Live 365 stations streaming on iTunes
UPDATE AUGUST 2011
NOTE This article has a date and was current at that date. I realise that Live365 has now changed and that the instructions in this post no longer work. I wrote this mostly for a friend who used Live365 a lot. I never have. I have no intention of updating this so it works, if indeed it’s possible at all now, and I have no inclination to find out. I’m sorry but I’m not Live365 support.
UPDATE 2: I snipped some off the end of a url I got and surprisingly it’s been running for two days now in iTunes when I try it.
Here’s a short url I made:
http://tinyurl.com/rancho-radio
Here is the full url if you’re interested:
http://216.235.91.34:80/play?s=errbearmusic&d=live365&r=0&membername=&session=errbearmusic:0&AuthType=NORMAL&app_id=live365%3AVLCmediaplay&SaneID=121.45.1.160-1236557816884
UPDATE: In response to my post, Kent did some more digging – posted here. Seems the url you get is a temporary one. We’re doing more tests so stay tuned and will post more updates as we discover more.
So, my mate and cohost, Kent Newsome, is a music addict, song writer and streams his 28,000 song music collection out over his Rancho Radio station hosted on Live 365.
My other cohost and mate, Mike Seyfang, who, like me, uses a Apple AirPort Express to play audio in iTunes out over our stereo system, were looking for a way to play Kent’s stream over iTunes.
That means we needed a stream address, yet we couldn’t find one anywhere in Live365. We were all talking about it on the last podcast or two.
So I had some time to poke around this morning, as you do on a Public holiday when quietly vegging at home. And I found a solution!
I started searching and this pointed to the fact that it was possible to get a .pls file when clicking on the yellow play button in Live365 (even though that particxular post refers to Linux). Further looking found a couple forum post mentions here were near the mark.
I signed up to Live365 (Free) so could get to the “Listening Settings” page from under “My Account” on Live365 site.
However the default page only mentioned a “Radio365-Desktop” application under “Desktop Player Options”.
Being aware of getting to the base url of streams using VLC before, I figured maybe I could sticky-beak around the back of this app of theirs, so I dutifully downloaded, installed, and poked around.
Nifty, spiffy looking app, but no cigar for my purpose – {delete app}.
So I had another poke around at the “Listen Settings” page and lo and behold, look what they hid under a link next to a label called “Additional Options” – two options, one that reads “iTunes”. Check that radio button!
So now, go back to the Live365 website and click on the yellow play button again.
This time, even though the little java player window still pops up, a prompt should also pop up asking you what to do with the “.pls” file. I chose open with iTunes, because that was the whole point of this excercise. But you can choose whatever player app you have and use on your system, no skin off my nose.
And viola! The stream should open in your iTunes. Look in your Library, not the Radio link in the top section as that’s an Apple controlled list. You can make your own playlist and drop your streams in there. Like mine here.
So, there ya go Kent, I’ve done my bit to make the Internet a better place … just for you (point #8).
Happy listening.
Dave
To Whom It May Concern,
Almost as soon as I turn 365 on in the a.m. an advertisement for our government comes on – - blackgospel radio.com. I’m as patriotic as the next person! However, I’d like to get my praise on to God and wipe the sleep out of my eyes before I start dealing with “that” for the day. I can’t be the only subscriber who feels this way!
Comment by Angie Johnson — April 21, 2009 @ 9:32 pm
Best direct your complaint to live365 people Angie.
Thanks for your comment
Comment by dnw — April 22, 2009 @ 5:49 am
Dave – I was poking around trying to find a way to play Live365 on iTunes and came across your very handy blog post. Thank you!
Comment by Daria — August 26, 2009 @ 1:45 am
Daria, so glad it helped. Thanks for your comment letting me know.
Comment by dnw — August 26, 2009 @ 9:32 am
Great suggestion!! Easy to follow and worked like a champ!
Sid
Comment by Sid Longwell — December 5, 2009 @ 6:03 am
I have tryed ylur suggestion about playing my live 365 in itunes….but NO pop up window comes….asking me to choose itunes…any suggestions welcome…thanks
Comment by Janis Jessop — February 2, 2010 @ 11:38 am
PLEASE EXCUSE ME….FORGOT TO HIT…SAVE….WORKING GREAT NOW…CAN RUN THIS RADIO THRU AIRPORT TO OTHER SPEAKERS…BESIDES THE BOSE DOCK.
THANKS YOU FOR YOUR GREAT INSTRUCTIONS
Comment by Janis Jessop — February 2, 2010 @ 11:48 am
Great work, I was hoping it would solve my problem: listening to what I find interesting on live365 on my stand-alone radio. Failed again. It seems the *Additional Options` box has been removed from the live365 site (or is it that i’m not a VIP?) so I can’t open it in iTunes and grab the URL from there. Why are they making this so hard?? And, on a side note, who are they?
Anyway, nice try gentleman, keep it up.
Comment by Michael — August 2, 2010 @ 5:00 am
I formerly was able to use iTunes but now the option for iTunes has disappeared. The help sections indicates that non-VIP members might have to use the embedded Flash or Windows Media Player, which leads me to believe that this the problem. I am not a VIP. Kind of a bummer.
Comment by Dan — August 15, 2010 @ 11:53 am
Dan, try following the link in here (http://www.live365.com/help/listen/mac/itunes.html), seems that itunes option is not accessible from the Settings page anymore… just make sure that your are signed in before doing so… kind of weird isn’t it?
Comment by Helios — August 25, 2010 @ 5:37 am
thanks for that tip helios… this blog posting should be rewritten in 2 steps: 1) create account on 365 and login, 2) go to that link and change settings for iTunes.
Comment by rocklobster — August 31, 2010 @ 1:07 am
very useful for me ,thanks for your sharing.
Comment by pop up — October 8, 2010 @ 12:26 pm
I do not think it is possible to play a live365 station on itunes anymore all of your directions no longer work. Some of the items you as to click on are no longer available. I think you should revisit this one please.
Comment by Mdstarj — August 4, 2011 @ 2:55 am
There is a sweet greasemonkey script that grabs the URLs. It just got updated and I tested that it works on the latest live365.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8794
Comment by phokur — November 24, 2011 @ 1:37 pm
Also, they did indeed change the listener settings page to remove external streaming outside of their crapware. Use the script, show them we won’t settle!
Comment by phokur — November 24, 2011 @ 1:39 pm