AutoDJ: your station keeps playing when nobody is live
AutoDJ is the part of MAWCast that plays your music when nobody is broadcasting. You upload tracks, put them in playlists and switch it on. When a DJ connects they take the air, and when they leave, AutoDJ carries on. It is included on every plan.
What is AutoDJ on MAWCast?
AutoDJ plays your station's rotation (the playlists you choose for it) whenever nobody is live. It needs three things: music in your media library, at least one playlist with tracks in it, and AutoDJ switched on for the station. If any of the three is missing, there is nothing for it to play and the station is quiet until someone goes live.
Listeners hear it on your station page at yourstation.mawcast.com and in the web player you can put on your own website.
What happens when a DJ goes live, and when they leave?
AutoDJ never broadcasts on your station's own address. It plays on a separate, hidden feed underneath it, and your station falls back to that feed whenever nobody is live. When a DJ connects, listeners are moved to the live show without reloading anything. When the DJ disconnects, listeners go back to AutoDJ.
AutoDJ comes back where the station clock is, not at the top of a track or a playlist. The rotation kept time while the DJ was on, so the station picks up where it would have been.
If AutoDJ is switched off, your station goes quiet the moment the DJ disconnects. Leave it on if you want music between shows.
To go live, connect your own broadcasting software: BUTT, Mixxx, VirtualDJ or any other Icecast-compatible encoder. Or use MAWCast Studio, our Windows desktop broadcaster, free with every plan: sign in, pick your station, press GO LIVE. For the details of the handover, see how the fallback between live and AutoDJ works.
How does AutoDJ decide what to play?
Each playlist plays in one of two ways:
| Mode | What happens | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| In order | Tracks play in the order you put them in. | A mixtape, a countdown, a recorded show in parts, jingles placed exactly where you want them. |
| Shuffled | A new order on every pass through the list. | General rotation, where you want to avoid hearing the same order twice. |
You can chain several playlists into the rotation. They play one after another in the order you added them, then start again from the first. Each list keeps its own mode, so a shuffled list is shuffled only within its own stretch: "these forty tracks, then these twenty" stays what you asked for.
What is on air is worked out from one station clock, counted from the moment AutoDJ was switched on. Control and your station page read the same clock, so they always name the same track, and two listeners who tune in at the same moment hear the same track at the same point.
You can trim a track's start and end points in the media library. The rotation plays only the part between them. More in set up AutoDJ playlists.
Can AutoDJ run a scheduled show?
Yes. A programme on your schedule can carry its own playlists. For its time slot it takes over AutoDJ: its playlists play from the moment it starts, instead of the everyday rotation. If the music runs out before the slot ends, the programme's own setting decides what follows:
| Setting | What happens when the playlists run out |
|---|---|
| End the programme | The programme is over and the everyday rotation takes the air back. |
| Loop until the end time | The playlists play again, in the same order, until the slot ends. |
| Shuffle until the end time | The playlists play again in a new order each time, until the slot ends. |
A programme without playlists is a live slot. It announces that someone plans to be on air, but nothing switches: going live is still done from the DJ's broadcasting software. If nobody connects, the rotation carries on. See the two kinds of programme.
Can I change what is on air right now?
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Play next | Queues a track from your library ahead of the rotation. The rotation pauses for it and then resumes where it left off. Available while AutoDJ is on air. |
| Skip | Ends the current track immediately. Listeners hear the cut, so keep it for a mistake on air. |
More in rotation, queue and skipping.
What do listeners see while AutoDJ plays?
AutoDJ announces each track once, as Artist — Title, taken from your media library. If a tag is wrong, fix it in the library and the correction shows the next time the track plays. A track without an artist shows its title alone; MAWCast does not invent an "Unknown Artist". While a DJ is live, listeners see whatever their broadcasting software sends. See what listeners see while it plays.
What files can I upload?
| You upload | What happens |
|---|---|
| MP3 | Kept exactly as you uploaded it. |
| WAV, OGG, M4A or FLAC | Converted to MP3 at 320 kbps shortly after the upload. The MP3 replaces the original to save space. |
A track joins the rotation only once it is an MP3, so a file that is still converting is left out rather than played as silence. If a conversion fails, the media library says so and lets you try again.
Each file can be up to 150 MB, which is about an hour of MP3 at 320 kbps, so a one-hour DJ mix fits in a single file. Storage is one pool for your account, and its size depends on your plan (see the table below). More in supported formats and storage and limits.
What sound quality do listeners get?
Every AutoDJ track is re-encoded on its way to air at your plan's AutoDJ quality: 128 kbps on Starter, 256 kbps on Air, Broadcast and Network. That is the same whatever the bitrate of the file you uploaded. The file in your library is not changed.
Live shows are separate: your plan's live quality is 128 kbps on Starter and 320 kbps on the other plans. Set your encoder to it: if it sends more, MAWCast re-encodes the show to it.
What AutoDJ does not do
- No crossfades. Tracks play back to back.
- No automatic jingle spacing. There is no "a station ID every three songs" rule. Jingles and IDs play where you place them in a playlist that plays in order.
- No silence watching of its own. Nothing detects dead air for you: if the stream falls silent, no track is started on its own.
- No music licences. AutoDJ plays recorded music, and licensing it is the station's responsibility. Read music licensing for where to start.
How do I set it up?
Upload your music
MP3 is played as it is; other formats are converted for you. See the media library.
Make a playlist
Add tracks and choose in order or shuffled. See playlists.
Put it in the rotation and switch AutoDJ on
Chain more playlists if you want. See the AutoDJ overview.
If nothing plays, go through AutoDJ troubleshooting.
What does it cost?
AutoDJ is included on every plan. What changes between plans is the AutoDJ quality, the listeners at once and the storage:
| Plan | Per month | Stations | Listeners at once | Live quality | AutoDJ quality | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €1.99 | 1 | 100 | 128 kbps | 128 kbps | 5 GB |
| Air | €4.99 | 1 | 500 | 320 kbps | 256 kbps | 25 GB |
| Broadcast | €9.99 | 3 | Unlimited | 320 kbps | 256 kbps | 100 GB |
| Network | €19.99 | 10 | Unlimited | 320 kbps | 256 kbps | 500 GB |
Prices are per month and include VAT. Paying yearly gives you two months free. There is no free plan: you can try Starter for 3 days, which needs a verified payment method, and the trial itself is never charged. Full details on the pricing page.