How to create an internet radio station
If you’ve ever wondered how internet radio stations work and/or wanted to create your own, this tutorial will show you how. It is actually very easy, and you can set up your own radio station and begin broadcasting songs in about 10 minutes.
First of all, let me give you a quick rundown on how it works. You have your music player (I will use Winamp, get it if you don’t have it) and you play your music as you normally would. You probably need a fast internet connection so you can broadcast without buffering occuring. Through a plugin (which you will download and install), Winamp will send the music you play to the broadcasting server (which can be on your PC or on another one with a larger connection), and the server sends the music to the listeners, reencoding it to a better format, if you are so inclined. Note that the amount of listeners you will be able to support is limited by your outgoing bandwidth and the bitrate of the song you are streaming, so if you’re streaming at 128 kbps and you have 256 kbps upload bandwidth, you’ll obviously be able to support 256/128 = 2 listeners.
The programs I use are Winamp for playing, oddcast DSP for broadcasting to the server and Icecast for serving. You can use Winamp’s own Shoutcast plugin and server, but I prefer to broadcast in Vorbis because it’s smaller and has much better quality than MP3.
Let’s get started, then. Download Icecast from this page (you presumably want the Windows version) and install it. Run it and click “Edit configuration” in the “Configuration” menu. A notepad window will pop up with various configuration options. My configuration is this:
<limits>
<clients>100</clients>
<sources>2</sources>
<threadpool>5</threadpool>
<queue-size>524288</queue-size>
<client-timeout>30</client-timeout>
<header-timeout>15</header-timeout>
<source-timeout>10</source-timeout>
<burst-on-connect>1</burst-on-connect>
<burst-size>65535</burst-size>
</limits>
<authentication>
<source-password>hackme</source-password>
<relay-password>hackme</relay-password>
<admin-user>admin</admin-user>
<admin-password>hackme</admin-password>
</authentication>
<hostname>localhost</hostname>
<listen-socket>
<port>8000</port>
</listen-socket>
<fileserve>1</fileserve>
<paths>
<basedir>./</basedir>
<logdir>./logs</logdir>
<webroot>./web</webroot>
<adminroot>./admin</adminroot>
<alias source="/" dest="/status.xsl"/>
</paths>
<logging>
<accesslog>access.log</accesslog>
<errorlog>error.log</errorlog>
<loglevel>4</loglevel> <!-- 4 Debug, 3 Info, 2 Warn, 1 Error -->
<logsize>10000</logsize> <!-- Max size of a logfile -->
</logging>
<security>
<chroot>0</chroot>
</security>
</icecast>
You can copy it and paste it in the open notepad window (the one with the configuration), but make sure you change “hackme” to more secure passwords. Once you have done this, save the file and close the window. Click the “Start server” button and the listboxes below should be populated with various information, like this:
Your server is now ready for people to connect to it, but there’s no music playing, so let’s tend to that. Download oddcast for Winamp from this page and install it. Now, run Winamp, go to the “DSP/Effect” section of the preferences and click on “oddcast DSP v3”. You should see the oddcast window pop up, looking something like this:
Click on “Add encoder” and a new encoder will be added in the box below. Right-click on it and select “configure”. A dialog will pop up, asking for various information. For “Encoder type” select “OggVorbis” (or MP3, if you are so inclined), this will make you stream in Vorbis. Some people might not be able to have the available codecs if they’re running a very old version of their player (all newer players worth their salt support Vorbis).
For “Quality” I have entered -2, it is the lowest quality, giving you about 30 kbps bitrate and very acceptable quality. You can experiment with 0 or 2, going over 6 is overkill in my opinion (since 6 is what I use to archive music from my CDs), and you will be able to support more listeners if you have lower bitrate for the song.
For “Server IP” enter the IP of the server you’re running Icecast on (it’s “localhost” if you’re running it on your own PC). “Server port” is whatever you entered in the configuration, 8000 if you used mine, and “Encoder password” is hopefully something other than “hackme”. I also use mono, because my connection only has 128 available upstream bandwidth and it doesn’t sound too bad. It should now look like this:
Click OK here and then click “Connect”. If you did everything right, the encoder should now connect to Icecast and begin streaming, like so:
If you want to do a voiceover (speak in your radio) just click the Live Recording button and it will broadcast anything that you say in the microphone (or whatever you enter as the input device). Click on it again to return to your normal music (I haven’t actually tested this, if there are any problems just comment here).
The “Source Level Stats” section of Icecast should also change to include your stream, and will look something like this:
Try connecting with another player (not the one playing the songs) to http://localhost:8000/stream.ogg (e.g. for Winamp click Open URL). If that connects and plays, everything is set up correctly. You can now tell people to connect with Winamp or whatever player they use (and NOT WITH AN INTERNET BROWSER) to http://[yourip]:8000/stream.ogg (if you don’t know your IP, visit http://www.whatismyip.com/, or see the “Client address” in the “Details” tab of your Local Area Connection if you want to stream on a LAN) with their players, and that’s all there was to it.
If you get a permission error under Vista, swamplingman suggested that you give your user full permissions for the Icecast and Winamp folders. That should solve the error.
Note: Before you broadcast any music, make sure you have the right to do so, otherwise you could be breaking the law of your country. Also, if you are having connection problems, you are probably behind a NAT or a firewall that does not allow other people to connect to your computer. To clarify, you (from your internal network) can only connect to your station using your internal IP (192.168.0.1 or whatever) and people from the internet can only connect to you using the IP from whatismyip.com and only if you have forwarded port 8000 corrrectly. Ask your network administrator or visit www.portforward.com for help, as these problems are outside the scope of this tutorial.
idid every thing as u said but there is something wrong when i start the server connections is 0
Submitted by gess on Fri, 16/02/2007 - 20:18.file_connections is 0
source is 0 every thing is 0 and when i make the encoder it disconnect from the socket hope u got wat iam asking for PLZ reply:)
Could not connect to socket. WTF?
He-Help!!!
Submitted by Ethan (not verified) on Fri, 23/02/2007 - 21:03.i cant other people to connect to this. I have tried many things. It is up, all the conenctions are good. Its set to MP3, and running fine. When i have them connect, i tell them to connect to this: http://{My IP is here}:8000/stream.ogg Is this correct? I am able to connect to it myself with ITunes using http://localhost:8000/stream.ogg How do i get other people to connect?!?! If u can AIM me the solution too, that would be great.... ferrarienz00 I have also port forwarded my router for Icecast. Thanks :)
Submitted by Kenny (not verified) on Mon, 26/02/2007 - 07:05.Does your name have to be local host or can you change it
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 28/02/2007 - 21:06.Ya umm MY URL doe's not work like most people i have everything up i did the Http://localhost...... and its driving me mad PLZ RELPLY
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/03/2007 - 03:34.Hi,thanks for the info, but i didnt get going, the connection keeps disconnecting everytime i try to connect in oddcastv3.
question
should i use two computers, one to connect and input from sound card and another pc to play music to output to the first pc.
I use pcdj software and virtual dj, can anything be done with that, and how?
sorry to trouble, i need heeellllp
cheers
Submitted by DJ Edgar (not verified) on Sat, 03/03/2007 - 22:42.Okay...I love this music. I did it and everything, but how do I get my friends and other people to hear my music? I did everything in your directions everything worked out great, but how do I work that??? How do my friends get to hear my music???
Submitted by Confussed!!! (not verified) on Wed, 07/03/2007 - 01:17."You can now tell people to connect to http://[yourip]:8000/stream.ogg (if you don't know your IP, visit http://www.whatismyip.com/) with their players, and that's all there was to it."
Submitted by Stavros on Wed, 07/03/2007 - 09:53.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.
Hi , this is the first time I start a web-station and it worked perfectly, my buddies have had no trouble connecting to my internet station.
I have a stupid question: how do i make it work through the web?
I am renting a server at godaddy.com,
do i need to tell my visitors to open my http://myip:8000... etc???
or is there some kind of online player i can just install that automatically connects to that?
hope anybody can help me!!!
greetings from mexico city
Submitted by Rafael (not verified) on Thu, 08/03/2007 - 06:08.Hi,
Just set up my radio station and I have been recording some audio to add between tracks. The problem is, when I listen to the audio from another PC it sounds chopped, noisy and like a Dalek! What format should I save it in? I just recorded my voice using the Windows audio recorder and saved as a .wav.
Thanks for the great tutorial.
Submitted by Phil (not verified) on Sat, 10/03/2007 - 22:14.Well, I don't know why it would sound chopped, but your best bet would be to save it as .mp3...
Submitted by Stavros on Sun, 11/03/2007 - 00:12.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.
great tut, ive set it up, oddcast is transmitting, and everything is online BUT when i tell people to go into their internet and type: 87.254.85.99:8000/stream.ogg (my station) it comes up page can not me displayed.
what did i do wrong? everything is running fine.
Submitted by linski (not verified) on Sat, 17/03/2007 - 11:46.I am having a problem thats kind of the same, when I put in the URL it says it is invalid on both Windows Media player and Quicktime.
Submitted by Jammy (not verified) on Sun, 18/03/2007 - 10:49.And my friends can't connect either.
Always Reconecting
- - - - - - - Help - - - - - - - -
I cant see the Source Level Stats
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 18/03/2007 - 21:18.i dont get how you put the radio on air and if you can link it with a web page help me
Submitted by help!!!!! (not verified) on Sun, 25/03/2007 - 11:44.after downloading the winamp and icecast and i click the DSP/Effect but there is no oddcast it says no plug-in.. what am i doing wrong?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 27/03/2007 - 22:31.You Have a nice tutorial the chances of you getting this comment are very slim
i was going through the tutorial but in the end it did not work hwo do you get the music to play on the site i do not understand and the adress and port
Submitted by luke (not verified) on Fri, 30/03/2007 - 17:10.Hi.
Thanks for the tutorial, it is awesome.
However, I was wondering how can I broadcast a normal and plain FM radio.
I need to build a website and broadcast a fm radio, then all the transmissions are in equipments where there a no computers. How do I make the transition from a normal CD player to broadcast in the web page?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Tell
Submitted by Tell (not verified) on Tue, 03/04/2007 - 21:52.Well, to stream online as well as FM you'd need a computer. Either play in winamp and connect the output to the transmitter, or get something like a line in winamp input plugin and stream whatever is being broadcast.
---
Submitted by Stavros on Tue, 03/04/2007 - 22:04.Vidi, Vici, Veni.
ya i got everything but that last part i downloaded it and it wont come up it installs but nothing else i got icecasr and winap or w/e but i cant get the last part
Submitted by John Mckinney (not verified) on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 19:28.Thanks for that walkthrough really did help me
any way that listeners can listen using windows media player instead of winamp????
thanks
most of my friends dont have winamp :(
Submitted by Lee (not verified) on Thu, 05/04/2007 - 13:30.Media Player should work fine, though I'm not really sure. Try it and see, it should work.
Submitted by Stavros on Thu, 05/04/2007 - 14:07.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.
any time i click on live recording on my oddcast winamp dump all the files and cut off ? why is that
Submitted by joel (not verified) on Fri, 06/04/2007 - 03:53.do you think being on a university server might be the reson why oddcast refuses to connect? i added the encoder and tried to connect and it just keeps repeating the auto connect count down and then for half a second it says "unable to connect to server" before counting down again...any ideas?
Submitted by Reno (not verified) on Fri, 06/04/2007 - 16:18.Hello...
I had follow all the steps, but something was wrong, because I NEVER get chance to be connected, for END the process.
":::Click OK here and then click "Connect". If you did everything right, the encoder should now connect to Icecast and begin streaming, like so:
(...)
The "Source Level Stats" section of Icecast SHOULD ALSO CHANGE TO INCLUDE your stream, and will look something like this:
I NEVER GOT THIS PARTICULAR RESULT.... ( That´s means I can finish the process)...
Try connecting with another player (not the one playing the songs) to http://localhost:8000/stream.ogg (e.g. for Winamp click Open URL). If that connects and plays, everything is set up correctly. You can now tell people to connect to http://[yourip]:8000/stream.ogg ....
Many thanks for your efforts, and capacity for explain processes to NON specialized audiences, interests in promote local contents, and contributes to most strongest diversity on the internet.
Kind regards,
Yoe F. Santos
Santiago de los Caballeros
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 09/04/2007 - 01:17.April, 8 th, 2007
Hello and thank you for your kind comments :) As I said before (and for the same reason I don't answer most of the comments), the process is rather foolproof, so if you have an error it means you made a mistake somewhere (or perhaps there's a new version that doesn't have the same configuration), so I can't help you. All I can say is recheck the configuration, you must have missed something.
If other people can't connect to you, it's a firewall/router problem (this is not the case for you, but for 99% of the other people who comment here).
Thanks again.
Submitted by Stavros on Mon, 09/04/2007 - 14:14.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.
i did everything.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 12/04/2007 - 09:40.I also forwarded the port to my pc but it dont work :(
http://localhost:8000/stream.ogg.m3u works but http://MYIP:8000/stream.ogg.m3u doesn't work...
Someone can help me out?
http://myip:8000/etc only works from outside your network. You will only be able to access the station with localhost, others only with myip.
Submitted by Stavros on Thu, 12/04/2007 - 10:24.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.
Never mind,i had problems with my port.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 12/04/2007 - 17:21.it is a NAT router so ... :P
But a DMZ host worked :)
(and for a 13 child it is easy...like me :P)
i am having a issue with recieving the stream (created on a destktop) on a laptop that i have created
I type in the ip address with the rest of the url and it just downloads and doesn't open anything.
am i missing something?
have followed your tutorial to the word!!!!
Aaron
Submitted by aaron (not verified) on Thu, 12/04/2007 - 13:04.http://www.slvpodcast.co.uk
i have downloaded ice cast but when it says go to the "DSP/Effect" section of the preferences and click on "oddcast DSP v3". i dont know where the preferances are? and i cant run odd cast!
Submitted by jack (not verified) on Fri, 13/04/2007 - 14:29.instead of downloading oddcast can you do it off virtual dj?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 13/04/2007 - 14:46.sorry to be a pain in the bum but where is "DSP/Effect" section of the preferences ??????????????????????
Submitted by jack (not verified) on Fri, 13/04/2007 - 14:50.whenevr i try to connect after config. the encoder . transfer rate section shows " encoder init failed " then " disconnecting" then" connecting in 9 sec" so on.
Submitted by Sahil (not verified) on Fri, 13/04/2007 - 15:11.btw the tut is excellent as it have worked for others.
where do you play the music i cannot find eneywhere to play my music on!
Submitted by jack (not verified) on Fri, 13/04/2007 - 16:15.It starts to say conected, then disconnecting, then connecting in xy seconds.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 17/04/2007 - 18:53.What have I done wrong? :(
I did everything the tutoral says but when it goes to connect i get a message
can't connect to socket
can anyone help me?
Submitted by ebvalues on Thu, 19/04/2007 - 14:13.How do i find the url so i can send it to people and how do i listen to it?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 20/04/2007 - 17:05.I AM AS GREEN AS THEY COME WHERE THIS IS CONCERNED. BUT I AM TRYING. I HAVE FOLLOWED THE STEPS BUT I CANNOT ACCESS THE STREAM FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER. I AM RUNNING IT FROM MY PC AS THE SERVER ON MY LOCAL NETWORK. USING MY LAPTOP CONNECTED TO THE SAME HOME NETWORK I TRIED TO ACCESS THE URL THROUGH THE WEB, THAT DID NOT WORK. I TRIED TO ACCESS IT THROUGH WINAMP ON MY LAPTOP, IT SAYS CONNECTING BUT IT DOESNT. I TURNED OFF THE FIREWALLS ON THE PC AND THE LAPTOP, THINKING THAT WOULD BE THE PROBLEM...BUT STILL NADA...I AM FRUSTRATED BEYOND BELIEF AS TO WHY I CANT CONNECT....PLEASE SHED YOUR WISDOM ON THE MATTER......ANU.RA.EL
Submitted by green nube (not verified) on Mon, 23/04/2007 - 03:32.Hi, Great article you have goin here. I have followed it fully and it DOES work if you do it right. The only problem I have now is that the broadcasted audio is just static (fuzzy noise). I cant figure this one out, Is it somethig to do with 24 bit crystaliser ?
If anyone can help
email:
Ragebflame@hotmail.com
Thanks.
Submitted by Ragebflame (not verified) on Mon, 23/04/2007 - 19:04.Dan
Well oddcast connects and does its stuff then it gives me the KBs or whatever then it disconnects by tiself plz help me... I don't think that is supposed to happen and cause none of my other music players let you get stream music i had to download winamp on another computer but it still says connecting on it plz help (im rly not that great with computers...)
Submitted by aranxx on Wed, 25/04/2007 - 01:12.Now i accidently closed it and whenever i start winamp up and oddcast and use them at the same time some big error thing happens and my computer screws up plz help
Submitted by aranxx on Wed, 25/04/2007 - 01:23.nvm sry im just rly freaked because im going to have to go back and mess with the stuff again
Submitted by aranxx on Wed, 25/04/2007 - 01:33.whenaver i try to connect to odcastv3 it won't and just keep saying connet in certin amount of seconds and it will just keep doing this can anyone help me please.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 29/04/2007 - 13:42.thx
I did everything you said (hehe, i think) and it won't work.
Submitted by SaintPretz (not verified) on Sun, 29/04/2007 - 21:00.I got WINAMP and added some music. I got icecast and set up the xml to what you said (let's say, with password PASS). then I got oddcast for WINAMP and configured it as you said. I Connected and started the server. And neither me nor my freinds are getting anything. Help?
(i even turned off the firewalls :-) )
Sorry, that last comment of mine (WONT WORK) wasn't useful at all. Here's a question though: does iTunes support .oog s? when my friends try to connect it doesn't play anything... If the stream won't work on iTunes then i need more software...
Submitted by ASauce (not verified) on Mon, 30/04/2007 - 23:56.I don't think iTunes supports Ogg. I would tell you my opinion of iTunes but I do not want to affect your opinion of this bloated piece of crap :P. Try it in Winamp, I don't think the others support it. You could always switch to mp3, though.
Submitted by Stavros on Tue, 01/05/2007 - 00:52.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.
I can't stay connected. When I start playing something in WinAmp, the "transfer rate" disconnects and begin trying again without positive results
Submitted by ludtwenny on Wed, 02/05/2007 - 21:13.Sometimes, I see that it is unable to connect to the socket
Do U have an idea of what can solve this problem?
Hello
Submitted by GS (not verified) on Thu, 03/05/2007 - 15:40.Great tutorial, congratulations.
Succeeded all what he writes the in tutorial. Problem is i can sher with others my music. From another computer, insert the in Winamp date with my address, appears the notice" Connecting... And it's all, don't connected. Where you believe i have wrongly, what another else must can I do.
Have net type LAN, disabled firewall.
Thank in advance for any advice.GS.
If you are in a LAN, you should give them your private address, the one displayed at the details tab of your connection, not the address shown in the webpage.
Submitted by Stavros on Thu, 03/05/2007 - 17:03.---
Vidi, Vici, Veni.