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Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions

Grouped together are the most common general support questions for Radio.co, with insight on how you can fix them.

Jamie Ashbrook avatar
Written by Jamie Ashbrook
Updated over a month ago

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Updated regularly, this living document is based on current support questions, service issues, and general advice to hopefully point you in the right direction.

General Service Questions

Why can't I hear my station?

The first step to starting your station is to turn it on via the Dashboard. You can do this by clicking the grey "OFF AIR" button, which will change to "ON AIR" in red on the Dashboard when your station is online. You can then tune in with a Streaming Link, a Player or a Mobile App.

The artwork for my music is not showing on the player or dashboard?

Radio.co uses Apple Music to fetch artwork based on a track's title and artist. If your tracks are not available on iTunes or Apple Music. Artwork will not be displayed. The Radio.co player will display your station's default logo instead.

What is the difference between Total and Unique listeners?

  • Total Listeners: This is the total number of connections to your stream in the displayed period.

  • Unique Listeners: This is the number of unique listeners you have had connected to your station in a given time period. (E.g. If 1 listener connects to your stream 5 times in one day, they would be counted as 5 total listeners, 1 unique.)

How can I shuffle my music?

You can create randomised playlists by using Tags. Tags can be added to tracks to categorise your media. You can create tags for Jingles, Adverts, genre's of music etc. These tags can be added to tracks by ticking the box next to the track in the Media section, then click in the text box in the top right corner to add or create a tag. You can type the name for a new tag, or add an existing one by selecting it, then click ADD.

After doing this, you can add the tag to your playlists. If for example you have a playlist which looks like this:

  1. Jingle Tag

  2. Advert Tag

  3. Classical Music Tag

Your station will play a random track from the Jingle's tag category, a random track from the Advert tag, and then a random track from the Classical Music tag. This allows you to create ordered radio shows but still have random tracks selected for playout. 

How can I listen to my station?

You can listen to your station by going to the Listen section of your account. Here you will find your Streaming Links, embeddable Web Players and other Embed Codes you can use to show information on your website. Learn more about creating a player here.

I have scheduled playlists, but why isn't my station playing them?

If you've scheduled a playlist on your Schedule, double-check to make sure that it isn't empty. If the playlist has no tracks inside it, Radio.co will start playing your Default playlist. Learn more about setting a Default playlist here.

Note: If your Default playlist is also empty, then Radio.co will randomly play songs from your Media Library. If your station is playing songs that you don't want to play (for example a show may be playing earlier than it should be), make sure to add some music to your Default playlist.

Does the Website Builder add-on offer SSL?

Yes, you can enable SSL so data is delivered securely via https on your website.

Billing Questions

What payment methods do you accept?

Radio.co accepts:

  • Credit/debit card:

    • Mastercard

    • Visa

    • American Express.

  • PayPal.

  • Google Pay.

You can choose to be billed in either:

  • US Dollars ($).

  • British Pound Sterling (£).

  • Euros (€).

For pricing, please refer to the Radio.co Plans.

Why has my payment been declined?

On most occasions, this is caused by a problem on your card issuer's end. There are two main issues to check for before retrying your payment:

  1. The card has been declined. Radio.co is based in the UK, and so if you're an overseas client then your card issuer may prevent the payment to protect you. You will need to contact your card issuer to lift any restrictions which would cause the payment to us to decline. To note, we accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal.

  2. There are insufficient funds on the card. Please ensure that the correct amount is available, which you can check in the Billing section of your account.

Please contact them to discuss the transaction if you are unsure, even if your card works with other vendors. 

Am I eligible for a discount?

Radio.co offers discounts to Charities and Non Profit organisations with valid proof (for example, a Registered Charity Number). The standard discount is 10% off your subscription for 12 months. You are able to renew your discount after 12 months has passed. You will need to contact us to arrange this.

Why do I no longer have a discount?

If you've had a discount for 12 months or more, then you will need to renew the discount by contacting us. If you've had the discount for less than 12 months, and your account was recently cancelled or was suspended due to a billing failure, then your discount will need to be reactivated. Please contact us to arrange this.

Where can I find a receipt for my payments?

You can find receipts for every payment you make to Radio.co in the Settings > Billing section of your account. You can view receipts in your browser by clicking the HTML button, or you can download them to your computer by clicking the PDF button.

How do I change my payment method?

You can update your billing details by going to Settings > Billing and then enter the new card information in the space provide below the PayPal button. If you need to change the billing address, you can do so using the button above the card details space.

You can use PayPal or a credit card to pay your subscription.

What are add-ons?

Addons are additional features like mobile apps or the website builder. Some addons are included in the plans - for more details visit the Radio.co Plans.

Alternatively, purchase addons in your Radio.co Dashboard > Settings > Billing > Addons area.

Streaming Questions

What is the Mobile Optimised Stream?

The Mobile Optimised stream is a lower bitrate AAC variant of your main stream URL, configurable between 16 and 64Kbps. As less data is used the stream is less likely to drop on weaker bandwidth devices (e.g. a mobile on a slow cellular network). This also conserves your listener's data when they're on the go.

How can people tune in?

Your listeners can listen to the station in a couple of ways. The first way is to use your streaming link in the Share > Listen Links section of your account. The first red link ending in "/listen" will be the one you need to use.

Alternatively, you can create a player for your station and embed it on your website. This will allow listeners to visit your website to listen and see what's playing with the song's cover artwork too. To learn more about this, have a look at this guide.

Live Broadcasting

Why will my broadcasting software not connect?

The most common issue is that no live broadcast has been scheduled for your DJ. You can schedule a live event on the dashboard under 'Schedule' in the sidebar.

Alternatively, if you're the Station Owner you can enable Live Anytime. This allows you to connect to your station without needing to schedule an event. This only works for the Owner, so other DJ's will still need to be scheduled in.

If there is a Live Event scheduled, or Live Anytime is on, then check your Broadcasting Software to make sure all of your details have been entered correctly. You can check setup instructions for your software here.

How do I talk over my broadcast?

To talk on your station, you'll need to set up a microphone. If you want to play music as well and speak over this music, you'll need to play the music on your end. This can be done with or without specialised hardware (such as a mixer). Check our Live Broadcasting guides to find out more about this.

My live show is fading back to my backup playlist. How do I stop this?

This is happening because your internet connection is having trouble supporting the stream. When Radio.co doesn't receive any data from your broadcasting software, the system will fall back to your backup playlist. This is done to prevent your listeners listening to dead air. These are the most common causes for this issue:

  1. Interference. If you're using a WiFi connection, we strongly recommend using a Wired connection directly to your router. This is because WiFi signals can be easily dropped if you're in a busy area such as an office, apartment or a neighbourhood. As live streaming requires a strong, consistent connection, if the signal drops even for a short period of time this can cause disruptions. 

  2. Network usage. If your connection is being shared with other users, then you may experience issues when trying to keep a stable connection. As more users connect to your Internet Connection, the higher the chance of a disconnection there is as your connection is shared between each device. Try turning unused devices off to free up the connection to see if this helps.

  3. Your Internet Connection is not fast enough, or does not have enough bandwidth. We recommend a minimum of 1Mbps upload speed to maintain a steady stream. Depending on your network conditions, you may require a faster upload speed. 

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