SHOUTcast, the webcast solution platform owned by Radionomy Group (which acquired it from AOL in 2014), has released new client software. In the release, SHOUTcast introduces monetization and analytics features intended to give webcasters a turnkey solution to starting and maintaining an internet radio station.
The feature set described in this announcement starts with monetization — SHOUTcast integrates with TargetSpot, the advertising platform owned by Radionomy. The connection is described as seamless, features targeted ad insertion, and webcasters can determine where in each hour the ad breaks will be placed.
Customers who sign up for the monetization program get “enhanced statistics” which show listener and geographic metrics. Streams can be hosted by SHOUTcast (or from the webcaster’s own server setup). The hosting plan includes unlimited listeners and bandwidth.
Radionomy has kept SHOUTcast as a free service, and this latest software update also updates the number of stations on the platform — it is more than 70,000 now.
This release shines a spotlight on a pioneering platform which has been in operation wince 1998, launched by a startup called Nullsoft (which also created Winamp, likewise acquired by Radionomy Group). It is fair to say that SHOUTcast and Winamp together launched the small webcaster movement, both for creating stations and listening to them.
Today, the small webcasting category is seeking steady footing in the new royalty era defined by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) in the U.S.. The CRB set new rates in December for the 2016-2020 period. SHOUTcast is a stalwart enabler of small webcasting.