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KPIG is Back - By Subscription Only
We've noted before that KPIG, one of the oldest internet broadcasters, was one of many to shut down their netcasts after the recent CARP ruling on copyright royalties. Well, they're back, but 128kbit mp3 streams have been replaced with with lower-quality Real streams, and free has been replaced with subscription-only. Gotta do what you gotta do, I guess.
http://www.launch.com
They've got a shitload of stations, and on top of that, you can make their own.
does anyone know how this CARP ruling affects individuals who host shoutcast streams?, i used to listen to low-fi shoutcast a lot before i got broadband and switched to videos, but i just went to the winamp site (3 is out!!) and they still have shoutcast listings
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Well, if you have access to the bandwidth, try streaming Triple J.
It's an Australian station, free-to-air (but internet streamed as well), and government funded, with a mandate to service the "youth" market. In it's FM, free-to-air form, it generally holds between 5% and 15% of market share in the 15-30 age bracket (depending on location).
Don't let the government funding discourage you - the only notable side effect is the fact that there are no ads (other than station ID's, and the occasional concert/competition promo). There is a reasonable current affairs show that runs 9am-12am (AEDT, GMT+10), and it is often critical of government policy.
It's very indy-centric (you won't _ever_ hear Brittney or N'Sync), so the playlist contains lots of Aussie independent bands with a history of putting on good gigs, and they only rarely step into the 80's, and then only for some Stranglers or Violent Femmes - don't expect to hear any Ultravox.
The DJ's are also very refreshing - very low key, laid back, not afraid to get down, dirty and swear, or get intellectual just for a change. None of that "All top 40 rock, all the time" overproduced, overhyped BS that seems to overflow on commercial stations.
Unfortunately, they only stream RealPlayer or Windows Media Player - but IHMO they're well worth the listen. Or, if you're in Australia, turn on the radio, and pick it up on the old transistor...
Russ %-)
... and never, ever play leapfrog with a unicorn.
>I don't want teeny-bopper garbage, and I certainly don't want to hear 80s (they're dead, let them die peacefully).
Turn your dial lower then. And put a real TV tower up.
College radio is still out there. No "real" commercials (unless you consider "advertising" college events commercials), and no pop stuff (well, usually).
All you have to do is put up with the DJs. And, depending on the size of the station, and the show you're listening to, they can still be very professional.
As an example, our 4000W college station (trust me, that's a LOT of power for a community college) plays a polish review, drum and bass, electronica, hard-to-find punk, heavy metal, rap (yeah, probably part of your not wanted list, but these guys actually are full time professionals, so it doesn't suck at all), euro dance, and a lot more that I've probably missed outside of radio prime-time.
It's very worth the effort to turn the dial down a little, but because most Colleges are power-limited, you'll really need a proper antenna on a tower.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
They are donation based, commercial free, and are also up against CARP, but seem to be hangin' in there.
The official billing for this streaming station is "eclectic intelligent rock" which pretty much fits my listening needs. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to listen to music - it's not pissed anyone off in my office, so far ;-)). Oh, and support them if you can - they are the future, IMHO.
db
Cig:
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They do. The Real client works decently. Check out this link on imaclinux.net for info on how to install it. The information might be a little stale but the links on the page are still good and should get you what you want.
Now click here for a better radio station to listen to, KGO
DISCLAIMER: I work for Real.
:)
That being said, here's my view from the trenches:
1) IMHO 64K Real8 sounds better than 128K MP3. 32K is actually pretty close. Just my opinion. (It's a hell of a lot better than WMA, but who reading this listens to anything via WMA?
2) One of the big reasons for stations to switch to a lower bitrate Real stream than MP3 is to save $$ on bandwidth, which is a killer. 64K MP3 sucks. 64K Real isn't bad at all, even if you prefer 128K MP3. Still isn't enough to offset the cost. Question for y'all: would you rather have an offer like $9.95 / mo for 128MP3 vs $5.95 / mo for 64 Real? 'cuz I'll give the feedback to the folks who can actually make it happen. The new Helix thing we're doing is actually having some internal effect, and we're trying to surface some other codecs to make the product better.
3) The sad little truth is that most of the folks out there making content don't have a real business model --- it costs them more to make content than people are willing to spend. The internet advertising model is a complete train wreck, and it's worse for radio. Royalty issue aside, local advertiser, who make up the bulk of a radio station's cash, don't like paying for extra exposure to random folks on the Internet, as they don't live locally and thus won't be buying locally.
So what Real is trying to do is package enough of it at a price point that people are willing to spend. That's it. This lets folks like KPIG can actually support themselves for their webcast, and folks like yourselves don't have to subscribe or pledge or whatever to a ton of random sites you listen to off and on.
-e