Archiving

This tutorial will help you get started with Creek's archiving system.

First Steps

1. Create an account: If you haven't created an account with us already, please email us, and we'll get the ball rolling.

2. Pricing: Please see the pricing page for more about costs for the archiving system.

Components

There are five main components:

1. Archiving Device — We'll send you a hardware device, called the Creek Broadcaster. It needs to be plugged into a USB audio interface, ethernet, and power. It will record your archives directly from their audio source in your studio. (Or, if easier, the device can upload existing audio files from a network drive.)

2. Storage — To store the audio files, you will need to provide a cloud storage account from Backblaze B2. This allows us to reduce costs for you.

3. Spinitron Integration (Optional) — Optionally, Creek can import your Spinitron schedule, so that it will automatically organize all of the archives under the names of their shows. All we need is your Spinitron API key.

4. Creek Studio — Once your archives are running, you'll be able to find them in Creek Studio. This is also where DJs can go to get all past archives, even if they're older than 2 weeks.

5. Website Integration — We'll help you install the archives on your website, so that people can listen to them.

Archiving Device

The Creek Broadcaster requires three things to be connected:

1. USB audio.
2. Ethernet.
3. Power.

No monitor, keyboard, or mouse needed.

1. USB Audio

The Creek Broadcaster requires a USB audio interface that has the main audio feed that you want archived.

Here are some recommendations for finding a USB audio interface for your studio:

• Almost all USB audio interfaces work. Some examples include Lexicon Alpha and Behringer U-Phoria. Specifically, any class-compliant USB audio interface should be compatible.

• Your main mixerboard may already have USB audio output.

• Some streaming devices (like Telos Z/IPSTREAM) have XLR audio outputs that you can capture.

• Need more ideas? Let us know! We'll figure it out.

Audio Processing?

You'll need to decide whether the archived audio feed is before or after audio processing (i.e. your studio's compressor, equalizer, etc.). Most stations want their processed audio to get archived, since that's the same audio on their stream (for their website and apps). A few stations may have very heavy audio processing that's mainly for their FM transmitter, and so they prefer recording the archives before processing, so that they have a more natural, unprocessed sound.

Existing audio files?

In special cases, we can upload existing audio files if you can make them available on a network drive. We can discuss your studio structure, and whether this is a better option. Either way, we'll need to install a Creek Broadcaster in your studio in order to upload the audio archives.

2. Ethernet

The device needs a wired ethernet connection.

If there aren't enough ethernet cables, then you can use a basic network switch to "split" the network cable (a bit like a power strip but for networking).

Or, you can use a Wi-Fi extender. You can find one at Target, Staples, etc. for about $35.

Firewall Settings: The device should not need any special firewall settings. In rare cases, you may need to enable an outgoing port for streaming (in the 8000-9000 port range) and UDP on port 52424.

3. Power

Please make sure to connect the device to a surge protected outlet.

Storage

Please create a Backblaze B2 account and send us the account credentials. We'll take care of the rest!

Keep it safe!

Very Important: All of your audio will be stored in this account, so keep it safe!

Storage Costs

Storage is $0.005/GB — in other words, one half cent per gigabyte of audio.

This comes out to less than $4 per month to store 1 full year of audio at 192kbit/s.

So, don't worry about storage costs — it's very low cost. This is the main reason that we're using Backblaze for storage. It allows us to essentially give you storage for "wholesale" costs.

Spinitron Integration (Optional)

If you want Creek to integrate with your existing Spinitron service, please send us the API key for your Spinitron account.

This will allow Creek to import the shows, playlists, and users from Spinitron. Then, archives will be nicely organized under each show. Plus, this lets you avoid doing any extra data entry to maintain your station's list of shows at both platforms.

Creek Studio: Accessing your Archives

Once archives are up and running, we'll send you a link to Creek Studio for your station.

Here are the main areas for archives in Creek Studio:

• Go to Shows to manage the settings for each show. For example, if certain shows are only talk, then you can allow them to display archives for longer than two weeks.

• Go to Media to see the past archives.

• Go to Users to manage the hosts and DJs who have access to Creek Studio. (See below for allowing DJs to access their archives).

Allowing DJs to access past archives

To allow DJs to access all of their archives (even ones older than 2 weeks) follow these steps:

1. Make sure that their email address is correct on their account (see the Users area).
2. Send them the link to the Creek Studio login page.
3. Lastly, they should click Reset your Password on the login page. Once they set their password, they'll be able to sign in and access their archives.

Integration with your website

The archives can be integrated with your website.

Here's an example: Archives at KMNO

We'll help you get them installed:

• All we need is login credentials for your website, so please send those to us once ready.

• Or, we can provide integration code that you can install yourself.

Custom Work: Web Design, App Integration, and more.

If you need any custom work to get archives installed on your website, app, or elsewhere — let's talk!

Design and development work is billed at $100 per hour (see pricing). We'll give you an estimate beforehand. If you need several hours of work, we may be able to bundle it into one project with a discounted rate.