Example Radio Stations

What you need in terms of hardware and software depends on what you intend to do. An online radio station can be as simple as a few pieces of software, or as complex as a state-of-the-art recording studio.

Minimum Radio Station

This small-time mom-n-pop station offers listeners a choice of several pre-recorded programs, which are assembled from CDs and other pre-existing recordings. They have a standard hosting account with an ISP, and use whatever streaming server the ISP offers.

Equipment needed:

• CD Player
• CD Ripper Software (available as cheap shareware)
• Audio Editing Software

Actually, the CD gear is optional. If you compile programs from existing digital audio files, then all you really need is some audio software and a hosting account.

Awesome Radio Station

This big-timer is going for the gold. They offer a live broadcast as well as a choice of pre-recorded streams. Programming includes original commentary and broadcasts of live events. They own several servers with the streaming server software of their choice, maintained by an ISP (a dedicated server or co-location agreement). Their studio is equipped with a high-bandwidth connection such as ADSL or fractional T-1.

Hardware:

• Assorted Microphones
• Assorted CD and Tape Players
• Audio Mixer
• Outboard Audio Gear (EQ, Compressor/Ducker, etc.)
• Multichannel DA/AD Converter
• Digital Audio Card
• Dedicated Computer with Encoder Software

Software:

• Streaming Media Server/Encoder Package
• Assorted Audio Recording/Editing Software

Further Reading

Internet Radio Stations:

• Internet Radio List
• MIT's Online Radio List
• Spinner - 140 channels of streaming music on demand.
• Yahoo's Broadcast.com

Tutorials and Articles

• Streaming Media World
• Web Audio Workshop
• About.com - Internet Radio
• Digital Media Association - A trade group for online audio and video. Their site has a lot of pertinent news and articles.

Vendors of Streaming Servers

• RealNetworks
• Apple (QuickTime)
• Microsoft
• ShoutCast

Service Providers for Streaming Media

• OnAir Streaming Networks, Inc.
• Radio Data Group, Inc.

Performing Rights Organizations

• The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
• BMI.com
• SESAC
• Recording Industry Association of America

Software Sources

• Multimedia Goodies Download Page - Links to a veritable plethora of streaming media servers, players and utilities, many of them free or cheap.
• Jumbo - Over 300,000 Shareware and Freeware Programs.

One Radio Station to Go
Building an Internet Radio Station