View source for VLC HowTo/Listen to online radio

{{Howto|Listen to online radio in VLC through [[Icecast]]}}

The current version is '''{{VLC:latest version}}'''.

<onlyinclude>For the [[Qt Interface]] on 3.0.6:
# If not already visible, open the playlist sidebar through ''View'' → ''Playlist''
# Scroll down the sidebar, if necessary, to the section ''Internet''
# Click the entry ''Icecast Radio Directory''
# Select a listing
# [[File:Musical note.png|alt=Start listening|link=|20px]]</onlyinclude>

== Old guides ==
=== 0.8.2 ===
You can of course always simply find a link to a radiostream and then open it as you would any other network stream in VLC. But if you would like to '''browse a list of online radios''', you can try the list of '''shoutcast''' radio stations VLC can download for you:
* First you need to open the playlist window: View->Playlist. 
* Once you have the playlist window open choose: ''Manage->Service discovery->Shoutcast radio listings''. After 10 seconds or so the playlist should have become populated by radio station entries. You obviously require an Internet connection for this to work! 
* If you want the stations sorted alphabetically, you can choose: ''Sort->Sort by title''. Also note shoutcast have many thousands of streams available, per default in 0.8.2 250 stations are downloaded, this can be changed in the preferences under: <u>Playlist->Service discovery->Shoutcast</u>.<br />Note that the more stations you want to add, the longer delay you will see when the station list is downloaded, parsed, and added to the playlist.<br />Also note you should see 2 "Folder nodes" in the playlist under shoutcast called Genres and bitrate where the stations will be listed under their respective areas. Note that most stations claim to be multi-genre, so a station might be listed under both Top40, pop and rock.

=== 1.0.2 ===
For VLC 1.0.2 "Goldeneye" under Linux, I got the Shoutcast listing by (from the VLC tools) Media/Services Discovery/Shoutcast Radio listings.  After checking that option, the playlist was populated with the Shoutcast list.

=== 1.1.11 ===
For version 1.1.11 the following works fine:

* If not already visible, open the playlist window through ''View''->''Playlist''. On the left side you see the '''Media Browser''' on the right side the '''Playlist''' window which is probably empty.
* In the '''Media Browser''' double-click the entry ''Internet'' which will unfold a few options, one them being the ''Icecast Directory''. Of course, using any of these Internet options requires an active Internet connection.
* Double-click the entry ''Icecast Directory'' and after a few seconds a list of radio stations will be displayed in the '''Playlist''' window, which now has been renamed to '''Icecast Directory'''.

The other Internet-related stream sources work similarly, except the ''Podcasts'' which require you to enter the URL of a podcast you wish to subscribe to.