F.A.Q: Frequently asked questions

What is Muses Radio Player?

Technically, it's an open source live Mp3/OGG Flash Player (written in haXe) that works great with Shoutcast and Icecast 2. It has some interesting and necessary features like reconnect on network errors to make sure users never get silence and cache management to avoid memory huge memory consumption.
Basically, is a flash player that you can embed in a website for playing live audio from IceCast and ShutCast.

Was this project named FFMp3 before?

Yes! The project name changed to Muses Radio Player on Sep 1st, 2012. This was made because the player support more codecs than Mp3, and because FF stands for Free Flash. (Note: We're and will still be free, but sooner or later will leave flash).

What do I need to use Muses Radio Player?

All you need to use it, is a streaming signal (MP3 or OGG), and a website to put Muses Radio Player files.

How can I put Muses Radio Player on my blog?

If you're using some popular CMS like WordPress or Joomla, you should take a look at your CMS's plugins list.
Most popular CMS have already someone developed a plugin for Muses. Just make sure you search using the keywords Muses Radio and FFMp3 Radio.
If you don't have a plugin at your reach, don't worry. All you need to do is to insert the HTML code generated on the Setup section, choosing the "I want to use the player and skin files hosted by Muses (the easy way)." option. (If your CMS does not allow this, you should think about changing it).

I have the streaming signal, how can I install Muses Radio Player on my site?

To install Muses Radio Player on your site, we recommend you to use the HTML code generator on the Setup section. Once you have the HTML code, simply put that code on your site and upload Muses Radio Player files to it.

I don't have the streaming signal, where can I get one?

Maybe you're looking to a radio streaming provider. If that is the case, we can't help you here. You'll need to go and find one yourself. Anyway, we recommend you to search for a provider that uses IceCast or any other open source streaming software.

I have the streaming signal, but I can't get Muses Radio Player working. What should I check?

First of all, check that you're using the absolute URL of the streaming signal (if it ends in .m3u, remove that extension).
Second, make sure you're using either MP3 or OGG streaming (no AAC support yet)
Third, make sure you're using an IceCast, ShoutCast or any other compatible streaming server.
If this doesn't help you, please write a report using our Feedback & support tool, so we can check your case when we have time :)

The audio cuts every few seconds. What's happening?

The most probable thing is that your buffer is getting empty. Possible reasons are:
1) You don't have a good and stable Internet connection
2) Your server doesn't have a good and stable Internet connection
3) The streaming signal is heavy (try reducing the kbps)

When I use OGG audio, it sounds crappy/metallic. What's happening?

Unfortunately, playing OGG audio inside a flash takes some extra processing. The most probable thing is that your computer doesn't have enough processor. We can't help you here (yet).

When I use OGG audio, it sounds stretchy/pitched. What's happening?

Check your signal's sample rate. For OGG to work properly, 44100hz, stereo is recommended.

When I use OGG audio, I get a Security Error Message. What's happening?

Unfortunately, playing OGG audio inside a flash requires the server to have a file named crossdomain.xml, that authorizes Muses Radio Player to access the signal.
A basic example of a crossdomain.xml file, is this:

<cross-domain-policy>

<allow-access-from domain="*" />
 
</cross-domain-policy>

Please note that this file should be placed on the STREAMING SERVER, so you'll probably need to ask your provider to place it for you.

TIP for IceCast users:
If you have access to the streaming server, on DEBIAN or UBUNTU, you may place this file on /usr/share/icecast2/web/crossdomain.xml (on windows "C:\Program Files\Icecast2 Win32\web")

I've installed crossdomain.xml, but I'm still getting "Security Error" Message. What should I check?

Most probably, your server is not serving crossdomain.xml file correctly.
To check if crossdomain.xml is correctly installed and served, try opening it from your web-browser by entering http://YOURSTREAMINGSERVER.COM:PORT/crossdomain.xml. Then, one of three things may happen:

You get a 404/500/504/file not found Error: This means that the crossdomain.xml is not where it sould be, or can't be read by icecast.
You are prompted to download crossdomain.xml to your computer: This means that your streaming server isn't serving crossdomain.xml file correctly. The most common scenario, is that icecast doesn't have right mime.types for xml and/or ogg files (very common situation in windows installations).
One thing you should try, is to copy some apache mime.types file inside your icecast directory (on windows should be "C:\Program Files\Icecast2 Win32") and restart icecast service. Please check here for more details on this issue.
You see the XML file inside your browser: If this is your case, then crossdomain.xml is correctly installed and served. You sould check XML file format and hosts restrictions.

Note: Don't use Opera or Internet Explorer for opening the XML file. Both browsers may show the XML file even when there's a configuration problem, hiding important symptoms for the diagnostic.

Muses Radio Player says it handles memory consumption and cache. How does it make it?

For memory consumption it's quite simple. It disconnect and reconnect from the streaming audio every hour or half and hour. You may notice one or two seconds of silence when it does that.
To avoid cache, Muses Radio Player alters the streaming URL adding some GET parameters computed from the computer local time, and this makes the streaming URL different every time the player ask for it :)

Does Muses Radio Player sends any information concerning my site to any other site?

Muses Radio Player, opens a URL that is controlled by GoogleAnalytics. This is done to collect open statistics of users and sites.
If you want to disable this feature (so no information is sent anywhere), you can change "tracking=true" to "tracking=false" in your generated HTML code.
On the other hand, if you want to leave this feature and take a look at your statistics, you can send us a request through our Feedback & support tool, and we'll share your station statistics with you.

I can't find my language listed in Muses Radio Player. What can I do?

Muses Radio Player uses very few texts, so It'll be easy for you to collaborate with the project translating some texts to your language. If you think you can do a good Translation for your language, please translate the following lines and send them to us using our Feedback & support tool.

Play (to play music, not a game)
Stop (to stop music)
Intro (to inform that an introduction audio is being played)
Network Error (to indicate a communication error)
Error: Load Complete (to indicate that load has been completed - this is an error because live audio should never be completed)
Error: Sound Complete (same case of load complete, technically different for debugging)
Volume (to indicate audio volume)
Security Error (to indicate that some security restrictions where broken)
About Muses Radio Player... (when the user does right-click on the player)
Version 0.X.X (to indicate version number when right-clicking)

How can I enable Event Callbacks? (to inform Muses Radio Player events to Javascript)

To enable Muses Radio Player's Callback Engine, you must change "jsevents=false" to "jsevents=true" in your generated HTML code.
Once enabled, Muses Radio Player will call a javascript function named "ffmp3Callback" wich YOU MUST implement all by yourself.
Here is a basic example implementation of "ffmp3Callback" function:

function ffmp3Callback(event,value){
    alert('event: "'+event+'", value: "'+value+'"');
}

Please note that this function should be placed on the HTML, somewhere before the player generated HTML code.

What should I use Event Callbacks for?

Ok, this is a good question. Event Callbacks is a feature designed to provide power to web developers. Some suggested uses for this feature are:

Storing User Preferences You can store the user's last selected volume in a cookie for future reference.
Change the UI You can change some stuff on the website when users starts/stops playing or changes the volume.
Collect Statistics If you store events with date/time attached, you can get information about how much time people spends listening your streaming, peak audience hours, or any other report you can build with this information.
Other stuff You should use this for whatever you find it useful.

I'm using shoutcast, and I'm quite sure everything is well configured, but my streaming still wont play. What can I try?

Shoutcast users should add a ";" at the end of the streaming URL.
IE: If your streaming URL is http://radioas64.streaming.rs:9540/, you should use http://radioas64.streaming.rs:9540/;.

Do you know any free streaming service that I can use with Muses Radio Player?

Yes! You can try WebRadioGratis.
Note: If you know of some other free streaming service, please write us and we'll add it here.

What's a fallback streaming and how can I use this feature?

Fallback Streaming Signal, is a feature that allows Muses Radio Player to connect to an alternative streaming URL in case the main streaming fails to load (or get's interrupted) for some reason.

To specify a fallback url, you have to edit the html code of your embed player, adding a the fallback parameter inside the flashvars section.

Example: ...&url=http://yoururl.com/signal.mp3&fallback=http://fallbackdomain.com/fallbackSignal.mp3&...

Note: Remember that the flashvars appears twice on your html code, so you must change this code in both places.

What does metadata means?

When talking about audio streaming, sometimes the streaming contains information about the trackname and artist (the title of this audio). We refer to this information as "Metadata Information".

Can I use the streaming metadata information with Muses Radio Player?

Yes, but right now this is in beta stage and only works with OGG encoded streamings.
To get metadata information, you must enable the Javascript Event Callback Function (using the jsevents=true option).
Once you enable this option, Muses Radio Player will call the ffmp3Callback function twice.

One time with event='metadata' and the track title as the value.
Another time with event='metadata-json' and a json object containing the whole metadata structure parsed into an object.