Rocket Broadcaster is just one of many 3rd-party Automation/Playout software encoder programs that you can use in conjunction with Live365. With Rocket Broadcaster, you can broadcast live to your Live365 stream. Rocket Broadcaster offers a free version as well as a paid version.


Note: Rocket Broadcaster is only compatible with Windows (version 7 or higher). The screenshots depicted below are from the free version. If you have further questions about functionality within Rocket Broadcaster, be sure to contact the Rocket Broadcaster team.


Tip: You may have access to 1 or more Live365 stations. See our Dashboard Navigation article to learn more about selecting the station which you want to work with. Once on that Station's Overview page, you can then follow along.


Here are step-by-step setup instructions to set up Rocket Broadcaster

  1. Download and install a copy of Rocket Broadcaster.
  2. Open your Live365 Dashboard (Login Required).
  3. Select Streaming from the left column Station Menu. Locate the LiveDJ area as shown below:
    Please leave this window open as you will need to input this information into the Rocket Broadcaster interface. For accuracy, it is recommended that you Copy (ctrl+c) and Paste (ctrl+v) this information directly into the required fields.
  4. Open your copy of Rocket Broadcaster. In the initial setup, you will be prompted to enter the LiveDJ Encoder Settings (See Step 3 above). Follow the steps in the Broadcast Wizard, which should open automatically the first time you use Rocket Broadcaster.
  5. In the second screen of the Broadcast Wizard window, select the Other option for your streaming service, as shown below:
  6. Once you click the Next button, you will be prompted to input your Live Stream Details. Enter the details exactly as they appear in Live365.Make sure the server type is set to Icecast 2. Enter the Server IP, Port, Mount, Username, and Password exactly as they appear in Step 3, then click the Next button. 
  7. In the Summary window, if you are not ready to immediately begin your live broadcast, be sure to uncheck the Start Broadcast Now checkbox.After you’ve clicked the Finish button. You will be taken to the Rocket Broadcaster main interface. 
  8. Begin broadcasting live to your Live365 stream by clicking on the Start Broadcast button. If you have input your live stream details incorrectly, you will see a notification in the Streams box in the bottom left corner of the Rocket Broadcaster interface. It is possible to update the Live Stream details by selecting Broadcast → Streams from the menu at the top of the Rocket Broadcaster:
  9. When you are done broadcasting, be sure to click the red Stop Broadcasting button so that your regularly scheduled Live365 content can resume. It is very important to disconnect when you are done with your live broadcast. When you enable the live broadcasting, you will immediately start to broadcast live. You will override any scheduled Events and AutoDJ currently playing in the Live365 Broadcaster. Live365 Broadcaster may be used as a fallback, in the event your Rocket Broadcaster application crashes or goes offline.

Getting Metadata to Rocket Broadcaster

Here are some of the different ways Rocket Broadcaster can capture metadata from other applications. This is how you'd send metadata to Live365 in order to be compliant with our licensing coverage and royalty reporting.


To access these options, click Broadcast → Metadata Capture from the menu at the top of the Rocket Broadcaster main window.


Window Title method:

Rocket Broadcaster can capture metadata if it's present in the title of another application's window.

For example, here's a screenshot showing how VLC displays the metadata of the current playing track:


Rocket is able to capture that metadata and include it in your stream. 



Configuring Window Title Metadata Capture


  • Check the Capture metadata from the title of another application window checkbox
  • Choose the application window to capture metadata from in the Application Window dropdown.
  • Under Step 2, choose the metadata formatting that matches what is shown in the application window. Getting the format correct is important in order for the artist and title fields to be parsed correctly. If the format is correct, the Preview should display the captured artist and title in the correct order.
  • If none of the included formats match the formatting of the metadata in the window title, you can customize the parser by adjusting the template tags (eg. %artist%) in the Custom field. Valid template tags are: %artist%, %title%, and %appname%

Once configured, click OK, and the Now Playing metadata in the Rocket Broadcaster main window should update within a few seconds.


TCP Server method:


Many radio automation systems can send metadata directly to Rocket Broadcaster over TCP, if this option is enabled and configured. This is the preferred way to ingest metadata from other applications.


Configuring the Metadata TCP Server


  • Check the "Allow other applications to update your metadata over TCP" checkbox
  • If your automation software is running on a different PC than the one running Rocket Broadcaster, select "Remote computers (via any NIC)"
  • Under Metadata, choose the Format that best matches your automation system.

Lastly, you will need to configure your automation software to send metadata to Rocket Broadcaster. Please consult the manual for your automation software for information on configuring TCP metadata output. A hint showing the IP and port that you should enter into your automation software is displayed at the bottom of the window.


Text File method:


Some radio automation systems have an option to write their "Now Playing" metadata to a text or XML file on disk. By enabling and configuring this option, Rocket Broadcaster can ingest that metadata and include it in your streams.


This option works with both files stored locally on disk and on Windows network shares.


Configuring Text File Metadata Ingestion


In the "Text File" tab of the Metadata Capture window:


  • Check the "Capture metadata from a text file" checkbox
  • Click the "Browse" button, and select the file containing the metadata from your automation system.
  • Choose the "Format" that matches your automation system's output.

Metadata Output Format:


By convention, Icecast and Shoutcast stream metadata is encoded into a single string of text, which is usually Artist - Title. However, Rocket Broadcaster gives you the ability to customize this text and use any extra metadata passed in by your automation system. This metadata text is displayed by many players, so it will usually be visible to your listeners.


For example, the screenshot below shows extra metadata tags extracted from a TRE XML file, read by the "Text File" method of metadata ingestion. These metadata tags are converted into "Template Variables" that can be used in your custom metadata string.


For example, given the extra metadata that's being received by Rocket Broadcaster in the screenshot below, this custom metadata string would add the track duration to the end of the metadata.


Example Custom Format:


%artist% - %title% - %duration%


Example Output:


April Wine - Bad Side of The Moon - 00:03:10



Please remember that even when you are broadcasting live, your files must transmit the correct metadata for copyrighted content (Artist - Title). If you are part of the Ad Revenue Share Program , you need to also manually insert our ad trigger files.