Reliability:

First and foremost, software reliability is essential. Without a reliable system, nothing else matters. Your online radio station needs to be running 24/7, so it’s crucial to choose software that is dependable and has a solid reputation. There’s nothing worse than your station going down in the middle of a show or losing listeners due to buffering or connection issues. Take the time to research and read user reviews on review platforms like Capterra, Trustpilot, and G2 before committing to a platform.

Automation:

Another key feature to consider is automation. Before the recent arrival of efficient options, I spent hours configuring my shows manually. Having the ability to automate certain aspects of your online radio station can be a lifesaver. Look for software that has robust automation features such as scheduling playlists, repeating calendar shows, rotations, auto DJ, and automatic failover in case of connection issues.

Customization:

Customization of your station page is another important feature to consider. Making your online radio station unique will set it apart from the competition. Look for software that gives you the ability to customize your page theme and interface, and to add a logo and branding. Your listeners will appreciate the personal touch. Remember to customize your social media channels as well to ensure brand consistency.

Interface:

Having a user-friendly interface is also important. Running your online radio station shouldn’t give you a headache. Therefore, pick software like Airtime Pro that has an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it simple to upload music, schedule playlists, and manage your station from one central location.

Integration:

Finally, integration with other platforms will help you reach as many listeners as possible. Look for software that integrates with popular platforms like iTunes, TuneIn, and Spotify, allowing your listeners to find and tune into your station with ease. Also, if you intend to live broadcast, be sure that your software can be easily integrated with third-party broadcasting apps like MIXX, BUTT, SAM Broadcaster, and  Nicecast.

Other things to consider

In addition to these key features, there are a few other factors to keep in mind when choosing online radio software. For example, it’s important to consider the type of support and resources that the software provider offers. Look for a platform that provides helpful documentation, tutorials, and support options to help you get the most out of your software.

Finally (and this probably goes without saying), consider what you get for your money. While there are plenty of cheap options out there, it’s often worth investing in a software platform that provides more robust features and support. Just be sure to factor in the cost of the software when planning your budget.

By focusing on these features and factors, you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful and unique online radio station that your listeners will love. At Airtime Pro, we’re committed to providing online radio software that makes it easy for you to create and manage your own online radio station.

Try it out for yourself and see why Airtime Pro is the perfect platform for your online radio needs!

The post 5 Must-Have Features in Online Radio Software appeared first on Airtime Pro.

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So, you have your Airtime Pro station already set up and you want to place it on your website, right? Easy. Airtime Pro’s Radio Player is a flexible widget that in a few easy steps can be embedded with just one line of HTML code so that your online radio station can be seen and listened to by anyone, anywhere on the internet.

To get started promoting your station in this way, go to Widgets in your Airtime Pro dashboard and select Player. 

Here, you have two choices. The Simple Radio Player displays the track or show your station is currently playing as well as the upcoming track, and there is the option to display icons for Twitter and Facebook, which lets listeners share your station with their social media followers. 

Cover Art is a responsive version of the Radio Player that will additionally display each song’s full-colour cover art as they play out, automatically based on the track’s metadata. When listeners click play on this version, the cover art will spin in an eye-catching way.

Select the version you prefer. 

Below that, there are additional options to customise your player: 

• In the Title section, type in your station’s name or tagline, and it will appear in the upper left corner of the player. 

• Select “Auto detect the most appropriate stream to use” to give listeners on mobile devices the option to save data by using a lower quality “mobile stream”. 

• Display or remove Facebook and Twitter icons that listeners can click to share your programming with their own social media followers.

• Include an icon for the embed code so that anyone can grab it and place your station’s Radio Player on any website they want.

On the bottom of your Player page (see below), you will find your unique embed code, which you will copy and paste into your target website’s HTML.

You can add any text you want just before the code to introduce it, such as “Listen to My Cool New Online Radio Station”. Disclaimer*: A few website builder template services don’t allow iFrames at all or require additional plug-ins to work. If you run into any problems, consult with your service to see if it accepts iFrames and has a workaround. Also, keep in mind, iFrames can only display content from sites that use the same Hypertext Transfer Protocol you use. If your site uses HTTPS, you will only be able to embed content from other HTTPS sites. Likewise, if you use HTTP, you can only embed HTTP URLs.

Voila…it’s that easy! As long as this Radio Player iFrame code is embedded in your target website(s), all of the information and audio from your station will be transmitted there in real time. Place it prominently on your station’s homepage, blog or social media and encourage fans to share it on theirs.

Ready to start your own internet radio station? Test our internet radio broadcasting software today with a 7-day free trial, no credit card required.

The post How to Embed Airtime Pro’s Radio Player on Your Website appeared first on Airtime Pro.

In this blog post we are going to walk you through how to start an internet radio station with Airtime Pro and start broadcasting live in five minutes or less!

 

1. Starting your trial

First, you will need to start your 7-day free trial (no credit card required to sign up). There you will be asked to choose your radio station’s name. You will then receive an email with all the credentials for your testing instance and some useful tips to help you get started. Click on the link in this email to start broadcasting content on your brand new station. 

 

2. Set up your Airtime Pro station and users

Once you’ve used your credentials to log in, you’ll need to set up your station and profiles for your contributors.

The next step is to, set your station’s timezone in the Settings menu. This will be the default for your station,  and all scheduled content on your radio page will be displayed accordingly. To set your timezone, click Settings, then General, where you will see the Station Timezone setting.

Each contributor, admin and DJs alike, need to enter their details so that, for instance, users in different parts of the world can program their content and view the calendar adjusted to their local timezone.

To set the profile click Settings, then My Profile. The Interface Timezone is the last dropdown menu. Select the appropriate timezone and click Save. To add contributors, click Settings, then Users. 

 

3. Upload tracks for my station

Click the upload button on the upper-left side to find the area where you’ll upload your tracks. You can drag and drop several of them at the same time into the main window and they’ll start uploading.

 

4. Scheduling your first show

After your tracks are uploaded, it’s time to start scheduling your first show. Start by clicking the calendar button in the navigation bar on the left. 

On the calendar page, click on the date that you want to schedule your show.  Next, name your show and select a time for it to be scheduled. Here, you can enable the show to repeat on certain days of the week over certain intervals. Once you’ve determined your show’s schedule,  click ‘Add this show’ to get the show on the air.

Now that your show is scheduled and you’ve uploaded music, you’ll need to schedule the tracks you want in the show. To do so, click on the show you just created in the calendar, then click scheduled tracks. You can now see your show and your track library. To get these on the air, simply drag them over in the order you want them to play out, and click OK. If you want to switch things around, you can also reorder any track that isn’t playing, even while the show is on the air. 

When the scheduled show goes live, you will see the “On Air” sign light up in the upper-right corner of the interface, and the show name and track currently playing will appear to the left. 

To preview your radio page and see how it will look to your listeners, click the Radio Page link on the left. To share your page with your listeners, copy that URL from your browser’s navigation bar and share it with them. 

 

5. Broadcasting Live

To start broadcasting your voice live on the air, go to the Settings menu and choose the Streams option. In the Live Broadcasting section, make sure the Auto Switch to Live DJ box is ticked. Below that, you can also adjust the “Switch Transition Fade”, which gives you control over how the end of a song transitions to your voice. The default is set at 0, but if, for instance, you set it to 3.5 seconds, you’ll get a nice fade into the live show rather than the song being abruptly cut as you begin speaking. 

In order to live broadcast, head over to the Help menu and select Broadcast Live. You will need to install a third-party broadcasting app to get your voice on the air. If you already have one on your computer, select “I have live broadcasting software” and follow the direction to link it (MIXX, BUTT, SAM Broadcaster, Nicecast) up with your Airtime Pro instance. If you don’t yet have it, select “I don’t have live broadcasting software” and follow those directions to download software. 

The easiest app to use (currently only available for Windows operating systems) is Rocket Broadcaster. To set it up, click the Live broadcast with Rocket Broadcaster button in the Broadcast Live section. Click Yes in the dialogue box if you already have Rocket Broadcaster installed, and you will be asked to open it and automatically populate Airtime Pro with your details. If you don’t yet have it, click No and you will be taken to Rocket Broadcaster’s website for an easy download.

Once you’ve downloaded a third-party broadcasting app, all you need to do is click Start Broadcast to start live DJing.

For more information on setting up your station and live broadcasting in under five minutes, our friend Mike Russell from Music Radio Creative made a cool promotional video. Check it out.

 

Before you go

Live broadcasting events such as cultural festivals, sports and social events, conferences and trade shows are a perfect opportunity to keep your audience informed on the latest trends. And don’t forget music concerts as well, though in the case of artists with commercial representation you’ll need to clear the broadcasting rights beforehand. 

In order to retain access to your new Airtime Pro station after the trial period, be sure to purchase one of our hosting plans. Select the ‘Upgrade’ option in the menu on the left of your Airtime Pro interface before the end of your 7-day trial.

Remember, if you sign up for an annual plan, you will get 12 months of broadcasting for the price of 10 months. That’s a 17% discount! For further tips, check out our Quick Start Guide as well as our help center, which contains lots of helpful tips and tricks for getting the most out of your station.

The post Starting an Airtime Pro Internet Radio Station and Broadcasting Live in Under 5 Minutes appeared first on Airtime Pro.

Radio has certainly seen some ups and downs in its more-than-100-year history, but remains one of the most important mediums for keeping the public informed and entertained. More than 75% of households in developing countries have a radio, and there are more than 44,000 terrestrial stations worldwide with estimates for online radio stations running into the hundreds of thousands. With the advent of the Internet, radio entered a new age of accessibility where anyone with a computer, a connection and a microphone can in just a few hours set up a station and begin producing their own shows.

Whether you’d like to do a music show, host your own talk show on topics such as local politics or report on emergency situations like the coronavirus pandemic, or live broadcast special events, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together this guide to help you jumpstart a station and show you how to start your own online radio show in six easy steps.

 

Step 1: Choose a subject and format

If you’re looking to host your own radio show you will first need to decide on the style of the show. Let’s look at the most common show formats:

Music programs

Music programs are probably the most popular format in radio. Wikipedia lists over 50 different genres of music radio alone, ranging from pop to classical, hip-hop to easy listening, jazz, folk, and many regional types of folk music. Whatever music you choose to play make sure you are following the rules as a DJ. Unless you are using royalty-free music, be sure to check the copyright laws in your country for licensing info on the songs you want to play. Also, be sure to check whether your country requires any additional licensing to broadcast online.  

Some radio software generates content automatically. The traditional approach is more hands-on, where you build your own show playlist and add DJ commentary. 

Talk shows

Talk shows offer the best opportunity for hosts to develop a strong on-air personality and shine. The range of potential topics is vast: political discussions, community-based issues, arts and culture, celebrity interviews, even comedy. Be sure to brush up on your interviewing skills, do the proper research before each episode and prepare a list of questions before interviewing on-air guests and call-in listeners.

Live broadcasting events

Live broadcasting events such as cultural festivals, sports and social events, conferences and trade shows are a perfect opportunity to keep your audience informed on the latest trends. And don’t forget music concerts as well, though in the case of artists with commercial representation you’ll need to clear the broadcasting rights beforehand. 

 

Step 2: Choose a name for your show

Once you’ve decided on the subject of your show, it’s advisable to do thorough research on the competition and analyse their programming and production techniques. It’s also time to begin branding, and that starts with coming up with a creative name for the show.

 

Step 3: Sign up for an online radio station and gather the basic equipment

In order to host your own radio show, you’ll need to have an Internet station. Evaluate the needs of your station, your plans for the future and your budget and select an online broadcasting platform that matches these key criteria. Other factors you may want to consider when choosing your online radio software include: amount of storage space, streaming bandwidth, and whether you will be the only DJ for your station or if you need access for additional team members.

Once you’re signed up for your station, you’ll need some minimum broadcasting equipment. We’ll assume you already have a computer and internet connection, but to get started you’ll also need a few more basic items, like a microphone and a pair of headphones. Our guide “10 Essential Pieces of Equipment for Online Radio Newbies” details these basics and takes you through additional items you’ll want to add as you become more adept at radio broadcasting, such as a mixing deck, microphone filters and soundproofing panels.

Step 4: Plan for success

Before you begin production on the first episode, write a plan with as much detail as possible outlining the basic components of your show. That should include the topic, schedule (is it a weekly, one-hour show?), format (live, pre-recorded), the source of your content, a budget, research on the intended audience and how you will engage them, and any show elements and special themes or subtopics you intend to explore. 

If you’re interviewing guests, make sure to reach out to them well ahead of time and confirm their availability.

Establish a structured pre-production process and stick to it before beginning each new episode. That starts with brainstorming, then turning the resulting ideas into content and writing a script around it. As with the overall show plan, the more detail and refinement you put into pre-production and scripting, the stronger your episodes will be. The most successful shows are scripted, but leave room for spontaneity, especially if you will be interviewing guests or taking calls from listeners.

As you produce the first few episodes of your new online radio show, you’ll notice that each one becomes easier as you learn the tricks and techniques of the trade. A broadcast clock is a useful tool that will help you visualise the timing of each segment within an episode and assure your productions run as smoothly as possible. 

 

Step 5: Promote your radio show

Whatever the topic and format of your programming, even the best shows will find it difficult to build a loyal audience unless there is a consistent public relations and promotion strategy behind it. We’ve put together a couple of essential guides in this regard: “The 4 Steps to Successful Public Relations for Internet Radio”  and “How to Promote Your Internet Radio Station the Right Way”.

Any good Internet broadcasting software should offer the ability to integrate social media into your show’s output. Our own platform, Airtime Pro, has social media functionality integrated into its interface, making it easy and intuitive to cast the widest net possible to attract listeners to your show and gain their loyalty.

 

Step 6: Hit the airwaves

Starting your own internet radio show from home has never been easier. With online radio broadcasting software such as Airtime Pro, you will be on the air within minutes and have all the tools at your disposal to produce sophisticated programming and start building an audience. 

So, if you’ve ever dreamed of having your own radio show, start your free Airtime pro trial today (no credit card required) and see how easy it is for yourself. 

 

Further Reading:

For inspiration and ideas for your show, check out this free archive of Old Time Radio Shows from archive.org.

Our step-by-step guides: 

“How to Start an Internet Radio Station From Home”

“Podcasting with Airtime Pro is Easy”

“Live Broadcast from Anywhere with Your Airtime Pro Station and Your Phone”

 

The post How to Start Your Own Online Radio Show appeared first on Airtime Pro.

Radio stations are facing the same problems affecting offices worldwide: how to continue operating in a time of extreme social distancing. Several college radio stations have had to suspend broadcasting altogether with the closure of their campuses. Others have been forced to rely more on automated programming and archived shows. 

The Show Must Go On

As challenging and difficult as this situation may be, the show truly must go on. Radio is a tried-and-trusted medium with a long history and crucial role in keeping the public informed during times of crisis. Thankfully, with the modern technology we have at our disposal today, DJs can easily set up an improvised remote studio, produce their shows from home, and continue to play an important role in their communities while maintaining their safety. (see our step-by-step guide: “How to Start an Internet Radio Station From Home”)  

Doug Arellanes (disclosure: Doug was a Sourcefabric co-founder and our director of innovation for 7 years),  quickly set up a makeshift home studio to do both his show for Radio 1 in Prague and to continue his radio broadcasting class at Anglo-American University after its campus was closed.

Many of his students have dispersed to their home countries, but they’ve continued their “AAU Audio and Redefining Radio” class and weekly Sound Bricks Radio  show uninterrupted from Prague, Moscow and Los Angeles using our Airtime Pro internet radio software, utilising its built-in Rocket Broadcaster live broadcasting functionality, along with Microsoft Teams for video conferencing and Skype.

Since Airtime Pro is hosted in the cloud and can be run remotely from any web browser, correspondents (or, in this case, students) from all over the world can log in and contribute, making it an ideal online radio platform for far-flung contributors even in normal circumstances. And that is especially true in today’s environment, where quarantines are becoming the norm and DJs and most other workers are highly advised to work remotely if possible.

Airtime Pro: Built for Remote Broadcasting

As Doug points out in “Broadcasting From the Cloud, While Living in the Cloud”, Airtime Pro was designed from its inception to provide continuous radio broadcasting for decentralised groups operating under duress. The original specs for Airtime Pro were, in fact, written by Robert Klajn, the legendary Belgrade-based radio engineer, who was tasked with the difficult job of keeping Serbia’s Radio B92 on air during the Milosevic regime of the 1990s.

The students working on Sound Bricks Radio have created a new show in response to the crisis, called “Covid Call-in”, in which they take calls from the public and report on efforts in their various locations to combat the epidemic. According to Doug, “Airtime Pro’s ability to switch between live and pre-recorded shows is crucial in my student’s ability to create their own shows from home, then upload them for scheduling and playout.” 

He’s also written another post on Medium, “Integrating Skype Calls into Streaming Radio, Robinson-Crusoe-style”, explaining how he set up his limited home studio to incorporate Skype calls into Airtime Pro live broadcasts.

Doug is also using that live-call Skype setup in his show on Radio 1, where only a small engineering staff remains in place and most of the nearly 100 DJs have also had to resort to broadcasting from improvised home studios.

Radio’s Important Role in Bringing Communities Together

The coronavirus pandemic will present many challenges in the days ahead, but as far as radio goes, we’re seeing that stations and DJs are quickly learning to adapt and have more than enough technology to avoid any interruptions or information gaps. 

We’re also seeing a lot of people get involved with radio for the first time in an attempt to help inform fellow citizens and bring their communities together. Radio has always been an ideal medium for building closer ties within communities. And with internet radio broadcasting software such as Airtime Pro, it’s never been easier to set up a station and begin contributing right away.  

If you don’t already have an online radio station, sign up for our free 7-day trial, which requires no credit card.

*All photos and illustration courtesy of Doug Arellanes.

The post Airtime Pro: Built for Remote Broadcasting During Times of Crisis appeared first on Airtime Pro.

Our internet radio broadcasting software comes with a responsive Radio Page, which you can access by logging in and going to “Settings” and selecting “Radio Page”. If you don’t already have an online radio station, sign up for our free 7-day trial, which requires no credit card.

Built in Icons for Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

In “Radio Page Settings” (see below) you will find dialog boxes for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. To maximise the visibility of your station, we highly recommend creating unique accounts for all three of these third-party social media platforms. By default, each of the three is set to Airtime.pro’s social media channels, but you can easily replace them with your own by typing in the handles. So, for instance, simply copy the URL for your Facebook page and paste it so that it replaces “airtime.pro/” in “https://www.facebook.com/airtime.pro/”, then click the “Save” button.

When you go to your station’s Radio Page, you’ll see (below) icons for Facebook, Twitter and Youtube in the upper left corner of the page. You can see that the change occurs instantly by waving your cursor over the icon, and the new address will be highlighted in the bottom left corner.

You can also remove any of these three icons by unclicking the respective “Show link” checkbox just below their dialog boxes. But we recommend signing your station up for all three, maintaining an active presence on each, and prominently displaying these icons on your Radio Page so that visitors will be able to quickly navigate your social media loop.

Deep Integration With Social Media

Airtime Pro also has deeper integration features that allow your station to directly interact with these social media platforms.   

For Twitter, once you’ve linked your account, go to Settings > General and scroll down to the Twitter Settings (see below).  Here, you can select options to auto-tweet so that followers will automatically get a Twitter alert at the start of each track or when a new show is starting. These auto-tweets can be customized by pulling info from the song or show’s metadata using brackets — i.e. {show_name} is starting now! Listen live here: {stream_link} — which can be used alongside your own writing to craft messages that are on target with your brand.

You can also tweet directly from Airtime Pro’s interface by clicking the blue Twitter icon on the top of the page (see above). This lets your DJs and show hosts interact with their listeners, announce contests, run promos, and tweet out breaking news. 

Your listener’s can also quickly share the songs you play with their own followers by clicking the “Share” button on the bottom right corner of your Radio Page. When clicked, they can select Twitter and then approve an auto-tweet with an invitation to “Check it out!” that includes the song currently playing and a link to your station. This feature works the same way for Facebook, and the same info can even be passed along to individuals via email by hitting the “Share” button and selecting the email icon.
Learn more about signing up and integrating Twitter.

Put a Player Widget on Your Station’s Facebook Page or Any Site

Link your station’s Facebook page in the same way, by replacing Airtime Pro’s address with your own. We also have a special widget that allows fans to listen to your radio station directly from your Facebook page. To set it up, go to “Widgets” and select “Facebook” (see below), and then click “Add to my Facebook”. One caveat, Facebook recently changed their policies regarding third-party apps, so you now must  sign your station up on a business account or as a community page, and the widget won’t work there unless you have a minimum of 2,000 followers.

But you, or any of your fans can display a player widget for your station on any website by using an i-frame embed code. To enable this, and make the code available on your Radio Page so visitors can find it, go to the bottom of your Radio Page Settings and select “Show embed button.” Now, “Embed <>” will appear in the bottom right corner of your Radio Page. When clicked, a box will pop up with the embed code, and it can be copied and pasted into any web site so that listeners can tune into your station from there. We also have a more sophisticated, responsive player (“Introducing Player Widget 2.0”) that can be embedded in the same way.

Don’t Forget About YouTube

Promote your YouTube channel on your Radio Page the same way: select “Show YouTube link” and type in the address you registered your station under. YouTube is sometimes overlooked as a social media platform, but it has an enormous amount of video content for songs, concerts, interviews and news that you can share to attract a following and bring new listeners to your radio station. You can also, of course, create and upload your own promotional videos to your YouTube account, which is a perfect way to build your brand and audience.

Built-in Integration with Spinitron, TuneIn and Soundcloud

Airtime Pro also has built-in integrations with three other music and radio specific platforms: Spinitron, TuneIn and Soundcloud. Sign up for them individually and you can transmit a constant stream of info about your programming, making it highly discoverable to fans of the particular genres or styles of music that your station focuses on.

Once you’ve signed up, go to Settings > General, and in the middle of the page you’ll see settings for these three. Again, you will need to sign up with these third-party services individually, and we highly recommend doing so.

For TuneIn and Spinitron, once you have an account, you will get an access token or partner key, which you input here to link your station to their platforms and share your data with them.  With both, you’ll want to share the track metadata for the songs you play by clicking “Publish my track metadata.”

TuneIn lists more than 100,000 radio stations and has a reported 75 million active users worldwide, so it should be a priority sign-up. Users of their app can conveniently listen to all of these on any device or computer. But check with TuneIn.com, because they’ve recently limited the sign-up of new stations, and only offer sporadic windows of time where you can submit an application. Learn more about TuneIn Integration with Airtime Pro.

Spinitron is focused mainly on U.S.-based college, community and educational stations, and has great music tracking features. You can look at shows and DJs for each station, and see everything they’ve played since they’ve been on the site. It’s an incredible music discovery tool in its own right, as you can also quickly see what more than 200 of these independent stations are playing live (and have played) at any given time. For more information, check out Integration: Spinitron with Airtime Pro.

Soundcloud is an excellent option for getting your audio programming out to the online masses. When you upload podcasts or show recordings to Airtime Pro you can simultaneously send them on Soundcloud. After you’ve established an account there, link your station by going into Settings > General and click the Connect button under Soundcloud. Just be sure that you either own or have the rights to share all of the content you upload there, as they’re very strict about copyrights. Read more about Soundcloud integration here.

Social Media: The Perfect way to Build an Audience

Each of these six social media platforms are easy to set up in Airtime Pro, and each has built-in advantages and specific marketing strategies. There are many online resources devoted to getting the most out of each platform. Maintain an active presence on as many of these platforms as you can, and you’ll assure that the widest potential audience will be able to find your station.

If you don’t already have an online radio station, sign up for our free 7-day trial, which requires no credit card. To see how easy it is for anyone to set up a station, read our step-by-step guide: How to Start an Internet Radio Station From Home.

The post How To Fully Integrate Social Media into Your Airtime Pro Internet Radio Station appeared first on Airtime Pro.

If you don’t yet have a station or are unfamiliar with our internet radio software Airtime Pro, we offer a free 7-day trial (no credit card required) that gives you full access to the software. Any changes, customisations or content you add during the free trial will be retained once you sign up and pay for one of our regular plans.

Step 1: Brand Your Station

To begin customising, log on to your station, then go to Settings and select the Radio Page tab from the left-hand menu. 

Starting from the top of this page, you’ll find fields for your station’s name and description. Your station name will appear on the top of the page (see image below) and can be different than the station ID you provide when you register. The station name can be changed at any time, but the ID is fixed and becomes part of the URL for your station. Enter a description below the station name to expand upon your station’s identity. By default, the description will read “Powered by Airtime Pro”, so it’s a good idea to change this and describe what type of programming your listeners can expect.

Just below that, you can get even more specific by creating and adding your own genre tags (jazz, pop, techno, talk radio, etc.).

Step 2: Integrate Social Media

Now, visitors will know exactly what your station is all about, and it’s time to start promoting it. Social media is one of the best ways to get the message out and attract listeners. Icons for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube appear in the Navigation Bar on the left side of your Radio Page and are by default set to Airtime Pro’s social media channels. You can remove any of these icons altogether by deselecting them in their individual dialogue boxes. Better yet, enter your own social media handles, and listeners will be able to conveniently stay in your social loop.

Step 3: Create A Visual Identity 

A visually striking logo is another great way to build your station’s identity and make a lasting impression on visitors. If you don’t already have one, there are numerous online sites (some are even free, such as LogoMakr) where you can create your own logo in minutes. Once you have one, click the Choose File button under Station Logo to upload it. After doing so, go to your Radio Page and hit refresh, and it will appear in the top left corner of your station’s page instead of the default, which appears as “RADIO”. 

You can further personalise your page by selecting your image of choice for the page’s background. Our default image is a picture of a radio studio with a microphone and on-air sign. Replace it by clicking the Choose File button in the Station Background Image section of your Radio Page and uploading any image you prefer.

Each show that you air on your station, including AutoDJ shows, is distinct and deserves its own logo or signature image. You can add them by clicking the Calendar tab on the left side of your station. Once there, click the +New Show button and scroll to the bottom, and you’ll find a Style Section where you can upload the logo. These images will appear alongside the show on your Radio Page.

Each song you play on your station can be visually enhanced on your Radio Page by adding its album cover art. To do this, go to the Styling section on the bottom of your Radio Page Settings and check the “Show album cover art” box. You will need to provide accurate metadata for the tracks when you upload them in order for album cover images to appear. Airtime Pro will do the rest by sourcing artwork from an online database, and placing it in the bottom left corner of your Radio Page alongside the title of the song as it is playing. 

Step 4: Add Accent and Background Colours

For extra visual pizzazz, you can also change the accent colour of your Radio Page to better match your logo or background image. Choose from orange, coral, green, blue or aquamarine, and this accent colour will appear in your Navigation Bar, Schedule tab and Podcasts tab.

The Navigation Bar on the left side of your Radio Page can also be customised by selecting either Dark or Bright. If you choose Dark and have opted to keep the default logo, the letters “RADIO” will automatically adjust to white lettering. With the default Bright setting, “RADIO” appears in the standard black font colour.

Step 5: Take Full Advantage of Airtime Pro’s Functionality 

On the bottom of the Radio Page tab, in the Styling section, you will find more options that will add functionality to your Radio Page. 

Check the “Show login button” box and a login will appear in your Radio Page Navigation Bar so that you or your DJs can quickly access your Airtime Pro instance.

Select the “Show embed button” box, and an embed link will appear in the lower right corner of your Radio Page, allowing anyone to access the code for placing your station’s player widget on their own websites.

Should you have any questions about customising your Radio Page, or about starting an internet radio station, our help section offers detailed guidance on this and many other subjects.

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Silence detection

A frequently requested feature, silence detection in Airtime uses the program Silan, written by Robin Gareus, to analyse an audio file when it is imported into the Airtime library. Any new file imported by Airtime’s media monitor is checked for leading and trailing silence, as well as average level. Non-destructive cue in and cue out points and an amplitude correction factor are saved in Airtime’s database automatically. When you create a smart block, a playlist, or drop the file into a running show, those cue in and cue out points and correction factor will be used in the show playout. The original length of the file is displayed for your reference, so you can see how much silence has been trimmed. Airtime uses many digits of precision to avoid cumulative timing problems, but the display of time is rounded to tenths of a second for practical purposes. The amplitude correction for each file can be viewed by enabling the ReplayGain column in the Airtime library. In ‘ Library’ , click on the ‘Show/Hide columns’ button and click the ReplayGain field.

Should you wish to adjust cue points manually, you can still do that in Airtime, but the tedious task of trimming and levelling each and every file in the Airtime library is no longer necessary, removing an entire step from the workflow. Perhaps you are broadcasting a news report that has been uploaded in a hurry, and the journalist has left a few seconds of silence at the end of the edit. Or perhaps you are streaming a music track ripped from a CD where the mastering engineer has left silence at the beginning of the piece for dramatic effect. Files from different producers no longer have to be manually adjusted to match average levels.

ReplayGain

The ReplayGain standard (originally proposed by David Robinson) was already implemented in Airtime, but with a fixed output level of -14dBFS average. For broadcast purposes, we might need to match average level with louder or quieter live streams from other systems. With this requirement in mind, a ReplayGain Modifier control has been added to the Stream Settings page. You’ll find it by going to ‘System’ and heading to ‘Streams’. It’s available at the top left part of the page. This slider enables output to be adjusted up to 10dB either way from ReplayGain’s reference level. Of course, going too loud is likely to result in clipping, given that an average level of -4dBFS is louder than a typical death metal album – but automated output level is now under the broadcaster’s control.

Arguably, given the relative cost and limited reach of mobile data services, streaming media is less likely to be listened to in noisy environments like a car, or on the street. Therefore it may not be necessary to compress and limit Internet streams as much as FM broadcasts have been processed in the past. The demand for upmarket headphones that Dr. Dre has introduced to the wider world might engender a new appreciation of dynamic range.

Thanks to the combination of Silan and ReplayGain, Airtime playout sounds tighter, levels are balanced with plenty of headroom, and the risk of dead air is greatly reduced. We’d like to say a big thank-you to both Robin and David for their contribution to web-enabled and collaborative open source broadcasting!

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*** Photo by Gavin Whitner

The post How Silan and ReplayGain make Airtime broadcasts sound better appeared first on Airtime Pro.