Internet radio technology
Streaming
The most common way to distribute Internet radio is via streaming technology using a lossy audio codec. Popular streaming audio formats include MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Windows Media Audio, RealAudio and HE-AAC (sometimes called aacPlus). The bits are "streamed" (transported) over the network in TCP or UDP packets, then reassembled and played within seconds. (The delay is referred to as lag time.)
archos video recorder
History
boombox cd player
Early history
In 1993, Carl Malamud launched Internet Talk Radio which was the "first computer-radio talk show, each week interviewing a computer expert." This was Internet radio only insofar as it was conceptually a radio show on the Internet. As late as 1995, Internet Talk Radio was not available via multicast streaming; it was distributed "as audio files that computer users fetch one by one." However Malamud was among the foremost proponents of multicasting technology. In late 1994, his Internet Multicasting Service was set to launch RTFM, a multicast Internet radio news station. In January 1995, RTFM's news programming was expanded to include "live audio feeds from the House and Senate floors."
A November 1994 Rolling Stones concert was the "first major cyberspace multicast concert." Mick Jagger opened the concert by saying, "I wanna say a special welcome to everyone that's, uh, climbed into the Internet tonight and, uh, has got into the M-bone. And I hope it doesn't all collapse."
On November 7, 1994, WXYC (89.3 FM Chapel Hill, NC USA) became the first traditional radio station to announce broadcasting on the Internet. WXYC used an FM radio connected to a system at SunSite, later known as Ibiblio, running Cornell's CU-SeeMe software. WXYC had begun test broadcasts and bandwidth testing as early as August, 1994. WREK (91.1 FM, Atlanta, GA USA) started streaming on the same day using their own custom software called CyberRadio1. However, unlike WXYC, this was WREK's beta launch and the stream was not advertised until a later date.
In 1995, Progressive Networks released RealAudio as a free download. Time magazine said that RealAudio took "advantage of the latest advances in digital compression" and delivered "AM radio-quality sound in so-called real time." Eventually, "companies such as Nullsoft...and Microsoft" released streaming audio players "as free downloads". As the software audio players became available, "many Web-based radio stations began springing up."
In March 1996, Virgin Radio - London, became the first European radio station to broadcast its full program live on the internet. It broadcast its FM signal, live from the source, simultaneously on the internet 24 hours a day.
Internet radio attracted significant media and investor attention in the late 1990s. In 1998, the initial public stock offering for Broadcast.com set a record at the time for the largest jump in price in stock offerings in the United States. The offering price was US$18 and the company's shares opened at US$68 on the first day of trading. The company was losing money at the time and indicated in a prospectus filed with the Securities Exchange Commission that they expected the losses to continue indefinitely. Yahoo! purchased Broadcast.com on July 20, 1999 for US$5.7 billion.
US royalty controversy
In October 1998, the US Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). One result of the DMCA is that performance royalties are to be paid for satellite radio and Internet radio broadcasts in addition to publishing royalties. In contrast, traditional radio broadcasters pay only publishing royalties and no performance royalties.
A rancorous dispute ensued over how performance royalties should be assessed for Internet broadcasters. Some observers said that royalty rates that were being proposed were overly burdensome and intended to disadvantage independent Internet-only stationshat "while Internet giants like AOL may be able to afford the new rates, many smaller Internet radio stations will have to shut down." The Digital Media Association (DiMA) said that even large companies, like Yahoo! Music, might fail due to the proposed rates. Some observers said that some U.S.-based Internet broadcasts might be moved to foreign jurisdictions where US royalties do not apply.
Many of these critics organized SaveNetRadio.org, "a coalition of listeners, artists, labels and webcasters" that opposed the proposed royalty rates. To focus attention on the consequences of the impending rate hike, many US Internet broadcasters participated in a "Day of Silence" on June 26, 2007. On that day, they shut off their audio streams or streamed ambient sound, sometimes interspersed with brief public service announcements. Notable participants included Rhapsody, Live365, MTV, Pandora, and SHOUTcast. Some others that did not participate, like Last.fm, stated that they did not want to punish their listeners.
SoundExchange, representing supporters of the increase in royalty rates, pointed out the fact that the rates were flat from 1998 through 2005 (see above), without even being increased to reflect cost-of-living increases. They also point to the fact that CBS recently purchased Last.FM for 280 million dollars, and if internet radio is to build businesses from the product of recordings, the performers and owners of those recordings should receive fair compensation. Opponents[who?] argued that the purchase price paid for Last.FM reflected that it was primarily a social network service that included a radio service.
On May 1, 2007, SoundExchange came to an agreement with certain large webcasters regarding the minimum fees that were modified by the determination of the Copyright Royalty Board. While the CRB decision imposed a $500 per station or channel minimum fee for all webcasters, certain webcasters represented through DiMA negotiated a $50,000 "cap" on those fees with SoundExchange. However, DiMA and SoundExchange continue to negotiate over the per song, per listener fees.
SoundExchange has also offered alternative rates and terms to certain eligible small webcasters, that allows them to calculate their royalties as a percentage of their revenue or expenses, instead of at a per performance rate. To be eligible, a webcaster had to have revenues of less than $1.25 million dollars a year and stream less than 5 million "listener hours" a month (or an average of 6830 concurrent listeners). These restrictions would disqualify independent webcasters like AccuRadio, DI.FM, Club977 and others from participating in the offer, and therefore many small commercial webcasters continue to negotiate a settlement with SoundExchange.
An August 16, 2008 Washington Post article reported that although Pandora was "one of the nation's most popular Web radio services, with about 1 million listeners daily...the burgeoning company may be on the verge of collapse" due to the structuring of performance royalty payment for webcasters. "Traditional radio, by contrast, pays no such fee. Satellite radio pays a fee but at a less onerous rate, at least by some measures." The article indicated that "other Web radio outfits" may be "doom[ed]" for the same reasons.
On September 30, 2008, the United States Congress passed "a bill that would put into effect any changes to the royalty rate to which [record labels and web casters] agree while lawmakers are out of session." Although royalty rates are expected to decrease, many webcasters nevertheless predict difficulties generating sufficient revenue to cover their royalty payments.
In January 2009, the US Copyright Royalty Board announced that "it will apply royalties to streaming net services based on revenue."
Popularity
In 2003, revenue from online streaming music radio was US$49 million. By 2006, that figure rose to US$500 million.
A February 21, 2007 "survey of 3,000 Americans released by consultancy Bridge Ratings & Research" found that "[a]s much as 19% of U.S. consumers 12 and older listen to Web-based radio stations." In other words, there were "some 57 million weekly listeners of Internet radio programs. More people listen to online radio than to satellite radio, high-definition [sic] radio, podcasts, or cell-phone-based radio combined."
An April 2008 survey showed that, in the US, more than one in seven persons aged 2554 years old listen to online radio each week. In 2008, 13 percent of the American population listened to the radio online, compared with 11 percent in 2007.
Internet radio functionality is also built into many dedicated Internet radio devices, which give an FM like receiver user experience.
See also
Comparison of streaming media systems
Community radio
Electronic commerce
Internet Radio Audience Measurement
Internet radio device
Internet television
Internet stations, list
Mbone, experimental "multicast backbone"
Radio music ripping
Simulcast
List of streaming media systems
Internet radio licensing
Streaming Internet Radio toolbar
References
^ "Cable company is set to plug into Internet". The Wall Street Journal. August 24, 1993. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?did=4338975&sid=5&Fmt=3&clientId=1569&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
^ a b c "Peering Out a 'Real Time' Window". New York Times. February 8, 1995. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DF123FF93BA35751C0A963958260. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
^ "Internet Radio Station Plans to Broadcast Around the Clock". The New York Times. September 19, 1994. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE6DC1E3BF93AA2575AC0A962958260. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
^ WXYC Simulcast
^ wrek-net first | wrek atlanta, 91.1 fm
^ "Radio Free Cyberspace". Time. 1995-05-01. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982874,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
^ a b Richard D. Rose (2002). "Connecting the Dots: Navigating the Laws and Licensing Requirements of the Internet Music Revolution". IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review. http://www.ipmall.org/hosted_resources/IDEA/42_IDEA/42-3_IDEA_313_Rose.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
^ "A brief history of Virgin Radio by Adam Bowie". One Golden Square. September 26th, 2008. http://onegoldensquare.com/2008/09/a-brief-history-of-virgin-radio-by-adam-bowie/. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
^ "An Introduction to Internet Radio". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 26 October 2005. http://www.ebu.ch/fr/technical/trev/trev_304-webcasting.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
^ a b "Broadcast.com Faces Risks After Strong Initial Offering". New York Times. July 20, 1998. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E6DB1030F933A15754C0A96E958260. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
^ "Yahoo! Completes Broadcast.com Acquisition". Yahoo!. July 20, 1999. http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/pr/release343.html. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
^ a b "Why Are So Many Internet Radio Stations Still on the Air?", by Doc Searls, July 17, 2002, Linux Journal.
^ a b c "Digital Dilemma: Will new royalty fees kill Web radio?", by Michael Roberts 2002, Westword
^ a b Stagnant royalty rates may bring end to Internet radio, The Daily Collegian, April 26, 2007
^ a b Web radio may stream north to Canada, The Toronto Star, April 9, 2007
^ a b Gray, Hiawatha, "Royalty hike could mute Internet radio: Smaller stations say rise will be too much", The Boston Globe, March 14, 2007.
^ a b c d Olga Kharif, The Last Days of Internet Radio?, March 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
^ "Broache". CNet News. 2007-04-26. http://news.com.com/Lawmakers++propose+reversal+of+Net+radio+fee+increases/2100-1028_3-6179627.html.
^ CBS Acquires Europe Last.FM for $280 million
^ "Webcasters and SoundExchange Shake Hands". BusinessWeek.com. 2007-08-23. http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/08/web_radio_and_m.html. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
^ "SoundExchange Offers Discounted Music Rates To Small Webcasters". DigitalMediaWire.com. 2007-08-22. http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2007/08/22/soundexchange-offers-discounted-music-royalties-to-small-webcasters. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
^ SoundExchange extends (not very good) offer to small webcasters
^ SoundExchange Announces 24 Agreements - But Not One a Settlement With Small Webcasters
^ Giant Of Internet Nears Its 'Last Stand'
^ a b Even If Royalties for Web Radio Fall, Revenue Remains Elusive, The New York Times. Miller, Cain Claire. Oct.27, 2008.
^ Copyright Board begrudgingly adopts revenue-based streaming royalties
^ The "HD" in "HD radio" actually stands for hybrid digital, not high-definition. It's hybrid because analog and digital signals are broadcast together.
^ a b "Weekly online radio audience increases from 11 percent to 13 percent of Americans in last year, according to the latest Arbitron/Edison media research study," The Earth Times, April 9, 2008.
A danish internet radio
Further reading
"VOA: First on the Internet," by Chris Kern (2006)
Online Radio Stations Internet radio is essentially the same as traditional radio, but with a few differences
Priestman, Chris (2001). Web Radio: Radio Production for Internet Streaming. Focal Press. ISBN 978-0240516356.
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Media players
Windows
ATunes Adobe Media Player Connect Player CD Player CrystalPlayer DBpoweramp Dell MediaDirect DVD Player foobar2000 GOM Player High Definition Compatible Digital InterActual Player Iriver plus 3 MadCat Media Browser Media Center Media Go Media Player Media Player Classic MediaMonkey Mod4Win MusicBee Musicmatch Jukebox MusikCube PowerDVD QuickPlayer Quintessential Player SNESAmp Adobe Shockwave SonicStage Sonique The Core Media Player K-Multimedia Player WinDVD WinPlay3 Winamp Windows Media Center Windows Media Player Xiph QuickTime Components Yahoo! Music Jukebox Zune
Windows Mobile
The Core Pocket Media Player Media Player
Mac OS X
Audion Centerstage Chroma Cog DVD Player Front Row ITheater Peel Perian Plexapp Adobe Shockwave Windows Media Components for QuickTime Xiph QuickTime Components
Linux
Amarok Audacious Media Player Baudline Beep Media Player Cmus Decibel Audio Player Exaile Gnome Music Player Client Helix JuK Kaffeine LinuxMCE Lsongs Miro Mpg123 Muine Music Player Daemon Music on Console Noatun Ogle DVD Player Rhythmbox Totem Unix Amiga Delitracker Emulator Xine XMMS XMMS2
Palm OS
Pocket Tunes
Cross-platform
Adobe Flash Player Banshee Boxee DivX Player ITunes CoreAVC CorePlayer Core Pocket Media Player ffplay Miro MPlayer RealPlayer Songbird QuickTime VLC media player XBMC Zinf
Technologies
Codec Container format Demultiplexer Internet radio Internet television Playlist Media resource locator Music visualization Podcast
Related articles
Comparison of video player software Comparison of audio player software Video player HD media player Media center Portable media player
Categories: Internet radio | Streaming | Media formatsHidden categories: Articles needing cleanup from January 2008 | All pages needing cleanup | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from June 2008 | All articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases | Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from September 2008
I still cant play 720 x264 files on my C2D X1600 2GB iMac.
I get a 1080p (huge at least) XBMC white window with a lot of noise. The console spits this out:
QZ_SetVideoWindowed(720, 576)
Creating OpenGL context with shared=0×00000000
QZ_SetVideoWindowed(1280, 720)
Creating OpenGL context with shared=0×00000000
CxImage::Load – loading of type
++ WARN: could not retrieve file info for `image.nrg’: No such file or directory
++ WARN: can’t open nrg image file image.nrg for reading
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Ignoring seekhead entry for ID=0x1549a966
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Ignoring seekhead entry for ID=0x1654ae6b
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Ignoring seekhead entry for ID=0x114d9b74
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown entry 0x73a4 in info header
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55aa – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x23314f – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55ee – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0xaa – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55aa – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x23314f – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55ee – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0xaa – ignoring
Input #0, matroska, from ‘/Users/zAo/Movies/Films/The Hitchhiker/rev-hitchhiker.x264/rev-hitchhiker.x264.mkv’:
Duration: 01:48:43.0, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0.0: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5:1
Stream #0.1(eng): Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280×528 [PAR 1:1 DAR 80:33], 23.98 tb(r)
CxImage::Load – loading of type
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Ignoring seekhead entry for ID=0x1549a966
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Ignoring seekhead entry for ID=0x1654ae6b
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Ignoring seekhead entry for ID=0x114d9b74
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown entry 0x73a4 in info header
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55aa – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x23314f – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55ee – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0xaa – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55aa – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x23314f – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0x55ee – ignoring
[matroska @ 0xbbd320]Unknown track header entry 0xaa – ignoring
Input #0, matroska, from ‘/Users/zAo/Movies/Films/The Hitchhiker/rev-hitchhiker.x264/rev-hitchhiker.x264.mkv’:
Duration: 01:48:43.0, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0.0: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5:1
Stream #0.1(eng): Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280×528 [PAR 1:1 DAR 80:33], 23.98 tb(r)
Asked to open device: [iec958]
Asked to create device: [iec958]
Device should be digital: [1]
Channels: [2]
Sample Rate: [48000]
BitsPerSample: [16]
PacketSize: [2048]
Including: Built-in Output
Considering: [Built-in Output]
QZ_SetVideoWindowed(1680, 1050)
Creating OpenGL context with shared=0×00000000
[h264 @ 0xb9b150]Cannot parallelize deblocking type 1, decoding such frames in sequential order
[PortAudio] ERROR[/Volumes/Whopper/Users/elan/Code/Java/XBMC/xbmc/cores/dvdplayer/PortaudioDirectSound.cpp:104]: Stream is stopped.
QZ_SetVideoWindowed(1280, 720)
Creating OpenGL context with shared=0×00000000
CRITSEC[0x00cabc70]: Trying to destroy uninitialized section.
