SSL radio streaming · https first
SSL radio streaming.Every listener on https.
SSL radio streaming is how every Server Room station is heard: the listen link we hand out is https, served on a Let's Encrypt certificate. Nothing to request and nothing to pay, on every plan including Free.
- TLS on every plan
- http copy for older players
- Encoder settings unchanged
A player on an https website plays it, a phone app accepts it, and what your listeners tune in to stays between them and us. Your encoder connects exactly as it did before; only the listener side moved to https.
New AI Production · Premium and Platinum
Write a line, get a finished spot in your library
The Production tab turns a short brief into programming: sponsor ads, station IDs, local weather, a news read from feeds you choose, talk segments and original music. Each piece is scripted, voiced and filed under AI Studio, where a folder playlist puts it on air with the rest of your rotation.
- Runs on the OpenAI or ElevenLabs account you connect; their usage is billed by them, with nothing added by us
- Scriptable too: an API key with the Radio production permission creates jobs and imports audio from your own tools
- On Platinum an AI DJ links your songs, naming what played and what comes next
Why https
An http stream fails quietly in three places
Nothing about the audio changes with TLS. What changes is who will agree to play it.
Players on https websites
Browsers no longer load http audio inside an https page. They try the https address instead or block the request, so a stream that answers only on http plays nothing and shows no error.
Phone apps
iOS refuses plain-http connections from apps unless the developer adds an exception, and app review asks why. An https stream needs no exception, which is one reason the station apps on Premium and Platinum use it.
Listener privacy
Over http, anyone on the network path can read which station a listener has open and alter what they receive. Over https they see only that the listener is connected to our server.
The link
One https address per stream, on the standard port
The station's port sits in the path, not after a colon. Our https proxy on the radio node carries every station on port 443, so the link works on networks that let only web traffic out, and the station's own port stays free for encoders.
Anatomy of the listen link
- Scheme
- https
- Host
- ny1.radio.serverroom.net
- Path
- /your port/stream
- Certificate
- Let's Encrypt
- The overview tab prints it with copy and open buttons
- On Platinum each of the 3 streams has its own https link, the lighter ones for listeners on mobile data
- On Platinum the station's CDN link is https on port 443 too: listen.radio.serverroom.net, your station number and the mount
- Listener counts, the 24-hour chart and the monthly listener hours sit on the same screen
Radio CDN · Platinum
Every listener tunes in from the server nearest to them
Your station lives on one server, in New York or Bucharest. Its listeners and its encoder do not have to reach it there: on Platinum, our radio CDN answers each of them from the nearest of five cities, and each of our servers fetches one copy of your stream however many listeners it has.
- One link for every listener. The station's CDN link connects each listener to our server nearest to their network, which plays your station from the copy it keeps for everyone listening there.
- The encoder goes to the nearest server too. That server passes your broadcast straight on to your station, which checks the password and runs the show exactly as it does today.
- A server that stops answering drops out. Each one is checked every 10 seconds; after 2 failed checks in a row it is left out, and listeners who reconnect land on the next nearest.
On Platinum, your panel shows the station's CDN link and the Nearest server encoder settings. On Free and Premium, listeners and the encoder connect to the station's own server. The links and the encoder settings in use today keep working on every plan.
Listeners in several regions? Platinum meets each of them nearby
Instead of crossing an ocean to reach your station, every listener connects to a server in or near their own region, and so does your encoder. In our tests, audio started 0.25–0.7 seconds after the player connected through these servers.
- North AmericaNew York
- Latin America and the CaribbeanMiami
- Western EuropeAmsterdam
- Eastern EuropeBucharest
- North Africa and the rest of AfricaAmsterdam
- The Middle EastBucharest
- West Asia: Turkey and the CaucasusBucharest
- South and Central AsiaBucharest
- Asia-PacificSan Francisco
Each region has a second city behind the first, and New York behind both, for the moment a server stops answering.
Player and page
A web player and a station page that are https already
The Share tab gives you an embeddable web player for your own site: pick the theme, the accent and the height, watch the preview, copy the code. The public station page carries the same player with your logo, your weekly show line-up and what is on now, and joins our radio guide once we approve it. All of it is on every plan.
- The player fills the width you give it, so it fits a sidebar or a full-width banner
- A station page for stations that have no website yet
- A direct https link on the overview tab for VLC and radio apps
Encoders
Your encoder keeps its settings
Only listening moved to https. Sources still log in on the station's own port with the source password, so no encoder needs a TLS option and none of your settings change.
From the Go live tab
- Icecast encoders
- server, station port, mount, user, password
- SHOUTcast-protocol encoders
- server, station port plus one, password
- Browser studio
- on Premium and Platinum, nothing to configure
Country limits
The same proxy enforces where you may be heard
If your music licences cover only some countries, set them under "Where the station is heard" in the Licensing tab. The https proxy then turns away a listener from anywhere else with a clear refusal, and lets through a listener whose country it cannot place. With every listener arriving over https, the rule has no side door.
- Country limits on every plan, Free included
- The setting is kept with your licensing records
- Licences listed and checked by our team, with a flag when one ends within 30 days
Plans
https on all three plans; the rest is bitrate and audience
Free is $0 a month after a one-time $5 setup. Premium is $39 a month and Platinum $79. Each one serves its listeners over https, and Platinum adds the radio CDN link, served from the nearest of five cities.
| Feature | Free | Premium | Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio CDN, Platinum only | |||
| Listeners on the nearest of five cities | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Your encoder in at the nearest city | Not included | Not included | Included |
| A failed server skipped, the next city serves | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Broadcasting | |||
| Concurrent listeners, hard cap | 1,000 | 2,500 | 5,000 |
| Listener hours per calendar month | no allowance | 500,000 | 1.5 million |
| Maximum bitrate | 32 Kbps | 128 Kbps | 320 Kbps |
| Streams (extras are lower-bitrate relays) | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| https listen link and web player | Included | Included | Included |
| Icecast and SHOUTcast-protocol encoders; switch to SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6 yourself | Included | Included | Included |
14 days free on Premium and Platinum. The card or PayPal account goes on file at checkout and nothing is charged until day 14 ends; cancel before then and the trial costs nothing. One trial per new customer, and a Free or Premium station gets one when it moves up a plan.
An audience in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, North Africa or West Asia?
Platinum's radio CDN serves each listener from the nearest of five cities, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Miami, New York and San Francisco, and takes your encoder in at the nearest one too, so the station starts faster and buffers less wherever they are. If a server stops answering, the next nearest city takes over. How the radio CDN works
The radio hosting page lists every feature of every plan.
Answers
SSL radio streaming questions
What is SSL radio streaming?
Serving a radio stream over https, so the connection between the listener and the server is encrypted with TLS. On our platform it is the link every station is given: https on a Let's Encrypt certificate. For players that cannot open https, such as Winamp, hardware radios and older software, the panel also lists a plain-http copy of the same link. On Platinum the CDN link has a plain-http copy too.
Do I pay extra for an https radio stream?
No. It comes with every plan, Free included, and there is nothing to switch on.
Why does my old http stream link no longer play?
Plain http straight to a station's port is refused on our platform. Copy the https link from the overview tab and put it in your players, apps and directory listings; for a player that cannot open https, use the plain-http copy the panel lists under For older players. A station still on one of our older machines keeps its old address until it moves; ask us on chat for its https address.
Does https add delay to the stream?
Only when a listener tunes in: the TLS handshake costs a round trip or two at connect. After that the audio flows as it would over http.
Can my encoder connect over SSL?
It does not need to. Encoders log in on the station's port with the source password, as before, and only listener connections are https. The Go live tab prints the settings.
Which players can open an https stream?
Browsers, VLC, phone apps, the station apps we build on Premium and Platinum, and most radio apps and directories. A very old hardware receiver that predates TLS may not: give it the plain-http copy of the link from the overview tab.
Is there a free trial on the paid radio plans?
Yes, 14 days on Premium and Platinum. You add a card or PayPal at checkout, the first charge comes when the trial ends, and cancelling before then costs nothing. Each new customer gets one trial, and a Free or Premium station gets one when it upgrades.
An https station for a one-time $5
The free plan carries live audio to 1,000 listeners at once, over https from the first minute.