Table Of Content
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live365.com
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What is Live365?
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Overcoming the dark patch
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Well-timed acquisition
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History
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Why should you stream on Live365?
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Music Royalty Coverage
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Uncompromised Sound Quality
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Customizable Players and Station
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Distribution and Statistics
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Design
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Header
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Hero Section
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Body
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Footer
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Inner Pages
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Content
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Desktop/Mobile experience
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Plans & Pricing
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Suggestions I have for Live365
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Conclusion
live365.com
Live365 is one of the oldest and most influential broadcasting and radio listening networks out there. For a long time, it's allowed creators to start their own online stations. Additionally, it has its own radio streaming service which allows users to listen to thousands of curated stations built by other users from all over the world.
What makes Live365 unique is that it is a network that has been created and managed by listeners like you and me. From radio enthusiasts to hobbyists and professional broadcasters, you will find everyone on this network.
What is Live365?
Live365 is a web radio platform that offers its own streaming service and allows users to simulcast their own stations via the distribution network. Over the years, Live365 has covered artists such as Johnny Cash, Pat Metheny, David Byrne, Frank Zappa and Jethro Tull on its network. In the 20 years of its existence, it has broken records and achieved crucial milestones one after the other. As mentioned earlier, it is amongst the few longest running internet radio websites which caters to both listeners and broadcasters.
Overcoming the dark patch
Live365 ended its 10-year contract with the end of 2016 and found itself in trouble because the royalty law was changed in December 2015. This led investors to withhold their investment, and Live365 ceased operations and vacated its office. Live365 operated from home for over a year before making a comeback.
Well-timed acquisition
In July 2016, EmpireStreaming acquired Live365 and restored the website. In 2017, an article appeared on the official account suggesting that sign-ups were opened for former broadcasters to restart their stations.
History
Live365 was founded by a small team at Nanocosm, who worked on the project as a hosted community radio network using Shoutcast technology. Andy Volk was the brains behind it all - he pitched the idea to Peter Rothman - CTO at Nanocosm. Peter saw the potential, and helped to establish Live365 as we know it today.
Why should you stream on Live365?
If you're interested in starting your own online radio station, you can try out a 7 day free trial. There are different broadcasting packages which you can use to unlock certain features and capabilities. A well-structured plan will allow you to start your station for free and monetize based on the number of users visiting the station.
Music Royalty Coverage
Most streaming radio services struggle with the royalty issue. Thus, they have to cease production or pay royalties to keep their services going. When you work with Live365, you no longer have to worry about royalties because they are covered by Live365. All you have to do is be creative and find new ways to attract listeners.
Uncompromised Sound Quality
If you're looking for a lower bitrate option, 128kbps is still a great starting point. Most radio streaming services offer much lower quality, so 128kbps is comparable to most of them. Whether you're starting out with basic broadcasting or have more advanced goals, you have the freedom to choose the quality that works best for you.
Customizable Players and Station
Using themed options can help a broadcaster make their station stand out from the rest. With Live365, you can customize your player to make your station look and feel unique. You also get access to mobile and desktop apps which makes it easier for you to reach out to your audience in a more personalized way.
Distribution and Statistics
With Live365, it is easy to get your station out there and onto multiple platforms. You can also use iTunes Radio to better exposure your station. You have complete control of the analytics which will give you detailed information about each and every aspect of your station. Plus, a user-friendly dashboard makes managing everything easy - from content library to visitors and songs played. Thank you for using Live365!
Design
I think Live365 looks premium. A lot of credit has to go to the developers for the standout design. The minimal no-nonsense approach stands out well â the white and dark blue gradient, combined with orange accents, stands out very well. I'm not claiming that it's the best radio streaming website, but it's a strong competitor.
Header
Live365 has a simple reader with a logo on the left, a transparent search bar at the center, and three options on the right. These include Start Your Station, User Icon (Sign up and Login Panel), and an ellipsis icon which has a drop-down menu with five options - ?Start Your Station?, ?Listen to Radio?, ?Broadcaster Resources?, ?Support? and ?Blog?.
Hero Section
At the bottom left of the tile are album covers.
Looking around, you'll notice that the Live365 website's hero section goes on for quite a ways. There's even a "Discover More" button at the end! The main text is "The World's Audio" with different genre options and album art tiles. There are four genres: Christmas, Jazz, Gospel, and Classical, and there are twenty radio station thumbnails at the bottom left of each tile. And lastly, on each tile is an album cover.
Body
Compared to the dark blue-purple gradient, the body section is quite light. With a black background and light icons, it looks different from the rest of the elements on the homepage. It has three sections - Audience, Licensing and Monetization. If you want to learn more, you can click on any of these features, if not, you can scroll down to find the app plug for Android and iOS platforms.
Footer
I like the footer section of the website as it follows a simple design that corresponds with the body section. In the footer section, you have two rows of options on the left. The first row has the following options - Podcast Hosting, Christmas Music, Where to Listen and Broadcaster Resources. The second row as usual features About Us, Blog, Careers, Support options. On the right, you can find social media icons - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn if you wish to share your platform with your friends and family.
Inner Pages
I like the look of the media player on the inner pages of this station's website. The name of the station is on the top, and there are genres in the middle, with a sleek player underneath. The grey transparent box also features the track name, artist name, and album art. If you scroll down, you'll find recently played tracks and detail about the station on the right side.
Content
ADVERTISEMENT
Upon searching for Live365 on Google, it is easy to see the key features of the platform. Once you land on the site, you will find information about the Listen, Start Your Station, Pricing, About Us, Live365 Broadcaster and Get Internet Radio metadata.
After I read the description of the Live365 website, I realized that this platform has a lot of content for different people. There are hundreds of genres on this website, ranging from rock to jazz to electronic to gospel to country to classical to reggae to hip-hop/r&b to oldies to Broadway and talk shows.
Desktop/Mobile experience
However, after 6 months I canceled the service because it was too expensive.
I really enjoyed streaming on Live365. The small music player on the inner page was really sleek and functional. I kept returning to the website for more streaming experience. As for hosting my own broadcasting station, I tried a $59/month package for 6 months and I had a lot of fun with it. I had access to 1,500 license channels and had unlimited bandwidth. However, after 6 months I canceled the service because it was a bit too expensive.
Plans & Pricing
There are four plans available - free, broadcast 1, broadcast 2, and broadcast 3. The first plan costs $59/month, whereas the 2 and 3 plan costs $99/month and $199/month respectively. A major difference between the three premium plans is the amount of storage provided and licenses available. The free plan provides you with 25GB storage with 1500 licensed TLH whereas the broadcast 1 plan offers 100GB storage with 7,000 licensed TLH.
Suggestions I have for Live365
I didn't find any significant holes in Live365's overall service. I'd just like the developers to work on improving the streaming quality and fixing the inner page layout on the desktop. I do understand that they've done it keeping the mobile responsiveness in mind, but on desktop, it looks quite ridiculous.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a broadcasting platform with an easy-to-use interface and ample features, Live365 is definitely worth checking out. Plus, the platform offers a wide variety of solutions to fit any need, whether you're interested in listening to music and podcasts from independent artists or starting your own journey as a broadcaster.
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