Christmas Radio!

PlanetChristmas Streaming Radio

Hear PlanetChristmas Radio! Click the play button above.

In the mood to hear some Christmas music anytime day or night all year long? PlanetChristmas radio is on the air and can be heard anywhere in the world as long as you're on the Internet and have a speedy connection! Pick a player below and start listening! PlanetChristmas radio is currently: A special note: with many of the listening links below, your operating system might pop a warning message telling you about downloading external content. Don't panic. This is a small file to direct your media playing program where the audio stream is originating.

What's playing now? PlanetChristmas Radio - Disney - Here We Come A-Caroling

PlanetChristmas Radio
	iPhone App	see you phone's app store for download	Several apps are available that stream standard Shoutcast radio stations. Tunemark has a cheap one and it even works in the background so you can do other things on your iPhone while listening to PlanetChristmas Radio.. Goto the Apple Apps Store and search for Tunemark Radio. Download the app and search for "PlanetChristmas."
	Droid App	see you phone's app store for download	Several apps are available that stream standard Shoutcast radio stations. Cherry Rplayer has a free one. Goto the Droid Apps Store and search for Cherry RPlayer. Download the app and search for "PlanetChristmas."
	Smartphone App	see you phone's app store for download	Seems like a new smartphone comes out every week. Goto your apps store, search for "Shoutcast" and download a free player. Fire up the application and search for "PlanetChristmas."
	Click here to listen through Microsoft Windows Media Player	download free player here	You can't go wrong with this universal player on your PC. When you first start the music stream you might be asked "Do you want to open or save this file?" "OPEN" it and enjoy the sonic wonder.
	Click here to listen through Real Player	download free player here	Probably has the best audio fidelity on your PC. When you first start the music stream you might be asked "Do you want to open or save this file?" "OPEN" it and enjoy the sonic wonder.
	Click here to listen through iTunes player	download free player here	Perfect if your iPod centric. This will work if you don't have the WinAmp player already installed. When you first start the music stream you might be asked "Do you want to open or save this file?" "OPEN" it and enjoy the sonic wonder.
	Click here to listen through Quicktime	download free player here	Apple's Quicktime Player works well especially if you're Mac centric as well as a PC. When you first start the music stream you might be asked "Do you want to open or save this file?" "OPEN" it and enjoy the sonic wonder.
	Click here to listen through Nullsoft's WinAmp Player	download free player here	Excellent player with plenty of fine touches not found in others. When you first start the music stream you might be asked "Do you want to open or save this file?" "OPEN" it and enjoy the sonic wonder.
Click here for a list of the last few songs played on PlanetChristmas Radio
Click here for the current status of PlanetChristmas Radio direct from the SHOUTcast server

Thinking about doing your own Internet radio station? It's not as hard as you think. Here's one of many ways:

PlanetChristmas currently uses the Centova Cast AutoDJ addition to SHOUTcast. What does that mean in English? All the PC Christmas music is uploaded to a big server in the sky where it is local to the radio stream fed directly to your computer. Centova Cast AutoDJ uses rules to determine what is played when. You'll notice a PlanetChristmas commercial is played after every other song... that's an AutoDJ rule. You can get very clever on have specific hours of the day for particular types of song or just about anything you can think of. Just do an Internet search on "Shoutcast AutoDJ" for plenty of hosts willing to help.

PlanetChristmas has also used OTSDJ software to be the real-time disk jockey. This program typically routes audio through your computer sound card and out the speakers for everyone to hear. OTSDJ can also stream the digital audio data over the Internet to a SHOUTcast server for rebroadcasting to anyone with a player like above. This works fine if you have the available upstream bandwidth to constantly stream the audio to the SHOUTcast server in the sky.

Do an Internet search for "SHOUTcast hosts" and you'll find a very long list. Typically the host will charge by the maximum number of audio streams you'll need and the fidelity you desire. The higher the fidelity, the more data must be streamed and the higher the price charged. PlanetChristmas streams at 56Kbps which produces a very acceptable stereo output. Pricing can range anywhere from $0.25 to $1.50 per stream per month.

Setting up OTSDJ to stream to the SHOUTcast provider is easy. Enter the target information and password provided by your SHOUTcast host, set the fidelity and connect. Your host will also provide information where listeners can find your audio stream/radio station.

If you have a broadband connection at home, you can run your radio station from there. Keep in mind broadband connections transfer very fast downstream (coming to your house) but our much slower going the other way (upstream). Your radio station will be broadcasting constantly upstream and use some of your capacity. Typically, your upstream bandwidth is 128Kbps TO 512Kbps. Audio streaming can be anywhere from 24Kbps to 196Kbps. A good-enough radio stream is 48Kbps to 56Kbps. Bottom line: once you're up and transmitting at home you'll probably notice a slight slowdown in your normal Internet service... but it's worth it to broadcast around the world!

Finally, don't forget about paying the artists for the content you broadcast (ASCAP, BMI, etc.) The easiest was is use LoudCity. They take care of just about everything and will even host your station.

When you get your Internet radio station working, let us know at PlanetChristmas and we'll post a link to it for you.