For audio stations. If more than one person will ever broadcast live on your station, set this up before your second presenter does.
What a DJ Account is
A DJ Account gives a presenter their own username, password and connection point for going live on your station.
The alternative — handing round your main account login — causes problems that are obvious in hindsight. Your main login manages billing, settings and every other service on your account. Once several people have it, you cannot change it without telling everyone, and when a presenter moves on you have no way to remove just their access.
DJ Accounts solve all of that. Each presenter has their own credentials, you can remove one without affecting anyone else, and nobody but you ever sees the main login.
Creating one
- Sign in to your control panel at onair.awaken-global.org.
- Open your audio service and go to DJ Manager.
- Click Add DJ.
- Enter a name and set a password. Use a different password for each presenter — that is the entire point.
- Save.
Giving the presenter what they need
Once the account exists, use the How to connect option for that DJ. It shows the exact server address, port, mount point, username and password that presenter needs.
Send them those details, along with the note below about software. Each DJ has their own connection point, so do not send one presenter another's details.
Software your presenters will need
Presenters broadcast from their own computer using encoding software. These all work, and several are free:
- BUTT — free, simple, Windows/Mac/Linux. The easiest starting point for someone who just needs to talk and play music.
- Mixxx — free, full DJ software with decks and mixing.
- RadioBOSS, SAM Cast, RadioCaster, PlayIt Live — commercial, more automation features.
- VirtualDJ PRO — for music-led shows.
- iziCast — for broadcasting from an iPhone.
Your station runs on Icecast. In whichever software your presenter uses, they should choose Icecast as the server type, then enter the details from How to connect.
Two settings worth knowing about
Priority
Priority decides what happens when two sources try to broadcast at once. A presenter with higher priority can take over from one with lower priority.
This is how you handle a handover without dead air, and how you make sure a scheduled live service is never displaced by someone testing their setup. Give your most important broadcast the highest priority.
Scheduled access
Scheduled access limits when a DJ Account can connect at all. If someone presents on Thursday evenings, you can allow their account to connect only then.
Worth using for volunteer presenters, mostly so that an encoder someone left running on Tuesday does not quietly take over the station.
When a presenter leaves
Delete their DJ Account in DJ Manager. That is the whole process — nothing else changes, no other presenter is affected, and your main login was never exposed.
Do this promptly. It is the reason for setting up DJ Accounts in the first place.
If a presenter cannot connect
Almost always one of four things:
- Server type set to anything other than Icecast. The most common cause by a distance — check this first.
- Mount point missing or wrong. It is specific to that DJ and must be entered exactly as shown.
- Password typed rather than pasted. Have them paste it.
- Someone else is already connected at equal or higher priority.
If none of those, open a ticket telling us which presenter and which software, and we will look at the connection log.
