Where to put music files for streaming?

mjbphotos

mjbphotos

Moderator
Not really a Newbie question, but couldn't figure out where else to put it.

A lot of blogs want a link to a site where they can stream your music (for free, of course - so Bandcamp is out, because it limits the free plays). Dropbox only streams if the person has the dropbox app installed. Reverbnation and Bandmix only allow MP3s.
Soundcloud mangles the sound (sometimes) with its compression, but also is a prime place for people to steal music files (I've had some stolen and appear on Asian sites for sale).

Any suggestions?
 
Web hosting is pretty cheap and you don't need a lot of bells and whistles to put your tunes up there. There is a little bit of a learning curve if you want to add a flash player.

Or get Bandzoogle. Most of the work is done for you. upload pictures and tunes.

VomitHat Steve has some website packages for bands, though he's not allowed to advertise it. (But I'm allowed to advertise it for him.)
 
Reverbnation doesn't stomp on the file as much as Soundcloud. Go into your song list, at the right side of each song are three dots (it's the options menu for each song), one of the items in the drop down is to share. Copy that link and paste it in the email/wherever.

Example of streaming from their site:

https://www.reverbnation.com/theboogeymen/song/24186713-a-lot-can-happen-in-6000-years

I host/maintain my own website, so I always just link to the files I keep on there.
 
Pinky said:
Reverbnation doesn't stomp on the file as much as Soundcloud.
Click to expand...

I don't think ReverbNation stomps on it at all, they expect you to compress it before uploading. Soundcloud compresses everything, even files already compressed to mp3.

Bandcamp may offer limited streaming but how often do you hit that limit? At least you can upload wav files and listeners can download uncompressed files if that's what they want. I host songs on Bandcamp and ReverbNation. If the Bandcamp streaming ever runs out people can stream them over at ReverbNation for free.
 
I really want a place that streams where there is no 'regular' traffic - I can just send a link to someone. In Bandcamp, you can set the 'number of free streams' allowed - but that means EVERYONE can stream that many times, not just the bloggers I'm targetting. Same thing would be true on a personal website.
 
For the sort of thing you're asking for (just the ability to post some music then hand out a link as appropriate) I use an outfit called box.com.

Once you've uploaded the file, you can click on "Share" and get a link like https://app.box.com/shared/iqic24qa8e which you can give to as many or few people as you like.
 
Dropbox was addressed in the OP. Google Drive is so much better than Dropbox in so many ways that I'm not sure why Dropbox even exists anymore, but I don't think it does streaming at all. Your browser might try to play the MP3, but it will have to download first.

I personally don't have problems with SoundCloud, but I mostly only upload noise there, and I really don't care if it gets stolen.

Bandcamp has a Private Streaming feature. There are some restrictions unless you have a Pro subscription, but I don't remember what they are.
 
I don't have the Dropbox app but a link to an audio file hosted there opens a page with a simple player.

You can get your own website and host them there. A link to the file should bring up the generic HTML 5 audio file player in most browsers.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I don't have the Dropbox app but a link to an audio file hosted there opens a page with a simple player.
Click to expand...

I use dropbox and can confirm this is true, a linked dropbox file opens like any direct-linked file (does need to buffer, but once buffered within a few seconds it starts to play).

Dropbox did change their direct link rules a few years ago, my account is old so I can still right-click items in my public folder and get a link that shares them directly, but with the newer dropbox account does not have the public folder and that direct linking no longer exists (from that I've seen). Sharing a link with dropbox still exists but it takes you to dropbox's website instead of launching the file directly in the browser. But you can still play the file fine without having to be a dropbox user.
 
I asked someone without dropbox to check it for me, and he said he only got the download option, not the player. Maybe he didn't know what he was doing.
 
mjbphotos said:
I asked someone without dropbox to check it for me, and he said he only got the download option, not the player. Maybe he didn't know what he was doing.
Click to expand...

That's correct, they click download and then open it. That's the 'new' dropbox way as I described. Only older dropbox users can direct link.

Pinky said:
... direct linking no longer exists (from that I've seen). Sharing a link with dropbox still exists but it takes you to dropbox's website instead of launching the file directly in the browser. But you can still play the file fine without having to be a dropbox user.
Click to expand...

They don't need to be a dropbox member, but they need to know how to download and open a file. I don't mean that sarcastically, some people can't even do that without someone holding their hand. Direct linking definitely increases the odds of the listener actually listening to the file because any small hurtle could mean they get frustrated and move on.

[note that I didn't mention dropbox as an option for you]
 
As Chili mentioned, Bandzoogle is something I used for a few years. Until I didn't really need it anymore.

Basically you get a website that is way easy to setup and support was great. It was $10 per month as well. You can setup songs for streaming in whatever format you wish.
 
I just leeched FTP from a buddy who was in web design.
Had that going for years!

He recently moved on but by that stage I was managing three websites on his server so it was worth it to start paying for my own hosting.

If you know someone who is paying hosting for a reliable long-term website, maybe they'd let you piggyback?
 
On the subject of FTP space.....
My own ISP Charter/Spectrum) provides a small amount of FTP space (not sure how much and I can't see its properties) that I use occasionally to upload a few mp3 files and photo slideshows. If I open that FTP address that has an mp3 file it opens and plays on my PC. Is it correct to say I've setup/instructed my computer to play an mp3 file that it retrieves from FTP or other website, otherwise I would just be prompted to download it?
 
Just played around with some HTML coding and a file I had on my ISP FTP space. The mp3 file is something I had as a demo of a TC Helicon VLP GTX harmony pedal and named 'VLPCompilation' and is located on the FTP space. The coding is below with the target source file being the 'VLPCompilation.mp3' file and is saved as 'PLAYER.html'

Try this and see if it opens a player........ VLPCompilation.mp3

<!PLAYER html>
<html>
<body>

<audio controls>
<source src="VLPCompilation.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>

</body>
</html>

The website I got the coding info from is ....... HTML5 Audio
Probably Mike doesn't want to play around with HTML coding, but I'm guessing there might be a simple pre-built website file with the player embedded that could be uploaded to FTP space that might be able to allow linking to specific mp3 or wav files.

Below are the files shown in the FTP space uploaded with CoreFTPLite....
 

Attachments

  • CoreFTPLite.jpg
    CoreFTPLite.jpg
    105.3 KB · Views: 1
I do that when I want something presentable for a client and don't find it too much trouble.
Get an FTP client that lets you edit remotely, though. That lets you save time on download, edit, save, upload each time.

Alternatively, just upload your files and link someone to

A lot of browsers will play rather than download these days anyway. For single tracks, that's what I do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top