Blog

In May 2023, The Alabama’s Finest platform has undergone a major transformation, based on where we started, what we have accomplished and where we’re heading next. Since the launch of this website in March 2013, we have grown in many ways, transitioning from a traditional record label to a digital distributor, later implementing our Media Streaming Server in 2014 where we went on to become a bonafide top 100 ShoutCast Stream for 5 consecutive years starting in 2015-2021. ShoutCast themselves even highlighted our success by writing a blog about us in their November 2020 addition of ShoutCast Blogs. With the latest changes in the manner that ShoutCast host streaming servers and their implementation of their new algorithms, we underwent an unfortunate fall from grace. Our days of a non paying stream, ruling the top 10 status has abruptly ended in March 2021.

As a result, we went back to the drawing board to review our direction and what we needed to do to rebound from us losing our coveted title as a top stream. Many times we’ve outperformed major streams like info wars, but as of today, we have been reduced to #1 stream in the Urban Contemporary Genre on ShoutCast. Not a bad feat BUT we came to the conclusion that the time has come for us to expand our platform to reclaim our acclaim as a very popular and influential community on the internet. To accomplish that we felt inclined to start working on implementing Videos On Demand IPTV, Secured Streaming via SSL & give our website some what of a facelift.

from April, 2021-December 2022, we have successfully compiled our VOD IPTV platform in which we’re currently in the final stages of testing. We will be launching this new platform with the arrival of Web3. From January 2023- May 2023, we have successfully implemented SSL secured web streams which means that our server is secured and our streams are now encrypted. Furthermore, we have also updated our website to version 7 (we started out on v4) which brings us new tools and features to our website. Last but not least, we’ve initiated our website facelift project where we will make minor changes to the appearance of our website and we’ve even added new pages to help amplify our achievements and what our next move is moving forward.

Stay tuned because as apart of our website improvement efforts, we will be actively adding very informative content to keep users engaged in our community and perhaps encouraging them to become more active in supporting our platform as we grow. In closing, I would like to thank everyone who has supported our community over this past decade + we look forward to continue building new working relationships with new people & entities we continue to grow into a household name that provides the best independent content from independent creators.

It bring us great sadness to inform you an artist from our music program has passed away. The news was brought to our attention in a Facebook group that the 30 year old aspiring Hip Hop Artist Nicholas Filici (Lyrically known as "NEEKZ") had passed away on December 22, 2020, in his hometown of London, Ontario. Details about his death are not disclosed to respect his family during this difficult time.

The celebration of life will be announced at a later date, due to Covid19 restrictions.

In lieu of flowers and because of his love for Music, we ask that donations in Nico's name be made to Aeolian Hall: El Sistema Patron Program, supporting youth and musical arts in our community. (Supplied from Neekz Obituary)

Who was Neekz & How he contributed to our platform:

Neekz was a down to earth guy & he was on great speaking terms with Systems Administrator @TrickyRicky. Aside from music collaborations, he contributed a ton of music to our platform. In addition, TrickyRicky helped Neekz get his music legally registered so he can begin to earn digital royalties from his online streams. As a regular on our website, Neekz & TrickyRicky had befriended each other on Facebook where they would communicate & work together to promote new music. In honor of his legacy, Alabama's Finest™ Radio played one of his songs, every hour of the day from 10/1/2021- 10/3/2021. We will continue his legacy by continuing playing his music on our program, until instructed otherwise. To hear some of Neekz music feel free to drop by his profile.

Neekz was a very special individual, his contributions & his musical legacy will live on in our hearts forever.

with Love -TrickyRicky

This song is literally #TooHard… I have been following FB Boochie on facebook for a few years now. & I must say, I am quite impressed with how this guy craft his verses. This artist has been around for quite some time & after many year of consistent music promotion, he has garnered a huge following to the point to where his videos go from 0 to 100k and to 1 milli, before the first week ends. And for that, we recognize this guy and hereby deem him worthy of this weeks Artist Spotlight... Press Play & TurnUP!!! 

Alabama Native & two time Grammy Nominee Artist/Songwriter Attitude is back at again with the release of the official music video: "Haters" produced by: DvmnLokee. This smash single gives you a taste of old school + new school & is accompanied by a dope visual to make this joint an official hit. What I like so much about this single is the fact that the track was well sampled, well arranged & meticulously mapped out from ground zero. In regards to the lyrical content, I truly admire the craftsmanship, the delivery & message of this song. To be straight up, This track is another one for the books. Attitude #Never cease to amaze me. And in my opinion, he is one of the most slept on artists in this industry. Well, you can be the judge of that... press play to witness the best that you have been missing.

The Brave Browser is a hidden gem and a force to be reckoned with. According to Brave, their web browser is faster than Chrome, has better privacy than Firefox and it uses less battery on mobile devices like smartphones and laptops. After test driving Brave Browser, I have found its security to be unmatched by the most popular browsers on the web. The thing that I like so much about Brave is that it blocks malware & it also prevents websites from tracking and or collecting too much information about you.

Another thing that I like so much about Brave Browser is: The browser is Crypto friendly... You can earn Basic Attention Tokens (BAT Tokens Cyptocurrency) from viewing ads on the Brave Browser. You can also purchase BAT Crypto securely from your web browser via: The Uphold Wallet. Last but not least, if you are a Content Creator, you can earn rewards through the Brave Rewards program. Others who use the Brave Browser can TIP you BAT Crypto to help support the content that you contribute. You can also earn BAT through the following channels: Your Website, YouTube Channel, Twitch & or your online publication.

With the world the way it is: ie. too many websites & web browsers are tracking and collecting massive user data that is sold to advertisement entities. With the Brave Browser, you are in control... Limit how your internet usage data is collected, regain your privacy & Secure your data. Make your way over to brave.com to download The Brave Browser today. It's free and its available on android, iOS, MacOS & Windows. Check out Brave Browser Today.

On March 30, 2021 SHOUTcast conducted a major maintenance update to roll out their "new" streaming platform. As a result of the maintenance, a bug occurred to where "somehow" v2.5 DNAS streams were no longer featured in the directory & the only way to be featured was to upgrade to "the NEW DNAS v2.6." As a result, a total of 5,660+ streams were left with YP error code: 503 and they were not listed in the directory. Big Name Top 100 Streams like: Info Wars, Rick & Bubba, Alabama's Finest Radio, Antena1, COOLfahrenheight, HOT 108 JAMZ & thousands of growing mom & pop streams were all left behind. On April 2, 2021, a member of our team took to the ShoutCast forum to inquire about the error code. A very productive dialog occurred and obviously "a bug" was discovered and 5 days later, DNAS v2.5 loyal & registered streams were restored to the directory.

At this point we don't have an opinion on the matter & neither do we know what to expect from SHOUTcast. Will they continue to support loyal "old school" streams who choose "not" to upgrade to v2.6? Will they officially end support for v2.5 in their next major update? or will they continue to honor v2.5 auth-hash codes that were registered before they stopped distributing v2.5 auth-hash? Either way, we are very pleased with the "current" outcome. We hope that v2.5 is not killed off entirely after they officially end support. In our humbled opinion if it's not broken, don't fix it. And if it still works, it will NOT hurt to let it continue letting it work. v2.5 is very important to our platform as we have built a very effective stream through our very loyal and effective relay partners.

In regards to SHOUTcast: "We get it... Business is Business, We Respect Business & We will not disrupt Business. We appreciate the recognition of our Hardwork in a November ShoutCast Blog. And we look forward to working with ShoutCast Software for the foreseeable future."

On March 30, 2021, SHOUTcast conducted a server wide maintenance update to its "streaming" infrastructure so they can roll out their plan of indefinite "Premium Media Streaming Subscriptions." We all have received that email around mid March 2021, giving us a heads up that they (SHOUTcast) would be conducting this maintenance on all resources, YP, API & Radio Manager. They did tell us that "some streams" those paid streams that they are hosting would experience a service outage. What they did not tell us that this so called update to their infrastructure was actually an entire upgrade that would further cement their legacy of taking a once open source software & turning it to a full blown monopoly as they turn a corner where their services would extend into a realm of commercial streaming as they are now touting their latest acquisition with their big named partners on their website.

So what does this mean? it means: If you are paying for services from a third party, you would have to jump ship and join their ranks to reap the prized benefits of monetization, YP placement & or commercial streaming placements. Or if you're self hosted, you would have to use their new software (in my opinion is rigged). Flat out, its join them or get left behind and be stuck with unsupported technology (that still works great BTW). Funny thing about it: when they were doing their maintenance, all of their payed customers experienced an outage while our (limitless freebie) stream remain working. it was funny for me until I realized when it was all said and done, their streams were all listed in the new SHOUTcast  directory while my stream is still receiving a 503 YP maintenance error.

while surfing the web, I stumbled across a post from a very wise man. he told this guy who was freaking out over not being listed: "Why pay for something that has limits & is up and down like a roller coaster, when you have your own server that is "limitless" it works fine, it supports the latest protocols." he then told the guy to simply submit his stream to as many directories that still accept submissions. You must act fast because streaming is the new wave & you need to cement your legacy while the gates are open. because once they close, all will be a lost cause & or loss of money. What ever you do, don't be upset & lose sleep because you are no longer listed in one of the largest streaming directories on the web. What is "one directory" when you can be listed in several? with the way things are going, you will soon end up in the right place.