If you can find a corner of a room in your home or a small room where you can add acoustic enhancement. You’ll want to keep your computer there as your base of operation, along with a large desk.
Consider how many people you want to have on your station speaking at a time. If you only plan on streaming music with no talk breaks, you won’t need a microphone.
To listen for the acoustics in your room, walk around and clap your hands. Listen to see if your hear a harsh ringing or a light reverberation. [2] X Research source If you hear something closer to the ringing, you’ll want to add some acoustic treatment. Add acoustic panels to your walls. If you can, make the furniture in this area plush and add soundproof foam.
Most podcasts are in MP3 format and shared either through iTunes, Soundcloud, or both. The advantage of a podcast is that many people are already familiar with the format and follow other podcasts. When you post a new podcast, it will send out notifications to your followers.
Icecast is a GPL streaming media server project that currently streams in MP3 format, and the software plans to soon add support for video and Vorbis formats. '
Follow the installation instructions as they appear on your screen. Run Icecast2 Win32.
Install Winamp, to your preferences, but don’t run it until you install the SHOUTcast DSP. If you don’t want to use winamp, there are plenty of other alternatives that are also free. Look into using services like Foobar or XMPlay. If you have a Mac, consider using a service like the VLC media player or Clementine. [5] X Research source
On the left side of the window scroll down, and click on DSP/Effect. Then, click on Nullsoft SHOUTcast Source DSP. In the SHOUTcast Source window that appears, click on output. In the address box, put localhost, if you’re serving on the same machine as you are going to DJ on, which is normally the case in a home studio. Enter the IP address of your computer. Leave the default port at 8000.
In the URL box, you insert the address for the website, which represents your stream. In genre, you can put what kind of music you play.
An internet radio station has no naming restriction guidelines or formats. However, consider playing off of traditional radio stations and including a number in your title. For example, you might call you station, 103 The Mountain. Keep your name short and easy to pronounce.
Since your station is online, consider promoting through your social media platforms. Create a Facebook page and Twitter account for your station. [9] X Research source Update these regularly. When you ask people to listen, make it very clear what link they need to follow. Be patient. Growing an audience takes time.
After you create your social media pages, invite your personal social media friends to “like” them. Create short snippets of radio interviews that have happened that you can use to promote ongoing shows. Consider emailing your favorite bloggers and asking them to give your station a listen and a shoutout if they like. Post links to your station in places like Reddit. Host a giveaway. Getting people to tune in to your station for a giveaway can be a good way to get that initial contact and listen.
For music, cohesion doesn’t necessarily mean a singular genre. For example, you could center your station around music from the ’80s and play music from a few genres.
Create regular segments on your station that play certain things. Update your social media with what you are currently playing or what listeners can expect that day or that hour.
This allows you to execute your streaming smoothly, and clue listeners in on what you’ll be playing in the future.
Because your station is online, you can reach out to advertisers in companies that aren’t necessarily localized to your area. Think about your content and what kind of audience you most likely have. You want to cater to this audience. Keep ads brief. Because there are so many music streaming services available, listeners are unlikely to stay tuned in to your channel if your ads are too long.