Broadband Internet company Road Runner said Wednesday that it has teamed with Live365.com to create a co-branded Web site that allows online patrons to create their own cyber radio stations.

Road Runner is a joint venture high-speed Internet access company from Time Warner Inc., MediaOne Group, Microsoft Corp., Compaq Corp. and Advance/Newhouse. It boasts 550,000 subscribers, a huge chunk of the nation's broadband users.

Live365.com supplies its customers with all of the tools necessary to create online radio stations - to the tune, so far, of 2,400 cyberstations. It's all free of charge, and the company earns revenue through banner ads. It's also launching an e-commerce venture and will soon feature audio advertisements, spokesman David McKie said.

McKie said it would cost about $3,000 for someone to set up an online radio station if it were done without the help of Live365.com. He wouldn't say what Live365.com spends to offer the service but said its cost is cut in half about every 12-20 months as technology improves. That pattern should continue for the next five years, he said.

"It's fairly expensive, so it's something we're definitely taking a hit on," he said.

"Our position is that the music lover can create programming just as competently as a professional disk jockey," McKie said. "We've got stations dedicated to everything from death metal to Taiwanese gospel and poetry readings."

So far, Internet radio stations are a clumsy alternative to traditional radio. Although the technology allows users to create and program their own stations - a dream come true for frustrated DJs and unsatisfied radio fans - online radio keeps listeners tethered to the computer.

But all of that is about to change. A couple of California companies, Sonicbox and Kerbango, will soon offer stand-alone, portable gadgets that pick up Internet "radio signals."

Those sorts of products should boost the popularity of Live365.com and its Nanocaster technology, as well as competitors Shoutcast, from America Online, and Icecast, from CMGI.

Financial details of the Road Runner-Live365.com deal were not revealed.