How would you describe your musical taste? Would you say you love rock or hip hop or maybe jazz? You might enjoy listening to online radio stations if you answered yes to any of these questions.
Online radio has become very popular over the years. People listen to them because they want to hear their favorite songs without spending time driving around town looking for a store that sells CDs.
They also don’t have to worry about missing out on new releases. There are several ways to create an online radio station using WordPress.
This article will show some of the best WordPress online radio plugins available.
1. WP Radio
WP Radio is the first on our list because it offers excellent features you’ll not expect. This WordPress plugin allows you to add online radio stations to your site.
You can choose whether you want free or paid stations, and there are many categories like rock, jazz, pop, alternative, etc.
The plugin supports the most popular audio formats, such as MP3, OGG Vorbis, etc.
Also, you can select the category of the station that you want to add to your site. Then, you can enter the station’s name, address, genre, and URL.
Lastly, WordPress’s online radio station directory includes over 2,500 radio stations worldwide.
You can add your radio station to the database without paying anything and play it on a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
2. Radio Station
Radio Station is one of the best WordPress online radio plugins that give you more than you expect from a radio plugin.
The developers built it to make running your online radio station more accessible.
So, it’s safe to say that it provides a full range of features, including automatic playlist generation, automated DJ scheduling, and much more.
The main focus of this plugin is to provide a simple interface for managing your radio station’s schedule while still providing some handy features.
Features include:
- Automatic Playlist Generation – This allows you to set up multiple playlists for each day of the week and to add songs to those playlists based on genre, artist, duration, etc.
- Automated DJ Scheduling – Assigns DJs to different hours and days of the week, depending on how many shows are scheduled.
- Display Current On Air DJ Along with Link To Current Song And Show – Displays the current song and information about the show it is being played during.
- User Management – This allows you to manage the list of registered users. You can view their profile info and email addresses and delete them from the site.
3. StreamCast
The StreamCast WordPress plugin lets you play streams directly within a WordPress post or page.
This way, you don’t have to install anything else on your server, add some shortcode code and start playing music.
This plugin works with both Icecast and Shoutcast servers. Also, there are many ways to customize the plugin settings.
For example, you can choose how long each track plays, what volume level it starts at, and even change the playlist’s name.
You can select whether the audio should start automatically once the tracks have finished loading or wait for the user to press Play.
In addition, there is the option to translate the text on the plugin’s interface into any language.
4. Quran Radio
With over 2 million downloads, Quran Radio is one of the most downloaded and best WordPress online radio plugins.
This plugin helps translators translate the Quran into multiple languages and provides flexibility to choose either English or Arabic for translation. Moreover, it allows adding the player to the post and widgets.
If your radio website’s audience is full of Muslims, you need this plugin more than any other person.
With this plugin, you can add a text editor to play an online radio station. You can also select from the different Arabic language interpretations of the meaning of the Quran.
It doesn’t stop there; the plugin also supports the flexibility to play a single translation every day or week, even during non-business hours.
Supported by the very popular e-Da’awah Committee, the Quran Radio plugin has several other valuable features.
Such features include the flexibility to add the player to a post or widget and the player’s function on a 24/7 basis.
5. Radio Player
The Radio Player plugin is among the best WordPress online radio plugins. The Radio Player plugin lets you listen to the radio without installing anything else.
Its intuitive interface allows you to learn how to use it easily. You need to enter the URL of your radio station, select the format, and choose whether you want to play songs one by one or in batches. Then, you’re ready to go.
You don’t have to worry about copyright issues because the plugin doesn’t upload files directly to your server.
Instead, it uses the free SoundCloud API, ensuring no copyrighted material exists.
In addition, the plugin keeps track of the number of times each song is played and sends the data to Soundcloud via XML.
As its name implies, the plugin supports both Shoutcast and ICEcast. You’ll see the names of the stations listed under “Shoutcast” and “Icecas.”
You won’t have trouble finding what you need if you are familiar with either protocol.
Merging the plugin enables you to stream live radio. After installing the plugin, you must add a shortcode to your post editor.
Counting a live audio stream isn’t complicated. Type the artist’s name, genre, song name, or information you want to display.
Once you’ve done that, hit the “Artist” button, and the plugin will show the list of artists whose songs match those criteria.
Further, this WordPress plugin connects the sharing capabilities of social networks with music sharing.
When you share a track with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, Tumblr readers, etc., the plugin automatically adds the corresponding tags and shares the link.
6. AudioIgniter
The AudioIgniter plugin allows you to embed audio files into your posts, pages, comments, widgets, etc., without worrying about uploading them to SoundCloud or YouTube.
You can even use it to embed MP3s directly into your blog post. And best of all, there are no limits to how many times you can embed an audio file.
7. Luna Web RadioPlayer
With several records of downloads yearly, it’s safe to say that the Luna Web Radio Player is one of the best WordPress online radio plugins.
The Luna Web Radio Player Plugin is a powerful HTML5 player and radio broadcaster that plays MP3/AAC streams. Also, it can add live music streams and podcasts to your website without requiring Flash.
It supports popular broadcasting formats, including SHOUTcast 2, Icecast 2, and Pandora. And it works well even on mobile devices.
Using Luna Web Radio Player Plugin, you can embed cross-platform music streams into your web pages quickly and easily without requiring Flash. You can also show information about the streamed songs as a StreamTitle on each player’s title.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve found your choice in this list of the best WordPress online radio plugins. All are excellent; however, you need to choose the one that suits you best. Do you have any thoughts? Share with us in the comments section below.
