
For me it’s kind of like an adventure. There’s something rewarding about finding a CD in a
record store as opposed to finding music online. Plus, I feel like there’s some bond between me and the physical media and I like listening to the whole album, not just parts.
As for legal issues, I’m not sure, but I’ll agree with @JLeslie for now.

Thanks @jaytkay – Does Replay AV support different bitrates while recording? I don’t want huge 320 kbit/s files.

@Michael_Huntington – Yes, I like entire albums too. Well, somebody mentioned to me that some stations in Eastern Europe play entire CDs. Sounds a bit dubious to me.

@mattbrowne Yes, it supports different bit rates. Since the broadcast is digital, mostly you want to simply save at the same rate as the stream. Replay AV gives you the option of simply saving the stream unaltered.

I second @jaytkay‘s recommendation for Applian Replay. I’ve been using it for less than a year, but it’s great software. You can “download” music that’s not copy-protected, and “record” files that are. (Grooveshark used to allow downloads until recently; now it’s a ‘record’ option.) You can also record YouTube videos (and others) and convert between various types of audio, if that’s necessary.

I’m thirding Replay.

@mattbrowne I just wondered, why would people still buy CDs?

There’s something special about a CD – which is going the way of the LP. It can be given as a gift, and there is the artwork aspect – albeit far from the beauty of the old records.

There is also the issue of royalties for the singer/songwriter.

Thanks for the software recommendation!

Zen, maybe mid-term the singer/songwriters have to adopt the open source software model. Make money with service i.e. concerts…

Yes, CDs are something we can touch and they can look nice, but when 100 terabytes fit into a grain of sand sized storage device inside your wristwatch LPs, CDs and iPods will be found in antique stores only, don’t you think?

I agree. But some people like to shop in antique stores.