How to Livestream an Event: A Step-by-step Guide

Live streaming appears to be quite popular in today’s digital age. They can even increase customer engagement and brand recognition, making them incredibly valuable to businesses.

Audio live streaming is the most efficient way to reach a global audience. But how do you capitalize on it? In this blog, we will walk you through the process of live streaming a successful Internet radio broadcast event.

Step 1: Plan

A successful live stream can put you in the good graces of your audience. However, the opposite is also true—a low-quality live stream will drive your listeners away from your radio station. 

You must plan ahead of time if you want to deliver a great audio experience. Determine how much you are willing to pony up, the degree of reach you desire, and the objective of your live stream.

Step 2: Gear Up

Once you have a good idea of how you want your live stream to look, you can start putting together the necessary equipment.

The scale of your live stream will determine whether or not you require high-end equipment. If “go big or go home” is your motto, you will need to spend a pretty penny. However, if you are hosting a smaller, more personal stream, you can make do with what you have got rather than investing in thousands of dollars of equipment.

Step 3: Select a Stream Hosting Platform

You must select the right stream hosting platform to support your efforts and enhance the quality of your stream.

This is when RadioBASH enters the picture. At RadioBASH, we offer carrier-grade stream hosting services to ensure a flawless live stream experience. 

We have an HTML5 media player that allows you to embed your stream on your website or social media platforms. 

In addition, your audio can be encoded at a bitrate of 320 kbps, which is the highest bitrate for MP3 files. This means that your listeners will hear the absolute best version of the audio, with no drop-outs, unpleasant ringing, or echo effects. 

We also guarantee low latency streaming to our clients, which means there will be a minimal delay (if any) between when you speak and when your audience hears it.  

Step 4: Decide How Your Audio Will Be Encoded

To get your audio heard by your audience, you will need an encoder to compress the RAW audio into digital formats like MP3 or AAC. These are the recommended formats for delivery over the Internet.

Encoders are classified into two types: hardware and software. Use the one that is compatible with your streaming platform.

Many broadcasters use an AAC codec and send it through an RTMP encoder to maintain quality.

Do not forget to connect your input sources—e.g., the microphone—to your encoder.  

Step 5: Choose Your Server

You must transcode your stream for adaptive bitrate delivery, which entails the use of a server.

A server acts as the intermediary between you and your listeners. It detects your users’ bandwidth and CPU capabilities and adjusts the quality of the live audio stream accordingly. In other words, servers allow your live stream to adapt to your listeners’ system/device capacities.

RadioBASH offers two server options: Icecast and Shoutcast. 

Step 6: Safeguard Yourself and Your Content

You should review your country’s copyright laws to avoid copyright infringement and the resulting costly lawsuits. You must also protect your content as well as your authority over it. Consider geoblocking, encryption, and digital right management (DRM) to regulate access to your live audio stream.

Step 7: Promote 

It is now time to promote the fruit of your labor to get a good response for your next live stream event.

Do you have an upcoming live-stream event and need RadioBASH’s carrier-grade audio stream hosting services? Feel free to contact us and we will help you get started with Internet radio broadcasting.