Topic: Preparations for Webcasting
As mentioned in the DMCA, looped programming needs to be at least 3 hours in length. That means you need at least 3 hours of music to get off the ground. Keep in mind, though, that listeners like variety. If you play the same songs every 3 hours, 24 hours a day, you'll have a lot of trouble attracting regular listeners!
The more music you have, the better your chances of retaining listeners. One of the great things about running your own station is that the selections can be as narrow, or as eclectic, as you want. Building an audience takes time, and if building an audience is one of your goals, you should program with that goal in mind.
So let's get going! First, all of your music files should be prepared for streaming. If you plan to use CDs, you need to convert them (import them) to the MP3 digital format first. We suggest encoding the files at 128kbps minimum. If you have the disk space, 256kbps or higher is better. Source files must be in MP3 format and *must* contain correct ID3 tags. This is very important.
Importing music from CDs
If your music collection is on CD, you can use your favorite program to import them and encode them into MP3 format. If you don't have a program that will do that, there are several freely available including the popular Apple iTunes product (Free).
FREE Download: http://www.apple.com/itunes/
iTunes will usually fetch title, artist and album information for you while importing music from your CD and it will create the ID3 tags automatically as well. Before starting, click "Edit" - "Preferences" in iTunes. Click "Advanced" tab and then find the "Importing" tab. Select "Import Using: MP3 Encoder" and under "Setting", choose "Custom". When the pop-up window appears, choose 256kbps bitrate (Or whatever bitrate you prefer) and un-check the VBR option. Leave everything else alone and save your changes. Now insert a CD and iTunes will offer to import it for you.
When done, search your iTunes folder for MP3 files and place them in a new folder somewhere on your computer.
If you use other software to import/rip your CDs, that's fine. There are too many software packages to mention here, but use whichever one you're comfortable with. Bottom line is that when you're done, you should have a folder full of neatly tagged MP3 files ready to go.
Normalizing your files
This is an optional process that sets the volume of your MP3 files to be roughly the same. It's useful if you have songs of varying volumes on your playlist. Failing to normalize can sometimes cause listeners to dash to their volume control as a loud track follows a soft track. Again there are many software packages available. We recommend MP3 Gain (Free) but you are free to use whatever software you are comfortable with, or... none at all. Remember, normalizing is optional.
FREE Download: http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/
After you have finished creating all the music files that you want to use on your station, play them! Make sure they sound good to you, and that the artist, title and album information appear in your player.
Obtaining source software
The next step in preparing to stream is to figure out how to get your audio from your PC to the Internet. To do that, there are many DJ software packages out there. If you're on a budget, Winamp (free) will do the job nicely.
FREE Download: http://www.winamp.com/player/
Once you have Winamp, take some time to study and understand it. Point it at the folder where you keep all your MP3 files, and practice creating playlists. Once you get comfortable with it, create your final playlist and set Winamp to repeat (loop) so that when it reaches the end, it starts over again. That way, your station will always be broadcasting.
Other software is available for the more technically-inclined including SAM Broadcaster (http://www.spacialaudio.com), Station Playlist (http://www.stationplaylist.com), OTSAV (Formerly OTSDJ http://otsav.com/buy/) and DRS2006 (http://www.drs2006.com/)
Note that some of these packages can be quite complex and involve a learning curve. You're free to use whatever software you wish when webcasting, but... it must support ID3 tags and title streaming. If it does not, then we can't log your stream and you're not covered by our license.
For now, we'll assume you're going to use Winamp. If you do not, then please consult the documentation included with your software for instructions on how to configure it for use with LoudCity services.