Streaming Audio

How can I allow users to select music?

[liman]

hi,

i'm not very familiar with streaming audio so your help is very appreciated. i have a potential client that wants to add audio to their site where users can choose to play different songs while they browse the web site. say five channels and a few songs on each channel. like an online radio console.

anyone have any experience with this type of stuff?

thanks :)

[BlobFisk]

I've seen java applets that do this - everything is held within the applet, even the audio.

Another way (and it's a way I've used) is to build a little console like interface, and have the buttons linking to the streaming media. In my case I used the Real Player .ram and .rm format. It worked fine. The user clicked his/her preference, and if they clicked a different channel it just loaded up that files.

[txbakers]

You don't need java applets, you can use http streaming.

If I remember correctly.....

create your RM file and place it on the server.

Then, create a simple file with one line: the complete http:// path to the RM file.

call this file xxx.RAM

have your user link to the RAM file.

For instance:

your sound file is called mysong.rm in directory songs
create a file with one line:
[yoursite.com...]

call this file mysong.RAM

That's all you need to do.

[Knowles]

Thats only one song no?

I used to have a javascript console for playing .mp3 files on the net. I think I found it over at hotscripts you might look through their. It had options of next previous random and repeat.

[threecrans]

I've seen several Flash jukeboxes for playing MP3s. Search for "flash jukebox" on the web, there are many of them, they are fairly easy to create, and Flash is ideal for the type of application you describe...the only problem is browser compatibility.

[liman]

i now see that i have a few options available: flash, javascript, and java to run the actual controls.

Now I have to research and find the best one for my situation(clients).......

thanks guys....

[jatar_k]

you could always build a .smil file and configure hyperlinks in realplayer in one window and they can just click on different link to play a different file.

smil files can configure realplayer to do all sorts of the things. I used to use them for webcasts to have different feeds in different portions of the realplayer. They were all synced so you could watch the slides while people were speaking.

For some of the archived webcasts we had links in the player to play different portions of the presentation.

I think you may even be able to embed them. I think the flash jukebox would be the best though. You could embed it into the page or menu and not spawn an external player.