<page	xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
	type="guide"
	id="shoutcast">

<info>
	<link type="guide" xref="index#channels"/>
	<link type="guide" xref="channels#list"/>
        <desc>Probably still the largest radio station list.</desc>
</info>

	<title><media type="image" src="img/channel_shoutcast.png" /> Shoutcast</title>
	<subtitle><link	href="http://directory.shoutcast.com/">//directory.shoutcast.com/</link></subtitle>

	<p>SHOUTcast is the name of a MP3 streaming server software. It automatically collects all
	station lists on shoutcast.com. Currently lists over 85000 stations.
        </p>

        <list>
		<item><p>Station entries usually provide current playing information.</p></item>
		<item><p>Stream links are plain <link xref="filetypes#pls">PLS files</link>.</p></item>
		<item><p>Genres are subcategorized, so the main groups in the category
		list must be expanded to see the interesting entries.</p></item>
        </list>

        <p>Since being sold from AOL to Radionomy, the directory got cut down. There are no longer
        entries for currently played songs, and homepage links are largely gone. Hencewhy the
        Shoutcast channel is no longer considered a primary feature.</p>

        <section id="options">
        <title>Configuration</title>
	<terms>
	<item>
	<title><code>🔠 Shoutcast playlist format </code></title>
        <p>Per default <link xref="filetypes#pls">*.pls</link> station
        links will be retrieved. But shoutcast also allows for
        <link xref="filetypes#m3u">*.m3u</link> or <link
        xref="filetypes#xspf">*.xspf</link> playlists.</p>
        <p> Alternatively the "raw" option will use IDs to look up the
        direct streaming URL with a subsequent AJAX request (bit slower;
        meant as fallback in case the tunein-station.pls links break).</p>
	</item>
	<item>
	<title><code>❏  Use developer API </code></title>
        <p>Instead of scanning the website, there's also an API for
        searching stations. It's only meant for alternative shoutcast
        directory websites; and you won't easily get an API key.
        Required installed module: <cmd>pip install shoutcast-api</cmd></p>
	</item>
	</terms>
        </section>

</page>
