A step-by-step guide for first time broadcasters: Topics include library organization, uploading tracks, creating Playlists, scheduling Events, and sharing your station with your listeners.
Step 1: Create Categories
Categories (formerly called Tags) are a great way to organize your uploaded music. Live365’s flexible design allows you to create your own Categories for sorting and searching your music library. The method of sorting your library is up to you. Categories are optional, but recommended, as they can also be used in the creation of ClockWheels. Most commonly, Live365 users sort their media by genre, but you could use your Categories to organize your library according to track language, artist, upload date, decade, or mood, for example. Categories also aid in Playlist creation.
To get started with Categories, click on the Media tab of the Navigation Bar on the left side of the Live365 interface, then select the Categories option.
Add a descriptive name for your Tag by typing in the Tag Name textbox.
Optionally color-code your Categories by choosing a color from the palate that appears when you click on the color field.
In addition to helping to organize your library, creating Categories makes it easier to curate Playlists. You can create as many Categories as you need. Each Track can have any number of Categories.
Edit or delete your current Categories by using the pencil or trash icon, respectively. Once you have created a Category, you will see these icons to the right of each Category entry in the list.
Step 2: Upload Tracks
Before you can add content to your Events, you will need to upload tracks to your station library. Tracks don’t necessarily need to be music. You can also upload pre-recorded spoken word tracks such as interviews, station jingles, podcasts, etc. (Please note that every piece of copyrighted content needs to be in its own track in order to remain compliant with our music licensing, we do not permit uploads of DJ mixes or syndicated programming at this time.)
To get started uploading Tracks, click on the Media tab on the left side of the Live365 interface, then choose the Upload Tracks option.
Live365 only supports the upload of .mp3 and .m4a audio formats at a recommended bitrate of 128kbps.
Choose Tracks from your computer or external hard drive to upload. These will be stored in your station’s media library and will ONLY be available to you. (At this time, Live365 does not have a shared music library.)
Click on the green “+Add Files” button. Choose the tracks from your computer in the window that opens. Alternatively, you can also drag and drop files from your hard drive into this window. If you intend to upload tracks in bulk, we recommend doing so in smaller groups of similar content types, such as by artist or genre. Uploading promos and Station ID tracks separately will make for easier labeling.
The uploads will not start automatically, you must click the “Start Upload” button.
Cancel the upload at any time by clicking on the yellow “Cancel Upload” button.
Live365 will detect if you have already uploaded a copy of the current track and will not upload duplicate copies.
Be sure to set the Track Type in order for your station to function correctly!
Once the upload is complete, clicking on the “Categorize these tracks” button will open a new window from which you can tag all of the tracks you just uploaded in a single action.
This is the best way to add Track Types and Categories in bulk. Further Categories can be added at a later time from the Tracks section of the Media tab, found in the Navigation Bar. If you don't wish to tag the tracks at this time, just click the cancel button.
Clicking on the “Categorize these Tracks” button will open a new window. Track Types are predefined categories: Music, Talk, Advertisement, Station ID, Promo, and Uncategorized. These are very important, and all copyright music needs to be set to the Music type.
Categories are the tags that you’ve created in step 1. Each track can have more than one Category, but only one track Type. Once Categories & track Types have been added, click the orange “Save” button.
Step 3: Edit your Track metadata
It’s a good idea to review the tracks that you’ve uploaded to ensure that they have correct titles, artist, and album information. Navigate to the Tracks pane by selecting Media > Tracks from the Navigation Bar.
This is the action menu.
Click on the action menu to edit the track metadata or delete the track from your library. You can also double click anywhere on the track to edit the metadata.
Editing the track metadata will open a new window in which you can add metadata information, edit Categories, track Types, and add an image to your track. Track types are an important part of organizing your library, especially for station jingles, etc. Having complete metadata makes it easier for you to search for tracks in your Library. Scroll down to the bottom of the Edit Song Metadata window.
You will see a “Choose File” button. Choose the desired album image file from your computer. The selected album art is displayed on your station page in the Live365 directory. Note that album art on the embeddable licensed player is automatically selected from a different directory. Uploaded album art is for the Live365 station directory and is optional.
You can preview the track by clicking on the play button in the preview section of the Edit Song Metadata window. This helps to ensure that you're editing the metadata correctly.
Click the orange “Save” button to confirm your changes, or click the “Cancel” button to discard any changes you’ve made.
Step 4: Create Playlists
Click on the Playlists tab in the Navigation Bar on the left side of the Live365 interface.
Create your first Playlist by adding a name in Playlist Name text box.
Choose a color and then click the orange “ADD” button to create the Playlist. The color of the Playlist will affect the color of the Event when the Playlist is added to the Schedule.
The way you program your station is up to you. One suggestion for beginners is to start by creating Playlists labeled by the air date. This makes it easier to associate your Playlist with your Event in the Schedule tab. For example, we created the Playlist Monday AM for an Event that we intend to broadcast on Monday morning.
Once you’ve created your Playlist, click on the Playlist name (or the edit icon) to add media to your newly created Playlist.
On the left side, you should see the tracks you’ve uploaded to your library. On the right will be your selected Playlist.
Use this button to add a track to your Playlist.
To add tracks to your Playlist, click the button to the right of the track length. You should see the track is now in the Playlist. Add as many tracks as you like to create the perfect Playlist for Monday AM. Note that you cannot edit track metadata from the Playlist tab. All metadata adjustments must be done from the Media tab > Tracks tab.
Use the search bar at the top of the pane to find specific Tracks. You can add keywords from the track title, artist, or album. The search will examine all fields simultaneously as you type.
Refine the search of your music library by clicking the “Filter” button found at the right hand edge of the search bar.
You can search by Category or Track Type. Or search for specific track names by typing in the search bar at the top of the Playlist pane.
Please note - when creating Playlists, you must comply with a law called the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). The DMCA was enacted to protect artists from having internet radio broadcasters upload their entire albums in sequence. DMCA primarily restricts you from repeating an artist too many times in a row. See below. Much has changed with online music since this law was enacted, but it is still a law today and must be followed. You can read more about the DMCA here.
As you add tracks to your Playlist, you will see a cumulative run time at the top of the Playlist pane. Add tracks to the Playlist until you’ve reached your desired run time. Important: If you schedule a playlist of 45 minutes into an hour long event, the Playlist will loop again from the beginning to fill the entire Event slot. If your Playlist is exactly 45 minutes long and you want to make sure that it doesn't loop, it would be best to schedule it into a 44 minute Event. Live365 will not cut off a track half-way, unless you have an Event with strict scheduling starting directly after the Event finishes.
Don't forget to add 4 minutes of ads per 56 minutes of programming for the Ad Revenue Sharing Program.
Once you have filled your Playlist, click on the “Save Playlist” button to make sure your playlist passes the DMCA test.
If your Playlist passed the DMCA check and saved successfully, you will see a notification at the top of your Playlist pane. You can read more about creating Playlists here.
Step 5: Schedule Events
Click on the Schedule tab on the Live365 Navigation Bar. Create your first scheduled Event by clicking the “Create New Event” button in the upper right hand corner of the page.
You can also click on the calendar at the time you wish to schedule your Event and the Event generator will automatically fill in the date and time for you according to where you clicked on the Schedule.
Give your Event a title and select the date and time you wish the Event to start (if they’re not already populated). Select a duration for your Event. Choose a Playlist with which you’d like populate the Event, and whether or not you’d like to have a Strict or Flexible Event type. Strict Event types will start at the exact specified Event start time. Flexible Event types will delay their starts until the previous track has finished.
The Live365 interface also allows you to create Recurring Events. Read more about Recurring Events here.
When you are satisfied with your Event, click the “Save” button.
If your Event does not pass the DMCA check, you will see an error at the top of the Create Event window. If your event passes the DMCA check, your schedule will show the Event you have just created.
Clicking on an Event in the calendar will open a window from which you can view the tracks scheduled in the Event by clicking on the tracks tab at the top.
At the bottom of the Edit Event window, you have the option to delete your Event by clicking on the “Delete” button.
Step 6: Share your Station
Once you’ve scheduled your Playlists in Events, your station’s stream will launch within minutes!
Click on the Settings tab in the Navigation Bar, then click on Station Profile. There you will find all the information about your station from image, station name, description, and your social media links for the embeddable player.
Scroll down to the Listen Links section of the Station Profile pane. Click on the Quick Link to listen to your stream in your web browser. There are also Listen Links for any platforms that require a PLS, M3U, or ASX file.
Live365 provides an embeddable player widget option for your website. Copy and paste the .html code onto your website from the Licensed Player Button textbox.
To view your station in the Live365 station directory, click on the Station Profile link. You can customize the links and the cover art on your station profile page in Settings > Station Profile.
The best way for your listeners to experience your stream is by using the Live365 Licensed Player. You will find the link to your custom Licensed Player in this section. Share this link widely. You can read more about your Licensed Pop-out Player here.
Don't forget to turn on AutoDJ to fill in the spaces between your scheduled Events.
If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Live365 team for more details!