We want to make sure you're legal. So when you join
the LoudCity network, you're covered under our licenses with
SoundExchange, BMI, SESAC and ASCAP - provided you follow
their rules.
You need to provide your own content
and streaming
servers - see our recommended hosts page for suggestions
on servers - and a live audio source
(Like Station Playlist, SAM Broadcaster, Winamp etc). You can also
used a third party AutoDJ service if you like.
You can broadcast your music collection, but all
your MP3 files should be properly tagged with the name
of the artist, title of the song, and the name of the album.
LoudCity's license covers "radio" style streaming. In
other words, you're not covered if you stream video, offer
downloads, or produce any kind of interactive service where
listeners pick the specific songs that only they can hear. Your broadcast must be a single
stream, meaning everyone listening hears the same thing at the same
time - just like a radio station.
You can accept and play requests, however you must
not announce when a particular song will play.
All listeners must be directed from your
website (if you have one) to the LoudCity website in order to listen to the stream.
This is because our license covers performing music on our domain,
but not on yours.
For broadcasters who would like to offer their
listeners a seamless transition from their website to the LoudCity
website, custom players/custom content options are available. This allows you to
design the web page that listeners see when they come to LoudCity from
your website.
Finally, all stations must follow DMCA rules for webcasting
(It's the law).
These rules include:
Your station must not be part of an
"interactive service". This means no personalized on-demand
streaming or downloading of content. Sound recordings can't be
performed within one hour of a request by a listener or at a time
designated by the listener.
In any three-hour period, you should not intentionally program more
than three songs (and not more than two songs in a row) from the
same recording; you should not intentionally program more than four
songs (and not more than three songs in a row) from the same
recording artist or anthology/box set.
Archived programs (those that, when accessed, always start in the
same place and play in the same order) should be at least five hours
long, and should not be available for more than two weeks at a time.
Continuous "looped" programs (those that always perform in the same
order, but are accessed in a continuous play stream) should be at
least three hours long.
Rebroadcasts of programs can be performed at scheduled times three
times in a two-week period (for programs of less than one hour) and
four times (for programs of an hour or more).
Do not publish advance program guides or use other means to
pre-announce when particular sound recordings will be played.
However, a webcaster may name one or two artists to illustrate the
type of music on a particular channel; and, DJ "teaser" announcement
using artists' names are permitted, but only those that do not
specify the time a song will be played.
Use only sound recordings that are authorized for performance in the
United States (e.g.: do not play bootleg recordings).
Provide some means for the end user to identify the song, artist and
album title of the recording as it is being played.
Next: Why LoudCity?
