Listening to radio streamed via the Internet is common practice for large groups of listeners worldwide. Contrary to traditional radio, Internet Radio services are build on a relatively complex stack of technology. At each layer in this stack there are choices to be made (codec, container, transport mechanism, ...), which can lead to incompatibilities and turn a service that should 'just work' into one that just doesn't.
IMDA metadata
To help prevent interoperability problems to surface, the Internet Media Device Alliance (IMDA) is developing Internet Radio standards. It recently has spent effort trying to standardize the representation of broadcasters' metadata - which has resulted in the Service Identification XML specification.
The IMDA covers the complete radio chain, from broadcaster to end-user.
Standardization will help simplify searching for detailed information and eliminate the need for extensive scrolling through long listings. High-profile European public broadcasters – including the BBC, major German broadcasters and Radio Netherlands – are among the early adopters of the latest Service Identification specification.
Not reinventing the (car)wheel
The IMDA has also set up an Automotive Working Group to focus on areas of common interest related to automotive and IP broadcast. By partnering with other organizations, such as the EBU, the IMDA tries to prevent re-inventing the wheel.
More details on the IMDA's work can be found in this recently published EBU Technical Review article . For more information on Digital Radio in general and the EBU's activities on RadioDNS, international Radio Profiles, Visual Radio, etc. you can contact Mathias Coinchon (EBU) .