Best audio host

Hello!

I’d like to have some audio on my site by integrating a free audio hosting site (such as Youtube for video) in conjunction with the jplayer. Initially, Sound Cloud looked promising, but it doesn’t seem like I’ll easily be able to convert their interface into something that looks simple yet elegant. Does anyone have any thoughts on what hosting services might be best?

It’s hard to say exactly how much audio will be on my site, but each audio file will be under 10 minutes.

Thank you,

Eric

Is there any reason you don’t just host the audio yourself? You could either host it on your own site or via a CDN like Amazon S3 or Rackspace. Just wondering.

Ralph,

Good question! From my understanding (which may be incorrect…), every time a user listens to audio through my site, that would cost a lot in terms of server costs since audio files are so big. Am I mistaken in thinking of things this way?

No, you are quite right about that. That’s why, for this sort of thing, I sometimes use a separate CDN (content delivery network) to host the files themselves, as they charge a lot less for bandwidth. (You just sign up for an account, upload your files, link to them and there’s a very small charge per download … in the cents.)

But yes, it’s still a cost, which makes things like YouTube so attractive. I just had a look at Sound Cloud, and like a lot of sites, it makes a complete mess of trying to explain how it works. :nono:

I’d be interested to know if there’s something better out there.

Me, too! :slight_smile:

Perhaps the CDN might be an option for “when” my site grows. But for now…any other takers out there???