What you need to create an Internet radio

Internet radio allows you to transmit audio streams consisting of stored content. Such content, as a rule, is played by MP3 files or live voice transmitted using a microphone.

To create an Internet radio, you need the following components: source, server, and listeners.

The source can be a home computer, which must be connected to the Internet. It is he who is used for mixing (mixing) all audio sources, which, in turn, will pass through the sound card. The computer will turn the sound information received from the sound card into a specific "stream" and send it to the server. And he is already forwarding to listeners the flow of information received from the computer. At the same time, server settings can allow you to manage the meta-data of the received stream (name, genre), as well as broadcast quality.

Any Internet user anywhere in the world can connect to this server and listen to the created radio.

For the successful creation of Internet radio does not need some kind of "park" of high-performance systems or expensive equipment. The most important factor when starting it is the use of a wide Internet channel.

Also, for Internet radio to work, you need to install special programs on the computer: Winamp (a player that plays music files), Radio Boss SHOUTcast Server, Sam Broadcaster, SHOUTcast Plug-in (serves as a special connecting mechanism that establishes a connection between SHOUTcast Server and the player through which information goes to the "people"). After downloading these programs and the plugin, install them on your home computer.

Broadcasting on the Internet is legal, so there is no need to obtain a special license to own a frequency in the FM / AM band. But if the contents of the broadcast information flows contain copyrighted materials, and the user does not have the rights to reproduce this file, this will be a violation of the law. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the appropriate rights, which for individuals or companies can be provided by organizations possessing these copyrights. As a rule, for this you need to pay a certain amount of cash.