How about some kind of embedded player at the top of the page with a big play button on it? I’m sure this is easier said than done though – I know nothing about web design

@Raj 448759 wrote:

We have a whole page of pv radio streams (7) of which the live stream is only one – can you find that? [this is not an idle question btw – I am interested in your answer}

It took me ages to work out which one is the live stream. I’m on the ‘radio’ section of the site and I see 8 partyvibe radio streams under the ‘party vibe’ tab. I guess the live one is the ‘live shows + shows archive’ stream, but initially I interpreted that as being an archive of old shows. That stream should be at the top of the list at the very least, not buried in the middle of it all.

I rarely bother with the radio, it’s just not something I ever think to use (I have no excuse tho – there’s blatently some banging music on it, it’s just a couple of clicks too far). The ‘forum’ link is saved on my computer and I only ever click on that – I don’t look at any other part of the site. Which is why I think if there was a big ‘play’ button displayed prominently on the masthead at the top of the page lots more people would listen to the radio.

has anyone checked if the stream works with players for mobile devices? nu-perception can do this (albeit at a very low bitrate sometimes to avoid running up data charges away from wi-fi).

One issue I find with Internet radio is that it is linked more to being sat at your PC than traditional radio sets / hi fi which can be used in the living room, kitchen etc (unless you want to cable your entire house or distribute audio across it by other means). it may also mean people can listen “on the move” at least in city areas where 3G signals are plentiful.

I think there are two links on nu-perception – a normal bitrate (for areas where you can get this) and a very low one – it might also be because not all areas of the UK have a decent 3g signal.. I vaguely remember there also being devices like a conventional small radio which could pick up internet radio but haven’t seen one lately…

what I would suggest is both a flash player and a simple “one click” link which triggers off the music player on folks PCs, in a prominent place and set to resize automatically so it can work on tablet PCs, android devices, even folk what decide to build a Linux-enabled teasmade with Internet radio etc..

When I last played on the radio a couple of months back, I struggled to find out what stream URL I needed to promote. The radio page isn’t 100% obvious and “in yer face” like I think it should be. That said, I do like the fact that we have a wide selection of streams.

I’ve always thought there should be a blatant “look at me!!!” type banner that is displayed in a prominent place when we are live but I think that’s not totally straightforward for Bunsen to do and also there is a space issue. I think it would increase the listening numbers considerably though.

I only ever goto the stram from the links in peoples sigs who are playing cos I’m quite lasy when surfing the web, if it’s not blatently there infront of me i just wont bother.

A player on the main page like b4 would be great.