Shoutcast Versus Icecast

First off, I must confess that I’m partial to Icecast servers. Thanks in part to the bias AOL’s attorneys at law bred after harshly taking ownership of a domain name from my possession, that includes the trademark, Shoutcast. I might add that Shoutcast 2 servers comprise of mountpoints, a long time Icecast server hosting configuration, but hey, I guess the AOL legal team on retainer decides to neglect that minor detail.

While AOL bought out the original Shoutcast creators, Nullsoft, for millions, Icecast is still the pioneer with its head hacker and code warrior, Icecast forum king, Karl Heyes. Icecast servers remain a free open source. You can donate to the development of Icecast servers on GitHub. Shoutcast servers require an authentication key and small mp3 fee.

Ok, what about functionality, you ask? Get to the point, you say. Well hell, Shoutcast v2.0 is still in beta. So, I would be careless to go too in depth, but comprehension tells me Icecast v2.4.1 is far more elaborate. Don’t get me wrong. Shoutcast v1.9.8 is solid. As a matter of fact, generally speaking, we suggest the text book basics of Shoutcast to newbies over the complexity of Icecast to old school streamers. Both are made easy through our streaming control panel, Centova Cast. Try the demo.

Last but not least, a comparison of Auto DJs would certainly land on the Ices side of the spectrum. Sc_trans is not hard to crash. Additionally, Ices is compatible with Shoutcast. Sc_trans does not return the favor.

So, that’s my two cents, which apparently I’m lucky to still own. That and the shirt on my back. Hopefully big brother won’t be reading this Shoutcast versus Icecast article anytime soon.