Build your own internet radio station with Icecast server!

Do you want to easily broadcast live audio streams, such as internet radio, live reports, or background music?

Then the free and open-source Icecast software is an excellent solution.

With it, you can even broadcast multiple streams simultaneously, without relying on commercial services.

The name Xiph.org Foundation might not sound familiar to you,

but this foundation develops and maintains a range of popular open-source multimedia formats,

supported by a global community of volunteers.

Well-known projects include the OGG container format and various codecs,

such as Vorbis (an audio codec that offers better sound quality than MP3 at comparable or lower bitrates),

Opus (a low-latency audio codec, primarily used for VoIP,

live streaming, and podcasts),

FLAC (with lossless audio compression),

and Theora (an alternative video codec to closed, proprietary codecs like MPEG).

In addition to codecs, Xiph.org Foundation has also developed accompanying software,

with Icecast being the most famous example: a streaming server that primarily broadcasts audio files.

All their technologies use open standards and are free of patents and licensing fees.

The name Icecast refers to SHOUTcast, the original proprietary project

by Nullsoft (known for Winamp) that was popular in the 1990s as a streaming server for internet radio.