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Using External Players

Internet radio stations broadcast in a variety of formats. Here is a quick and dirty guide explaining expected behavior when you click on various types of external player links on LoudCity.

pls, m3u - This should open Winamp, iTunes, Real Player and start streaming mp3. It's possible Windows Media Player could be launched for some Windows users.
ram - This should open Real Player and start streaming mp3.
asx - This will open Windows Media Player and start streaming mp3 or wma (windows media audio) if the broadcaster is using wma. Generally speaking wma is a format only available for Windows, but there are some non Windows players that can play wma. VLC is one of those players.
ogg - If you're on Windows the Winamp is your best option for this format. Ogg (a.k.a Ogg Vorbis) is an open source format developed by the The Xiph Foundation. It's bandwidth efficient, so you get better sound with lower connection speeds. Broadcasters may use this format to provide superior sound while reducing operating costs.
aac+ - If you're on Windows the Winamp is your best option for this format. Like ogg, aac+ offers superior sound at low connection speeds.

Players

Winamp
VLC
Real Player
Real Player
Linux and Mac users...you guys a are pretty capable and we're sure you know your options in this Windows-centric world of players.

This is a typical station page.

Here station fans can tune in, discuss, tag the station, and join a station's group. Groups provides a closer connection with listeners and allows you to build a community around your station.

Tags are a way for listeners to bookmark your station and also provide a way to classify your station for searching. For instance, the more people that tag a station 'Alternative', the higher that station will appear when someone searches for or clicks an 'Alternative' tag.

new!When you purchase a broadcast package you are given a number of Listener Units. You divvy your Listener Units up among the four bit rate options: 32kbs, 64kbs, 96kbs, or 128kbs*. We came up with the idea of Listener Units so that you can re-allocate your bandwidth at any time.

For instance, let's say you start broadcasting thinking all your listeners will have a broadband connection. Eventually you start hearing from people that can't tune in because they're (unfortunately!) still on a dial up connection. All you have to do is re-allocate some Listener Units to the lower quality 32kbs stream!

*bit rates correspond to stream quality - a higher number means a higher quality stream

Basic stats are provided for your station. You can see what's happening 'now' and the last thirty days.

Weekly spin charts are generated for your station. They contain the top 100 most heard songs you played during the week. Charts are often linked to by artists which drives traffic back to your station.

There are many ways for your station to be found on LoudCity

All active stations are randomly rotated and appear on the homepage as a featured station.

The most used tags appear on the homepage. Click next and you'll see what happens when someone clicks the 'Alternative' tag.

This is the search results for all stations tagged 'Alternative'. As mentioned earlier, the stations most tagged 'Atlernative' are listed first.

When someone clicks on an artist name anywhere on the site they're taken to an artist page where they can see the stations that play that artist. Again the stations that play that artist most are listed first.

Yet another way for listeners to find stations they're going to like.

In addition to all the features you've just seen we also offer a Custom Launch Page option. This allows you to upload your own html page(s) to LoudCity. Since our webcasting licenses require our broadcasters to 'launch' their streams from the loudcity.com domain, the Custom Launch Page option is a great way to keep the look and feel of your existing site when you send listeners over to tune in.

Whether you're a seasoned online broadcaster or just want to try it as a hobby, LoudCity provides a great set of tools and features for you to be successful. Give it a try!