How to Make Internet Radio
Internet radio gives you the ability to inexpensively create your own radio station, complete with recorded or live music, talk shows and commercials---even what used to be called "remote audio feeds" in the golden age of radio. The difference, of course, is that your audio programming is not being broadcast over the airwaves but is being streamed over the Internet or any other IP-based network (such as an office LAN, college campus or home network) to be received by anyone who knows where to point his Web browser.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Internet access
- Custom broadcaster and player software (with some Internet radio services)
Instructions
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SHOUTcast
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1
Install the custom server software (called SHOUTcast Radio Distributed Network Audio Software) on an Internet-connected Windows PC (Mac and Linux machines are not supported at this writing).
People broadcasting on SHOUTcast must use their own server (and therefore must have a fairly robust, high-bandwidth Internet connection) or find someone willing to run the server software for them
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2
Download and install the latest version of the Winamp free media player.
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Download and install a Winamp plug-in called the SHOUTcast Radio DSP Plug-in. This plug-in will tell Winamp to send audio from Winamp to the SHOUTcast Radio server.
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4
Download and install an MP3 codec for Windows, if needed. If you own an iPod or other MP3 player, you probably have an MP3 codec installed on your computer. ITunes for Windows contains an MP3 codec, so if you have iTunes installed, you're good to go.
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To listen to SHOUTcast, Windows users should use Winamp, Mac users should use iTunes and Linux/X Windows users should use XMMS.
Live365 Basic Software
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Download the Live365 basic software, called Studio365, and install it. There are versions for Mac and PC. This version of the service is very simple: Upload music or speech files in MP3 format, create a playlist and press the "Start" button. It is basic automation that works well. You can change the files in your playlist and have multiple playlists that you can change out at any time.
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Sign up for one of Live365's service packages. The packages are priced and sized according to different levels of bandwidth usage and audience size.
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To listen to an Internet radio station at Live365.com, search for the station or genre you wish to listen to and click on it. A browser-based player will load and begin playing your selection.
Live365 Pro Software
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Download the Live365 pro software, called Studio365-Live, and install it. There are versions of this software for the Mac or PC as well. This version has more features. It will allow you to create playlists and broadcast live from your computer. This is designed for people who want to broadcast talk shows, be a DJ on the microphone between songs or broadcast live musical or theatrical performances.
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Sign up for one of Live365's service packages. The packages are priced and sized according to different levels of bandwidth usage and audience size. More-expensive professional packages are also available, but these are designed more for businesses, religious organizations or for traditional radio stations that want to develop an online version of their broadcasts.
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To listen to an Internet radio station at Live365.com, search for the station or genre you wish to listen to and click on it. A browser-based player will load and begin playing your selection.
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Tips & Warnings
Internet radio differs from podcasting in that podcasting always uses recorded material that can be downloaded to your computer or MP3 player.
Using Live365 widgets, you can customize and add your favorite stations to your website, blog or Facebook page.
If you are planning to play copyrighted or licensed material for which you do not own the rights (or do not have expressed written consent from the copyright and/or license holder), you must make arrangements to pay the appropriate usage fees. This is a complicated process but can be handled by Live365.com as part of its paid broadcasting packages.
