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How Openstream Works?

What is OpenStream?

Have access to national audio advertising campaigns, no matter how large your audience is
Geolocation: depending where they are, your listeners will hear different ads (in their language)
Premium ads: no adult, porn or gambling ads, we only work with famous brands
Easy set up: add a piece of code in your URL and you're done
Works on all devices, all players (wordpress included)
We offer one of the highest CPM
OpenStream is free to use with no obligation, cancel anytime (but we're sure you won't)
Dashboard access: see live and historical analytics. Track your revenue

How OpenStream works for radio?

OpenStream works like a proxy between the listener and your radio. When the listeners clicks on your URL, we send him an ad then redirect him to your stream. That’s why you need to add a piece of code in your URL (or create a 301 redirect) to make it work.

How OpenStream works for podcast?

OpenStream works like a proxy between the listener and your podcast. When the listeners clicks on your new OpenStream episode’s URL, we send him an ad then redirect him to the podcast. That’s why you need to add a piece of code in your URL (or create a 301 redirect) to make it work. We don't store or copy your content, we only redirect listeners.

OK… but why do I have to change my stream or podcast URL?

The only way to identify your listener and send him the right ad is with the URL he is calling. That’s why you need to add a piece of code in your URL or create a 301 redirect for your stream or podcast feed. Your old URL is still active, it’s just that we don’t use it anymore (meaning you can switch back to your old URL whenever you want to stop using our service, without any problem).

How to use OpenStream?

How to use OpenStream player?

See this page for details

How to change your radio stream URL in your players?

Update your players stream URL with the one we provided you or replace your player with this code:
audio src="http://listen.openstream.co/YOUR_ID/audio" autoplay="true" muted="false" controls="true" volume="1.0">

How to setup a 301 redirect for my podcast (recommended)

If you host your podcast (or have access to the server), create a .htaccess file (or edit existing file) by renaming a simple text document and giving it the name “.htaccess” and place it in the root folder of your Web server.
For example if you host your mp3 episodes in http://www.mywebsite.com/podcast/episodes, create an .htaccess file in http://www.mywebsite.com.
Next, you need to add some code to the .htaccess file in order to perform the redirection:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^/podcast/episodes/ https://r.opns.co/YOUR_ID/http://www.mywebsite.com/podcast/episodes/ [L,R=301]
</IfModule>

If you already have a .htaccess file in the root folder of your Web server, then all you may need to do is add this line:

RewriteRule ^/podcast/episodes/ https://r.opns.co/YOUR_ID/http://www.mywebsite.com/podcast/episodes/ [L,R=301]

How to change your episodes podcast URL?

You can monetize each or all episodes by changing their URL in your RSS feed, in your website or anywhere they are referenced. This way, you don’t have to change your RSS feed URL.
Your new episodes URL are:
https://r.opns.co/your-OpenStream-ID/your-episode-URL
Example if your episode URL was "http://www.mywebsite.com/podcast/john/episode1.mp3", and your OpenStream ID is 1234, your new episode URL is: "https://r.opns.co/1234/http://www.mywebsite.com/podcast/john/episode1.mp3"

How to change your RSS feed URL in iTunes (podcasts):

Click My Podcasts.
Click the podcast you want to manage. Podcasts Connect displays the podcast detail page.
Type your new OpenStream RSS feed URL in the text box, then click Save.
Podcasts Connect updates your RSS feed URL and displays your podcast in the dashboard along with the Scheduled for Update status. Allow up to 24 hours for the change to appear on the iTunes Store

Only iTunes audience will be monetized

What if my podcast is hoted by:

LIBSYN
If you use Libsyn to host your RSS feed or update your XML file, send Libsyn a note and ask them to begin including the OpenStream Prefix https://r.opns.co/your-OpenStream-ID/ on all episodes going forward. Libsyn is generally responsive and should add your prefix quickly.

SOUNDCLOUD
Go to your SoundCloud dashboard and enable tracking. From the Settings – Content page on your SoundCloud dashboard, the prompt says: Stats service URL prefix. Please enter the OpenStream Prefix https://r.opns.co/your-OpenStream-ID/

FEEDBURNER
Just Prefix the media file URLs when you create your episodes with https://r.opns.co/your-OpenStream-ID/

BLUBRRY
OpenStream is not supported by BluBrry. The best option is either to use the OpenStream RSS feed URL and register that feed in iTunes or switch to another host such as Libsyn.

Check your RSS feed
Check your RSS feed to ensure that it's valid (and that you see OpenStream prefix). (We suggest http://www.feedvalidator.org.)

Troubleshoot and resolve common issues

I Can't hear ads in my stream.

The most common reason ads are not played :
1/ There is no "title" in your stream (radio only). We use the "title" meta to insert audio ads. Make sure that the "title" meta is correctly implemented in your stream. You can do this by viewing the admin page of your icecast.
2/ You're not listening from the targeted country. Campaigns are targeted per country, depending where you're listening from, ads might not be played.
3/ You don't use our stream URL. You must change the URL in your player and use the stream URL we created in your account.

How can I improve ads insertion for radio?

The precision of metadata inserted are important: It’s all about your metadatas, make sure they are correctly setup. The more specific they are, the more accurate ads insertions will be.

Payments

How much will I make?

That’s a good, complicated, question. Our revenue are calculated on a CPM basis. Each campaign has its own CPM price. You’ll have a lot of different campaigns during the month. Your audience also matters. Advertisers target specific countries. If your listener is in the U.K., he will have a british ad. If he is in Spain, he might not be monetized… or have a spanish ad. What we can tell you is, in average, you’ll make between $2 and $5 per 1000 targeted listeners. Sometimes more.

When will I start to receive payments?

In OpenStream, you're paid when your earnings reach the payment threshold ($50), as long as there are no holds on your account and you're in compliance with our policies. However, we aren't able to send you a bank transfer at the end of the month because we first have to validate your earnings for accuracy -- a process that takes four months. We send payments four months and a couple of weeks later, usually during the last week of the month. So if your earnings reach the payment threshold in January, we'll send you a payment before the end of May. If your account balance hasn't reached the payment threshold at the end of the month, we'll roll your earnings over to the following month until the payment threshold is reached.

General

What about the license rights?

As we only relay your internet radio station, we don't deal with license rights, you have to. You must get the rights to the play Copyrighted Music on your Internet radio station. Here is a list of Companies that you can go through to get Music Licensing for your Internet Radio Station. They cover major organizations that handle the right to perform a composition (song) in public. U.S. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SoundExchange, & SOCAN (Canada). Nearly all popular musicians are a member of one of the big three: ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI.

What about the free icecast hosting?

If you want, we can provide you a free icecast access. Just send us an email request , and we’ll setup your free account.

What about OpenStream’s premium bandwidth?

When you join OpenStream, you get free premium bandwidth. We are connected with 10 providers that route our traffic via more than 40 worldwide peering exchange points. All links are at doubled at every routing point and on our servers are all based on dual power source. That’s why we can guarantee the quality of data transfers to all your listeners.