Radio music ripping

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The term ripping (slang term for digital media extraction) can also apply to radio. New software, techniques and cloud services now makes it possible to extract the songs played on the radio and digitally save them on separate audio tracks. Available techniques make it possible to rip the music from Internet radio broadcasts, satellite radio broadcasts and FM radio broadcasts.

Ripping is extracting all or parts of digital contents from a container. Originally it meant to rip music out of Amiga games. Later the term was used to extract WAV or MP3 format files from digital audio CDs, but got applied as well to extract the contents of any media, most notably DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Internet radio audio service transmitted via the Internet

Internet radio is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means. It can either be used as a stand-alone device running through the internet, or as a software running through a single computer.

Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a broadcasting-satellite service. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than terrestrial radio stations, and the service is primarily intended for the occupants of motor vehicles. It is available by subscription, mostly commercial free, and offers subscribers more stations and a wider variety of programming options than terrestrial radio.

Contents

Ripping is more than simply recording the audio. The key aspect of ripping is disambiguation. When ripping songs from any source, the songs should be split into separate tracks or files, and the songs should be tagged. Otherwise, one is simply recording or dubbing the audio.

In sound recording, dubbing is the transfer or copying of previously recorded audio material from one medium to another of the same or a different type. It may be done with a machine designed for this purpose, or by connecting two different machines: one to play back and one to record the signal. The purpose of dubbing may be simply to make multiple copies of audio programs, or it may be done to preserve programs on old media which are deteriorating and may otherwise be lost.

Internet radio

Popular audio formats for Internet radio include AAC, AAC+, and MP3. Many AM/FM stations simulcast online use the more efficient AAC format while Internet-only streams more typically use MP3 [ citation needed ]. The Shoutcast database featured 34,281 [1] online radio stations covering almost every conceivable music genre.

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio compression. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at the same bit rate. The confusingly named AAC+ (HE-AAC) does so only at low bit rates and less so at high ones.

High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding file format

High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (HE-AAC) is an audio coding format for lossy data compression of digital audio defined as an MPEG-4 Audio profile in ISO/IEC 14496-3. It is an extension of Low Complexity AAC optimized for low-bitrate applications such as streaming audio. HE-AAC version 1 profile uses spectral band replication (SBR) to enhance the compression efficiency in the frequency domain. HE-AAC version 2 profile couples SBR with Parametric Stereo (PS) to enhance the compression efficiency of stereo signals. It is a standardized and improved version of the AACplus codec.

MP3 is a coding format for digital audio. Originally defined as the third audio format of the MPEG-1 standard, it was retained and further extended—defining additional bit-rates and support for more audio channels—as the third audio format of the subsequent MPEG-2 standard. A third version, known as MPEG 2.5—extended to better support lower bit rates—is commonly implemented, but is not a recognized standard.

Cloud recording services such as DAR.fm, [2] Quick Record [3] can record from all of these formats. Most PC based Internet radio ripping software is built for Shoutcast-style of streams as this MP3 based protocol offers the widest selection of Internet radio stations. Such wide selection of music is one of the major advantages for recording songs from Internet radio compared to FM and satellite radio as well as the fact that it works with cloud services that do not require a separate audio receiver. The disadvantages may include fairly low audio quality in the saved MP3s, which varies from stream to stream.

To begin the recording process, the software connects to the audio stream over TCP. The stream is then buffered 15–30 seconds ahead. Some Internet radio ripping software, [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] utilize special metadata that are being sent along with actual song content. These programs are generally more successful in determining the boundaries of songs (providing for a cleaner MP3 cut) as well as correctly identifying the song in question. Such metadata, however, are available for only a subset of Internet streams, commonly associated with the Shoutcast standard. The existence of open directories of Shoutcast-compliant radio stations such as Shoutcast enables Internet radio rippers to provide an abundant selection of recordable radio stations that are reasonably expected to emit detailed song metadata. The metadata also help avoid commercials from being recorded along with the songs.

Satellite radio

TimeTrax has developed software that can record the audio broadcast on XM satellite radio. The software saves songs as individual MP3 files after identifying the name and the artist. TimeTrax is both a software and hardware solution: the TimeTrax software can interface with any PC-compatible satellite receiver, and the adapter box is necessary to allow certain receivers to interface with a PC.

TimeTrax refers to a software and hardware platform by parent company Time Trax Technologies Corp. which allows audio recording from satellite radio, Internet streaming and traditional radio broadcasts. The company is best known for its disruptive innovation and leading role it played in the transformation of the business model of the music industry.

The XM PCR was the first device to allow audio stream ripping from XM radio. The device itself is simple enough: an XM "can" (the actual receiver and decoding hardware) is enclosed in a box with a USB interface chip and audio connector. The PCR plugs into a PC USB port and line-in jack. TimeTrax, or some other similar software, then controls the radio and records the incoming audio. After a legal battle, the TimeTrax software is no longer being sold.

To end the problem for good, XM discontinued the XM PCR receiver. However, TimeTrax almost immediately released a hardware companion product that turned virtually any device capable of receiving XM satellite radio and its primary competitor at the time, Sirius Satellite Radio. Timetrax went on to also include the ability to rip and tag music from the online music streaming services that were being provided by both XM and Sirius.

Notably, TimeTrax went on to extend its technology in a seamless package for FM radio, and further, any music source. It developed this portion of its technology hardware and software offering with Swedish company PopCatcher. TimeTrax was the first company that offered music ripping (a.k.a. audio disambiguation, ripping and tagging, de-aggregation) for the three largest and widespread music distribution methods: satellite radio, Internet streaming and traditional broadcast.

The original TimeTrax software was developed by a Canadian, Scott MacLean. Its popularity resulted in a corporation and formal management team along with funding focused on MacLean's work. The company was led by business executive Elliott Frutkin.

FM radio

There are three ways of ripping songs from an FM broadcast.

Radio Data System

Some FM receivers are capable of receiving a data stream known as Radio Data System or RDS. This provides artist and title information that can be shown on the display of a compatible FM receiver. A compatible receiver, connected to the computer, can tag saved audio streams with these data. The disadvantage of RDS is that the title may change before or after the song itself changes, causing the recording process to miss part of the beginning or end of the song. Some stations also use their display text as a secondary means of advertising themselves or a sponsor and might refuse outright to display title/artist text.

In the near future[ when? ] RDS will include a new feature called RT+ or Radio Text Plus. As well as providing discrete text fields for Artist, Album & Track Title, RT+ includes 'item running' and 'item toggle' bits which can be used to accurately mark the track transitions and DJ/commercial interruptions, aiding the process of recording, filenaming and ID3 tagging.

Separating music from non-music

Swedish company PopCatcher has patented a technology that enables distinguishing between music, chatter and commercials. It is a self-learning process that first identifies the broadcasting habits of a given radio station. PopCatcher is designed to automatically exclude commercials and DJ patter from the recording, which results in "cleaner" audio files. The process is fully independent from the Internet. However, it does not recognize the names and the artists of the recorded songs.

Manual tagging

Certain recording packages allow the user to set markers in the file, which the user can use later to split the file into separate tracks. This process can be tedious and time consuming, but has the advantage of being the only truly reliable way to ensure that the song is captured as accurately as possible without cutting off the beginning or end of a track.

This expanding way of ripping music may lead to 'strong legal debates' in a near future, even if it is permitted to record music from the radio for private use in most countries. In Germany it is allowed. There even is a campaign to put focus on it. It is called TauschNix, which in essence stands for: no need to download via filesharing. See link below.

European context

The European Union passed in May 2001 the Information Society Directive which has since then been transposed into the national laws of most of the Member States. Article 5 – 2/b of the directive states that "[Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to the reproduction right provided for] in respect of reproductions on any medium made by a natural person for private use and for ends that are neither directly nor indirectly commercial, on condition that the rightholders receive fair compensation which takes account of the application or non-application of technological measures referred to in Article 6 [ie. Digital Rights Management ] to the work or subject-matter concerned".

In short, copying music from the radio for private use is permissible if the artists receive a "fair compensation". In case of a lawsuit against radio music ripping technologies, the whole debate will be about the meaning of the term "fair compensation". It can be argued that Radio stations are already paying a "fair compensation" to artists as they know their songs might be copied. Moreover, in an increasing number of EU member states, importers are charged a private copying levy on the purchase of recordable media (MP3 players, writable CDs or DVDs). The tax or levy is usually administrated by copyright collectives. However, at the time of digital copies, the outcome of such a lawsuit is far from being certain if it should occur.

UK context

Beginning in 1981, the British Phonographic Industry began a campaign against so-called "home taping", or recording songs from the radio onto cassettes, due to fears that home taping would decrease album sales. Iconic of the campaign is a picture of the silhouette of a cassette tape, with two crossed bones underneath, with the words "HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC" written across the top, and the words "AND IT'S ILLEGAL" printed in smaller letters at the bottom.

US context

Traditionally, the recording industry expressed little or no concern with individuals who recorded music from the radio on a cassette recorder. However, the digital format in this case changes the whole issue since it does not degrade over time and can be easily copied.

The Audio Home Recording Act also lays out certain legal rights on the part of consumers.

Related Research Articles

MusicBrainz Online music metadata database

MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open data music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for software applications to look up audio CD information on the Internet. MusicBrainz has expanded its goals to reach beyond a compact disc metadata storehouse to become a structured open online database for music.

XM Satellite Radio company

XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service included 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels and 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM channels were identified by Arbitron with the label "XM".

Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to:

Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.

Sirius Satellite Radio Defunct satellite radio service

Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings.

SHOUTcast DNAS is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft, is available free of charge. It allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations".

Y!Music Musicmatch Jukebox, a remake of the original Musicmatch Jukebox made by Musicmatch, Inc., was an audio player that managed a digital audio library. It contained an online music store, Internet radio, CD playback and ripping software, and other features commonly found in jukebox software.

Internet radio device

An Internet radio device, also called network music player is a hardware device that is capable of receiving and playing streamed media from either Internet radio stations or a home network.

Radio Computing Services

RCS, originally Radio Computing Services, is a provider of scheduling and broadcast software for radio, Internet and television stations.

SAM Broadcaster Internet radio broadcasting application

SAM Broadcaster is an Internet radio broadcasting application by Spacial. The name "SAM" is an acronym for Streaming Audio Manager, which describes the software's functionality.
The software features functionality for running an Internet radio station from a single computer. It can be used for running Live Shows with a DJ selecting the tracks to be played and mixing the sound as well as completely automated, where the programming is controlled by various rulesets outlined by the operator using PAL scripts to select tracks and queue shows.

AOL Radio powered by Slacker was an online radio service available in the United States only. It had over 200 free internet radio stations.

Almost all radio stations today use some form of broadcast automation. Although some only use small scripts in audio players, a more robust solution is using a full radio automation suite. There are many commercial and free radio automation packages available.

XM PCR

The XM PCR is a satellite receiver sold by XM Radio and discontinued in 2004, amidst piracy concerns. Programs allowed users to record every song played on an XM channel, quickly and cheaply building an MP3 library.

Total Recorder is digital audio editor software from High Criteria, Inc. which is able to record any sound coming through a computer soundcard. In addition to recording through a soundcard, Total Recorder is able to record digital sound directly through its virtual sound driver. This driver provides an advantage of recording audio reproduced by an external program directly in digital format, i.e. without digital-analog-digital conversions leading to loss of quality, and even in those cases when a computer soundcard has no loop-back line. Total Recorder is a shareware program. Evaluation version of Total Recorder is a fully functional version of the program, with the exception that an audible noise will be inserted about every 60 seconds.

The Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS) is the interconnected satellite-distributed network managed by NPR, and used by NPR, Public Radio International (PRI), and American Public Media (APM), as well as independent public radio program producers, to distribute programming via satellite to public radio stations across the United States.

MusicBee media player and library software for Windows-based PCs

MusicBee is a freeware media player for playback and organization of audio files on Microsoft Windows, built using the BASS audio library.

References

  1. ↑ "Shoutcast Internet radio station database" . Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  2. ↑ "DAR radio recording service" . Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Quick Record Radio Recording" . Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "RadioGet Internet radio recorder" . Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "streamWriter Free internet radio recorder".
  6. ↑ "RadioTracker Internet radio recorder" . Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "StreamRipper Open Source Internet Radio Recorder".
  8. ↑ "Total Recorder Internet radio recorder".
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