Radio automation software tools simplify the job of DJs and Internet radio broadcasters. Such applications are equipped with the functions and configuration settings that allow you to automate most broadcasting tasks, in order to deliver a streamlined experience for your listeners.
Every professional radio station uses automation in some form or another. Even big ones like BBC Radio 1 in the UK and WHTZ FM in the USA have a system in place to help manage their shows for when no one’s around. Stations hosted with Radio.co also use automation like MCR Live and Kpopway to make life a little bit easier. In this article, we picked what we consider to be the 5 best radio automation software that work with your computer.
1. Broadcast Using This Tool (BUTT): Broadcast Using This Tool, or BUTT for short, is a simple and easy way to broadcast your computer’s audio to your station online. Unlike most other software on this list, BUTT is free to use and available across all major platforms like Mac, Windows, and even Linux. It may not look like much, but it does a pretty good job at taking either your microphone input or entire computer’s audio and pushing it out to your station.
Download Link: BUTT
2. PlayIt Live V2.06 (Build 2785): PlayIt Software is a radio software company launched in 2011. Their initial product was the PlayIt Recorder released in 2011 —followed by PlayIt Live released in 2012. It’s not entirely free, because of the paid plugins and modules. The plugins include Audio Processing, Remote Start (which allows you to use a hardware device), Now Playing plugin (for sending the metadata of a playing song to a text file) and the Microphone Mix/Push to Talk plugin. In addition to the PlayIt Live software module, you might need its extra modules such as the PlayIt Manager, PlayIt Cartwall, PlayIt VoiceTrack, and PlayIt Recorder.
Download Link: PlayIt Live
3. RadioDJ: RadioDJ is a free-to-use radio automation software tool available for Windows computers. Wrapped in an intuitive interface, the application comes with advanced features for radio broadcasters. To use this program, you must have MariaDB or MySQL installed on your PC, along with a database of songs created in MySQL. It’s possible to import audio tracks from various formats, such as MP3, WAV, and FLAC. The user interface of RadioDJ is fully customizable and includes a history window. It announces the next song in the main window, one minute before it’s supposed to play. Voice tracking is supported, together with custom song and jingle rotations.
Download Link: RadioDJ
4. Mixxx V2.1.3: Mixxx is free with no catch! You download the setup file and use the program with no worries. But, if you want to record or broadcast in the MP3 codec, you’ll need to download and save lame.dll files in the Mixxx installation folder. The best free DJ program suitable for web radio enthusiasts and persons who have never Djed. It’s perfect for creating mixes with your mouse & keyboard or with a hardware controller. It also comes with a built-in encoder for SHOUTcast and Icecast streaming, which makes it an excellent alternative playout system for web radio stations.
Download Link: Mixxx
5. RadioBOSS: RadioBOSS is a multilingual radio automation software solution, only compatible with Windows. It comes with integrated support for Internet streaming, including Icecast, Shoutcast, and Windows Media. Using this application, you can put together music playlists tailored for radio broadcasting using an intuitive audio library and advanced functions like automatic volume normalization, crossfade effects, silence trimming, and timed announcements.
Download Link: RadioBOSS
All in all, radio automation software tools are a must-have feature for professional DJs and radio broadcasters, as well as anyone interested in broadcasting and starting their own radio station online RadioDJ is best software for them.