What does PLS stand for? 

PLS

PLS is a computer file format that stores multimedia playlists, originally used by SHOUTcast and Icecast for streaming media over the Internet, such as a desktop icon used for listening to an online radio station that supports PLS, using the user's .MP3 player. PLS is a more expressive playlist format than basic M3U, as it can store information on the song title and length. With PLS version 2, playlists also include a PLS version declaration. iTunes, VLC media player, Totem, RealPlayer, Winamp, Yahoo! Music Jukebox, MediaMonkey, Windows Media Player, AIMP, XBMC, XMPlay, Rhythmbox, foobar2000, and more than 30 others are able to interpret PLS files. Media Player Classic with the K-Lite codec installed does work with PLS format but still requires the appropriate MIME or file extension associations. As a streaming audio format PLS has both advantages and disadvantages over other formats. A simple software MP3 player often consumes far less of the System Resources than the typical multi-function Internet Browser,. This ability to circumvent video advertisements is seen as a disadvantage by many for-profit radio stations, and the PLS format support has declined in popularity among radio stations. However, because audio streaming requires less bandwidth than video, PLS connections are popular with users on dial up and other low bandwidth connections or with limited system resources. Radio streaming PLS files are normally obtained via free download from either a participating radio station's Web site, or a radio-tuner type site such as SHOUTcast. PLS is also an inexpensive way to deliver radio over the Internet for small broadcasters, since it does not require a registered domain name, just an IP address. On a Macintosh, one can tune into many of these streams by clicking the radio tower button in iTunes.

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