Play your music. Fire off your show’s jingles, talk on your mic and broadcast live with Playout.co. This guide covers who can use Playout, what it can do and how to get started.
What is Playout.co?
Playout.co is a live-assist streaming tool that lets radio presenters broadcast live, professional radio shows from their browser. It brings together essential live tools - including audio play-out, a cart wall, segue editor and mic fader - into one place. Playout.co let’s broadcasters play music, fire jingles, talk on mic, and stream a live show, all from one screen.
Available on Windows and Mac, Playout.co runs entirely inside your web browser. It gives presenters control over their live shows without needing to download a third party app or programme.
What You Can Do With Playout.co
Browse and play tracks live from your full Radio.co library.
Either use auto-on for an intelligent crossfade between tracks or manually edit segues using the editor.
Load up your jingles, sound effects, or idents from your Radio.co library onto the customisable cart-wall and fire these live on air.
Select any microphone or audio interface connected to your computer, letting you talk, DJ or play an instrument live on air.
Have your session auto-saved for the next time, including your queue, cart assignments, audio routing and settings.
Select tracks manually or automatically generate playlists and rearrange the track order by dragging and dropping.
Check which songs have played, and export logs into a csv file for music licensing reporting.
Stream live to your Radio.co station with one click.
What You Can’t Do With Playout.co
Listen to your audio interface’s output within Playout, unfortunately this would create too much latency.
Use Playout on mobile or tablet, it’s only supported on desktop browsers (Microsoft Edge or Chrome) currently.
Broadcast live to multiple stations at once. To do this, check out our video on relays.
What You Need To Use Playout.co
How To Get Started With Playout.co
1: Connect Your Account & Audio
Open Playout.co in your web browser
Click Continue with Radio.co and log in with your Radio.co credentials (please note, Playout is only available to customers on Standard and above plans).
Click Accept to authorize Playout.co with your Radio.co station.
Click the settings cog next to the microphone, choose your mic or audio device, and monitor the level using the VU meter.
2: Build Your Queue & Load Your Cart Wall
Populate the Queue: Use the Search tab to locate tracks in your library, then drag them into the queue. Filter tracks by tags by using the tag checklist.
Alternatively, use Autofill to generate a queue by duration or set up a repeating Clock Mode using your station tags.
Pro Tip ⚡️: When auto mode is enabled, right click on a playlist item and choose ‘Add Break After’ if you want to speak live over the air. This temporarily stops automated playout. Click play again to continue the playlist.
3. Set up the Cart Wall: Drag short audio clips, jingles, or station IDs from your Radio.co library onto any of the 20 cart tiles.
4. Customise your cart wall tiles by right clicking and adjusting the settings (playback rules, button colours, tile names etc).
Pro Tip ⚡️: Enable Auto Duck on the cart wall to automatically lower music levels to 30% whenever a cart item is fired.
3: Broadcast Live
Click Go Live to start broadcasting live.
Click the On Air button to stop broadcasting live.
Pro Tip ⚡️: Be sure to hit the play button for your queued up tracks to play.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Playout.co a paid add-on?
No, it’s free for Radio.co users on Standard and above plans.Do I need to download my Radio.co tracks before playing them?
No, Playout.co streams tracks from your Radio.co library in real time while performing instant audio analysis for seamless crossfading
Can my guest DJs use Playout.co without access to my main Radio.co admin panel?
Yes, guest presenters can log in using their DJ credentials to run their scheduled shows live via Playout.co. Just remember an event will need to be scheduled for a user with DJ permissions to go live.Will my cart wall setup reset when I close my browser tab?
No, cart assignments, loaded tracks, queue states, and microphone preferences automatically save for the next session.Can I listen to a jingle privately before sending it live?
Yes, enable Preview Mode on the cart wall to route the audio clip to your local speakers without broadcasting it over the air.Can I leave Playout.co running 24/7? Yes, but it’s designed to be more hands-on.
Can listeners hear my segue editor? No, the preview audio is separate from your live stream, so listeners won’t hear your segue previews or editing.
Will Playout.co work with other hosting platforms? Not yet, we’re expecting to make this an option later in the year.
Troubleshooting
I am on a Radio.co account but cannot connect Playout.co: Playout.co is not included on Lite plans. Ensure your station is on a Standard, Plus, or Premium plan, or upgrade your account via your Radio.co dashboard.
My microphone is quiet or drowning out the music: Adjust your microphone gain settings and check the talkover attenuation settings in the Mic menu to fine-tune how much the music dips when you speak.
Why can’t I play sound fx or tracks from my computer? Playout.co uses audio from your Radio.co library. All audio files need to be uploaded to your Radio.co media library to be used in Playout.
Having Problems?
It's frustrating when things don't work as expected. Contact us at help@radio.co with your station ID and browser version, and our support team will be happy to help.