At StreamForge we believe that only a top-quality streaming product is a viable solution. The costs of traditional server-based streaming approaches force many radio stations to make a compromise between audio quality and costs. Lower bit-rate streams reduce monthly expenses but also hurt the quality of the listening experience for the audience. Our peer-assisted technology no longer requires such tradeoffs. Only streams in perfect quality are provided and this at very attractive rates. Our easy-to-use and better-sounding streams attract a larger audience which stays longer online and thus strengthens the radio station’s market position.

The StreamForge player starts up very fast. On loading a StreamForge-enabled website audio playback starts within a few seconds. This quick start is possible as the player is very light-weight and uses no slow initial buffering. Listeners get a quick feedback and are not alienated by long loading times and the uncertainty whether playback will eventually start or not.

Instead of using large buffers, the StreamForge solution relies on the redundancy in the network formed by the audience to guard against choppy playback in case of a transmission problem. Since each listener is a potential streaming source for other members of the audience individual connection problems are easily handled. The StreamForge player simply connects to another nearby listener and starts downloading the pending audio fragments. Within milliseconds the stream is restored without any audible interruption.