Announce: Radio Now Playing plugin

[Paul Webster]

Beta 0.0.32l - 2023/01/23

- Add Radio X (CH) - artist, title, duration and CoverSearch (includes flac) - their API is currently not updating correctly (can see on their web site) so using only ICY data for now (so no duration)
- Add Zap! FM - artist, title, year, art augmented by CoverSearch - includes flac

Zap! FM has some non-flac streams that LMS will not play. I will start a new thread on that.

and with a station starting with "Z" I have reached the end of the hisresaudio.online list of stations that have a flac stream.
I have not been able to include all of them for a few reasons - but it is a pretty good success rate.

Edit:
I found that LMS would play Zap! FM non-flac streams if I used http rather than https ... so I have switched to that and will not investigate further for now.

[Paul Webster]

0.0.32 - 2023/01/23

155 top level stations and station groups with a total of 1734 stations

- Add RMN (FR) - artist, title and CoverSearch
- Add The Goosh Radio - existing artist and title augmented with album (not very reliable) and cover (plus CoverSearch)
- Add Dance.fm - existing artist and title augmented with CoverSearch
- Add Radio Salue (DE) - artist, title and CoverSearch - 11 stations (1 broadcast plus 10 internet-only)
- Add WRUW (US) - artist, title and CoverSearch plus (maybe) Programme title, description and icon
- Add WJCU (US) - artist, title and CoverSearch plus part-time station WJCU-TWO
- Add KEXP (US) - artist, title, album and cover plus CoverSearch - programme title, subtitle, tagline and cover
- Add SmoothJazz.com - artist, title, album and CoverSearch - 2 stations
- Autoregister stations (for this session) from Live365 that you play - artist, title already present - adds duration and their coverart plus CoverSearch
- Prepopulated with some Live365 stations to highlight the support
- Add Juice (Belfast) - artist, title and coverart - augmented by CoverSearch - flac stream causes problems for LMS
- Add 95bfm (NZ) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add CityRadio (Chile) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add EasyRadio (Bulgaria) - artist, title, duration and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add h2oRadio (France) - artist, title and cover - augmented by CoverSearch - 3 broadcast stations and 5 web only
- Add The Cheese (NZ) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add RadioKing autoregistration - experiment
- Add Hi On Line Radio - artist, title and coverart augmented by CoverSearch - 8 web only stations
- Add Intense Radio and Pure Classix - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac and ogg but causes problems for LMS)
- Add MaXXima (CH) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add Bias Radio (HU) - artist, title, album and CoverSearch (not using their art because cannot distinguish between real and generic) - includes flac stream
- Add Radio X (CH) - artist, title, duration and CoverSearch (includes flac) - their API is currently not updating correctly (can see on their web site) so using only ICY data for now (so no duration)
- Add Zap! FM - artist, title, year, art augmented by CoverSearch - includes flac

[Shozzer]

Hi Paul

Thanks for all the work you have / continue to put into this plugin. I have discovered some great stations as a result of this. This may seem a daft question, but is there any index for these stations - particularly by genre? The stations I have discovered were not on the surface - you have to go deeper to see what's on offer and there seems no way of guessing!

0.0.32 - 2023/01/23

155 top level stations and station groups with a total of 1734 stations

- Add RMN (FR) - artist, title and CoverSearch
- Add The Goosh Radio - existing artist and title augmented with album (not very reliable) and cover (plus CoverSearch)
- Add Dance.fm - existing artist and title augmented with CoverSearch
- Add Radio Salue (DE) - artist, title and CoverSearch - 11 stations (1 broadcast plus 10 internet-only)
- Add WRUW (US) - artist, title and CoverSearch plus (maybe) Programme title, description and icon
- Add WJCU (US) - artist, title and CoverSearch plus part-time station WJCU-TWO
- Add KEXP (US) - artist, title, album and cover plus CoverSearch - programme title, subtitle, tagline and cover
- Add SmoothJazz.com - artist, title, album and CoverSearch - 2 stations
- Autoregister stations (for this session) from Live365 that you play - artist, title already present - adds duration and their coverart plus CoverSearch
- Prepopulated with some Live365 stations to highlight the support
- Add Juice (Belfast) - artist, title and coverart - augmented by CoverSearch - flac stream causes problems for LMS
- Add 95bfm (NZ) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add CityRadio (Chile) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add EasyRadio (Bulgaria) - artist, title, duration and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add h2oRadio (France) - artist, title and cover - augmented by CoverSearch - 3 broadcast stations and 5 web only
- Add The Cheese (NZ) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add RadioKing autoregistration - experiment
- Add Hi On Line Radio - artist, title and coverart augmented by CoverSearch - 8 web only stations
- Add Intense Radio and Pure Classix - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac and ogg but causes problems for LMS)
- Add MaXXima (CH) - artist, title and CoverSearch (includes flac)
- Add Bias Radio (HU) - artist, title, album and CoverSearch (not using their art because cannot distinguish between real and generic) - includes flac stream
- Add Radio X (CH) - artist, title, duration and CoverSearch (includes flac) - their API is currently not updating correctly (can see on their web site) so using only ICY data for now (so no duration)
- Add Zap! FM - artist, title, year, art augmented by CoverSearch - includes flac

[Paul Webster]

Hi Paul
Thanks for all the work you have / continue to put into this plugin. I have discovered some great stations as a result of this. This may seem a daft question, but is there any index for these stations - particularly by genre? The stations I have discovered were not on the surface - you have to go deeper to see what's on offer and there seems no way of guessing!

I have thought about putting the genres into each station ... and then providing a way to browse by them ... but it is harder than you might think.
For example - the list of stations for some of the station groups comes from their own data (I did not type them all in) and if they do not include the genre then it would be difficult for me to add it.

I also thought about putting a web site link for each of the top level menu items and then make it available via "More" somehow ...
I can see that being useful sometimes but it probably would help with quick discovery of what the stations play.

So ... easiest thing to do is to take a look at the description for each release and make a note to check them all ... and add the ones that you like to your own genre-based favourite lists.

I see that the plugin is about 16 months old ... so that is around 3 stations per day on average ... doesn't seem to much to give a test listen to!
I will not be able to keep up this pace - so will be easier for you in the future

[bluetdi]

A big „Thank You“ for your work.
I only tried a few of the many stations and it was very convenient with artwork etc., I like it.
Hope my issues with JazzGroove and Radio Swiss will be resolved.

[Shozzer]

Suggestions are always easy to make - and often easy to implement in the mind of the one suggesting! A gentle amble through the stations when I have a few minutes sounds the plan and if there are a number of stations to try then a favourites list as you have suggested would work well.

Thanks again.

I have thought about putting the genres into each station ... and then providing a way to browse by them ... but it is harder than you might think.
For example - the list of stations for some of the station groups comes from their own data (I did not type them all in) and if they do not include the genre then it would be difficult for me to add it.

I also thought about putting a web site link for each of the top level menu items and then make it available via "More" somehow ...
I can see that being useful sometimes but it probably would help with quick discovery of what the stations play.

So ... easiest thing to do is to take a look at the description for each release and make a note to check them all ... and add the ones that you like to your own genre-based favourite lists.

I see that the plugin is about 16 months old ... so that is around 3 stations per day on average ... doesn't seem to much to give a test listen to!
I will not be able to keep up this pace - so will be easier for you in the future

[Paul Webster]

Meanwhile the quest continues ... looking at Spain now.
RNE does not provide any song info but looks like I can easily do the programme info for currently playing on their 6 stations so that is next.
if anyone has other candidates for good stations from Spain then let me know.

I heard back from Radio X (CH) that they have fixed their metadata feed used by their web site so I'll switch over to that rather than the ICY data because I can get a bit more that way (not much though).

[Paul Webster]

Beta 0.0.33a - 2023/01/25

- Modify Radio X (CH) - artist, title, duration and CoverSearch (includes flac) - their API has been fixed so now using which means you get duration
- Add RNE (ES) - programme title, subtitle, description, duration and icon

[Redrum]

I have thought about putting the genres into each station ... and then providing a way to browse by them ... but it is harder than you might think.
For example - the list of stations for some of the station groups comes from their own data (I did not type them all in) and if they do not include the genre then it would be difficult for me to add it.

I also thought about putting a web site link for each of the top level menu items and then make it available via "More" somehow ...
I can see that being useful sometimes but it probably would help with quick discovery of what the stations play.

So ... easiest thing to do is to take a look at the description for each release and make a note to check them all ... and add the ones that you like to your own genre-based favourite lists.

I see that the plugin is about 16 months old ... so that is around 3 stations per day on average ... doesn't seem to much to give a test listen to!
I will not be able to keep up this pace - so will be easier for you in the future

I had thought of this too, but to me genre categories are too broad and can overlap. Example, is Mother earth classical, jazz, or rock? Also, I like the stations belonging to their family, example Radio Bob! has multiple genres.

One thing that might help, that I use in exploring new stations in, say the Tune In plugin, is when there is "what's playing now" information - artist, song, album



I'll peruse the list passing over the "same old" or "not my style" songs looking for "I haven't heard this in a while" and "if they play this, then they might play more like it"

What's interesting is you only get this info if you enter (In Tune In) through the "stations(25+)" selection. If you enter in through "explore" you get the station description:


Just a thought on a way to get a bit more info on the "personality" of the station without trying to fit it into a genre

Note that the info above (song, artist) is static. You enter the menu and it is set, and does not refresh until you reenter. Totally fine for my needs.

Paul, I like the organization of the stations in RNP. Perhaps if you thought of something like this, it could be added at the station level (where you choose low/high/flac/etc). Perhaps a "now playing" preview window next to the stations, or a "what's playing?" Icon to click.


Jim

[Paul Webster]

Paul, I like the organization of the stations in RNP. Perhaps if you thought of something like this, it could be added at the station level (where you choose low/high/flac/etc). Perhaps a "now playing" preview window next to the stations, or a "what's playing?" Icon to click.

Jim

Unfortunately the architecture of the plugin makes this hard to do.
It collects song or programme information based on LMS calling it because a stream URL that the plugin is looking for is playing (or possibly has been added to the playlist ... which I think can happen can causes me problems).
Also - for some of the streams, the song information is extracted from the embedded ICY metadata so it cannot see it until the station plays.

TuneIn (the service) is used by enough 3rd-party systems for radio stations to put in the effort to supply it with NowPlaying data using a TuneIn proprietary API .. so when they list what is playing on stations they can get it from their own data.
Radio.net has a similar API that a smaller number of stations use.

For me to do it I would have to poll all of the stations to get the data and even then not be able to show it for some.
There is a project elsewhere that I am partly involved with that might make this easier in the future - but no timescale.

[Redrum]

Unfortunately the architecture of the plugin makes this hard to do.

Understand Paul, I was just offering a different perspective on a way to identify "genre". I appreciate everything you do.

Btw, I like the live 365 implementation is great. It's funny, I was originally looking for art for acid hill and you took it farther. "Suzy's radio" (which I believe you prepopulated), it's real interesting and enjoyable!

Now if only rnp could substitute elevator music for the commercial breaks (which are the same commercials, over and over)

Jim