Discover how to send the now-playing data from your ZaraRadio radio automation software, to all sorts of different third party systems – such as your RDS Encoder, Digital Radio, Websites, Streaming Servers, and more.

To achieve this, we’re going to use MetaRadio. MetaRadio is software which acts as a connector for your radio station’s metadata. It enables you to send your now playing data to dozens of different systems, and also unlocks new opportunities for revenue and promotions by inserting commercial and non-commercial messages between your song data. While many automation systems can send data to some of these third party broadcast systems, MetaRadio aims to connect all your systems together and provide advanced features.

MetaRadio takes all the hard work out of connecting your metadata. There’s no need for custom scripting – MetaRadio does everything you need out of the box.

Sending song now-playing information to other broadcast systems has clear advantages for your listeners and also your station. Now Playing data enhances the listener experience by allowing them to discover new tracks, increases a station’s website traffic, and unlocks additional advertising opportunities.

It’s been many years since I first used ZaraRadio myself, and it’s still a vary popular automation system – particularly in community radio. However, it doesn’t implement a very structured way of outputting data. We’ve developed a clever solution to this in MetaRadio, which allows you to utilise various filename formats and/or ID3 tags.

Installing MetaRadio

Before we can connect our Radio Automation System, we need to download and install MetaRadio.

MetaRadio has a free trial available. You’ll need to tell us your name, email, and number of inputs you want to use. MetaRadio is licensed based on inputs:

  • If you have one automation system with one channel, you only need one license – no matter how many places you want to send that data.
  • If you have two data feeds from your automation system (such as a separate HD2 station), you’ll need two licenses.
  • If you want to take data from an automation system, satellite system, or music fingerprinting system at different times of the day, you’ll also need multiple licenses.

When you sign up for the trial, we’ll email you a license key and an installer. Save these to your computer.

Where to install MetaRadio?

The next step is to work out where you want to install MetaRadio. MetaRadio runs on Windows. If you have a small station, you may want to install MetaRadio on the same PC as your ZaraRadio PC – this is the easiest option.

If you have a larger station, you may want to install MetaRadio on a separate Utility PC in your rack room, or even a Virtual Machine. This option is good if you want to connect multiple systems or ZaraRadio servers into the one instance of MetaRadio, or just want to be able to isolate MetaRadio to its own PC.

If you install MetaRadio on a different PC, you’ll need to know a little bit about networking, so you can send data between your automation computer and your MetaRadio computer. ZaraRadio sends now-playing data via text files, so you’ll need to have a network share available to share this file between your ZaraRadio PC and your MetaRadio PC.

Make sure you pick a computer that’s:

  • Always turned on and always connected to your network, and
  • Has a network connection to your output systems too, such as your FM RDS encoder, HD Radio exciter, DAB or DAB+ headend system, and so on.

Completing the Installation

Once you’ve decided where to install MetaRadio, copy both the installer and license file over to that PC. Log in as an Administrator, and then run the installer.

The first step of the installation wizard is to supply the License File. Once you’ve done this, you can accept all the other default settings, and complete the wizard.

You’ve now installed MetaRadio, and you’re ready to start configuring it!

Running MetaRadio

Open MetaRadio from your desktop shortcut. It will open a black window showing the status, and if this is your first time running MetaRadio, it’ll also open a web browser with the MetaRadio Configuration App. If you don’t see the configuration app, the status window shows you the address you need to go to in your web browser. Any modern web browser, such as Edge, Firefox or Chrome, will work fine.

By default, the MetaRadio configuration app is available by going to http://127.0.0.1:9606/

MetaRadio’s configuration interface lets you control all settings within MetaRadio.

  • The left contains the menu with various options – including the Input and Output settings.
  • The centre of the screen contains information about your system, including license details, and a summary of the inputs and outputs you have setup.

The options you see available will vary depending on the version you have installed, and the license options you have installed.

Configuring ZaraRadio Now Playing TXT & Log File Data

Now, we need to jump into ZaraRadio and configure it to talk to MetaRadio. To setup ZaraRadio, follow this process:

ZaraRadio supports exporting a CurrentSong.txt file every time a new track is played on-air. It also write to an activity log file. MetaRadio takes advantage of both of these files.

To setup ZaraRadio, follow this process:

  1. Open the ‘Options’ window from the Tools menu
  2. Navigate to the “Log” section
    1. Enable Logging
    2. Specify a folder for the log files to be saved info
  3. Navigate to the “General” section
    1. Specify a folder for the CurrentSong.txt file to be saved to
  4. Save your changes

Configuring MetaRadio

Now that we’ve installed MetaRadio and configured ZaraRadio to save the correct text files, we can connect it to ZaraRadio.

MetaRadio allows you to send data from an Input (such as ZaraRadio Radio Automation), to any number of outputs. We need to configure the inputs first, and then our outputs second.

Select the “inputs” menu item on the left, and click “Add New System”. Scroll down through the list of systems and select “ZaraRadio”.

Enter a name for you station, and then configure the settings:

  • Enter the folder for the Log Files as specified in ZaraRadio (e.g. C:\Zara_NP)
  • Enter the full path to the ‘CurrentSong.txt’ file (e.g. C:\Zara_NP\CurrentSong.txt)
  • Set the “Text Format Type”. If you use MP3’s or other files containing tags, select “ID3”. If you have a constant naming format, select either “title-artist” or “artist-title” (Assuming your filenames are ‘Title – Artist‘ or ‘Artist – Title‘ respectively)

    Click Save, and then click “Apply & Restart” up the top to restart MetaRadio.

    Testing Your Now Playing Data

    Go back to MetaRadio. If your configuration is successful, the black MetaRadio window will say “Now Playing” with some track details every time a new track plays in ZaraRadio.

    This means your configuration is done, and you can now move onto configuring your Outputs. An Output in MetaRadio is any destination system you want to send data to – a RDS Encoder, HD Radio System, Website, Digital Radio, Streaming Server, Mobile App, etc.

    In the left menu of MetaRadio, click on “Outputs”. Find your station, and click “Add Output”. Now you can select your output system from the list, and configure its settings. Our website has instructions on configuring all the most popular systems, or contact our support team if you need assistance.

    Support & Next Steps

    Thanks for choosing MetaRadio to manage your now playing song data needs. Make sure you explore all the features, such as Data Rules, input system scheduling, message scheduling, and all of our advanced output options. Please get in touch with us if you ever need assistance!

    If you have any trouble with this process or it’s not working, please send the MetaRadio log files through to our support team. We’re here to help! You’ll find the support bundle file in MetaRadio’s dashboard.

    FAQs

    Can I have multiple ZaraRadio Stations connect to one MetaRadio instance?

    Yes. You can connect unlimited ZaraRadio stations to the one MetaRadio instance on one PC. Here’s some things to keep in mind:

    • In ZaraRadio, create one Now Playing folder per ZaraRadio Station.
    • You will need one MetaRadio license per ZaraRadio station. You can buy multiple licenses online. If you have purchased licenses separately and need them combined (so they can run one one PC), please email support your purchase receipts and we will make this change for you.

    Can I disable ZaraRadio Now Playing data during certain times?

    Yes. This is a common request for stations that take satellite programming during certain hours, or for stations which use Audio Fingerprinting to detect tracks not played via your automation system. MetaRadio allows you to create a schedule for your automation system input. In your Input Settings, look for the “Input Settings” section. Any day/time entries specified here will disable your ZaraRadio data.

    What does “Zero items are currently playing” mean?

    When a track is sent from ZaraRadio to MetaRadio, it checks a number of conditions before accepting the data and passing it onto your output systems. These settings include the configurable “Allowed Asset Types” and “Minimum Track Duration” settings, as well as your Data Rules. If these conditions are not met, MetaRadio will say “Zero items are currently playing”.

    MetaRadio does not see my now-playing data and does not show any errors

    The most common reason for this is MetaRadio is not able to access the TXT File or Log File from ZaraRadio. Please check your filename is correct, and the file is saving from ZaraRadio to the exact location MetaRadio is expecting it to be.