Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Streaming MP3 For Linux Server Guide

Posted by Hemos on from the stuff-to-listen-to- dept.

A reader writes: " Does Howard Stern boil your bacon? Do you wish there was a station that only played songs by the Bouncing Souls? After reading this guide, you can show the world that Howie ain't got game, and that songs about soccer(football) are where it's at. The purpose of this document is to describe the process of using Linux-based tools to setup a server used for streaming MP3 data. Find out how to setup your own with this full guide"

9 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Streaming under Windows... by Robotech_Master · · Score: 3
    There's a fellow working on a simplified streaming MP3 webserver, at mp3mystic.com. It generates .m3u files on the fly for files I want to play, then streams them for me--sort of like my own personal MyPlay. I've been trying it out, and it works pretty well for letting me access the files I want to, when I want to, from where I want to. When I'm running Windows, anyway.

    I'd love to know how I could do something similar with Apache for when I'm in Linux instead.
    --

    --
    Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
  2. "You may not modify this document" by sheldon · · Score: 3

    This guide has a copyright:

    "This document is copyright © 2000-2001 by Ray. You are encouraged to redistribute it. However you may not modify this document, if you intend to redistribute it in any manner."

    Why can't I modify it?

    What if someone introduces some new utility in the future which makes this job even easier? What if it's in error? Should I redistribute a faulty document?

    Apparently, all of the Linuxlookup guides are copyrighted in this fashion.

    Interestingly Linuxlookup.com doesn't quite buy into the whole Open Source thing, at least not when it comes to their creations.

  3. Re:Copyright by Weezul · · Score: 4

    Unfortunatly, P2P is not really the same as radio. Lissining to radio means that you *want* a DJ to chose the songs for you. The truth is that there are fundamentally three parties involved in the music lissening process: the data provider, the DJ, and the lissener. These parties may be devided up in many diffrent ways. Examples:

    1) "Data provider == DJ == Lissener" is the traditional mp3 and CD system.

    2) "Data provider == DJ != Lissener" is the trditional radio system.

    3) "Data provider != DJ == Lissener" is the fast download system you are describing.

    4) "Data provider == Lissener != DJ" is the system used by my artificial intelegence based mp3 player Smartplay. It only playes songs from your drive, but it uses a simple AI to guess your mood and it had a more efficent user interface to help keep you from waisting a lot of time skipping songs.

    Anyway, there is really nothing keeping us from a "Data provider != DJ != Lissener" system. This would mean that the DJs would broadcast URLs and mixing instructions, but not necissarily the mp3 data it's self, and the download sites would wait for a significant portion of the lisseners to login before starting the multicast download of the song. The point is that you would not need to have a lot of bandwidth to be a DJ and the lisseners computer can hack together the playlists from multiple DJs to allow for even greater variety.

    I tend to think that a hybrid of the "Data provider != Lissener != DJ" and the artivifial intelegence selection of DJs (ala smartplay's selection of songs, but for whole DJs instead---based on what they were plaing right now and your mood) would be the very best solution.

    Jeff

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
  4. Copyright by Eloquence · · Score: 3
    Note that the copyright situation for streaming MP3s is not much different than for serving them directly. (After all, it is no problem to capture the bitstream and save it.) So unless you're paying royalties or serving only free MP3s, you might as well run a decent MP3 FTP or webserver, or fire up Napster or the P2P sharing application of your choice.

    Napster can be used like a streaming audio directory if you have enough bandwidth and find users with the right speed. I have played a lot of songs while d/ling them. Pretty cool: 1) Search any song you like, 2) find fastest location, 3) play live. For maximum speed, Kazaa is quite cool, it bundles downloads from several locations to achieve higher speeds.

    --

  5. Streaming server on a floppy. by booch · · Score: 3

    Here is a project that is putting a streaming server onto a floppy distribution. It's alpha right now, but kind of cool that you can run such a thing off of a floppy disk and a 486.

    --
    Software sucks. Open Source sucks less.
  6. article in linux journal by darthpenguin · · Score: 3

    In the latest issue of linux journal, there is a vey good article on how to set up your own mp3 streaming server using all open source tools. It's a very good read.


    -mdek.net

  7. The author didn't try Shoutcast, but... by xdeadbeef · · Score: 3

    ...says that Icecast "devours fewer CPU cycles and uses less memory?".. Maybe he should actually do some testing if he wants to make those claims... -Justin

  8. Stream Vorbis! by kcarnold · · Score: 3

    Stream Vorbis! Once they get RTP/RTSP encapsulation working right (soon, some proof-of-concept has already been done), Vorbis is the free (and often higher-quality) alternative to MP3. After the new year, you'll have to pay for MP3. You have been warned.

  9. Why Icecast uses less memory by yerricde · · Score: 3

    Icecast requires that your MP3 files already be at the bitrate at which you will stream them (normally 32 kbps). Shoutcast, OTOH, uses a licensed MP3 codec to downsample from 192 kbps to 32 kbps, which Icecast can't do because of some stupid patent.
    Tetris on drugs, NES music, and GNOME vs. KDE Bingo.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?