So, you’ve heard an obscure song on your favourite internet radio / music streaming site that you can’t find anywhere else, but don’t know how to record it onto your PC?

Let me help.

  • Macheads should download Wiretap (It’s shareware but unregistered versions are still perfectly functional; just with fewer options)
  • Windows users should grab freeware Stationripper, OpD2d, or one of these.
  • Lovers of Linux flavours can try Streamripper, which seems to already be part of the FreeBSD standard distro.

All the programs work in roughly the same way - you start the program, stream your audio, and press Record. Whatever plays on your computer’s soundcard gets recorded. Voila.

Audio is intercepted as it leaves your soundcard, but before it reaches your speakers. Those of you worried that someday soon, this avenue will be cut off to you, probably needn’t fret. A few years ago, my buddy SH and I were discussing ideas for a newspaper technology story when he pointed out that no matter what kind of DRM (digital rights management) is slapped onto your PC, audio still has to come out from an analog audio jack. Plug in any form of audio recorder - even one using primitive cassette tapes - and you can record your audio. Nothing short of a complete migration to digital audio cables will change that, so rest easy for now.

The Net interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it.
- John Gilmore (Electronic Frontier Foundation)