SHOUTcast

Ever thought of "Radio Jockey"ing from home? Starting a college Radio Station? Or Just forming your own community of broadcasting?Or forming a network thro' broadcasting? If your answer is yes to anyone of these then SHOUTcast is for you.

"SHOUTcast is a free-of-charge audio homesteading solution. It permits anyone on the internet to broadcast audio from their PC to listeners across the Internet or any other IP-based network (Office LANs, college campuses, etc.). The SHOUTcast audio homesteading system is comprised of three simple components :

1) LISTENING

One can visit the SHOUTcast directory or the broadcastes at anytime of the day and listen to what people are broadcasting all around the earth. The recommended Players are :

• Windows users should use Winamp.
• Mac users should use iTunes.
• Linux/X Windows users should use XMMS.

2) BROADCASTING

Persons wanting to broadcast will need to run their own server, as per the instructions below, or find someone willing to run one for them. Once a server's located, broadcasters use Winamp and a plug-in called the SHOUTcast Source for Winamp Plug-In to send audio from Winamp to the SHOUTcast server. The tools are available here, and there's an entire section of the documentation dedicated to the plug-in.

3) RUNNING A SERVER

The magic of the SHOUTcast system happens inside the SHOUTcast Distributed Network Audio Server (DNAS). This software runs on a server attached to an IP network with lots of bandwidth, and is responsible for receiving audio from a broadcaster, updating the SHOUTcast directory with information about what the broadcaster is sending, and sending the broadcast out to listeners. More information is in the server section of the documentation."

SHOUTcast is not only easy to use but also quick. The streaming of files is excelent and you get quality broadcasting. SHOUTcast also provides certain plugins to help youw ith broadcasting like DSP etc. They have a detailed tutorial on how to setup the server and broadcast in their on-line documentaion section. Hat Tip K.Ganesh of Colleger Magazine!

SHOUTcast

Die Dulci Fruere