Until recently I had never listened to AOL Online Radio. On Tuesday my friend Mark emailed and twittered that XM Radio channels were finally gone from AOL radio. Then he went on about how AOL Radio was the greatest online streaming service ever. So I decided to take a look.

One of the things that Mark likes about AOL Radio is they don’t make up silly names for their stations. Instead of XM’s “20 on 20″ (top 40 radio) – AOL labels their comparable station with a more understandable “Top Pop”.

All of the AOL Radio is completely free, though the channels do feature both audio and banner ads (which listeners are urged to review by the announcers).

Due to higher royalty rates for online music, AOL decided to discontinue offering the XM Radio stations and replace them with over 150 channels from CBS Radio. If you were previously an XM listener – they’ve created a handy cross reference chart so you can find which new AOL station plays the same type of music that that you were used to from XM Radio.

AOL Radio claims over 200 online streaming stations with music covering just about all tastes. The content is free, though the stations carry advertising and the player offers up banner advertising.

You can listen to the AOL radio stations without logging in or downloading anything except for a small 500k browser plug in (yes, it runs on Firefox) which automatically installs the first time you visit the AOL Radio site.

Here’s a list of the current top 11 radio stations that you can listen to for free via streaming AOL radio:

I’m a subscriber to both XM and Sirius Satellite radio. The stations available via AOL Radio are just as good in my opinion. There is a similar variety of music available – so whether you are interested in R&B, Adult Alternative or the 50’s the chances are good that you’ll find a station that you like.

Link: AOL Radio Online

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