Icecast hosting
Free Icecast hosting on a server we run for you
Free Icecast hosting at Primcast gives your station its own Icecast server in New York, an https:// listen link and room for 1,000 listeners at once. You pay a $5 setup fee once, and nothing a month after that.
Everything an Icecast server needs from you fits in five settings, and they are printed in your panel. When you want Auto DJ, better sound or a bigger audience, Premium and Platinum run on the same servers.
The Icecast server you get
- Software
- Icecast 2.5, one server per station with its own port and its own limits, so another station's busy night never becomes yours.
- Where
- New York or Bucharest, on hardware Primcast owns and runs. On Platinum, listeners and your encoder connect to the closest of five cities through our radio CDN.
- Managed from
- The Radio section of your Primcast dashboard, on every plan, the free one included.
- Listen link
https://ny1.radio.primcast.com/port/stream, with your own port. On Platinum there is also the CDN link,https://listen.radio.primcast.com/number/stream, with your station's number. Read why it is https on SSL radio streaming.- Mount point
/stream, the same path for your encoder and your listeners.- Sources
- Any Icecast source client, plus SHOUTcast encoders through our bridge.
- Bitrate ceiling
- 32, 128 or 320 Kbps by plan. An encoder sending more than its plan allows is disconnected.
- Listeners at once
- 1,000 on Free, 2,500 on Premium, 5,000 on Platinum.
- Listener hours
- 500,000 a month on Premium and 1.5 million on Platinum. Free has no monthly allowance, only its ceiling at once.
- Bandwidth
- Unmetered on every plan. Nothing is billed by the gigabyte.
- When nobody is live
- On Premium and Platinum, Auto DJ plays your library to your schedule. On Free, the stream is on air while your encoder is connected.
Icecast encoder settings
Pick Icecast 2 as the server type in your encoder and fill in these five lines. The Go live tab in your panel prints your own port and password next to them, with a copy button on each.
- Server
- ny1.radio.primcast.com
- Port
- Your station's port
- Mount
- /stream
- Username
- source
- Password
- Your source password
- Server
- ingest.radio.primcast.com
- Port
- 14000
- Mount
- Your station's number, then /stream
- Username and password
- The same as above
Set the bitrate at or under your plan's ceiling. Using a SHOUTcast encoder instead? Choose SHOUTcast as the server type and enter only the server, port and password. The encoder sends on the next port up by itself, and our bridge passes it to your Icecast server.
Icecast server hosting plans
$0 a month
Setup $5, paid once. A free Icecast server for live shows: 1,000 listeners at 32 Kbps.
Closest-server delivery is on Platinum
Open a free server$39 a month
2,500 listeners at 128 Kbps, Auto DJ with 20 GB for music. Or $390 a year, saving $78.
Free for 14 days Card or PayPal at checkout, first charge on day 15
Closest-server delivery is on Platinum
Choose PremiumGlobal radio CDN: listeners and your encoder on the closest of five cities.
$79 a month
5,000 listeners at 320 Kbps, 3 streams, 100 GB for music. Or $790 a year, saving $158.
Free for 14 days Card or PayPal at checkout, first charge on day 15
Choose Platinum| On air | Free | Premium | Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio CDN · Platinum only | |||
| Listeners hear you from the closest of five cities | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Your encoder connects to the closest city | Not included | Not included | Included |
| If a server fails, the next closest city takes over | Not included | Not included | Included |
| On air | |||
| People listening at the same time | 1,000 | 2,500 | 5,000 |
| Monthly allowance of listener hours | No monthly allowance | 500,000 | 1.5 million |
| Best sound quality you can send | 32 Kbps | 128 Kbps | 320 Kbps |
| Streams (extras are lighter copies for phones) | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Secure https:// link and a player that works in any browser | Included | Included | Included |
| Connect an Icecast or a SHOUTcast encoder | Included | Included | Included |
| Free trial | |||
| Try it before the first charge | Not included | 14-day trial | 14-day trial |
Auto DJ, live tools, audience stats and licensing records, plan by plan, are on our radio hosting page.
Radio CDN, on Platinum
Your listeners hear you from the server closest to them
Your station lives in New York or Bucharest. On Platinum, each listener connects to the closest of our five cities instead, and so does your encoder. Every one of those servers pulls a single copy of your stream, however many people are listening there.
One link for every listener
Share your station's CDN link. Whoever opens it is answered by our server closest to where they are, and everybody listening through that city shares a single copy of your stream.
Your encoder stops at the closest server
Use the Nearest server settings and that server relays your show to your station's own server. Your password, your DJs' hours and your show all work exactly as they do now.
A server that goes quiet is skipped
We check every server every 10 seconds. One that misses 2 checks in a row is taken out, and anyone who reconnects is sent to the next closest city.
An audience on several continents? Platinum puts a server near each of them
Nobody has to reach across an ocean to hear you: each listener, and your encoder, connects in or near their own region. When we measured it, sound started 0.25–0.7 seconds after the player connected.
- North America
- New York
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Miami
- Western Europe
- Amsterdam
- Eastern Europe
- Bucharest
- North Africa, and Africa beyond it
- Amsterdam
- The Middle East
- Bucharest
- West Asia: Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
- Bucharest
- South and Central Asia
- Bucharest
- Asia-Pacific
- San Francisco
On Platinum, your dashboard's Radio section adds your CDN link and your Nearest server details. Free and Premium stations are reached directly, on the server they live on. Every plan keeps the links and settings you have now. How our radio CDN works
Try Premium or Platinum free for 14 days
Add a card or PayPal when you sign up and nothing is charged before day 15. Cancel before then and you pay nothing at all. One trial per new customer, and one more when you move up from Free or Premium.
Icecast, and your SHOUTcast encoder
What Icecast is
Icecast is the open-source streaming server from the Xiph.Org Foundation, released under the GNU GPL version 2. It takes one stream in from your encoder and hands a copy to every listener who asks for it. Read more at icecast.org.
Every station here is delivered as an Icecast 2.5 server, and the panel handles the configuration, so there is no XML to edit.
SHOUTcast encoders still connect
Plenty of stations were built around a SHOUTcast encoder, and you do not have to give yours up. BUTT, RadioBOSS, SAM Broadcaster, Mixxx and the SHOUTcast DSP connect through our bridge with the server, port and password from your panel, on every plan including Free. Listeners hear the same https:// stream either way. New stations run Icecast; flip to a real SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6 server from the Primcast panel whenever you like, on any plan including Free, and keep its admin pages, a SHOUTcast Directory listing and every panel tool.
What the free Icecast server includes, and what it leaves out
Included
- Your own Icecast server and https:// link
- 1,000 listeners at once, unmetered bandwidth
- A station page, a show line-up and a place in the radio guide once approved
- Airplay log, royalty reports and licence records
- Listener stats for the last 7 days
Left out
No Auto DJ and no storage: the stream is on air while your encoder is connected. The bitrate stops at 32 Kbps, there is one stream, and help comes by email. The $5 setup fee is not refundable, because it pays for building the server. Premium adds Auto DJ, music storage, a higher bitrate and help by chat and phone; Platinum adds the extra streams.
Icecast hosting questions
Is the free Icecast hosting really free?
Yes. You get a real Icecast server with 1,000 listeners at once and an https:// link, and it does not expire. A $5 setup fee is charged once when the server is built, and there is no monthly charge after it.
Which version of Icecast runs here?
Icecast 2.5, one server per station, on hardware Primcast owns in New York. You manage it from the Radio section of the Primcast dashboard.
What are the Icecast encoder settings?
Server type Icecast 2, server ny1.radio.primcast.com, your station's port, mount point /stream, username source and your source password. The Go live tab shows all five. Keep the bitrate at or under your plan's ceiling, or the encoder is disconnected.
Does my Icecast stream have an https:// link?
Yes, and it is the one to share: it plays inside secure websites, apps and directories. Your panel also lists a plain http:// copy for old players that cannot open https://. On Platinum there is the CDN link as well. See SSL radio streaming.
Can I use a SHOUTcast encoder with Icecast hosting?
Yes, on every plan. Choose SHOUTcast as the server type and enter the server, port and password from your panel. The encoder sends on the next port up, and our bridge hands the stream to your Icecast server.
Is Auto DJ included with the free Icecast server?
No. Auto DJ plays from a music library on our servers, and the free plan has no storage. Premium adds it with 20 GB and hour clocks; Platinum with 100 GB, even loudness, cue points and song requests.
How many listeners can my Icecast server take?
1,000 at once on Free, 2,500 on Premium and 5,000 on Platinum. Premium and Platinum also include 500,000 and 1.5 million listener hours a month. If your peak will be higher, tell us and we will quote it.
Five settings between you and your first listener
Open a free Icecast server, paste the settings into your encoder and press connect. Move up to Premium whenever you want the station to keep playing without you.