Hey all, I'm wanting to start an internet radio station, and its pretty hard to find a good quality forum for discussion on it(something like WHT but for internet radio. non existant.)

So I guess I'll ask my questions here as we have experts on everything including CSI! /joke
So those of you that are knowledgable in internet radio, what is your preference between CentovaCast and SAM Broadcaster?

The only difference I can find is that Centova is also setup for those that want to sell station space.


Looking for experiences with the two, why you like one over the other, and product differences.

Thank!

The two are completely different.
1. SAM Broadcaster = Radio software that you can use to stream to a media server

2. Centovacast = PHP Software for managing a shoutcast server

frCentova also comes with software albeit web based. for the enduser/broadcaster.

Yes but that means when its installed on a dedicated server. E.g for webhosts to allow there users to use centovacast to manage shoutcast servers provided by them. Its not the same as SAM. SAM Is what an end user installs on there home pc, to stream to a shoutcast server

I see, so Centova couldn't be used for live radio broadcasting such as a live show?

Can the two be used together?

Basically if you want a shoutcast server with centovacast CP you pay a provider, like mine.

CentovaCast is a control panel that will let you manage that server to make changes and setup autoDJs that keep your station live when theres no dj connected by playing from a playlist of uploaded mp3s.

You can then use SAM Broadcaster or Shoutcast DSP plugin on your home computer to do your live shows it simply streams the audio to your shoutcast server and then users connect to the shoutcast server to listen to your station.

I see, since live shows are streamed from a home computer to the server and then onto the listener, is there buffering problems?

How are those mitigated?

by the way, thanks for all your help. Super quick! and did you know they just release CentovaCast 3.0 beta today :) http://forums.centova.com/index.php?topic=453.0 <----Changelog

One of the major changes is the CP is now standalone.

There should be no buffering issues with a good host. Thanks for the info we use centovacast so we will be updating to 3.0 as soon as we have finished testing it.

I was more wondering what causes users to experience buffering?

Any mixture of things too much memory usage, too much load, not a big enough connection on the host machine

What is typically considered a good machine setup for an internet radio station. or a few for different genres?

Which brings another question, howmuch bandwidth/server resources does centova cast and SAM broadcaster use?

You'll find you could use a VPS (384MB RAM / 500GB Bandwidth perhaps?) for the streaming server until it gets rather popular (over 50+ listeners depending on bitrate).

Have you thought about the licensing yet? This is one aspect that's usually forgot about, but quite important.

Yes I have been round and round every licensing thread on the internet.

For those that are thinking about this and have not researched this. Its pretty much like this:

Big Radio(terrestrial (FM/AM) has given lots of money in order to screw internet radio stations into being forced to pay royalties to the three big companies for composers/producers/writers, and a Federally supported artists company SoundExchange.

These companies are: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

You can negotiate your own terms with each of the three companies(SoundExchange has set rates) but expect to fork over $3000+ in the endeavor just as a minimum.

OR you can stream through one of the below companies who have negotiated blanket terms with all of the above companies:

Live365
LoudCity
SWCast

there may be one or two more but thats it.


For me, I haven't decided what I will do, or if I will forgo all of the above and only stream music from unsigned artists, or work with the small record labels.

Its a racket for sure, and the FM/AM Companies have to be loving every minute of it.

Or you broadcast your own music :) And you can find loads of shoutcast packages that are all tailored to suit needs

Or you broadcast your own music :) And you can find loads of shoutcast packages that are all tailored to suit needs

If by own music you mean music you made, composed, wrote, produced, then yeah you of course can do that.

If by your own music you mean cd's that you own, then no. Atleast here in America. Thats a huge no. You still have to pay royalties. The royalties are based off of listeners, and listening hours.

And for the people that come across this thinking, "oh! I'll just get an off shore server!" It doesn't work like that either. The royalty laws are based off where you are broadcasting from, not where the company, server, or files are located.

I know in other countries it seems to be alot easier from what I've read. In the US however, its all pretty well documented on what you can and can't do. Even when you are paying royalties.

Such as, you can not play a song by the same artist more than once an hour, you cannot play a request within the hour it was requested. You also cannot let people know which songs are coming up. You can say which artists, but not specific songs.

Its really really a shame.

If by own music you mean music you made, composed, wrote, produced, then yeah you of course can do that.

If by your own music you mean cd's that you own, then no. Atleast here in America. Thats a huge no. You still have to pay royalties. The royalties are based off of listeners, and listening hours.

And for the people that come across this thinking, "oh! I'll just get an off shore server!" It doesn't work like that either. The royalty laws are based off where you are broadcasting from, not where the company, server, or files are located.

I know in other countries it seems to be alot easier from what I've read. In the US however, its all pretty well documented on what you can and can't do. Even when you are paying royalties.

Such as, you can not play a song by the same artist more than once an hour, you cannot play a request within the hour it was requested. You also cannot let people know which songs are coming up. You can say which artists, but not specific songs.

Its really really a shame.

You can upload your files to an auto dj server that is offshore, with a broadcasting server that is offshore as well. Now the music is being streamed from auto dj to shoutcast server, which are both offshore.

Check out this You Tube video on Centova Cast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlXR84i7T-Y&feature=player_embedded

To start an online radio you will need to take this into consideration:
Website,
Hosting,
ShoutCast Software, (WhmSonic, CentovaCast, Cast Control)
Royalties
Marketing

There is a few companies out there including my own that have a full set up package for people who wish to start an online radio without the head ache.

If you wish to go it alone then you will need to look into each aspect of this and decide what is right for your company.

Best of luck to you and best regards
Sean Atkinson.

any sources for internet radio. interested but don't know how to get about it

All these new SHOUTcast businesses that are coming out are not reliable. Go to radiotoolbox.com/hosts and check uptimes then pick a reliable host that's been a in business for more than a few days ;) We've been providing streaming services since 2004.

What is the royality fee usually like?

try whmsonic for the best web based radio solutions

try whmsonic for the best web based radio solutions

Can you expand on why you feel this way? And what other Host/Client radio control panels you have used in the past?\

Also seems like an abnormally high amount of blatant advertisement has been allowed into this thread....mods?

All these new SHOUTcast businesses that are coming out are not reliable. Go to radiotoolbox.com/hosts and check uptimes then pick a reliable host that's been a in business for more than a few days ;) We've been providing streaming services since 2004.

Go and advertise elsewhere, self promotion isnt allowed in these forums. Also your claim about new business been unreliable? Theres no theory or proof in that statement, a new host could easily have servers as powerfull as yours if not better, there amount of time in business doesnt affect the quality and reliability of there servers/hardware.

Also i noticed the first comment on your site was...

Very horrible experience... could not stream due to constant skipping! And I know for a fact it wasnt my upstream since I was hosting 3 concurrent connections on my home Win2000 server box with never any skipping or buffering. At 380kps upstream and streaming music at 96kpbps... that barely puts a dent in the upstream bandwidth!

Upon pinging my server from Serverroom.us I got ping times of over 500ms! No wonder the stream was skipping and unstable.

I would NOT recommend this host!

So theres my point proven, you can be in business as long as you like and still be a rubbish host. :)

Hey all, I'm wanting to start an internet radio station, and its pretty hard to find a good quality forum for discussion on it(something like WHT but for internet radio. non existant.)

Take a look at forums_dot_broadcastingworld_dot_net (can't post links yet)

Take a look at forums_dot_broadcastingworld_dot_net (can't post links yet)

Agreed! That is a great resource for some awesome tips about broadcasting!