Log in to my.radioplayer.org and you'll see a list of stations you manage
Your station profile is the location where we keep important information (metadata) about your station. This metadata is used in many of our systems - and controls everything from how you are listed in search results to how your station is represented in the mobile apps. The more complete it is, the better will be the experience of listeners enjoying your content on Radioplayer.
When you log in, you will be presented with an overview along with a list of your stations that you control.
Managing Your Station
1) Stations Overview
On the Stations Overview page, you will see the station(s) to which you have access. To edit an individual station, please click on the relevant station in the list.
If you are involved with more than one station then you can click on ‘View all my stations’ to view the list.
Click on the station that you want to edit. This will take you to your Manage Stations page where you will be able to make your first amendments to your station listing.
Here you can click on Edit to make your first amendments to your station’s listing. This tab contains the basics about your station, including a quick overview of the number of streams and on demand items that are linked to your station.
RPUID - is your station’s unique station identifier which is used throughout Radioplayer. This is allocated when your station is set up and cannot be changed.
Long name - is the station name that is most commonly used.
Strap line – this is a single line that describes your station. It is used in many Radioplayer apps under the long station name.
Full Description – this gives much more detail about your station and like the strap line, it is used in search so if a user searches a word in there, your station should come up. Try and think of things that are unique about our station as that will make it easier for listeners to find you.
Synonyms – this is used for voice platforms. You will know what other names people will ask for when asking for your station. So for example, BBC Radio Five Live could be “BBC 5”, “Five Live”, “Radio 5”, and so on. Add as many options as you like to make it easier to search your station by voice.
Website – this is the URL of your station’s website.
Console URL – this is the location of the web console if you are hosting it on your systems. This is the preferred method but if we are hosting it for you, we will fill this in.
Twitter – add your Twitter handle here.
To save, click Submit - or Cancel to leave without saving your changes.
2) Branding
Please upload your station logo on this tab with the Landscape dimensions of 1920x1080 pixels. Our logo manager will convert to the other sizes that Radioplayer uses.
Station Styling allows you to choose a primary station colour that will be used to fill in for your web console.
Radioplayer uses images such as station logos across all of our products. The logo manager saves you from having to create different sizes yourself but sometimes it is worth spending time to get this right as your logo is a core part of your branding.
If you have a high resolution version of your logo (by which we mean it must be at least 1920px wide) then you can drag and drop or select the file to upload. JPEGs and PNGs are best. It is inadvisable to resize a low resolution image up to 1920px for upload - the results are unlikely to look good. If you need to edit your station's logo then this can be done for free online using Photopea.
Do not use logos with transparent backgrounds or part of your logo is likely to disappear.
There will be more on image sizes later but remember that some image sizes are very small so it is advisable to avoid using text on these.
If the images for your station logo look satisfactory then click Create station logos to accept the logos. There will be a short pause while the platform creates different sizes of your station logo.
You can replace the images created by the Radioplayer image manager if you wish by clicking on the Replace button. You may have square images that work better than the 16:9 images or images without text for small image sizes.
3) Audio
The Audio Tab is where you add the stream information for your live stations and any RSS
feeds for on-demand/podcast content.
On-demand content is defined as audio content that has already been broadcast and is made available to listen again. Podcast content is defined as audio that has never been broadcast on the radio and is made available for listening.
3.1 Streams
Under the Streams tab, you can add as many audio streams as you like to be compatible with different playback devices such as smartphones which may require a lower bitrate stream. Some devices won’t work with playlist files (.pls) and will only play MP3 (.mp3) and AAC (.aac) streams.
Click Add a stream to add each audio stream for your station.
It is important to ensure that you enter the correct settings for quality and format as some devices use this information before they will play a stream.
Under ‘Target’ you can choose where you intend your radio stream to be heard - which is likely to be ‘Web’ and possibly ‘Amazon Echo’. You can also geo-restrict your stream here - 'Add country restrictions' - but this will not change any geo-blocking added by your stream provider. Click on Add Stream when you have completed adding the audio stream information.
3.2 Ad Providers
Under the Ad Providers tab you can add the settings needed if you use a programmatic ad provider such as AdsWizz or Triton. There are settings for the main platforms used by radio broadcasters. If your station does not use these services then this tab can be ignored.
3.2 Attached Podcasts
Under the Attached Podcasts tab, you can add the RSS links that will add your podcasts to Radioplayer. An RSS feed can contain one or many podcasts.
First, you must set up your podcasts on the Podcasts page which is also a menu item in the left-hand navigation panel.
3.3) Manage Podcasts
From this page you can:
Add a podcast (RSS feed)
Attach that podcast to one of your stations
Click on Add podcasts to add your podcast feed(s).
On the following screen complete the fields listed below:
Podcast RSS audio feed - the URL of where your podcast feed is published
Target - Web and/or other targets
Genre - choose one of the following descriptive categories:
News, Sports, and Talk
Comedy, Drama, and Kids
Classical and World
Easy Listening
Pop and Chart
Rock and Indies
Dance and RnB
The National Archives Podcast Series has been chosen here as an example.
When this panel is complete, click on Add Podcasts to enter the information.
When you add a podcast RSS feed, Radioplayer will check that it’s valid, that is to say:
The RSS feed can be parsed correctly
There are no issues with the episodes in the feed (e.g. all publication dates are valid)
Radioplayer will extract the show name and description from the feed, along with the show URL. Radioplayer uses that to determine whether the feed is correct. For example, occasionally a feed is submitted that are links to web pages that display all the episodes - that’s not a valid feed.
New podcasts are given a ‘draft’ status. Radioplayer will check the feed and set it to live if it validates successfully at which point the shows will be attached to the selected stations. Once validated and added, you will see the station’s podcast feed(s) on the Attached Podcasts tab.
4) Location
Location helps Radioplayer find local services for your station’s audience. As well as identifying a listener’s local radio services, if a broadcaster has regional variations of a national service - perhaps carrying local news and advertising - location information ensures that the listener is provided with the correct version of the service.
Knowing a station’s coverage area also helps Radioplayer to recommend relevant local stations to listeners.
The map tool lets you draw the coverage area of your station. Zoom into the area to which your station broadcasts - use “+” to zoom in and “-” to zoom out or use the scroll button on your mouse. You can then draw the shape on the map that represents the editorial coverage area of your station. If required, you can pull the edges of your drawing to stretch the lines. Click once to place a marker. Once you have covered your broadcaster area, click Save.
Be realistic about your station’s coverage area as it is possible to harm your local listings if your station looks bigger than it actually is since Radioplayer promotes local services.
If you have more than one station with the same coverage area, you can copy the map and use it for your other stations. The Copy button is in the bottom left of the map. You would then paste in the coordinates from a saved map using the Paste button.
Don’t forget to save your work at the top of the map using the Save button. If you make a mistake and need to start again then the Clear button will clear the settings entered.
You can also add your location data by clicking on 'paste' and adding the lat/lon coordinates manually.
5) Settings
Under Settings you can define your language, keywords for your station and your station genres.
Language: set this if you are in a territory set up with multiple languages; if not you will only be given one language option.
Keywords: you can add up to ten keywords or keyphrases which relate to your station and output and are used in search. These could be about shows, core artists on your playlists, presenters, competitions, local landmarks or otherwise. Try and use words that are unique to your station. Type in a keyword at a time and type a comma when you are ready to add another. To delete a keyword, click the cross to the right of the entry. To edit a keyword, delete and add a new one. Don’t use too many keywords - ten is about right.
You can choose up to two genres that help describe your station. The genre list is created at country level and helps people discover your station.