SHOUTcast

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SHOUTcast is a multiplatform freeware audio streaming technology, developed by Nullsoft. SHOUTcast uses MP3 encoding of audio content and HTTP (though multicast can be used) as the transport protocol to broadcast web radio, also known as Internet radio. Both servers and clients are available for Windows, FreeBSD, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris.

SHOUTcast software allows users to set up their own Internet radio servers using provided software. The output format is supported by multiple clients including the widely popular Nullsoft Winamp, XMMS, Zinf and Apple iTunes. Using the software, users may set up radio servers for their own needs. Current uses include listening to music as well as live broadcasting of events for the average person.

1 The SHOUTcast protocol
2 See also
3 External links

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The SHOUTcast protocol

SHOUTcast uses the HTTP protocol. To receive SHOUTcast, simply do a GET from the server. You can do this directly in your web browser. For example, if you point your browser at a SHOUTcast server you get this:

 icy-notice1:<BR>This stream requires <a href="http://www.winamp.com/">Winamp</a><BR>
 icy-notice2:SHOUTcast Distributed Network Audio Server/Linux v1.9.2<BR>
 icy-name:WLHS 89.9 FM Lakota High School
 icy-genre:alternative rock
 icy-url:http://wlhsradio.com
 Content-Type:audio/mpeg
 icy-pub:1
 icy-br:48 

[MP3 bitstream data]

If the data stream is saved as an MP3 file, it will be possible to play it in an MP3 player.

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SHOUTcast tags

The first block of data contains useful tags that provide information about the stream.

icy-notice: A general information tag.
icy-name: This gives the name of the channel being received.
icy-genre: As you might expect, this tag gives us the genre.
icy-url: Gives the URL for the station's web site.
Content-Type: States the MIME media type of the stream, usually audio/mpeg for MP3 radio. TV streams may use video/nsv.
icy-pub: Indicates if the stream is public (1) or private (0).
icy-br: This final tag gives the stream bit rate in kbit/s.

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Song information

In order to get information about the song being played, the GET request must include a tag, like this GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nIcy-MetaData:1\r\n\r\n. The data that is received will now contain song information.

The first difference in the received stream is in the tags. There is an extra one:

icy-metaint:8000

This provides the location of the song information. In this example, the data will be presented every 8000 bytes. That's MP3 data bytes, so ignore the header information, and the song information when working out where the song data is.

The first byte of the song information is the length of the information block. This number must be multiplied by 16 to get the length in bytes, and it includes itself. The remaining space is used by tags:

StreamUrl='www.club977.com';
StreamTitle='singer, title';

This gives us the URL of the stream. We also get the name of the artist and the title of the track.

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Uses

The most common use of SHOUTcast is for broadcasting Internet Radio. Using SHOUTcast it is possible to cheaply set up an Internet radio station, allowing hobbyists to set up their own radio stations for a fraction of the cost of a traditional AM broadcasting or FM radio station. Traditional radio stations also use SHOUTcast to extend their presence onto the web.

Another use of SHOUTcast is to play synchronized music in different rooms at parties. It is easy to set up a broadcast from one computer and then make other computers listeners. These listeners will be synchronized with one another although the broadcasting computer will be a couple of seconds ahead.

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