Audio Link on other sites

matthewtomek · #1 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 09:06 PM

On my site (Memphis Fire Scanner - Listen), I have a link to start the feeds in their respective audio players. Each link has the respective file extension for WMP, Real Player, etc.

I changed the links the other day to reflect the address shown when you hover over the listen button on the RR page. These links do not work as they redirect to RR's homepage. What should these links point to? The Memphis, Tennessee Fire Department link does not work. Am I too confusing?

matthewtomek · #2 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 09:39 PM

I think I solved the problem. The links changed.

feedus · #3 (**permalink**) 07-02-2009, 04:42 PM

I have several other feeds linked on my site via the old web player that scanamerica use to have. Now the links dont work. I know that the URL for each feed changes everyday. I was wondering is there going to be the same app that was on scanamerica. (the one that would give you the code to make a web player for each feed that you wanted link on your web page).

blantonl · #4 (**permalink**) 07-02-2009, 07:17 PM

If you can, please link to the additional feed details page from your site.

For instance feedus, your link would be:

Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com

For right now we aren't planning to release an embeded player on remote sites until we can better understand the impact on RR.

Thanks,

Citywide173 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 11:14 PM

Lindsay,

Any update on the "For right now"? I just moved a feed to RR from Boston EMS-An Unofficial Site where it has been since 2003, and really don't want to make the visitors have to click a link when they have been able to just open the page and get their audio for so long.

APSN556 · #6 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 01:52 AM

Bummer... Im in the EXACT same boat. It would be a shame if feed providers were no longer allowed to mirror their feed on their own website.

BIG BUMMER.

blantonl · #7 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 09:05 AM

It is on the list of things to get accomplished, right now we are focused on moving the site to new infrastructure for the increase in growth.

However, please understand that we are able to generate growth and revenue to support the feeds by driving visitors to RadioReference.com - not other sites. We are still working to understand how we might provide a "hosted feed" service model for folks that want to host the feeds on RR but leverage them on other sites.

Warm regards,

K4IHS · #8 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 10:21 AM

First of all... I don't know why RR would be against having your stream in multiple places as long as you have an RR link on your web page. That's just good advertisement for RR. And after all... RR is getting use of your $500 scanner, computer and Internet connection 24/7.

If you want to embed your stream on your own web page... stream to Shoutcast and RR. It's the best of both worlds.

If you're running Oddcast... just click on "add encoder" and set it up for a Shoutcast stream. Then run an instance of sc_serv and your stream will appear on Shoutcast... and RR. From there... you can get an IP to embed your stream on your own web site using something like Windows Media Player. Mine is http://69.138.112.172:8090/ Yours will simply be your IP address plus the stream port.

Then you can get that warm fuzzy feeling twice as much! This is a "win win" situation?! :-)

Citywide173 · #9 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 10:28 AM

Quite honestly, that's not the answer I wanted to see. I moved the feed over based on the assumption that the Scan America policy of providing the code to embed the player into my website was still in effect. I know that I assumed wrong, but as of right now (until October 20th), I'm giving you things for free. My premium subscription expires on that date (why only 360 days?), which means that I haven't realized a penny in benefits by providing 3 feeds to Radio Reference, yet by directing people to the feed on Radio Reference from my site, I'm driving them away from my own site to yours. This is a plus to me how?

K4IHS · #10 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 10:38 AM

I paid for an RR membership even though I get it free because I provide streams. In fact... I provide 3 streams. I pay because RR is one of the BEST scanner radio resources available on the Internet and I want to support it. I visit RR everyday! Keep up the good work RR... but don't forget the little guy in the process... :-)

Citywide173 · #11 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K4IHS

First of all... I don't know why RR would be against having your stream in multiple places as long as you have an RR link on your web page. That's just good advertisement for RR. And after all... RR is getting use of your $500 scanner, computer and Internet connection 24/7.

If you want to embed your stream on your own web page... stream to Shoutcast and RR. It's the best of both worlds.

If you're running Oddcast... just click on "add encoder" and set it up for a Shoutcast stream. Then run an instance of sc_serv and your stream will appear on Shoutcast... and RR. From there... you can get an IP to embed your stream on your own web site using something like Windows Media Player. Mine is http://69.138.112.172:8090/ Yours will simply be your IP address plus the stream port.

Then you can get that warm fuzzy feeling twice as much! This is a "win win" situation?! :-)

I'm not savvy enough with Shoutcast to even attempt this. I was previously using Windows Media Encoder and streaming it directly to the site with the IP/port as you have, but I see the same issues of the number of listeners being limited to 20 that I had before, which was one of the reasons I put it here. I see this inability to embed as a major problem, one large enough that I may just take everything offline.

APSN556 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 10:50 AM

I agree with both of the above posts. I have been providing 4 feeds for nearly 2 years. I was already a paying premium member before the switch, so getting it for free next year is irrelevant to me. Technically speaking, I could throw a fit and ask for the money back that I spent on that premium purchase just a couple months before it became "Free". The embed code that was used at ScanAmerica still showed the user of your feed, that it was provided by scanamerica, in the scrolling text. RR could do the same. This makes no sense to me whatsoever. I love this site- and what all its admin do behind the scenes to get keep it up and running, but this is a slap in the face of sorts! I'd rather be able to embed my feed to any site I create than have a free premium membership any day. If fact, from a business standpoint, I see you actually losing money out of this.

Just my .02

K4IHS · #13 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 11:02 AM

Ed... Why quit? This is fun! I'm not very tech savvy either. And if I can do it... most anybody can. If you want some help... just ask. Shoutcast is not easy... but it's not impossible. The hardest part... is getting past your own router.

As far as RR goes... if somebody likes your stream... they probably would like other streams as well. It doesn't get much better then steering listeners the RR live audio link. If you can't find it there... it's probably not online.

Lot's of scanners on Shoutcast... but you need the free version of Winamp to listen. Have a look at the scanners on Shoutcast. I'd bet RR would want everyone of them?

SHOUTcast - HOME

Citywide173 · #14 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 11:31 AM

I should have worded that differently. I should have said relocate. Obviously Boston EMS-An Unofficial Site would get it's feed back, and I'd probably register a couple of domains for the Providence Fire and Rhode Island Statewide feeds. I've already got plenty of hosting space, and would just need to find an audio server that would allow me to feed to more than 20 simultaneous connections. Yes, it would cost, but my feeds wouldn't be under someone else's control.

K4IHS · #15 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 11:40 AM

Citywide173... check your private messages...

blantonl · #16 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 01:12 PM

Guys, you need to think about it from our perspective. Why should RadioReference provide for someone (in many cases that I see here, other businesses) a free platform to stream from their sites? In this case, I would be subsidizing your own Web site success, and losing revenue by not displaying ads to users and soliciting premium subscriptions. 99% percent of the eyeballs would stay directly on your site (and ads) and would never, ever make it to RadioReference.com.

Folks, the model that we are working towards is if you want to host the feed on your Web site, using our resources to deliver the content , you are going to have to pay RadioReference.com for the right to do that. Because at that point we lose control over the customer. Folks, this is how the "Freemium" model works.

So, I'm sorry that you view that as big suckage, but that is how this entire model operates. The value add for RadioReference is that we provide an infrastructure that can support tens of thousands of listeners in case of big incidents, and we archive your feed. We also make it available to tens of thousands of other folks out there through easy to use iPhone and mobile applications, which has signgiicantly increased new members in the hobby. If you don't see the value in that, then I understand. If you take a popular feed away, I'll replace it myself with either RR owned equipment or recruitment of a new feed provider. I'm not saying I don't appreciate all your efforts, but I am saying that this is a business and business decisions need to be made

I also understand that many of you view the $30/premium subscription that we give you as a feed provider as not that big of a deal. Well, consider that this year alone RadioReference has "given" $33,000 worth of Premium subscriptions away to the overall Feed Provider community (1100 unique feed providers * 30 dollars, assuming they provide the feed for a year). That is a LOT of revenue we've invested into this process.

APSN556 · #17 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blantonl

Guys, you need to think about it from our perspective. Why should RadioReference provide for someone (in many cases that I see here, other businesses) a free platform to stream from their sites? In this case, I would be subsidizing your own Web site success, and losing revenue by not displaying ads to users and soliciting premium subscriptions. 99% percent of the eyeballs would stay directly on your site (and ads) and would never, ever make it to RadioReference.com.

Folks, the model that we are working towards is if you want to host the feed on your Web site, using our resources to deliver the content , you are going to have to pay RadioReference.com for the right to do that. Because at that point we lose control over the customer. Folks, this is how the "Freemium" model works.

So, I'm sorry that you view that as big suckage, but that is how this entire model operates. The value add for RadioReference is that we provide an infrastructure that can support tens of thousands of listeners in case of big incidents, and we archive your feed. We also make it available to tens of thousands of other folks out there through easy to use iPhone and mobile applications, which has signgiicantly increased new members in the hobby. If you don't see the value in that, then I understand. If you take a popular feed away, I'll replace it myself with either RR owned equipment or recruitment of a new feed provider. I'm not saying I don't appreciate all your efforts, but I am saying that this is a business and business decisions need to be made

I also understand that many of you view the $30/premium subscription that we give you as a feed provider as not that big of a deal. Well, consider that this year alone RadioReference has "given" $33,000 worth of Premium subscriptions away to the overall Feed Provider community (1100 unique feed providers * 30 dollars, assuming they provide the feed for a year). That is a LOT of revenue we've invested into this process.

For the record, neither flagscanner nor APSN is a business of mine. I do not make any money of of them.

blantonl · #18 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 01:58 PM

That's cool Chad... I understand.

APSN556 · #19 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blantonl

Guys, you need to think about it from our perspective. Why should RadioReference provide for someone (in many cases that I see here, other businesses) a free platform to stream from their sites?

Why should I provide you with a free scanner, free internet connection, and allow you to make money off of it? My payment was allowing me to mirror my feed to my personal site.

Think outside the box Mr Blanton. John comes to flagscanner.com because he lives in Flagstaff. John hears references to the site around town, in the paper, and on the local news all the time. When he does a google search for Flagstaff police or for an incident that happened near his home, it will take him to my site- not Radio Reference. John has no knowledge of police scanners and the chances of him going to the radio reference site are far less than if he were to go my site which has more of a community feels and relates to his home town of Flagstaff. John really gets a kick out of listening to his local pd/ems and fire scanner traffic on the flagscanner.com site. He notices right away that while he is listening to the stream, it has the Scan America ticker/information on it. The ticker says, "for more live feeds of other cities, go to www.scanamerica.us." JOhn checks out to see if his hometown of Boston happens to be on this Scan America site and it is! BAM! There you have it. Thats your advertisement. John now bookmarks Scan America and listens to Boston just as much as flagstaff. In fact every time he hears of a Major Incident somewhere outside of Flagstaff, he goes right to Scan America. Think OUTSIDE the box!

Quote:

Originally Posted by blantonl

99% percent of the eyeballs would stay directly on your site (and ads) and would never, ever make it to RadioReference.com.

Where did you get that figure? I'd say your WAY off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blantonl

If you don't see the value in that, then I understand. If you take a popular feed away, I'll replace it myself with either RR owned equipment or recruitment of a new feed provider. I'm not saying I don't appreciate all your efforts, but I am saying that this is a business and business decisions need to be made

That's a harsh statement to those of us who have stood behind you and RR for as long as we have. I'm somewhat offended by it. It sorta speaks volumes about what you REALLY think of the little guy. Good luck with the recruiting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blantonl

I also understand that many of you view the $30/premium subscription that we give you as a feed provider as not that big of a deal. Well, consider that this year alone RadioReference has "given" $33,000 worth of Premium subscriptions away to the overall Feed Provider community (1100 unique feed providers * 30 dollars, assuming they provide the feed for a year). That is a LOT of revenue we've invested into this process.

Again, I think your math is way of mark. How many of those people had already paid you this year for a subscription (like me) Take it another step and ask yourself how many of those people even use the RR import feature, which is the only big benefit of being a premium subscriber? I've been an Entrepreneur for many years, and even have a Maters degree on the subject, if you gave away $33,000 for this purpose hoping to get a profit using the business model you described, then I'd be looking for a new advisor- and quick. It still doesnt make any sense to me.

I want to reiterate how thankful of am of this service. Despite my grievance with the above situation I will continue to use RR and tell others about it. But I'm afraid unless something changes with the feed mirror rule, then I will be forced to remove all 4 of my feeds.

blantonl · #20 (**permalink**) 09-15-2009, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by APSN556

I want to reiterate how thankful of am of this service. Despite my grievance with the above situation I will continue to use RR and tell others about it. But I'm afraid unless something changes with the feed mirror rule, then I will be forced to remove all 4 of my feeds.

Chad, if you choose to pull your feeds I'll respect your decision. After all, it is your choice to feed to RadioReference.