Affinity Radio: How To Start Your Own Internet Radio Station For Minimum Cost

Friday, 11 January 2019

How To Start Your Own Internet Radio Station For Minimum Cost

Broadcast on the cheap

Hi again from Affinity Radio - Kent's Favorite Internet Radio Station.

We have been broadcasting now for nearly 9 years. We started using very basic equipment and we often see blogs on how to start up in internet broadcasting but they all seem to be selling something more than required. and at massive cost.

Affinity Radio Studio 2010

Here are a few tips on how to begin broadcasting on a small budget.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Identify your music genre
Create a name for your station - check no one else has it already
Choose how you want to play your music - we started with WINAMP which is FREE and has lots of great addons. You can compile playlists, adjust fade in and out of tracks, connect a microphone and lots more. There is also a large amount of help on the internet.
Choose how you want to "broadcast" your station? We started using our PC as a server with free software download. We first tested this and managed 7 listener connections max! Ideally you can consider free (with restrictions) servers or a whole range of paid for options for as little as £5 per month to get more listeners. We currently use a Cloud based broadcast management system for £30 per month. We also broadcast 24/7 as this gets more listeners.
You need to tell the world you are there! Once you get your music broadcasting, register your station with as many on line internet directories as possible.
WEBSITE? - get a free website by registering with Google Business to push your station. Make sure you include a player so that the listener can "tune in".
SOCIAL MEDIA? - Sometimes this requires too much work for little return, give it a go, Start TWITTER and FACEBOOK pages but keep them updated.

So if you already have a PC/Laptop and have downloaded WINAMP and found a FREE server, all you need then is a microphone and microphone stand with compatible input for your PC/Laptop (USB or other). General costs are as follows:

Microphone = £20 - £150

Microphone Stand = £8 - £25

Mixer (when using extra microphones = £19 - £150

Music £££££££££

One other thing.....