I'm not too upset about it. I figure the jumps give the cushion needed to balance out that "unlimited" bracket (which I would love to eventually need). What's REALLY scary is suddenly shooting up in regular listeners (because that one person mentions us in the right place, at the right time) and trying to cover the sudden increase in cost. After looking at the new pricing levels, I'm not afraid to promote my the station anymore! LoL

Of course, there may also be more options once someone signs up. Those prices on the LC2 broadcast page could just be a general idea for people surfing by and checking it out. The "keep it simple" approach. Too much info and people tend to move along.

If you are referring to the 15 day trial page that shows the 4 different prices starting with "nanowatt", then yes that's a simple approach.

I've looked at my subscription information under the new LC2 (still waiting for playlists and events to move over) and I have more detailed options where I can upgrade my space at 5gb a time and listeners 5 at a time.

Then again, new broadcasters won't know that. So, you're right. They may think that's all the options available and might just move on looking for something else.

The new pricing is there to keep things simple. It was confusing for many people and more difficult than we liked to maintain.

We looked at how people were spending their money and we arrived at three overwhelmingly popular price points.

Pricing has not changed for subscriptions created prior to rolling out the new plans. It will change if a subscription is canceled.

Being "grandfathered in" has nothing to do with being a grandfather, but it's still pretty cool!

It is cool to be able to upgrade the slots 5 at a time. This means more Live broadcasters who don't totally depend on AutoDJ can easily upgrade their slots. Also for those that really want to use AutoDJ can have say a 20GB AutoDJ if they can afford it. I'm sure the GB's will get more users as well but especially now that you can easily customize your slots according to your audience and pocket book. This has been what other Shoutcast services have to offer and will put an edge over the competition.

I see, I do like the 34.95 plan and glad to say the 24.95 plan is us a second price point.

I used autodj alot due to no longer doing live broadcasting. I just hope that loudcaster is still offering shoutcast and tunein support.

@Hool's second statement: TuneIn yes, Shoutcast no

well that just sucks that loudcaster no longer support shoutcast.

Bradon,
Would you think about adding a 5th tier? The jump of $50 per month from the 25 slot plan (Megawatt at $34.95) to the Unlimited plan (Gigawatt @$89.95) is a big leap of faith for people.

But I read that older stations will still be able to keep there shoutcast support. This is something that may sway users away from Loudcaster not being able to have a Shoutcast stream.

I'm gonna have to agree with thelegacy and paragonbroadcasting here. a 5 tier should be added.

make 50 dollor tier for 40 slots and 15 gigs

as for dropping shoutcast for new listeners. Brandon, you're taking a serious rick here. now, if it costing you guys a fortune than I can understand that, if it a bullshit licence situation. that could be understandable as well. however, removing shoutcast from new customers is almost like a cell phone carrier stripping down unlimited date plans. you gonna have trouble convincing new customers.

The main reason for dropping the SHOUTcast listing option is cost I'm sure. While some broadcasters enjoy success gaining listeners from SHOUTcast I haven't had the same success. I used the SHOUTcast listing for use in conjunction with my Marci now playing display and since Marci offers Icecast support, I really have no use for SHOUTcast.

TuneIn is a more valuable option IMO because they are easier to work with. I got my 128k Live365 stream listed on there with my Loudcaster streams. This gives the listener another option in addition to my Loudcaster streams.

Keep in mind that Loudcaster is a young company. There are going to be growing pains. They must provide what the broadcaster needs while still keeping costs where we can afford to keep doing this hobby and also turn a profit.

One more thing. I am sure that Loudcaster has some sort of plan for sell advertizing space on their site in the future. Driving listeners away from Loudcaster would defeat that purpose. Advertizing, if done tastefully, has the potential to reduce all of our streaming costs.

I hope they be very careful with advertising because making one crap move can really create issues. going overkill can also damage a company's reputation. I hope they work on some simple and less invasive nethed if they work on a plan to do so. Live365 made some horrible mistakes when is come to getting adds. they over satterated their updated page with so much crap it was rediclous. I'm sorry for ripping on L365 but having trouble resisting. I would suggest Loudcaster start small with on the site and avoid audio ads for least a year before going that direction.

as for shoutcast. I hope loudcaster concider being the option back in the future. btw, I see see chainsaw radio listed on shoutcast. It a shame it may be pulled soon. tune in however, seem to have a better app than shoutcast. shoutcast does have an android app for android users. they seem to only have their app for iOS devices.

tune in also I think can be access on more devices than shoutcast. so I think brandon and the gang may have made a decent choice here.

I do have listeners on the Shoutcast app ... as it's the best one for use on Roku. The Tune-In Radio app is fine but it doesn't give the artist/song/album information.

unfortionately man, nobody knows how long broadcaster who grandfathered to the old pricing plans will remain that way. I try the tune in app on my ipad and it does show the artist/song/album title.

I don't own a roku but however, I do wonder why the roku version dosn't show that but I check your setting just in case

Originally Roku was just for Netflix. Later Roku decided to add "channels" to its player and had Amazon Video and a few others. Later Roku decided that Internet Radio was a thriving business for Home Theater users and added some channels like Shoutcast and TuneIn Radio. It was not till much later that Live365 was added to the mix as well.

The Roku player does not show the album art and track info at least not the last time I had checked. It may have been an oversight when it was added to the mix I don't know.

Now that Straight Talk has their droids added to their $45 unlimited plan and you can get an LG Optimus Q (The one with a slide out keyboard) and 4GB of SD Ram I'm sure more folks will be listening to Internet Radio than ever before. In fact Straight Talk performs better than T-Mobile in Eastern NC. I'm able to get 4G on my friends Straight Talk phone and not to mention great coverage. I'm switching very very soon to that phone. Tell your friends and we'll see a HUGE increase.

Straight Talk's Android service is provided my Sprint (their non-smart phone service is provided by Tracfone), the same as Virgin Mobile who recently announced a data cap of 2.5 gigs of data after which their speeds will decrease. They do not consider that to be something they must advertise, but they say it's still considered unlimited data for some reason.

The only carrier that truly does not cap data is Sprint. Soon to change I'm sure.

FYI, T-Mobile's Smart Phone no-contract service is run by...you guessed it, Sprint.

With the thousands of miles of black fiber out there, you would think that data rates would be getting cheaper/better instead of going the other way. USSR, here we come!!!

FYI, Virgin Mobile is offering the Motorola Triumph which offers a 1 Gig processor and 2Gb of internal memory (my next phone).

Straight Talk is offering users a chance to reserve a Optimus 2X which offers a 1Ghz dual core processor and 4G.

the iPhone is being blammed more and more by the carriers over the data cap discision. now I been reading that they loose more money selling the damn thing instead of making even. Apple get a blig slice of any profit out the damn thing is is hurting cell phone carriers. AT&T is bitching so much about heavy usage and busting grandfathered users balls by throtting their service. Spring will most like switch to teir plans and t-moble will do the same crap.

speaking of AT&T. boy are they're so hurt over that whole t-moble merger fiasco. their CEO is throwing a hissy fit at the FCC and acting like a crybaby.

btw, you may wanna be aware that 4G suck battery life like a vampire. so far motorola came out with the droid razr maxx that supose to have a much stronger and longer battery life for it 4G phone. the sucker is getting some series praise and giving samsong a run for there money since many people have felt the galaxy nexus was gonna be king until that sucker came out. the only complaint that razr has been getting is not android ice cream sandwitch.

I don't talk about tune in radio much anymore on my facebook because most people will no longer have unlimited data to enjoy my station. shoutcast app is ok but not great and it a sad shame they don't have a version for android. tune in has better interface and better feature that shoutcast. so ditching shoutcast isn't much of a big deal to some who prefer tune in over shoutcast.

As far as I can tell Straight Talk has not capped their data. I don't know why the CDMA phone I tested was able to maintain a better signal than my T-Mobile GSM Droid, but it sure did and so much that I'm ditching T-Mobile. I do know that Virgin Mobile isn't too bad either and I'll have to check on their Droids.

I've told my listeners about Straight Talk because many want to be able to listen to Internet Radio on the go. I could get 2 Straight Talk phones under two separate accounts if need be (If they cap) and still make out better than one T-Mobile contract phone at $95/Mo and can't maintain a 3G connection here. Either Way Straight Talk is very very promising for Internet Radio.