🏴☠️ VANTA'S GUIDE TO SETTING UP YOUR OWN INTERNET PIRATE RADIO STATION 🏴☠️
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: “pirate” in the title refers to cheekily theming your station after the “yarr matey” swashbuckling type of piracy, NOT illegally broadcasting music. i swear
(UPDATED: 1/16/2024)
FOREWORD
be gay, do crimes, and remember to have fun ✨
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
🖤 basic linux command line knowledge
like enough to SSH into a server and navigate and shit
🖤 access to a server
it doesn't have to be anything beefy, just better than the specs listed here: https://www.azuracast.com/docs/getting-started/requirements/
you can get one for free easily using the oracle cloud free tier https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/
🖤 optionally, your own domain name to point to the server. if you wanna be more fancy, and use HTTPS. these can be rented from various providers for a variety of different prices.
🖤 mixxx
on your home machine you intend to broadcast from
it's free and open source DJ software for windows, linux, and mac
🖤 azuracast
on the server
follow the instructions here to set it up https://www.azuracast.com/docs/getting-started/installation/
STEPS
ZERO: gain access to a server, somehow
the easiest way for a total newbie will probably be via the oracle cloud free tier which i linked above in the “things you'll need.” sign up for an account and follow these instructions to provision a server https://docs.oracle.com/en/learn/cloud_free_tier/index.html
ONE: once everything is all set up, SSH into the server and install azuracast
using the instructions on here https://www.azuracast.com/docs/getting-started/installation/
ONE POINT FIVE: (optional) set up your own domain to point to the server and enable SSL
using these instructions https://www.azuracast.com/docs/administration/ssl-and-lets-encrypt/
TWO: start up mixxx and fiddle with some of the settings
like you'll probably wanna set the crossfade between tracks to zero. you can then use the auto DJ to sequence sets. more info here https://manual.mixxx.org/2.3/en/chapters/djing_with_mixxx#auto-dj
also on windows you should open up the task manager, find mixxx.exe under “details,” right click it, and set priority to “realtime.” this'll keep the queue from getting jammed, which it can tend to do otherwise especially on lower-end hardware. there are also ways to automate this but that requires editing the registry and is thus outside the scope of a guide for beginners
THREE: begin putting together your first show!
for vantaradio i tend to do three songs, followed by a handful of bumpers sandwiched between two thingies that say something like “you're listening to vantaradio.” but you can do whateversies, really
i use yt-dlp on linux https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
or yt-dlp-gui on windows: https://github.com/dsymbol/yt-dlp-gui
to download bumpers from youtube. just funny little things like a “smoke weed every day” super mario remix or “lose yourself by eminem but it's mr. blue sky” or something like that
as far as song selection itself goes, you can probably just use your own music library. you should definitely only use stuff you have explicit broadcast rights to and not just download shit using a resource like https://rentry.co/megathread because that'd be illegal! and i'd never condone illegal activity ;)
FOUR: go live!
enter the station details you got during installation, using the info for “source,” as per https://manual.mixxx.org/2.3/en/chapters/livebroadcasting#configuring-mixxx
FIVE: promote your show!
post it on the fediverse, or wherever! be sure to use some hashtags for discoverability too! you can use the azuracast web interface to track how many viewers you have! feel free to thank me if this guide helped you at all :)
thanks for reading!!! i hope you have fun!!!!! 🦜