RocknRoots

Setting Up your Own Internet Radio Station

By admin on Apr. 28, 2009.

Radio has been lagging for some years now, seeming to be a dinosaur compared to streaming internet radio, podcasting, XM satellite radio, and the plethora of other technologies that have reared their heads in the past 10 years. One of these new technologies is basically the same thing as old-school AM/FM radio, and that is internet radio. They both serve the same basic function, except with internet radio, you can set up your own station and play the music you want to play. I find this to be really exciting. So, with this knowledge in hand, how would one go about setting up an internet radio station?

Internet radio stations use streaming audio technology to deliver audio content to your listeners. Basically, streaming audio is a more efficient and effective solution for delivering audio content. Instead of someone having to download the full audio file to listen to it, it is “streamed” off of a server so the end user can listen to the content live instead of having the file’s data stored on their computer. There are special servers that deliver streaming media, and most ISPs have streaming media abilities, so you need to ask your internet provider first to make sure that you’ll be able to do so.

This tutorial is concerned with setting up and working a internet radio station utilizing pre-recorded content. (You can also broadcast live, but that’s another tutorial in itself.) So, let’s jump right into what hardware you’ll need to get going.

Gear you’ll need to get going:

1.CD Player You’ll most likely be using and audio player on your computer, such as Real Player. You can set-up your playlist as you see fit. Some ISPs offer streaming radio services that utilize your media player playlist to figure out what you want played, and when to play it. You will need to check with your ISP to find out the details, as every one is different.

2.CD ripping software (To gather your audio files) I personally use Windows Media Player to rip my audio cds, it seems to be the easiest I’ve come across. Please keep in mind that there are special rules for broadcasting copyrighted content, and you will be liable if you broadcast any copyrighted content.

3.Audio editing software If you decide to record anything yourself, station identification bits and the like, you’ll need a microphone too. I use Sony Soundforge for any audio editing, as it’s a very simple, intuitive program. This will also benefit you if you’d like to censor any of the songs, or add anything to them. It also helps out if you want to cut down on the song’s file sizes. You can pull a .wav file into Soundforge and output a compressed MP3 file in seconds.

4.A standard hosting account with an ISP Every ISP is different, so you’ll have to check with yours. All you really need to ask is if they support streaming internet radio, and if they do, you’re good to go.

This is a very simplified guide to setting up and internet radio station, but it should be an adequate primer if you have no knowledge of streaming internet radio. There are many programs out there, free and paid, that will help you get the job done too. There is a great repository of resources over at http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/software/multimedia_goodies.html that I suggest you check out. Anyways, I learned a lot writing this article, I hope you learned just as much reading it.

Jason Cole
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/setting-up-your-own-internet-radio-station-70578.html

Internet Radio – the New Vehicle for your Marketing Message

By admin on Apr. 25, 2009.

Marketing professionals have always been extremely innovative in using various mediums and Internet marketing professionals are probably the most proactive group in this fraternity when it comes to employing some new medium to spread their message.

While Internet marketing has come of age with the recent social media marketing evolution and other aggressive variations like viral marketing; marketers are yet to discover the full potential of another extremely effective medium – Internet Radio.

Radio has been used as a marketing medium ever since its inception. However, with the advent of TV, Internet and various other ways of entertainment, traditional radio has lost its importance to some extent. Internet radio has been successful in bringing back the focus to this medium. As the number of Internet users is on the rise every passing day, so is the number of people who listen to Internet radio. This growing number of Internet radio listeners definitely provides a lucrative field for the marketers to push their message.

There are several Internet radio stations that are extremely professional and host quality shows. These radio stations have a good number of regular listeners. There are stations that are particularly dedicated to certain industries and these Internet radio stations can actually be a gold mine for marketers working in those specific niche.

There are several advantages of using Internet radio as your advertising medium, some of which can be as follows:

• A relatively new medium used by lesser number of advertisers, so your message doesn’t get lost among another thousand advertisements.
• Many Internet radio stations are specific to certain niche, so if you are advertising a product specific to that niche, you are actually hitting your target segment specifically.
• You really don’t need to give an advertisement! You can simply be a guest at any of the talk radio shows on a popular Internet radio station and that would do wonders to promote your brand. Of course you need to know your stuff if you are considering this option.
• When a user listens to an Internet radio station, he actually logs on to that website or clicks the “play” button to listen to it. More user involvement indicates more engaged users resulting in easier penetration of marketing message.
• We come across more ads on visual media than on any audio medium – it is expected the attention share would be more in this case.
• Internet radio carries with it the inherent nature of Internet – it is Global! You are not just advertising to your own city or town, Internet radio has the capacity to take your message to the world.

Some marketers have already started using the better-known Internet talk radio stations for advertising their products and services. However, this medium is still probably at its infancy with respect to commercialization. It is expected that the marketers will definitely make full use of its potential with the increase in popularity of the medium. Who knows, Internet radio might turn out to be the next big thing in the marketing field!

Ray Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/internet-radio-the-new-vehicle-for-your-marketing-message-124298.html