How Do I Set Up an On-Air Radio Stream Playlist in SoCast?

This guide walks you through setting up your on-air song playlist in SoCast. You can display your playlist using the Broadcast History or Last Played widgets, and you can also enable the On-Air Ad Sync feature.

Who Is This Article For?

• All users with Playlist Settings permissions
• Applicable to all themes

Requirements

• Datacasting software must be installed
• Admin access to your datacasting software

Song playlists are generated by your station’s datacasting software, which must be configured to send song data to SoCast. Playlists can be managed in your SoCast Dashboard under Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.

Supported Datacasting Software

1. Arctic Palm
2. leanStream
3. Nextgen
4. Nielsen BDS
5. Rivendell
6. Securenet Systems
7. StreamGuys
8. Futuri
9. TRE
10. Triton
11. WideOrbit
12. Custom API
13. Custom XML
14. Custom JSON

Setup Instructions by Software

Arctic Palm

SoCast supports two Arctic Palm delivery methods: FTP and API (HD/IP Output). The API method is preferred for better performance.

Arctic Palm (FTP)

1. Request a new FTP account from your SoCast representative for uploading song playlists.
2. Configure Arctic Palm to upload playlists to the provided FTP account.
3. Log in to http://admin.socastsrm.com.
4. Navigate to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
5. Set Playlist Source to Arctic Palm FTP.
6. Enter the Song Playlist XML URL (for example, http://ftp.socastsrm.com/[ACCOUNT-NAME]/[CALL-LETTERS].XML).
7. Click Save.

Arctic Palm (HD/IP Output)

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select Arctic Palm (HD/IP Output) as the Playlist Source.
3. Copy the UserName and Password provided on the page.
4. On the computer running CSRDS.exe, open Notepad and create SOCAST.TXT in your CenterStage folder (for example, C:\CENTERSTAGE\SOCAST.TXT).
5. Paste the following URL into SOCAST.TXT (replace placeholders with your credentials):
   https://api.socastsrm.com/v1/onAir/sync?accountID=***USER***&publicKey=***PASS***&timestamp=***TSTAMP***&artist=***ARTIST***&title=***TITLE***&category=***TYPE***&duration=***LEN***&cutid=***CART***
6. Open CSRDS.exe and go to Tools > Properties.
7. Open the HD/IP Output tab.
8. Enter your station ID as the UserName and your public key as the Password.
9. Set Output Format to Use Template.
10. Set Merge Template to C:\CENTERSTAGE\SOCAST.TXT.
11. Click Save and close.

Nextgen

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select Nextgen as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter the URL to the XML file containing the song playlist (for example, https://ftp.socastsrm.com/client/ABCD-FM.xml).
4. Click Save.

Nielsen BDS

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select Nielsen BDS as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter your Nielsen BDS station ID, username, and password separated by colons (for example, 1234:myusername:mypassword).
4. If you need credentials, contact your Nielsen BDS representative.
5. Click Save.

Rivendell

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select Rivendell as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter the Dropbox URL to the file containing the song playlist.
4. Click Save.

Securenet Systems

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select Securenet Systems as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter the Song Playlist XML URL (for example, https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/player_status_update/ABCD_history.xml).
4. If you need the URL, contact your Securenet Systems representative.
5. Click Save.

StreamGuys

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select StreamGuys as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter the REST API endpoint URL provided by StreamGuys (for example, https://jetapi.streamguys.com/[API_KEY]/scraper/[SCRAPER_UUID]/metadata).
4. Click Save.

StreamGuys (Webhook)

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select StreamGuys Webhook as the Playlist Source.
3. Log in to your SGmetadata account at https://jet.streamguys.com.
4. Navigate to Webhooks > Add.
5. Fill out the required fields:
   • Name and Group: Your choice
   • Active: Yes
   • Source Type: Scraper (select the appropriate metadata scraper)
   • Request Type: REST
   • Target URL: https://api.socastsrm.com/v1/onAir/streamGuys
   • Username: 63
   • Password: 7a8417c3c59cc2a5
6. Click Submit. You can monitor webhook status at https://jet.streamguys.com/webhook/list.

Futuri

1. Request the station’s JSON playlist URLs from Futuri.
2. Log in to http://admin.socastsrm.com.
3. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
4. Select Futuri as the Playlist Source.
5. Enter the Song Playlist JSON URL (for example, http://[CALL-LETTERS].streamon.fm/metadata/recentevents/[CALL-LETTERS]-64k.json).
6. Click Save.

TRE

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select TRE as the Playlist Source.
3. Note the Station ID and Public Key provided.
4. In the TRE Configuration Manager, find SoCast under Licensed Features. If it’s not available, contact TRE support.
5. Enable the feature and enter the Station ID and Public Key.
6. Save the configuration.

Triton

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select Triton as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter the Mount Name as used in Triton (usually your station’s call letters).
4. If you need credentials, contact your Triton representative.
5. Click Save.

WideOrbit

1. Go to Player > Radio Stream Settings > Edit Playlist.
2. Select WideOrbit as the Playlist Source.
3. Enter the URL to the XML file containing the song playlist (for example, http://api.nowplaying.abacast.net/prt/nowplaying/2/10/1173/nowplaying.xml).
4. Click Save.

Custom API

If your automation software supports a custom API integration, you can send song playlists directly to SoCast. This requires programming knowledge. Contact SoCast Support if you need assistance.

1. Log in to http://admin.socastsrm.com.
2. Go to Settings > Player Settings > On Air Playlist (http://admin.socastsrm.com/player/onAirPlaylistSync).
3. Select Custom API as the Playlist Source.
4. Copy the API endpoint URL and implement it in your automation software.

The custom API URL format is:

GET https://api.socastsrm.com/v1/onAir/sync?publicKey=YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY&accountID=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID&playerID=YOUR_PLAYER_ID&cutID={cutID}&category={category}&title={title}&artist={artist}&duration={duration}&timestamp={timestamp}&image={image}&link={link}

• publicKey (required): Unique key provided by SoCast
• accountID (required): Unique station ID from SoCast
• playerID: Unique player stream ID (required for multi-tenant players)
• cutID: Unique promo post ID
• category: Content type (for example, COM, MUS, PRO)
• title: Song or event title
• artist: Artist name
• duration: Duration in seconds
• timestamp: Unix timestamp (defaults to current)
• image: Banner ad image URL
• link: Banner ad link URL

Custom JSON

If your automation software provides a playlist in JSON format, you can configure SoCast to use it. This requires knowledge of JSON and JSONPath. Contact SoCast Support if you need help.

1. Log in to http://admin.socastsrm.com.
2. Go to Settings > Player Settings > On Air Playlist (http://admin.socastsrm.com/player/onAirPlaylistSync).
3. Select Custom JSON as the Playlist Source.
4. Enter the Song Playlist JSON URL (for example, https://jetapi.streamguys.com/aaaaa/scraper/bbbbb/metadata).
5. Provide the JSONPath for the artist name (for example, $.[0].artist).
6. Provide the JSONPath for the song title (for example, $.[0].title).

Example JSON:

{
  "artist": "Staind",
  "title": "It's Been A While",
  "date": "Mon May 08 2023 10:29:18 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time)",
  "timestamp": 1683559758819
}

JSONPath for artist: $.[0].artist
JSONPath for title: $.[0].title

Note: If your JSON is not an array (like the example above), your JSONPath may be $.artist and $.title instead.

Test your JSONPath code at jsonpath.com.

Custom XML

If your automation software provides a playlist in XML format, you can configure SoCast to use it. This requires knowledge of XML and XPath. Contact SoCast Support if you need help.

1. Log in to http://admin.socastsrm.com.
2. Go to Settings > Player Settings > On Air Playlist (http://admin.socastsrm.com/player/onAirPlaylistSync).
3. Select Custom XML as the Playlist Source.
4. Enter the Song Playlist XML URL (for example, https://jetapi.streamguys.com/aaaaa/scraper/bbbbb/metadata).
5. Provide the XPath for the artist name (for example, //Song[1]/Artist).
6. Provide the XPath for the song title (for example, //Song[1]/Title).

Example XML:

<Playlist>
    <Song>
        <Artist>Staind</Artist>
        <Title>It's Been a While</Title>
    </Song>
</Playlist>

XPath for artist: //Song[1]/Artist
XPath for title: //Song[1]/Title

Test your XPath code at xpather.com.

Need Help?

If you have questions or need assistance with any of these steps, please contact SoCast Support.