Live365 vs Hosted vs Self Hosted Website ?

[CliveW]

Hi All,

Im looking towards getting my station on air now after months of sorting MP3's and getting equipment that I imagine I may need.

My station will be nothing without a source for folks to listen in, so the issue i'm struggling to decide is what route to take,? 1. Live365 (or other service of the same ilk) or 2. a hosted web site with a monthly premium to pay or 3. self host a site and pay for a prebuilt site + extra for a plugin player?

I'm unsure of the ads element of Live365 and how this would work on live broadcasts from 7am to 12pm. Im totally clueless on this aspect of Live365. The licence part is a big draw but then again it is nearly double the yearly amount vs paying for PPL and PRS myself...so confused about direction at the moment.

I have looked at the likes of Radio.Co and others who offer virtually the same services but the fees scare the crap out of me, this is a long term hobby not a commercial enterprise.

Any contributions to this question setting out your experiences and why would be very valuable to me to help me make up my mind.

Im sure that when I reach the destination and am actually broadcasting all this concern and confusion will be a thing of the past but without the sage advise of you guys I fear many mistakes ahead. So please help if you can spend 5 mins on this topic. I would absolutely and sincerely appreciate the education. Thanks in advance.*

*Please Note: I wont hold you responsible if I choose an option that didnt work out for me... I'm just looking to read your opinions and experiences. Thanks

[hypadj33]

Hey Clive,

I know this is a while ago, which route did you go? I'm just starting to self host (home setup) prior to that I was with ionos and used a vps which was Ok as you get the control you need without the worry of the server being unplugged cos the missus wants to straighten her hair, broadband drops etc, BUT there is nothing more satisfying than getting your own servers together and running from home my current setup is still with ionos but I've setup my home servers and have been stress testing them here's what I have:

Webserver: Is an old i3 laptop with 4gb of memory which I've removed the screen from and installed Ubuntu server on along with cyberpanel, cyberpanel is a free webhosting panel its for webhosting businesses really but I have 2 domains which are hosted on this server so it made sense for me.

Radio hosting: my second server is an 17 desktop with 8gb of memory this is running Azuracast which is streaming software.

So far I've had minimal issues and nothing that would take my services offline, you can also do the above with one system BUT it would have to be a good build and at least mid level kind of gaming specs, so all that said I'm loving the control  i have, the ability just create another station or stream without it costing more, being able to create and host websites on demand is also great and the cost considerations well if you really want to make it work properly it will cost you a little to start with but once the initial costs are done no more paying for either radio or webhosting add and remove any software you want.

[RadioDJ2022]

Hey Clive So sorry to hear about your mum, its never easy looking after your parents but your dad deserves all the time you can give him.

[ST]

RadioDJ, ButtBroadcast, Caster.FM and Google Site. All free.