What is SHOUTcast?
SHOUTcast is the name given to a streaming media software platform that enables the broadcast of audio in real-time over a network connection -- usually the Internet. It was first developed by Nullsoft (now an AOL subsidiary) who were the original makers of the popular Winamp software media player. The streaming platform was developed to offer users a convenient way of listening to Internet radio stations directly from within Winamp. The communication architecture that the SHOUTcast platform uses is based on the client-server model. This basically means that SHOUTcast servers provide a central point of access for client programs (the software running on your computer) in order to retrieve a list of available Internet radio stations to stream from. These client applications need to be at least compatible with the HTTP protocol to facilitate streaming audio. Ideally you should use a client that supports the SHOUTcast protocol to benefit from the retrieval of metadata -- this extra data includes information such as: artist, track, and even the stream URL.
Types of software applications that can stream SHOUTcast radio stations
There are various methods that you can use in order to tune into the thousands of Internet radio stations that are broadcast via SHOUTcast servers. The main types of software applications that are available include:
- Streaming Music Players -- this is the most common way that you will probably use when listening to streaming music via SHOUTcast servers. There are now a wide range of jukebox software programs that support SHOUTcast. Some of the most popular media players that have built-in support for listening to SHOUTcast radio stations include: Winamp, iTunes, Foobar2000, Spider Player, Fusion Media Player, Songbird, Amarok, and others. You can use other jukebox software that doesn't support the SHOUTcast protocol, but it needs to be able to at least communicate via the HTTP protocol.
- Standalone Internet Radio Players -- dedicated Internet radio players can be used to access SHOUTcast servers. Using this type of software program can give additional benefits that are not always featured with common jukebox software. For instance, some have the facility to record the streaming audio you are listening to and convert it to a common format like MP3. This can then give you the option to archive radio programs, transfer Web broadcasts to your MP3 player, etc.
- Mobile Music Apps -- various apps for several mobile platforms are available for streaming music via SHOUTcast servers. Examples of mobile operating systems that are supported through the availability of SHOUTcast apps include: iOS (iPhone / iPod / iPad), Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS, an more.
- SHOUTcast Web Radio Players -- these are Web page embedded players that are used for accessing SHOUTcast servers directly from within a Web page. Many music-related sites use these to attract visitors to use their website for listening to streaming audio. If you have a website, then you can also integrate a SHOUTcast Web radio player into your website. In fact, there are quite a lot of pre-coded (and free) SHOUTcast Web Radio Players that you can download for embedding into your existing website code. This gives you a great way of giving your website an injection of streaming music via Internet radio without the headache of writing your own code!
