Well the reason we choosed that type of brand name is simple.
"I + PLAY + RADIO" >>> Meaning: "I" as an individual who is "playing music" on the "radio".
It's quite simple... but some people confuse that and assuming we are a Radio Station
and not actual Service Provider offering it as a service. Our concept name has a metaphorical meaning
but in reality its quite simple and yet very easy to be missunderstood by many people.
We fully support Shoutcast V2 on our servers. There was a small issue related
to mp3 licensing encoding in the past but now this deprecated. As we don't have any license key
we are forced to offer a solution using LiquidSoap encoding software which of course offers some
additional features similar to IceCast but the main key feature is that your radio station can
broadcast in mp3 encoding without the need for a license key.
If you do need to use a license key, you are always welcome to use it.
A small minor issue that we want you to know is that Liquidsoap doesn't support fully
V2-source connections and its limited to V1-source connections but that doesn't affect
at all the output to be fully V2 Shoutcast audio.
We still offer broadcasting in Shoutcast V1 on our servers but the software itself is deprecated
and there is no longer active development and so for that reason we as well no longer offer support
for this platform. You can always select Shoutcast v1 when you purchase a broadcasting plan but
support will be very limited.
And of course at last but not least, Icecast is always supported on our servers. Its a very stable
and robust streaming platform which gets updates on a regular basis just like Shoutcast V2.
There is actually one very big difference between Shoutcast V2 and Icecast. And that is the way
that autodj VS live broadcasting is being handled by the platform accordingly.
On Shoutcast V2 when autodj is active and playing, and a DJ wants to connect and broadcast live
the autodj automatically stops after couple of seconds time and allows the live broadcast to get active.
So essentially there is a noticable small delay towards the listeners.
On Icecast when autodj is active and playing, and a DJ wants to connect and broadcast live
the autodj doesn't stop BUT the live broadcast connection goes on top of the autodj and allowing
in realtime the broadcast to be heard on the player while autodj is still playing but in the background.
That is achieved using mount points. And these mounts points are handled in a very clever way in order to make this possible.
Another difference between the two streaming platforms is the radio directory auto-submission and
as well the popularity of each invidivually. Shoutcast is the main radio directory for Shoutcast stream which also
is now in co-operation with Radionomy, and are very popular both, which can grow a listener audience base.
BUT things have changed lately since 2013 and now even this radio directory isn't helping enough to gain audience like it did in the past.
On the other hand the radio directory of Icecast is not so popular and thus cannot help much in growing a listener audience.
So just keep in mind that you can always submit your Radio Station to other popular and independent Radio Directories out there
which can help you grow faster a listener base, and all you have to do is google "Submit my Internet Radio Station"
and for sure you will get to some decent results which will help you.
Currently on iPlayRadio we accept PayPal and E-Banking (Revolut) payment methods.
Its very easy to pay via PayPal and even directly using your Credit Card via this service.
Also via e-banking you can always send the amount from your bank to our bank without any additional fees.
NOTE: The currency we accept currently is in Euros, but PayPal auto-converts the currency
if you wish to pay in another currency. Also a 4.4% PayPal tax fee is applied additionally.
For more information visit PayPal WebSite.
Yes, you can always customize your Radio plan prior ordering.
Just visit our Radio Broadcasting plans page and scroll down
to see the appropriate form for customizing your Radio Server to your needs.
As soon as we receive your order request, we will get back to you, with our price proposal.
Yes, we offer Reseller Accounts, where you can resell Radio Servers.
All you have to do is contact us and we shall discuss
everything according your requirements and come up to a working solution.
Unfortunately, we do not provide radio licenses with our servers.
If you are planning to play copyrighted material for which you do not have permission
from the legal owner(s) in copyright, then you should get a proper license.
Licensing is different among countries, so you may need to research multiple countries to check licensing requirements.
Furthermore, we solely declare, that we have no responsibility of the material you will broadcast on your Radio.
We hereby declare that we have no responsibility for content of Websites hosted
on our Servers, unless its illegal 100% in form of X-Rated/18+ material or Political Prohibited Content.
Websites considered illegal are strictly prohibited and banned from our servers.
All services on IplayRadio are working in a pre-paid(*) method of payment.
Meaning that in order to continue operate your Radio Station or Website hosted
invoices sent have to be firstly paid out-front prior renewing your service and maintaining its activity.
No matter if you are using or NOT your service, unless you specifically mention to us to postpone its operation.
You can always email us if for any reason you need to delay a payment of an invoice and we shall keep
your service active. As long as we are informed, on time, we can ignore the suspension of your service.
Any of services NOT being paid during the due date frame, will be suspended automatically from our system.
Furthermore if we don't get any email reply/notice from the client during the period of 1-month of unpaid service
we will be forced to shutdown and remove any services without further notification.
(*): Remember the old coin-up games? That is exactly the system we use in terms of paying to keep the service active.
We have a 30-Days(*) money back guarantee with no questions asked in our refund policy.
BUT... if you are not satisfied with any of our services, we shall refund you the whole amount of any billing cycle of a service.
Please NOTE that, if you choose to leave our services on your own without any further notice from you and without claiming a refund
we shall consider it as your final decision and terminate the account within 30-days (as stated in TOS). and therefore no refunds shall be returned.
(*): 30-Days money back guarantee can actually stand in the same manner for longer billing cycles. Meaning that if you have paid
3-months out front of your service, we shall refund you those 3-months. BUT if you decided to cancel your service(s) sooner
and get a notice from you, we shall refund you only the amount of the consumed time-frame.
Yes we do have a Press-Kit and its available for download below and you can use it to support us.
Click on the LINK HERE to download our current Press-Kit.
We offer many different Support solutions to our clients. They are described below.
1. Support by E-mail. Its the most USED method to support our clients but sometimes,
due to different timezone around. the globe this can mean minutes / hours from the time the client sends the email
until the time we reply to it.
2. Support by Live Chat from our Facebook Official page. This method of support is NOT our desired one as we are not so often on Facebook.
We only offer this method for important message requests and mostly for discussing various issues around streaming and web hosting.
3. Support by Anydesk. A popular software which many people and companies use to offer realtime support solution
to an important problem. Of course Anydesk is not the only software out there, there are others among but we prefer
this one due to its secure structure core thus both sides (us and the client) feel more safe.
You can always download AnyDesk from this link.
and after a pre-arrangement we can settle a LIVE Session.
There are many ways to increase listener traffic on your Radio Station and below we explain some of them.
· ADDING YOUR RADIO STATION IN RADIO DIRECTORIES AND PORTALS ·
Here you can see a list of some really good internet radio directories and portals where you can add your station today.
1. GetMeRadio
2. RadioPlug
3. MyRadioTuner
4. TuneIn
5. MyTuner-Radio
6. Streema
7. RadioGuide
8. Streaming the net
9. Streamfinder
10. Liveradio
11. Pickradio
12. Onlineradiobox
13. i3Radio
14. Streamstat
15. Radioshaker
16. Streamitter
17. Radio Tower
18. RadioForest
19. Radio-Net
20. TuneYou
You can always check our Demo-Radio which is listed in many more directories...
· ADDING YOUR RADIO STATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITES ·
You can always advertise mostly for free, your radio station, by publishing either its direct stream url (e.g: ip:port number/stream)
or the website station's url if you do have a website for your radio station. Keep in mind that not having a website for your station
its not a big problem as long as you have your station listed to some decent radio directories or portals.
Many station owners fear that not having a website for their station its a big issue. Well not unless you have some content
to display like promoting the DJs, having news related to music and even perhaps a live chat where visitors can chat with Djs or producers.
Creating a fan base is not an easy task and takes long time process. Nowadays the fanbase is mostly around social media so
its crucial to build a fan base around almost all popular social media (not just Facebook for example). You must try Twitter, Instagram and even Google+ .
· ADDING A LOW COST SOUNDWISE PRO AUDIO CONTENT TO YOUR STATION ·
Its always good to create some nice radio-jingles which can be aired among songs on your radio station.
A lot of station owners believe that making pro-sound-wise jingles can cost a lot of money but that is not true entirely.
You can try some of these websites below which offer affordable solutions for radio-jingles.
1. RadioJinglesVip
2. LCRJingles
3. ProJingle
4. Fiverr
5. RadioProductionCompany
· THE MUSIC YOUR STATION BROADCASTS IS VERY IMPORTANT ·
Depending on the music genre you have chosen to broadcast on your station its very important the way its organized.
Either you broadcast live or via an autodj management system it is important what comes out to the audience.
You have to be careful and monitor as well view statistics upon building the playlists because every hour in a whole 24hour day really matters.
Since you are not only targeting listeners in your local area, just like an FM radio would do, you need to think globally and wisely.
Many radio stations are broadcasting one main music genre and then followed by sub-genres of that main genre.
That is not entirely wrong but the focus has to be around that main music genre. Remember that listeners get used to what they listen.
If you change that habbit from the listener you will eventually lose that one... and many more down the road.
· THE WAY YOUR WEBSITE LOOKS IS VERY IMPORTANT ·
While we mentioned that its not mandatory to have a website for your station, if you do tho have one, you must be careful
not to change the way the website looks, often enough. Once a website is build it has to be steady in its design because
people get used to what they see and tend to remember easily. Once you change the looks of the website often enough
that is another great possibility to lose visitors and therefore potential listeners. Keep the website the same but you can always
change the content within which will show to your visitors that this radio station is up to date and has fresh content to show them.
As you may know (some may not know), in order to be displayed for free
(automatically via auth-hash) into their radio directory the station needs to
be max 128K audio bitrate. If your station is higher than 128K, you need to pay
additional FEE to Shoutcast.
Regardless, tho, if you paid for a stream which is higher than 128K you can
still continue to use that bitrate but your stream will be considered as PRIVATE
from Shoutcast and won't be listed into their directory.
You will have to change your stream to PRIVATE from PUBLIC anyway to avoid conflicts.
You can list your station for example on these very decent radio directories, FOR FREE
and you will get some good exposure. Below we mention just a few of them:
1. GetMeRadio
2. RadioPlug
3. MyRadioTuner
4. TuneIn
5. MyTuner-Radio
6. Streema
7. RadioGuide
8. Streaming the net
9. Streamfinder
10. Liveradio
11. Pickradio
12. Onlineradiobox
13. i3Radio
14. Streamstat
15. Radioshaker
16. Streamitter
17. Radio Tower
18. RadioForest
19. Radio-Net
20. TuneYou
You can always check our Demo-Radio which is listed in many more directories...
Currently we offer cover-arts retrieval via iTunes, Last.FM and embedded images.
For the first two which is via internet callback API, in order for retrieving cover-arts properly
your mp3 files must have properly setup an ID3-TAG for the Artist name and Song title (check the WIDGETS menu)
If something is wrongly setup in an mp3 file you shall never get a cover-art or might not get the correct one.
Another way to display cover-arts is to embed an image inside your mp3 file with the cover-art you want to be displayed.
That is automatically displayed via the widget of cover-art if it gets identified within the mp3 file.
If nothing is identified, then the cover-art will be retrieved via iTunes or Last.FM.
We offer natively TLS/SSL Streaming support by default.
Also by default
we offer self-proxy streaming which doesn't require any additional port numbers or resources.
For any further assistance don't hesitate to contact us.
All you have to do is copy and paste the SSL Streaming url from within QUICK LINKS (left-menu)
in your webpage code line and it will start playing normally and thus keeping your website secure.
If for any reason you can't view any metadata being displayed, you can always grab a now-playing widget
from within the Widgets menu and place it below your player so it can display the song information.
Every week our system is backing-up all data hosted on every website .
By all means tho its also your responsibility to take a backup of your files, in order to be safe 100%.
Unfortunately due to large amount of data space required for each AutoDJ
it would require us an additional backup server just for storing all the mp3 files for the Radio Stations.
Therefore, its solely your responsibility 100% to take a backup of your mp3 files.
AzuraCast and CentovaCast are similar but also very different.
For broadcasters, streamers or Djs, the two platforms perform the same tasks.
That is, they will help you broadcast from any software you use to your streaming server.
They will also help you upload music from your computer to autodj where you can the schedule your music.
For the average user, both serve the same purpose and work alright.
Azuracast has all the functionalities of CentovaCast with additional extras.
For example, Azuracast allows you to Automate Song Requests, Hybrid Streaming
(Both SHOUTcast and Icecast streams at the same time) as well as
a smooth multi-upload SFTP functionality.
The Web DJ is a web-based application to help you broadcast
from your microphone or mp3 files from your PC. This functionality is by far
the most innovative one in Azuracast.
The Web Dj allows you to broadcast live without the need
of additional software such as Sam Broadcaster et.c.
The schedule of playlists in Centova Cast is not so convenient. To understand playlists
you’d have to manually select a playlist to see the play time.
In Azuracast, there is a scheduled view, which we think is very critical
for any broadcaster. This perspective provides you with a better view
of your week and times each playlist is scheduled.
