Buying a stream; pros & cons...

keith · Buying a stream; pros & cons...

Tried to pull off my first gig over the weekend, couldn't get Nicecast to find the club's server. Sad

But then I was talking to a SL manager who said I should have my own stream to avoid problems like the above. I'm still new to all this, so I was wondering what the vets think about owning a stream versus having one provided.

I'm also wondering where to go about buying a stream if I go that route, where to get a good deal without overpaying, etc. What's a typical rate?

Thanks.

Silas Scarborough

The Stream Team through Ed Lowell is expensive at $5155L per month but they're exceptionally reliable and will run a line trace if there's any problem with a server. With most others, they'll restart a server if there's a problem and if you can find them.

You can save money with some stream vendors by arranging for terms that go beyond a month.

The advantage for me is that I always know how my stream will behave but there are no guarantees, as you've discovered, how the stream provided by the venue will behave. If I've got a choice, I'll use my own stream every time.

ticious

The price difference can vary tremendously these days. As Silas points out, the Stream Team streams, though reliable run you over 5k per month. There are many out there in the 1k per month range now. There are differences between the high end and low end though, so you need to understand what you need. One musician I know paid 8k per month for a stream that included functionality she didn't need and never used when the same vendor offered a totally reliable stream that fit her needs for 4k per month.

As for whether or not you need one, you probably do. You will be booking gigs at venues (like mine) who prefer you to use theirs, venues that let you pick whether to use yours or theirs and venues that don't have a stream and expect you to provide one.

But do shop for price and be sure you buy only what you need. Number of listeners, bit rates, reliability, admin features, etc. And talk to people, get references.

By the way, I've been using Jamie Otis' streams for nearly three years. He's pricier than many but cheaper than the Stream Team. Stream Team streams support 1k listeners, Jamie's support 100. In nearly three years, my peak usage record is 96 so I don't feel I need more than 100 listeners just now. And personally, I've found Jamie more reliable than Stream Team. But that's my experience, ask around.

Norris Shepherd

Clarissa Pastorelli is another stream vendor to consider. Can't remember the company name, but i deal with her. Good rates - 800 or 900L per month I think. I've only had a small problem once in 150 shows or so with them, and it was quickly fixed.

Silas Scarborough

On the number of listeners: while getting a stream with a hundred listeners is pretty much the standard, there is value in getting a higher-capacity stream because that permits you to advertise the stream anywhere you want.

For example, if you have friends who want to hear your set but don't want to deal with SL, you can give them the stream address and they can listen via iTunes or similar software capable of receiving Internet radio broadcasts. Your stream is, in effect, an Internet radio station for as long as you keep it running and it's not dependent on SL for anything.

If you've got enough of a street team out there, you can broadcast to them without ever going into SL. Perhaps you might open the stream at a certain time each day. I have no idea why you would want to do that but you have the capability as soon as you have your own stream. It's almost impossible to use up the number of stream-connect minutes most of them permit so do whatever whacked-out things you want.

In calculating the number of listeners, anyone in the SL audience counts as one toward the total. That can run as high as four hundred but will very rarely exceed one hundred. However, keep in mind that anyone listening to you as a radio station also counts as one. If you've got a lot of fans outside SL, this could push the number way up.

RayW

That's too bad, keith. But, it's not the way it usually goes. Most people who have been hosting awhile give me pretty good info about their stream and I connect right up. Plus, it helps if you can do a sound check the day before to get things all setup and ready to go with just a click.

But, I do have my own streams. One through JJ Collingwood and one through DoubleDown Tandino. It has helped on the several times that the venue stream (or host) was having problems or for that small group gathering who doesn't have a stream.

They both do different things. But, I'd say reliable streams run between 2K and 5K a month, depending on features: bit rate, number of seats. 128K and 100 seats are typical. Plus, there are a number of temp/one-time use streams you can get for cheep. I used them long ago. But, not lately ... like having something I can fall back on at any minute.

Also, it helps so that I can play my own gig whenever I want to. But, don't put a lot of weight on that ... you need someone pulling people in or you'll be doing a pretty quiet gig. Many times, my own shows are a bust.

Oh, and what Silas says, too .. but MY outside fans could be counted on you fingers .. no toes needed. Wink

ticious

I'm not sure the 1k listener thing alone is much of a selling point these days. My record of 96 listeners was set two years ago. This past year, crowds in SL are much, much smaller and audiences of 50 seem to be pretty rare. So unless you have more than about 50 outside listeners, the 100 listener streams should not be a problem.

By the way, you can do as you like in terms of handing out your own stream info, but if you're using the venue's stream, always check with the venue owner before giving the stream info out. Many won't mind if you give it to outside listeners, but many will. It's always polite to ask and not assume. This is particularly true if they're paying you a fee with the specific intent of drawing people to their venue.

Gath Gothly

I've tried a couple different streams.

Initially, I actually used my own server I setup on my bandwidth. But with only 2.5 Megs upstream (note: upstream. I get 16Mb down), that meant that I could only reliably support 15 users max at 128kbps. At 64kbps I could support 30 easily. So that's an ok backup option. Although I've never *had* to use it.

I used house streams, the venue's stream, plenty of times. It's fine and dandy, but the lack of control of the server is somewhat annoying. You'll never know what you run into and you can't test it before-hand if someone is up before you. That's the major turn off. I like to test my stream, connect to it, and mute my mics after a quick test. Then when they're ready to cut over to me, I can simply unmute the mics and get on the stream faster - hopefully without that 30 second silence.
Some venues surprisingly do not have streams. Especially smaller/newer places. In the end, it's just "nice" to have your own stream, and sometimes necessary.

I've used the Stream Team. Ed rocks, great guy, great musician, and a real network geek. (That's a big compliment from me, a fellow network/server geek). I'll tell you honestly here - he's got insane awesome bandwidth and really knows how to run his servers. The guy is the real deal - an honest-to-god real IT guy. And being an "old-hand" SL musician himself, he's the foremost musical streaming expert in SL, IMHO.
I used the stream team for some time, and had a fantastic experience. Never had a single problem with the server, everything worked fine. He's friendly and very helpful. They have the best bandwidth of ANYONE I looked at. I've talked "geek" with him about it, and let me tell you - INSANE awesome bandwidth. I can't recommend them enough.

I don't use stream team now, or any in-game provider. Simply because I don't want to pay with Linden. I went with a stream provider that didn't have any ties to SL at all, in fact. A major hosting company that I can use a credit card directly for (serverroom.us). Ends up being the same price as most in-game solutions, but gives me the ease of credit card payments instead of dropping linden montly :p
In fact, I actually used to rent co-location space from this provider and had a bunch of servers in their facility. I've been in there many times. One thing I really dig is their webapp that lets me configure my stream server, change my port #, reboot the shoutcast server app... just gives me a little bit of control I haven't seen with in-world solutions.
So that solution just works better for me. I really like to have ease of payment and direct control. The downside to this is the lack of technical support from someone who knows just what you're trying to do. I don't need tech support - I *am* a tech. So I don't mind doing my bandwidth calculations and troubleshooting my own issues. Not that I ever have any. But having someone like Ed around as a just-in-case is really nice. I've bounced mixer and setup questions off him a few times.

As far as price... you gotta understand this quick. Cheap streaming solutions = cheap quality. Pay less at your own risk.
And prices like 4000 Linden a month? Don't sweat it. Even half-rate hacks like myself have no problem making 4k Linden a month. I hardly ever got a crowd, couldn't bring my own crowd (no fans to speak of), didn't play the large venues, and NEVER charged the venue (tips-only). Seriously... I'm not very good at all :p Just a guitar hobbyist that likes to play for others.

Erm.. I'm long-winded... so a summary...
House streams are ok, but you'll be more professional with a rented stream. Both in-world (Linden/monthly) and out-of-world (use a CC) rental solutions exist. You've gotta explore around and find your best solution that works best for you.

And as far as # of listeners...
I'm a bad person to ask. Biggest crowd I ever played for was probably 30 people :p You might see 40-80 if you're really good. But plan on capping out. I wouldn't get any stream that couldn't support at least 100 listeners at 128k.

EvaMoon

I used venue streams with few problems for over a year of regular performing. Now I have my own and it's nice but not something I feel is an absolute necessity.

I do like being free to share the address for people who can't get in-world for a show. I have it posted on my website.

keith

That's a cool idea, being able to offer the stream to folks outside of SL. I'm bandless at the moment, been wondering how to promote my music.

Thanks for the info, ya'all... Cool