SomaFM Metal Detector (32k AAC)

SomaFM Metal Detector (32k AAC) is one of two entries in the United States whose names are the same but for a number, and this one's number is thirty-two. A broadcaster numbering its streams like that is separating feeds, not stations, so read the number as the part that matters.

SomaFM Metal Detector (32k AAC) sits in the tail of the United States' 1,481 entries. The tail is the part of a directory that goes missing first, and it is the part worth keeping: the head of every country's list is the same handful of national broadcasters, and everything that makes a dial local is behind them.

Only three entries in the United States put black metal first. The tag is self-declared and inconsistent between countries, which is why the rail below is worth more as a way of wandering than as a filter.

The gap here is large: 40 kbps where the United States' stations typically run 128. Rates at this level were designed for dial-up and for mobile data that was billed by the megabyte, and plenty of stations simply never changed the setting.

The stream address on this entry points at ice2.somafm.com, which is where 35 other stations in the United States are served from as well. Platforms of that size carry the long tail of a country's dial, and they are the reason a listing can look broken when it is one host having a quiet hour.