Sound Advice

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Not long ago, a hotel guest's options when it came to musical entertainment were limited to Muzak on the blackened channels of the TV, or the tinkling of a lobby pianist. Nowadays, of course, you can carry your entire CD collection around with you on an iPod — and there's also Internet radio with thousands of online stations[an error occurred while processing this directive] available for free through your laptop. Don't know how to choose between them? Here are four surefire hits for while you're on the road.

LIVE365.COM The world's largest Internet-radio network offers some 300 genres, with everything from psychedelia to barbershop, zydeco to electronica.

ACCURADIO.COM Got downtime between meetings? Then relax with this musical cornucopia, which features dozens of channels from Chinese to Celtic. "Sub-channels" meanwhile let you select by artist, niche or genre.

OVERXPOSURE.FM This nonstop mix of chill-out and ambient grooves form the perfect soundtrack to a long soak in the bath or a room-service déjeuner à deux. Like a particular tune? You can buy the CD at the click of a mouse.

PANDORA.COM This site allows you to personalize any musical lineup with ease. Simply enter your favorite artist or tune, and a host of others that are similar in style and sound are automatically cued up.