Internet radio glossary: from AutoDJ to mount point
Internet radio has its own jargon. Here are the most important terms in alphabetical order, explained in plain language.
- AAC
- An audio format that is more efficient than MP3: at the same bitrate it sounds better. See bitrate and format.
- AutoDJ
- Software that automatically plays music from your library when nobody is live. That keeps your station on air 24 hours a day.
- AzuraCast
- Free, open-source streaming panel with AutoDJ, playlists, DJ accounts and requests. See choosing a streaming panel.
- Bitrate
- The amount of data per second in your stream, in kilobits per second (kbps). Higher means better sound, but more data usage.
- BUTT
- Broadcast Using This Tool: a free program to send your audio to a streaming server.
- Collecting society
- An organisation that collects payments for music use on behalf of creators or performers, such as Buma/Stemra and Sena in the Netherlands, GEMA and GVL in Germany or PRS and PPL in the UK.
- Encoder
- Software that converts audio into a stream (for example MP3 or AAC) and sends it to the server.
- Icecast
- Free streaming server that receives your audio and sends it to listeners.
- Jingle
- A short audio clip with the name of your station or show, between songs.
- Liquidsoap
- Software for automatically putting together a radio stream, used among others by AzuraCast.
- Live DJ
- Someone who is broadcasting themselves at that moment. The live show takes over from the AutoDJ.
- Metadata
- The data sent along with the stream, such as artist and song title. It appears on your website and in apps.
- Mount point
- The "channel" on an Icecast server, such as /live or /radio.mp3. One server can have several mount points, for example for different qualities.
- MP3
- The best-known audio format, which works on almost every device.
- Neighbouring rights
- The rights of performing artists and record companies.
- Now playing
- Information about what is on right now: song, artist, cover art and possibly the DJ.
- Playlist
- A list of songs that the AutoDJ plays, often per time of day or genre.
- Rotation
- How often a song comes back on air. Hits are in "heavy" rotation, older songs less often.
- SHOUTcast
- One of the oldest streaming servers for internet radio, similar to Icecast.
- Stream
- The continuous audio connection listeners listen to, with its own address (stream URL).
- Streaming panel
- A management environment on top of a streaming server, with AutoDJ, playlists, DJ accounts and statistics.
- Streaming server
- The server that receives your audio and passes it on to all listeners.
- Listen again
- Recordings of shows that listeners can play back later, often also as a podcast.
- VPS
- Virtual Private Server: your own virtual server that you rent, for example to install AzuraCast on.
Missing a term? Let us know via the contact page. Getting started yourself? Read how to start your own internet radio station.