Convert Internet radio streams to podcasts ←

Synopsis: Use Windows’s Task Scheduler, Streamripper, ID3mtag, and batch files to automatically record MP3 streams from Internet radio and prepare them for transfer to an iPod or other portable music player.

Note: This project is not maintained or updated. It is released to the public domain without warranty or support.

About this tool

This is an enhancement/tweak to Alex Bischoff’s method for grabbing MP3 streams from NPR. This version lets you keep older streams (instead of overwriting them), makes the batch file process a little more user-friendly, and adds ID3v2 tagging to the workflow, so that each file is automatically tagged. Optionally, with a little extra elbow grease, you can set it up to integrate with iTunes so that your streamrips will show up under the “Podcasts” menu of both iTunes and your iPod—something that I don’t think any other tool allows you to do.

Alex’s method explains how to find streams and programming dates/times for NPR programs using the Public Radio Fan website. Note that while using this tool to timeshift Internet radio streams is within your rights, you should never redistribute these files. And, of course, you should support your local NPR station.

Step-by-step method, simple implementation

Download Streamripper 1.61.7 (win32 console), unzip, and note the path to “streamripper.exe.” (Streamripper has been known to change its command-line switches in the past, so there is no guarantee this method will work with any other version than 1.61.7.)
Download ID3mtag (win32 console), unzip, and note the path to “id3.exe.”
Save this text file as “template.bat”.
Make a copy of “template.bat”, rename it, and edit the SET variables according to your preferences and environment.
Set a recurring Scheduled Task to run your batch file at the appointed time (Start > Settings > Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks). Note: Windows’s Task Scheduler will not run if your user account has no password (empty password).
Repeat for each program you wish to record.

Using this method will output MP3 files in the directory you specify, with ID3v2 tags, named FilenameSlug_YYYY-MM-DD.mp3. You can then drag the destination folder into iTunes, for instance, and synchronize to your iPod.

Advanced implementation

This method is slightly more complicated. It creates an iTunes-compatible podcast feed, which enables inclusion under the “Podcasts” menu of both iTunes and your iPod. It requires you run a webserver on your local computer—necessary because iTunes does not recognize the “file://” protocol. (If you don’t already have one, I recommend Uniform Server, a lightweight WAMP package that does not require installation—unzip it and go.)

For this advanced method, just follow the steps from the simple implementation, with the following changes:

Save this text file as your template, instead of the one above.
The destination folder you specify (“dpath”) must be within the scope of your local webserver.

After the first instance of your Scheduled Task, an RSS feed will be available, which you can subscribe to using iTunes—or any other podcast software.

For example, if you specified for your files to be placed in C:\webserver\podcast\, where C:\webserver\ is the root of your local webserver, then you can open iTunes, click on “Podcasts” in the left menu, then choose Tools > Subscribe to Podcast... and enter http://localhost/podcast/FilenameSlug.rss. iTunes will then treat your streamrips as any other podcast: updating automatically, et cetera.

Note: iTunes will essentially download each podcast from your own computer, which means that there will be two copies of the file on your hard drive. Periodically, after you sync up iTunes, you can go into the destination folder under your webserver and delete all the MP3s there; however, take care not to delete the “.txt” and “.rss” files.