Setting up your station's stream

In this article we'll cover all the options we have available for you to configure your stream so it best suits how you run your station. Let's dive into it!

Navigating to stream settings

To navigate to the stream settings page:

1. Click the Settings (cog) icon in the top right hand corner of the navigation bar, and
2. Then click the Stream settings option under the Broadcast menu, which is contained in the left hand side menu.

Selecting your station's stream quality

The first setting you'll need to consider configuring is the audio quality of your station's stream. Your stream's audio quality is determined by its bitrate.

The available options are:

• 96 kbps (kilobits per second),
• 128 kbps,
• 160 kbps,
• 192 kbps,
• 256 kbps, and
• 320 kbps.

Selecting larger values will result in better and better audio quality for your listeners when they lock into your stream! However, it will also mean you'll use your monthly bandwidth allowance faster.

Additionally, higher bitrates require your listeners to have faster internet connections so take into account how and where your fans listen. If most of your listeners listen on phones with patchy mobile data then streaming in 320kbps probably isn't the right choice for your station.

PLEASE NOTE: Updating the stream bitrate will cause any current listeners to be disconnected.

Choosing your station's live stream fallback

The next setting to configure is choosing your station's live stream fallback.

This setting controls what should play when the following scenario occurs:

1. A live event has been scheduled for the current moment, and
2. The intended DJ/presenter for the event has yet to connect to your server.

When this happens, your streaming server will play the selected fallback option until the DJ/presenter eventually does connect.

The available options are:

Default Playlist

This option will play the playlist you have set to be your default.

Silence

This option will play silence i.e. your listeners will hear nothing from your stream.

Track fallback

This option will play a single track e.g. a jingle, sting or mix. You can select any track from your library using the provided media picker.

Setting your station's live stream behaviour

The next setting to configure is the live stream behaviour of your main account. By default, the main account can go live whenever, even over scheduled mixes and playlists. However, this can be changed with the Live Stream setting.

The available options are:

Live stream can play over scheduled content

This is the default option. It means that the main account can connect and stream live whenever and wherever - no matter what else you have scheduled. This allows for the most flexibility for you in regards to scheduling.

With this option set, the currently connected DJ/presenter's live stream will be allowed to continue indefinitely, even if they go over the next scheduled event (e.g. a playlist or a mix).

You might want to leave this as the default if you plan to live stream at different intervals. You can fill your schedule with pre-recorded mixes and playlists and then connect live at the click of a button.

Scheduled content cuts off live stream

This option is the opposite to the above - scheduled events take priority over the live stream. Using the same example from the previous option, when the connected live stream started to cut into the next scheduled event the live audio would no longer be broadcasted and it would be replaced by the scheduled event's media.

You might want this option if you want a tight schedule - where every show starts and ends exactly when you want.

Choosing your station's timezone

The final setting to configure is your station's timezone. This locks all events you create to the selected timezone. This is done so the platform respects the daylight saving time of the chosen timezone.