$0/mo
$5 setup, charged once; nothing monthly
- 32 Kbps bitrate ceiling
- 1,000 listeners at once
- No Auto DJ, no library
- Support by email
Choosing
Four good reasons to ask for SHOUTcast
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Your encoder only speaks SHOUTcast
Winamp's SHOUTcast Source DSP is the familiar example, and some playout programs and studio boxes ship a SHOUTcast preset with nothing beside it. Point them at a SHOUTcast server and they connect with no workaround. Set up SHOUTcast DSP
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You want to be found on shoutcast.com
The shoutcast.com directory is where many listeners go looking for a station by name or genre, and a SHOUTcast server can report itself to it. What that takes is explained under a listing on shoutcast.com.
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You are bringing a SHOUTcast station with you
Your DJs keep the encoder type they already know, and the players that expect a SHOUTcast server keep finding one. The address, port and password are new, and the panel lists all three.
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You broadcast in AAC
MP3 and AAC are the two stream formats SHOUTcast documents. Icecast will carry AAC too, but its own project does not list it as supported, so a station built around AAC is on firmer ground here.
If none of that describes you, keep the Icecast server your station opens with. It takes more formats, Opus and Ogg Vorbis among them, and it is covered in full on Icecast hosting.
Getting it
From Icecast to SHOUTcast in three steps
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Open a station
On any plan, free included. The order form has no software choice, so every station begins on Icecast.
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Ask for SHOUTcast
Write to support from the email address on the account. Free stations are supported by email; Premium and Platinum can use chat as well. Asking before your first broadcast saves entering your encoder settings twice.
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Copy the new settings
We change the station's server type in Centova Cast. The panel then shows the SHOUTcast address and port under Quick Links, and the source password under Settings.
Switching costs nothing and leaves the plan alone: the bitrate ceiling, the Auto DJ library and the listener ceiling are identical on either server.
Plans
The same three plans
$39/mo
or $228 a year, $240 under twelve months; no setup fee
- 64 Kbps bitrate ceiling
- 1,000 listeners at once
- Auto DJ, 3 GB library
- Support by email and chat
$79/mo
or $708 a year, $240 under twelve months; no setup fee
- 128 Kbps bitrate ceiling
- 1,000 listeners at once
- Auto DJ, library with no size cap
- Support by email and chat
More than 1,000 at once: an Enterprise stream up to 320 Kbps, quoted on your peak. Ask for a quote → · Refund policy
Encoder
Encoder settings
# Free plan, no Auto DJ: the encoder talks to SHOUTcast itself type SHOUTcast v2 server your station's IP address (Quick Links) port your station's port (Quick Links) stream ID 1 password the source password (Settings), not the panel login bitrate 32 Kbps or lower # the same station from a SHOUTcast v1 encoder type SHOUTcast v1 server the same IP address port the same port; a v1 encoder adds 1 by itself password the source password; v1 has no stream ID
# Premium or Platinum: a live show enters through Auto DJ's live input
type SHOUTcast v1
server your station's IP address (Quick Links)
port your station's port + 2, as Quick Links lists it
password the source password (Settings)
stream ID none; the live input does not use one
bitrate 64 Kbps on Premium, 128 on Platinum, or lower
Being found
A listing on shoutcast.com
shoutcast.com runs a public directory that listeners search by station name and by genre, and a SHOUTcast server can report itself to it while it is on the air. Here it will not do so unprompted. A SHOUTcast station is created private, and without an authhash, the key the directory uses to recognise a station.
SHOUTcast does not charge for an authhash, and one can only be created while your encoder is connected, because SHOUTcast fills in the listing from the live stream. So go on the air first, then ask support to create it and make the server public. SHOUTcast's own documentation asks that the authhash be kept as private as a password.
- A SHOUTcast serverask for it; stations open on Icecast
- A live sourceyour encoder, connected
- An authhashfree, created while the stream is up
- The public settingswitched on by support
On the wire
What your listeners receive
MP3 or AAC, as sent
On the free plan the stream travels from your encoder through SHOUTcast to listeners untouched, so they hear the format and bitrate you chose.
MP3 through Auto DJ
On Premium and Platinum everything leaves through Auto DJ, live shows included, and Auto DJ encodes MP3 at the station's bitrate. An AAC encoder still connects; listeners hear MP3.
Live cuts in at once
Connect a live show and Auto DJ steps aside without waiting for the song to end. Disconnect and the music comes back, on the same link.
A ceiling that holds
Centova Cast enforces 32, 64 or 128 Kbps by plan and shuts down a stream that goes over it. Set the encoder at or under the ceiling before you connect.
A plain link
http://<station IP>:<port>/stream reaches the station directly, for apps, internet radios and anything else that takes an http:// address.
An https:// link
https://cast4.servcast.net/proxy/<username>/stream in New York, cast5 in Bucharest. Centova Cast relays the station over https:// for web players and secure pages, so it carries sound whenever a source is connected.
New stations have the https:// relay switched on. A station opened years ago may not: if its https:// link stays silent while you are broadcasting, ask support to enable it.
Asked often
SHOUTcast questions
Does a SHOUTcast station cost more than an Icecast one?
No. The server software is not a line on the invoice: a SHOUTcast station sits on the same Free, Premium or Platinum plan as an Icecast station and pays exactly the same.
Can a station already on Icecast move to SHOUTcast?
Yes, whenever you like; ask support. The encoder settings are different afterwards, so copy them from the panel again before your next show.
Which version of SHOUTcast runs here?
SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6.1, build 777, on both servers. It takes SHOUTcast v2 encoders, which send stream ID 1, and older v1 encoders, which send the password alone.
What is the stream ID, and what if my encoder has no such field?
It is how SHOUTcast v2 numbers the streams on a server. A station here carries one stream, so its ID is always 1. An encoder without the field is a v1 encoder; give it the password and nothing else.
Will my station show up on shoutcast.com by itself?
No. Stations are created private. Once you are broadcasting, ask support to create the authhash and switch the server to public; neither costs anything.
How many listeners can tune in at once?
Up to one thousand simultaneously, whichever plan the station is on. For a bigger audience we quote an Enterprise stream sized to the peak you expect.
Is there an https:// address for my stream?
Yes: https://cast4.servcast.net/proxy/, then your station's username, then /stream, with cast5 in place of cast4 for a station in Bucharest. It plays whenever your source is connected, which is what a web player inside a secure page needs.
Can SHOUTcast stations use Auto DJ?
On Premium and Platinum, yes: both come with a music library on the server for Auto DJ to play from. The free plan has no storage, so it has no Auto DJ either.
Further reading
Guides and neighbouring pages
- SHOUTcast DSP for Winamp, step by step
- Encoder guides for Mixxx, BUTT, SAM Broadcaster and more
- Icecast hosting, the server every station opens on
- Radio hosting, the plans and what each one adds
- Auto DJ, music for the hours nobody is live
- Royalty fees, what playing recorded music involves
- shoutcast.com, the directory itself
- Support, to ask for SHOUTcast or anything above
Open the station now. Ask for SHOUTcast whenever it suits you.
Every plan can run it, the free one included, and changing server software costs nothing.