Get Your Own Radio Station For Free
I'm listing to some music right now from an online radio station that I own. My play list is not too big at the moment, only 7 songs, but I was just testing how the site worked and those 7 songs only took me 2-3 minutes to find and then add to the play list.
I didn't have to upload anything.
This new site is called Live IPs (http://www.liveips.com). Unlike other radio stations that you an create, all of your selections must come from YouTube. Yes, these are not just songs, but videos so I guess saying you can have your own MTV (The way it USED to be) would be more accurate than saying it's a radio station, but everyone knows and understands radio. Besides, if you minimize the station player window (it's completely browser-based) you only hear the music just like a radio station.
You can use the station you create in two ways: 1) LIVE is much like a live radio show and you have to keep selecting songs and add them to the station. or 2) you can use a play list and build your list ahead of time and them play them all at once. If you create a play list it will repeat and keep playing as long as you have your DJ window open on your computer.
Registering for an account is easy just like you would find on most other sites. When you register for a station or channel, you also are registered for the site forums which can be accesses from the menu menu of the site. There you can talk to other DJs, learn more about the site, tell others about the station you create, and ask questions if you need help using the system.
To add songs to your play list, select the option for play list. Then you can click on the link for "Search YouTube!". This will open a window that gives you access to Youtube videos. You can also open a new browser window and go to YouTube that way. After you find a video you need to add the information to LiveIPs. Enter in the artist name and title first. Then add the link to the video and you can drag and drop the title into this field. The URL that you want will look like this one: http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=-DMYDp8y6SU.
You can describe your video if you want to and then rate it so people know what you think about it. The last thing is to enter in the length of the video you are adding in minutes and seconds. Then click on "insert" and it will be added to your play list. This doesn't take long and you if you add 10 3 minute songs you have programmed about 30 minutes of music in about 3 minutes.
Some may complain that this is not like real radio because you cannot talk live and I admit that is one limitation that the site owners have not addressed yet, but I don't think it's a huge problem given all that you can do with a station. It shouldn't be too hard to create a video of yourself and add it whenever you want to talk to listeners of your station. You could also create ads to play in between songs the same way.
Take a look at http://www.liveips.com and see what you think. Listen to one of the channels and open an account for your own free radio station. If you have questions they have a community forum where you can get tips and make suggestions. I think you will the site easy to use and a lot of fun.
Product or Service Reviewed: LiveIPs.com
Description: Offers uses free accounts they can use to create online radio stations. The only limitation is that the material must be videos found on YouTube.com. Stations can play 24 hours a day and there are no bandwidth limitations at this time.
URL: http://www.liveips.com/
