By Michael F. Carmichael
June 2, 2011
Back in the day, there were a few major radio networks that brought you entertainment programs, music and dramatic programs, news and sports. All you needed to get them was a radio that had an on-off switch, a volume control and a dial to select a station. Often – still way back in the day – that radio was in the living room where the family could gather to listen.
Then along came the Internet and digital everything. iTunes and MP3, streaming and podcasts, and don’t forget the early days of file sharing and that cute little headphone-wearing kitty symbol of Napster – all of which require some sort of computer-centered technology, the right software and the ability to make it all work together.
What if you want to have the best of both worlds –a device with an on-off switch, a knob to choose an acceptable volume and a dial to select a station that plays exactly what you want to hear – music, entertainment, drama, news or sports – without static or fading or quality issues because it’s all digital?
You can, with an Internet radio or Digital Audio Receiver as some in the industry call them. While the ability to get specific radio stations and your choice of thousands of pieces of music via your computer has been around for years, the idea of a dedicated piece of hardware to do that without the intervention of a computer is a relatively recent development.
| Jake Sigal, founder of Livio Radio. |
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It was 2008 when Jake Sigal in Ferndale, Mich., started Livio Radio — that’s “Liv”as in Living Room and “io” as in radio — with the basic idea of making listening to music (and other audio) as simple as, well, turning on an old-fashioned living room radio.
Sigal is the third generation of entrepreneurs in his family. His dad invented the drive-through menu boards that greet you at fast food restaurants, and was instrumental in the initial conversion of camera film from analog to digital. Working on a “$7 million film scanner that was about the size of your fist back then was a pretty big deal,” Sigal laughs.
“Music has always been my passion, as long as I can remember,” Sigal continues. “I think a common denominator among 98 percent of people is music. I’m very fortunate that I’m able to live the dream and work with music every day – do what I love, which is music and technology.”
Putting the two together was the reason behind Livio, Sigal explains.