Shoutcast Launches Hosted Web Radio Service With Monetization Options

Yesterday Radionomy officially relaunched their Shoutcast service. Of particular note is the introduction of a new Shoutcast streaming service that gives webcasters free streaming and monetization options among other features. A downloadable version of Shoutcast with some of these will be released later in the year. The big thing to keep in mind is that music broadcasters apparently have to license their broadcasts themselves making this a poor service for those who just want to plug and play.

Radionomy's new Shoutcast Streaming Service will definitely be a boon for those music broadcasters who have their game together with licensing. Judging from Google searches a bit of an ecosystem has emerged around Shoutcast to offer hosting and they also say you're on your own for licensing.

In addition to managing your own licensing, broadcasters have to meet two station requirements to make use of the service:

Willing to trigger a pair of 2 minute commercial breaks per hour

Have a minimum of 500 listening hours per day (TLH)

If so, here's what you get:

Streaming included – free of charge

Unlimited listeners – No more maxing out your slots

Integration with the TargetSpot Ad Network in US and France (Germany and Spain coming later this year)

Monetize Your Audience – SHOUTcast server-side targeted ad injection

Built-in listener analytics (stats tools)

Monetization is obviously a big part of the appeal. Janko Roettgers dug a bit deeper and found that:

"Radionomy monetizes these hosted streams with server-side ad injection, which is provided by TargetSpot, the ad network that merged with Radionomy late last year. Radionomy’s website states that it will run two 2-minute ad spots every hour, and that broadcasters will have the right to run other ads as well."

"Radionomy will keep between 40 and 60 percent of the ad revenue, depending on the audience size. Alternatively, broadcasters can still use their own Shoutcast server and syndicate their streams through Shoutcast."

One place to keep an eye on developments is the Shoutcast Streaming Service forum.

More:

• Radionomy Buys Winamp, Shoutcast From AOL
• Sub Pop Launches Web Radio Station On TuneIn

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) also blogs at DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.