StationRipper
Encyclopedia
StationRipper is a commercial Microsoft Windows
software program developed by Ratajik Software. It acts as a front end for several other pieces of software, with a focus on recording and downloading music, including: Shoutcast streams, Web based stations like Last.fm and Pandora.com, and Podcasts.
When recording streams with Streamripper or LastFMConsole, it can record to MP3
or Vorbis
formats. While using StationSniffer or PodCastConsole, it can record any type of media file. For all stream types, it uses information brought down in the various streams to split each song into an individual file named by Band and Song name. The resulting files have the correct ID3v1 and ID3v2.4 tags set, and are unhindered. It can also download the songs album art, saving to a separate file or embedded in the MP3
The software it front-ends includes one Open Source
GPL program and three proprietary programs
by Ratajik Software:
Integration into iTunes
is built in - songs recorded can automatically be placed on a iTunes
playlist
, which in turn can be automatically synchronized to a iPod
(iTunes radio stations can also be recorded). The software also supports integration with MediaMonkey
, MSN Messenger, and Twitter
StationRipper is available in a free
version as well as a paid version ("Silver" and "Gold" licenses). It uses the Microsoft Access
format for its library. The software embeds Microsoft Internet Explorer in the main window. The user interacts with various web pages, and the software captures certain actions, tells the browser to ignore the action, and then acts on it itself (e.g., clicking a record button that is a URL to a station on a web page starts recording, instead of playing the stream in the browser).
In a brief by the EFF it is argued that while the DMCA took steps to regulate the playlists
of noninteractive webcasters, it did not impose any design mandate on device that might record those webcasts - and that there are a wide array of lawful software products
that enable the recording of webcast content (StationRipper being specifically mentioned).
page, and Google Maps
Mashup
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
software program developed by Ratajik Software. It acts as a front end for several other pieces of software, with a focus on recording and downloading music, including: Shoutcast streams, Web based stations like Last.fm and Pandora.com, and Podcasts.
When recording streams with Streamripper or LastFMConsole, it can record to MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
or Vorbis
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
formats. While using StationSniffer or PodCastConsole, it can record any type of media file. For all stream types, it uses information brought down in the various streams to split each song into an individual file named by Band and Song name. The resulting files have the correct ID3v1 and ID3v2.4 tags set, and are unhindered. It can also download the songs album art, saving to a separate file or embedded in the MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
The software it front-ends includes one Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
GPL program and three proprietary programs
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
by Ratajik Software:
- StreamripperStreamripperStreamripper is a stand-alone client or Winamp plugin that records Internet radio streams in the MP3 or Vorbis formats. It has an ability to override existing files in the save folder....
- a free Open SourceOpen sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
GPL streaming engine that records ("ripsRadio music rippingThe term ripping can also apply to radio. New software, techniques and cloud services now makes it possible to extract the songs played on the radio and digitally save them on separate audio tracks...
") Internet audio streams on LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, FreeBSDFreeBSDFreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
, BeOSBeOSBeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
, OS/2OS/2OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
(amongst others). The StationRipper software was first released on December 13, 2003. It can record to MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
or VorbisVorbisVorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
formats
- StationSniffer - software that downloads media files from web sites. It sits as a proxyProxy serverIn computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
between the web browser and a web server. As files are requested, it analyzes each file, saving off copies of any that it detects are media files, such as MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
or MP4 files. The StationSniffer was specifically developed to record Pandora.com. When used against that site, it uses additional information to name the file correctly by Band Name and Song Name, downloads the Album art, and sets the Genre. It also recognizes and does the same do the same against Slacker.com, AOL RadioAOL RadioAOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...
, SeeqpodSeeqPodSeeqPod was a search and recommendation engine specifically for indexing and finding playable search results including audio, video, podcasts and Wikipedia articles that are publicly accessible on the World Wide Web. The site claimed to have indexed more than 13 million individual tracks and...
, and RhapsodyRhapsody (online music service)Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
. The software requires the user to play music from these sites, in the web browser. It works against any type of browser including IE, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome. For other sites it downloads the song into a single MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
but does not name the song - LastFMConsolse -records music from Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- PodCastConsole - downloads podcasts
Integration into iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
is built in - songs recorded can automatically be placed on a iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
playlist
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...
, which in turn can be automatically synchronized to a iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
(iTunes radio stations can also be recorded). The software also supports integration with MediaMonkey
MediaMonkey
MediaMonkey is a proprietary digital media player and media library application developed by Ventis Media Inc., for organizing and playing audio on Microsoft Windows operating systems. By using plugins, it can be extended to handle video and other media formats as well.MediaMonkey is available in a...
, MSN Messenger, and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
StationRipper is available in a free
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
version as well as a paid version ("Silver" and "Gold" licenses). It uses the Microsoft Access
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Office Access, previously known as Microsoft Access, is a relational database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools. It is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of...
format for its library. The software embeds Microsoft Internet Explorer in the main window. The user interacts with various web pages, and the software captures certain actions, tells the browser to ignore the action, and then acts on it itself (e.g., clicking a record button that is a URL to a station on a web page starts recording, instead of playing the stream in the browser).
Overview
Major features of Stationripper are:- Ripping shoutcastSHOUTcastSHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
audio and video streams - Web 2.0 Radio recording, including Pandora.com, AOL RadioAOL RadioAOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...
, 8tracks and RhapsodyRhapsody (online music service)Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
. - Recording Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
stations - Downloading podcasts
- Synchronizing the recorded files to iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and MediaMonkeyMediaMonkeyMediaMonkey is a proprietary digital media player and media library application developed by Ventis Media Inc., for organizing and playing audio on Microsoft Windows operating systems. By using plugins, it can be extended to handle video and other media formats as well.MediaMonkey is available in a... - Search for songs that have played, via StationPortal.com
- View songs that are currently playing via StationPortal.com
- Album art download
- Commercials deleted (ignore files under a certain size)
- Tracking of stations recorded and songs that have been recorded
- Auto-skip of songs that have already been recorded
- Tracking Naming with Band and Song name, along with ID3v1 and ID3v2.4ID3ID3 is a metadata container most often used in conjunction with the MP3 audio file format. It allows information such as the title, artist, album, track number, and other information about the file to be stored in the file itself....
tags
Legal issues
There are several points of view on the legalities of internet ripping software such as StationRipper. One point of view says that the DMCA restricts software like this.In a brief by the EFF it is argued that while the DMCA took steps to regulate the playlists
of noninteractive webcasters, it did not impose any design mandate on device that might record those webcasts - and that there are a wide array of lawful software products
that enable the recording of webcast content (StationRipper being specifically mentioned).
StationPortal.com
As of version 2.80A, the software uses StationPortal as the page that comes up inside of the software. This as a social site around internet radio stations - it allows users to vote for stations, to search for songs and bands, by station (against what has been played by each station in the past), and has pages that allow the user to view what is currently playing, both in a static page, a AJAXAjax
- Mythology :* Ajax , son of Telamon, ruler of Salamis and a hero in the Trojan War, also known as "Ajax the Great"* Ajax the Lesser, son of Oileus, ruler of Locris and the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War.- People :...
page, and Google Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
Mashup
Mashup (digital)
A digital mashup usually is in reference to:1. Digital media content containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video and animation drawn from pre-existing sources, to create a new derivative work...
External links
- StationRipper Homepage
- StationPortal
- Boston Globe article about ripping and StationRipper
- Several p2pnet.net stories about StationRipper 1 2 3 4
- USA Today article on digital music and StationRipper
- Slashdot article on Stream ripping, its legality, and StationRipper