Shoutcast: Sound Streaming Technology

Shoutcast is a free audio streaming technology developed by Nullsoft, widely used in the field of network broadcasting. The following is a detailed introduction about it:

Development History

Shoutcast was founded in 1998 by Stephen 'Tag' Loomis, Tom Pepper, and Justin Frankel from Nullsoft

In June 1999, Nullsoft was acquired by AOL, and Shoutcast became a product under AOL

In January 2014, AOL sold Shoutcast and Winamp together to Radioname, an online radio aggregation service in Belgium

In 2018, the software was renamed Shoutcast from its original name

In 2020, Radionomy shut down its streaming service and migrated to the Shoutcast platform

Technical features

Encoding and Transmission Protocol: Shoutcast encodes sound using MP3 or AAC and uses HTTP as the transmission protocol, enabling efficient transmission of audio data over the network and allowing users to receive audio streams through various network devices

Metadata support: Its streaming protocol uses metadata tags and responses, all of which start with "ICY". In this way, the Shoutcast server can transmit metadata such as song titles, artist names, radio station names, etc. to the client, enhancing the user's listening experience

Cross platform compatibility: Shoutcast's software is compatible with multiple operating systems, including FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Solaris, as well as client versions for Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS, Palm OS, webOS, PlayStation Portable, Windows Mobile, Symbian S60 and UIQ, Nintendo DS, Wii, and other platforms

Functions and Applications

Create a network radio station: Users can use Shoutcast to establish their own network radio station, broadcast their own audio content produced or collected through the network, and share it with listeners around the world

Listening to online radio: Many common media playback software, such as Nullsoft Winamp, XMMS, Apple's iTunes, Amarok, Exaile, Foobar 2000, Songbird, Totem, Zinf, etc., support listening to Shoutcast's radio output format. Users can easily search and listen to various types of online radio stations through these software, meeting different needs for music, information, entertainment, and more

Video streaming transmission: In addition to audio broadcasting, Shoutcast also supports video streaming transmission. Although its main purpose is still in the audio field, it can also be used for network playback of video content in some specific scenarios

Services and Resources

Shoutcast directory: Shoutcast maintains a radio station directory website that lists numerous online radio stations, including their names, types, current number of listeners, and other information. Users can browse and select radio stations of interest in this directory, and then listen to them through the corresponding media player

Server hosting: Shoutcast provides server hosting services, and users can rent Shoutcast's servers to establish their own network radio stations. They can choose the server configuration and service plan that suits their needs and budget

Related impacts

In the early days of esports, Shoutcast was used for real-time commentary live broadcasts of some esports events, giving rise to the term "Shoutcaster" used to refer to esports commentators

As one of the important technologies in the early field of online broadcasting, Shoutcast provided convenience for the dissemination and sharing of online audio content, promoted the development of the online broadcasting industry, and laid the foundation for the later rise of streaming media technology and online radio stations.