Going Live as a DJ

This article is for DJs a station has booked for scheduled shows. If you run the station, see Scheduled DJ Shows instead.

When a station invites you as a DJ or Guest DJ, you get your own login for the station's DJ input. It works only during your shows, starting 5 minutes early so you can check your levels.

Open My shows

Accept the invitation email, then sign in. You land on My shows. It is also in the sidebar.

• A Guest DJ sees only My shows.
• A DJ also sees the station dashboard and a read-only schedule.

All times on the page are in the station's time zone, shown next to the times.

Emails and your calendar

When the station books your show or moves it, you get an email with the date and time in the station's time zone and in UTC, plus a calendar file. Open the file and the show lands in your calendar in your own time zone. A weekly show is one repeating entry. If a show is cancelled or deleted, or you are removed from the station or moved to another role, the email carries a cancellation that removes it from your calendar.

The emails are not a reminder: nothing is sent before the show starts, so let your calendar remind you. On My shows, Add to calendar on your next show and the calendar icon on each show under Coming up download the same file. Your station can turn the emails off, and the download still works.

Find your login

The Your connection card holds your personal login. It is always visible, so you can set up your encoder before your first show.

At the top is a full connection URL with a Copy button, for encoders that accept one URL:

http://YOUR_USERNAME:YOUR_PASSWORD@SERVER:PORT/dj

Under Manual settings you'll find each field on its own line:

• Server type: Icecast
• Server: the station's host name
• Port: the DJ input port
• Mount path: /dj
• Username: your personal username
• Password: click Show to reveal it

Each value has a copy button. Copy them rather than typing, to avoid typos.

Change your password

Click Regenerate next to your password and confirm. Put the new password in your encoder before your next show.

Set your on-air name

Your on-air name is the title listeners see while you're live, until your encoder sends track info. It can be your DJ name or the name of your show.

1. On My shows, find the On-air name card.
2. Type your name, up to 60 characters.
3. Click Save.

The card shows the name listeners currently see. Leave the field empty and save to go back to your account name. If your account has no name, listeners see Live Stream.

Your on-air name is set per station. A change applies the next time you connect, so if you are live, reconnect your encoder to use it.

Add your show image

Your show image is the artwork listeners see while you're live: in the station's players, on the station page, and on their phone's lock screen. Without one, they see the station's cover.

1. On My shows, find Show image under your on-air name.
2. Click Upload image and pick a file.

The image must be a JPG, PNG, WebP or GIF, up to 10MB. Square works best, at least 1000 × 1000 pixels. Other shapes are cropped to a centered square.

Click Replace image to change it, or Remove to go back to the station's cover. Like your on-air name, the image is set per station. Replacing or removing your image takes full effect from your next show.

If your encoder sends track info, the station looks up each track's album cover. By default, a cover it finds is shown for that track instead of your image. To show your image for your whole show, check Use my show image even when album covers are found under your image.

Set up your encoder

Enter your login in an encoder that streams in Icecast mode and has a username field, such as BUTT, Mixxx or VirtualDJ. The station's encoder guides are in Broadcasting Live.

• Set the server type to Icecast 2 / HTTP, not Shoutcast. An encoder in Shoutcast mode can't send your username and is refused.
• Use your username, not source. Many encoders and encoder guides fill in source by default. Your personal login does not use it.
• Use mount /dj.
• Recommended quality: 256 kbps AAC.

Traktor's built-in streaming doesn't work with a personal login: it has no username field and always logs in as source. Capture Traktor's audio with BUTT instead, as described in Traktor.

Before your show

The top card shows your next show, its time, and a countdown.

Below it, Coming up lists your other shows in the next 14 days. If you have none, the card says No upcoming shows.

Your login only works from 5 minutes before a show. Connecting earlier is refused.

Sound check

During the 5 minutes before your show, you can connect. Listeners don't hear you yet. Use the time to check your levels on your encoder's meter (the Live DJ page has none). You go on air automatically when the show starts.

During your show

When your show is on, the page says You can go live now. Connect your encoder if you haven't yet.

While you are live, listeners see your on-air name as the title until your encoder sends track metadata, and your show image as the artwork. See Set your on-air name and Add your show image.

If the station is live from its Studio or Guest input, that input takes priority. You stay connected and go on air when it stops, as long as your show is still on.

If you lose your connection, you can reconnect while your show is still on.

If your encoder stays connected but sends only silence for 60 seconds, for example because your playout software froze, the station's automated programming takes over. When you send sound again, you are back on air within a few seconds, without reconnecting.

When your show ends

You are disconnected at the end time shown on your show. The last few seconds you sent still play out, then the station's automated programming takes over.

Your login is refused again until 5 minutes before your next show.

Connection refused

If your encoder cannot connect, it usually reports a failed login or an authentication error. The station owner sees the reason on their side. The most common one is Refused: outside their shows: you tried to connect when none of your shows was on or about to start.

Check these in order:

• Is your show on My shows, and is it less than 5 minutes away or already on?
• Is the time correct? Times are in the station's time zone.
• Is the username yours, not source, and is the mount /dj?
• Did you regenerate your password? Copy it again from Your connection.
• When shows run back to back, you can connect once the previous show ends.

If you can no longer open the station, ask the station owner to check your role.

Related articles

• Scheduled DJ Shows for station owners and managers
• Broadcasting Live for encoder settings and software
• Missing Stream Metadata if listeners don't see your track titles