We get asked this question on many occasions so thought it was worth creating this document to simply explain how Internet radio works.

How Internet radio works diagram

The Music Source

The music source can be all manor of systems and devices many Internet radio stations just have an online collection of MP3 songs stored on an Internet radio stream server. On Pressure Radio we have real DJ presenters using traditional hardware vinyl record turntables or DJ Cd Players “CDJ’s” with a mixer and some use specialist DJ software such as Serato or Traktor.

Typical DJ hardware set-up

Above is a typical DJ hardware set-up 2 x Pioneer CDJ’s and Pioneer Mixer. The line out of the mixer connected to the line-in of the DJ’s PC or MAC.

DJ Mixing Software

Stream encoder software

For Mac you can use software such as Nicecast to encode the audio to mp3 etc. and connect and broadcast to the stream server.

For PC you can use software such as edcast to encode the audio to mp3 etc. and connect and broadcast to the stream server.

On Pressure Radio we have many DJ’s from all round the world all broadcasting LIVE from their own location and connecting to our central stream server and then our website has embedded media players and other links to listen with external media players such as Real Player Quick time & Windows media player, we are also listed on most major Internet radio systems such as iTunes.

Media streaming companies

You can find these by searching the Internet and they normally charge monthly per listener quantity referred to as slots (number of concurrent listener) be warned there are many companies who maybe cheap but don’t always have the bandwidth, good backbone connection or 24 hour support. You can of coarse use your own server but you have to really know what your doing have a solid server and connection etc.

Starting an Internet radio station

If your thinking of starting an Internet radio station then the set-up is the simple part. The hard part is financing and establishing the station and brand name, finding a niche format that attracts listeners and keeping those listeners. You also need a good website and reliable host.

Pressure Radio Deep Soulful House

Pressure Radio http://pressureradio.com specialises in Deep Soulful House Music we have many DJ from all round the world and a very dedicated listener base. We are hooked up with many of the top artists and DJ’s for this genre. We have also built up a very good web presence on search engines and we continue to grow through word of mouth and social networking. Read our Presentation you can contact us at by visiting our contact page and if your a Soulful house DJ then you can apply to DJ on Pressure using our online DJ application form Come and hang out with us in our live chat room.