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Best streamer...and recommendations

R

Randy Lahey

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Inactive User
My station is overhauling our website, and while we're doing this, we're also going to update are streaming software.

Right now we are using an older version of Abacast and it's pretty terrible.

What would you guys recommend and why?

We just need something pretty basic. Cost is a also a factor.

We need something that will list Artists/songs. Also I have seen websites where they list what songs played the previous hour. I don't know if that is part of the streaming software or not, but we'd like that as well.

We're also looking into launching an iphone app. Do streaming companies also develop apps, or is it 2 totally separate things...and if so, will any streaming provider work with an app?
 
Sorry for bumping my own thread, but I expected at least some response.

I'll be researching all of the major streaming companies. Could you maybe just tell me which companies to stay away from.

Any horror stories?

I find negative threads usually get more response so hopefully this thread will get some action now.
 
Right... so a few things you could do:

Really cheap, and really basic but it might work for you: Stream via a Shoutcast-style program with a (probably Flash based) web player. It's really widely supported by lots of technology and is the choice of a lot of smaller stations. It's free software (very similar Icecast software is even open source) - but does lack features that many business types like - for example complex access control. It is not an all-in-one solution - meaning you'll need to find a way to send the audio data to your chosen server provider (a whole other ball game) from within the studio (there is software to do this), send accompanying data (what song is playing and so forth). If you don't count labor, it is hands-down the cheapest option: but it could take time to set up.

A step up from that would be to go to a major streaming provider that caters to terrestrial like StreamTheWorld (which uses a HIGHLY customized version of the technology mentioned above) - not sure how large a market you are in but many large and small stations choose this style of provider (essentially all-in-one, including the player, streamer, servers, and lots of website integration options). It will also, obviously, cost more.

To really recommend how you should do this I'd need a lot more information about how you will be designing the website, what kind of requirements you have to work with (if any), what your budget is, your (or whoever will be setting this up's) level of technical proficiency, etc.

If you want a custom developed app, it'll cost you: but any streaming provider will be able to work with someone building a custom app. There are, of course, mobile listening apps like TuneIn which accept any and all stations who wish to list with them, and are compatible with almost any streaming situation you can think of.

Listing what songs played in the previous hour obviously has to be built in to your website by whoever is doing that - the most prevalent way is to get your automation to output what songs it's playing to some source which the website then reads from. Again, without more information I can't be more specific.

Hope this is helpful!

Sam
 
Some more specifics:

Full service companies (player and all, more pricey)
http://streamtheworld.com
http://www.liquidcompass.net/

There are tons of companies that provide basic stream hosting: OKCRadioGuy recommended viastreaming.com, I've heard both fastserv.com and streamguys.com recommended elsewhere but I have no experience with any of the companies I've listed.
 
We have some pure play college stations here in louisiana that I consult with. Great experience so far with Abacast, Viastreaming, surfer network, and BitSizzle. Many have the option to build your apps for iPhone and Android, but some of the former offer HTML5 web players that work on most mobile devices. Its a thought.
 
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