How to Record a Broadcast Off the Internet

Recording an Internet broadcast makes an archive of a memorable show

If you enjoy listening to Internet radio or television broadcasts, you can make a permanent recording of a show makes it easy to revisit your favorites, even without access to the Internet. Whether you use a Windows or Mac OS X computers, there are a variety of free and commercial recording options that can be used. Recording programs convert a live Internet broadcast to a digital audio or video file, most often in MP3 or raw video format. These files can be transferred between computers or to portable media players.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Audio or video recording software

Instructions

1. Download software to capture audio or video. Replay Radio 6.1 or Audacity provide easy solutions to archiving live broadcasts. Replay Radio is for Windows, and Audacity is cross-platform. Replay Radio 6.1 is designed for scheduled recordings, while Audacity can be used to record whatever audio is currently playing on your sound card. On Mac, Soundflower can be used to pass the streaming audio from the sound card to Audacity or any other audio recording software. If you need to record an television broadcast, you can use a screen recording tool to capture streaming video.

2. Install software. The instructions will vary depending on the software, so be sure to follow the included instructions. Some software packages may require you to install an MP3 encoder, which allows raw audio files to be converted to MP3 files, which take up less space on a hard drive.

3. Create a folder to store broadcasts. Ideally, this should be in your "Documents" folder or located on the desktop, so it is easy to find.

4. Load your stream. Whether the broadcast is archived or live, load the stream in your web browser or media player and verify connectivity. If using a program like Replay Radio or DeskShare, you can set up a recording schedule.

5. Start recording. With Replay Radio or DeskShare, the recording will start automatically if it is scheduled. With Audacity, press the record button to start recording, and the software will capture whatever is being played on your sound card.

6. End recording. When the broadcast you want to save is over, simply stop the recording and save it to your destination folder. You can now access the recording whenever you want to.

Tips & Warnings

• Audio and video files take up a lot of hard drive space, so be sure that you have lots of free space. If you plan to record a lot of Internet broadcasts, it could be worthwhile to invest in an external hard drive.

References

• DeskShare Software
• CNet: How to record an Internet radio broadcast
• Soundflower

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish