MP3 radio from Crunch goes live
Crunch, one of the few UK sites to offer MP3 content licensed from record labels, launched its own online radio station this week.
Crunch Radio is broadcast on the SHOUTcast network of radio stations, which uses Nullsoft's Winamp-based distributed streaming audio system.
Staying true to its promise of providing the best in UK dance music, Crunch Radio will be broadcasting a non-stop diet of house, garage, breakbeat and all the other colours in the dance spectrum. Tunes are selected randomly from the last 500 tracks added to Crunch's database, which includes such established artists as Groove Armada and Howie B.
"The great thing about this compared to traditional music is that as well as getting to listen to great music, one click of the mouse means that you can buy the track that is playing," says John Davis, senior partner at Crunch.
Don't bother trying to record off the new station though. MP3 tracks have been resampled to a low bitstream rate unsuitable for download. Tracks cost a pound each.
Another reason to tune in, said Davis, "is that there are no irritating DJs and no advertising to get in the way of the music."
MP3 players that work with SHOUTcast streams and receive Crunch Radio include Sonique and Winamp.
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