TuneTo.com Finally Unveils Internet Radio

What took them so long?

Months after unveiling their plans, and six long months of beta testing (by 10,000 users) TuneTo.com ( http://www.tuneto.com) finally unveiled its Internet radio service. Is it a little too late?

TuneTo.com closely resembles LAUNCHcast, the "radio" component of LAUNCH (http://www.launch.com) that lets users program their own personalized stations. LAUNCHcast, however, was released February this year. The difference is that LAUNCHcast uses Windows Media audio, while TuneTo.com says it is MP3 compressed music that is cached on user's hard drives.

Nevertheless, TuneTo.com is out. After registering at TuneTo.com, channels arerecommended based on an individual's musical preferences. As people listen,they can rate the music they hear "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" -- thecollective preferences of all the listeners help determine the channel's playlist.

"Up until now, Internet music systems have been an 'either-or' propositionin terms of features and quality," said Tim Bratton, president and co-founderof TuneTo.com. "TuneTo.com is raising the bar on Internet music, with sound sogood you can plug the output of your computer into your stereo, and communityfiltering technology that guarantees TuneTo.com channels play the perfect mixof old favorites and new music that listeners want to hear."

TuneTo.com is privately-owned and is based in California. TuneTo.com received initial funding from Whelan & GratnyCapital Management and angel investors.