To stream media as opposed to download it means for instance in the case of a video that the video starts to play before it is completely downloaded. This means that the user need not wait for the download to complete to begin watching. Music download sites for example normally use streaming media for a song preview but then when a purchase is made, a regular download is used instead as the song has been auditioned at this stage. Streaming is also used for live webcasts and live radio broadcasting.

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