Spinitron offers, for the record, the following boring but important technolegal statement hoping to throw some light on possible differences between what listeners and stations might want and what it offers.
Limited interactivity
The limited interactivity in our archive web player is the result of historical contingencies and our (Spinitron’s) interpretation of webcasting law. The statutory license for webcasting under which our clients operate (17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 in US Code) permits only non-interactive service and explicitly prohibits a variety of modes of interactivity. We designed Spinitron’s archive player’s default configuration to conform to the law. I would speculate that other service providers that afford interactivity that Spinitron does maybe interpret the law differently, or perhaps they estimate their potential liabilities differently, than we do.
The new streaming server for archives that we are testing permits starting an archive stream at any moment in the last two weeks and it permits the client to seek within the archive stream. Our web player does not offer user interface features that exploit these. But the streams are compatible with any player that supports HLS. And our player is open source and can be modified. So our legal CYA need not be a limitation to others (e.g. stations) if they assume liability for their interpretation of the law. We may even be able to support such efforts so long as we feel indemnified.
Ofc, our estimation of our liabilities can change. Imagine, for example, what a sternly-worded letter from the RIAA might do.