Have you ever wanted to get your voice heard and become a Disc Jockey? It’s not as hard as one might think it is with the advent of Internet radio. Internet radio gives the average Joe a chance to become part of a radio station even if they aren’t able to become part of the local terrestrial station for whatever reason. Internet radio is an ever-growing and ever changing world and if one wants to be a DJ, then they have that ability. It will just take a bit of work on your part to get your voice heard on the Internet air-waves. The first thing you need to know to become a part of an Internet radio station is finding a station that you want to be a part of. If you can’t find one that suits you, then you won’t get your voice heard.
Most people who find themselves interested in Internet Radio already know where to find a radio station, but there are resources for those who don’t. One of those sources would be Shoutcast, (http://www.shoutcast.com) which lists any stations broadcasting via a Shoutcast server. Live 365 (http://www.live365.com) also lists various stations that you can choose from and yet one more source would be a site like Audio Realm, (http://www.audiorealm.com) that will give you even more stations to choose from. The only problem is that many of the stations listed on those sites, are independent broadcasters who are not interested in hiring on new people to broadcast. You can always opt to Google search for Internet radio and see what comes up there. You can ask around, as well, as friends who might know. If you frequent IRC (Internet Relay Chat), you might be able to find a station operating out of a channel on the server that you are on.
One of the biggest parts of becoming an Internet DJ is making sure that you have a connection that will allow you a stable connection to the stream host so that the show is smooth for the listeners. Each station will tell you what the minimum upload speed that you will need to maintain their streams and you will be held responsible for making sure that you have enough bandwidth available to hold the streams. You will likely be required to perform an Internet speed test (http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) to make sure that you have the bandwidth availability. If not, you will need to upgrade your Internet connection. Each station will vary, some will need a bit more than a 56k connection, while others will need 256kbps or higher. That will be something that you need to consider when finding your station. You will have to decide whether you are willing to upgrade to maintain a stream.
Once you have found a station that interests you, you will need to have a variety of music to play. If they are a single genre station, you would have to have enough variety within that genre to sustain your show and remain within the guides of their rules as well as the rules that are set forth by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange. If you find a mixed genre station, this widens the collection that you can have, however, you still have to make sure that you can sustain your show within the station rules and the rules of ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange. Most stations fashion their own rules around the rules of ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange, but some do not, and allow their DJs to do as they wish. In those cases, it’s up to you to comply, or opt not to comply with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange rotation policy. The only exceptions to this is to be a part of a station that is not hosted within the United States. If you do become a part of a foreign station, you will have to make certain to find out what type of rules the county has in regards to Internet broadcasting.
If you’ve got enough music to sustain a show, a station that you’re interested in having a show on, the next thing you will need is the software to broadcast to the station stream. There are several options available for this. Some are free, some are not. Some stations require a specific program, however, others will allow the individual to choose which broadcasting method they want to use. The only constraint on the software choices are the format of the station encoding. You have to find out of the station broadcasts in MP3, AAC, OGG, or even WMA format. The encoding format will limit your choices. For instance, a station broadcasting in WMA format has to be able to encode to that format, your music files have to be in that format as well. This limits your options for broadcasting software. If a station broadcasts in MP3 format, then you have other options, same with AAC and OGG. Everything is relative to the station that you are choosing to join.
If you are seeking to join a station that broadcasts in WMA format, then you have to broadcast using a player that will recognize the WMA format easily, without a lot of added plug-ins, such as it’s native Windows Media Player. You can opt to use Spacial Audio’s (http://www.spacialaudio.com) SAM Broadcaster, which is a more complex program, but allows the user to do more with their show. In some cases, Winamp (http://www.winamp.com) is also a viable choice for a WMA based station, but it doesn’t give as much flexibility as some other programs will. For the mp3 based stations, Winamp with the addition of a Shoutcast encoder plug-in is one of the top options, along with SAM Broadcaster. Other viable options are programs such as Jet Audio (http://www.cowonamerica.com) or other software that is provided by the stations. Much like mp3 and WMA, AAC and OGG format stations can use both Winamp and SAM Broadcaster. The encoder for SAM Broadcaster is a part of the base install for the software, where as Winamp will require installation of another plug-in. Another consideration when choosing your software is whether you will be connecting to a single stream or multiple streams. Some of the encoders allow for connection to a single stream, where others will allow for multiple streams to be going out at the same time.
Once you have your software set up and your music gathered together, you can approach the station of your choice and ask them what their hiring policy is. It may be as simple as them telling you that they’ll hire you, or it may be as complicated as having to go through a trial show and being hired by an administrator if they think that you fit into the station. Once you’ve gone through whatever the hiring process is, you’re pretty well set on your way to getting your voice heard. I wish you well on your journey into Internet Radio.
