Introduction And Help (Please)

[TechnoKelvin]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm a full time college student as well as working full time doing web design for a music company. I just joined and wanted to introduce my future station and ask for some help. Here goes:

 

The Station Name: AscenDance Radio

The Station Slogan: "Taking Dance Radio To A Higher Level"

What Is It about: My station is about playing dance music that isn't influenced by big business executives or sponsors trying to promote their artists. It's all about people who love the genre of Dance Music. It's supposed to show Dance Radio Stations out there (FM, Satellite and Online alike) what they can be if they listened more to the their love for Dance music then playing crappy mainstream remixes because it will score higher ratings.

 

I will not make any money from the station and all expenses will come from my pocket. That's why I'm on a tight budget but at the same time I understand you get what you pay for and I want quality!

 

I've been searching here for a good SHOUTcast stream provider and am a bit overwhelmed with all the different hosts people recommend. I am hoping someone can answer these questions:

 

1) Why do some people use more than 2 streaming company? I see people list they are using almost 3 SHOUTcast streamers, why?

 

2) Some say good things about hosting companies they used but don't really state why they left. Why?

 

3) Is there anything in particular that I should look for in a SHOUTcast streaming company? I hear people talk about it being essential to have a SHOUTcast interface on the server?

 

4) Why do the prices fluctuate so much? I see so many companies ranging from a 50 listener slots @ 128kbps go anywhere from 25 to 115 US. It's scary because getting that at 25 is great but I feel a catch coming while at the same time I can't afford 115 a month!

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[jkemr]

Hi technokelvin just a note to say there are loads of shoutcast streaming companys out there and yes some of them go over the top price wise.

but if money is abit of a problem at the min for you i would leave it for now coz the server is only the start money wise.You will also need to pay for web hosting if your going to have a website and then royalties to pay if your going to play copyright music.I use http://www.webradioworld.com myself I find them very good money wise. You get Webspace SHOUTcast Admin Panel

Personal & Geographical Statistics & royalties cover.But like i said if money is a problem at the min look for a station to work on then you pay nothing Thanks JK

[James]

Stick around on November 1st. We ahve a Host Review panel going up soon ;)

Answers to your questions:

 

1) Why do some people use more than 2 streaming company? I see people list they are using almost 3 SHOUTcast streamers, why?

Some like to test out quality. Also stations usually stream at 3-4 different streams at different bitrates. They use different companies because they get different prices for different kbps streams. E.g, someone got a 32kbps stream for $2 a month, and another host had a 128kbps stream for $6 a month.

 

2) Some say good things about hosting companies they used but don't really state why they left. Why?

Not too sure about this, they might have found a better deal, or quit the streaming business.

 

3) Is there anything in particular that I should look for in a SHOUTcast streaming company? I hear people talk about it being essential to have a SHOUTcast interface on the server?

It is always good to have AutoDJ, but some hosts dont offer it free. SHOUTcast is SHOUTcast. You get the server and some extra features, nothing really in comparison.

 

4) Why do the prices fluctuate so much? I see so many companies ranging from a 50 listener slots @ 128kbps go anywhere from 25 to 115 US. It's scary because getting that at 25 is great but I feel a catch coming while at the same time I can't afford 115 a month!

Some people dont know the meaning of price, theres alot of hosts who start up offering crazy low prices but they dont last. Find a good trusted host who know what they are doing.

 

Hope i answered them well! Anyone can correct me hehe.

BTW: Welcome to the forums. Great to have you here!

[TechnoKelvin]

Thanks for all your help!

 

One more question though, you really don't lose anything by trying different streams?

 

I mean, besides money, it's not like web hosting and backing stuff up /transferring stuff. You try a stream host, they end up sucking, you cancel (As long as you pay monthly and don't enter a contract) and you move on (With a chance you might not get your money back)

 

Correct?

[James]

Some hosts offer a money back gurantee, I havent seen many but the best ive seen is a 97 day money back. Think of streaming hosts as normal webhosts! They only offer different products!

 

[kwdservices]

 

1) Why do some people use more than 2 streaming company? I see people list they are using almost 3 SHOUTcast streamers, why?

Some like to test out quality. Also stations usually stream at 3-4 different streams at different bitrates. They use different companies because they get different prices for different kbps streams. E.g, someone got a 32kbps stream for $2 a month, and another host had a 128kbps stream for $6 a month.

 

 

I wanted to also mention that a lot of people use several different hosts so they get different networks so their listeners get the best possible connectivity to the SHOUTcast server.

 

Some hosts though have multiple networks like we do and you can choose the location, encouraging you to use that host for everything.

[wildun]

1) Why do some people use more than 2 streaming company? I see people list they are using almost 3 SHOUTcast streamers, why?

 

Redundancy.. Never put all your eggs in one basket. By having multiple hosts if one service goes down your station stays up. Figure out how many slots you need total then divide them by 3. Buy one 3rd from 3 different host companys. I'm a broadcaster 1st, a hosting company 2nd. At any given time unforseeable things can happen allowing a single hosting company to go down. Many have excellent uptime yearly but they can all fail. I have slots with several other hosting companies to make sure my station is up.

 

2) Some say good things about hosting companies they used but don't really state why they left. Why?

 

Could be a number of reasons, a friend etc.

 

3) Is there anything in particular that I should look for in a SHOUTcast streaming company? I hear people talk about it being essential to have a SHOUTcast interface on the server?

 

I agree with James. The AutoDJ is a nice feature to have as back up if nothing else in case your station pc dies unexpectedly. Most everything is is eye candy.

 

4) Why do the prices fluctuate so much? I see so many companies ranging from a 50 listener slots @ 128kbps go anywhere from 25 to 115 US. It's scary because getting that at 25 is great but I feel a catch coming while at the same time I can't afford 115 a month!

 

The old addage "If sounds too good to be true it probably isn't" comes to mind. I've watched host services come and go over the years. I used a lot of the low cost ones and I got what I paid for, cheap. Ultimately in my experience they oversell their bandwidth and disappear because they can't make enough money to pay their costs. Also cheap is usually shared bandwidth servers and the quality is not up to par. If you want listeners to stay and come back you will need a solid host with premium bandwidth.