Discover how to send the now-playing data from your WideOrbit radio automation software, to all sorts of different third party systems – such as your RDS Encoder, HD Radio, DAB and DAB+, 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.

WideOrbit Radio Automation is commonly known as WO Automation for Radio. It was formerly known as Google Radio Automation (until 2009), and previously Maestro, Scott Studio, and SS32. We also support the SS32 Type E format in MetaRadio, but we prefer you to use the XML method – we’ll explain the XML file method in this article.

In these instructions, we assume you are using WO Automation for Radio version 4.0 or greater.

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 WideOrbit Server – 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 keep MetaRadio away from your announcers, or perhaps if you want to connect multiple systems or multiple studios into the one instance of MetaRadio.

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. WideOrbit sends data via XML files, so you’d need to setup a Windows Network Share with a UNC path.

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.

WideOrbit has a client-server design, and most stations will have their Audio Server running on a different PC to their Studio PC. For WideOrbit, you’ll probably want to install MetaRadio either on the server running your WideOrbit Server, or alternatively on a Utility PC which may also be running other background services.

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 MetaRadio

Now that we’ve installed MetaRadio, we can connect it to WideOrbit.

MetaRadio allows you to send data from an Input (such as WideOrbit 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 “WideOrbit”.

Enter a name for you station, and then enter a filename. This filename is where WideOrbit will save its Now Playing XML file (which we’ll configure in the next section). In our example, we use the filename  C:\NowPlaying\NowPlaying.xml.

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

Configuring WideOrbit Now Playing XML Data

Now, we need to jump into WideOrbit and configure it to talk to MetaRadio.

WideOrbit has a standard XML message format, which MetaRadio understands and uses. When we complete this section of the setup, WideOrbit will be writing a file to your hard drive in the following format:

    <nowplaying>
        <sched_time>56904606</sched_time>
        <air_time>57128000</air_time>
        <stack_pos></stack_pos>
        <title>Song Title Goes Here</title>
        <artist>Song Artist Goes Here</artist>
        <trivia></trivia>
        <category>MUS</category>
        <cart>1234</cart>
        <intro>5</intro>
        <end></end>
        <station>WABC</station>
        <duration>160143</duration>
        <media_type>SONG</media_type>
        <milliseconds_left></milliseconds_left>
    </nowplaying>

We will configure WideOrbit through the Central Server Configuration Web UI. This is the website you use to configure all aspects of your WideOrbit system. Typically you’ll find a shortcut on your main WideOrbit server.

This setup takes place in two steps – first we setup an Event Driver, and then secondly we setup an Event Rule Set Mapping.

Event Driver Setup

An Event Driver provides a definition for the data you want to send from WideOrbit.

  1. Click the Event Drivers tab, and then click “Add New Event Driver”.
  2. Type a friendly name for the Event Driver (e.g. ‘MetaRadio’).
  3. Configure your Event Driver with these settings:
    • Event Export Trigger: Start Play
    • Output: All Outputs
    • Media Type: Unspecified (this will allow metadata to be sent for all media types)
    • Export Type: XML
  4. Save your Event Driver

Event Rule Set Mappings

The Event Rule Set Mapping allows you to write your Event Driver XML to a file.

  1. Go to the “Event Rule Set Mappings” tab. This section allows your Event Driver to save the XML data to a file.
  2. Click “Map event rule set”
  3. Setup your Event Rule Set Mapping with these fields:
    • Device Server: This is the server which will save the XML file
    • Radio Station: This is the station in WideOrbit which will be saved to the XML file
    • Event Driver: Select your MetaRadio event driver from the earlier steps
    • Mapping Type: File (we want to save the XML data to C:\NowPlaying\NowPlaying.xml – this is the path we configured earlier in MetaRadio)
  4. Save your changes

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 WideOrbit.

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 station 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.

Alternative Connection Method: IP

So far this guide has shown you how to setup an XML File in WideOrbit, and read that file in MetaRadio. However, advanced users may prefer to send their now playing data out of WideOrbit using IP. This section describes how to do this.

In MetaRadio, you will need to setup the input type “Wide Orbit (XML IP)”. This is similar to the XML File method, but instead of a Filename, it accepts a Port Number. MetaRadio acts as a Server, and WideOrbit will act as a Client.

In this screenshot, we have configured Port Number 63299:

Once you restart MetaRadio, it will say “Now Listening on TCP Port 63299”. This means it is ready to receive data from WideOrbit.

We can now switch over to our WideOrbit Server and configure it to send the data to MetaRadio. We will configure WideOrbit through the Central Server Configuration Web UI. This is the website you use to configure all aspects of your WideOrbit system. Typically you’ll find a shortcut on your main WideOrbit server.

This setup takes place in three steps – first we setup the TCP Port, then an Event Driver, and then finally we setup an Event Rule Set Mapping.

TCP Port Setup

WideOrbit will operate in TCP Client mode, which means it will initiate the connection to MetaRadio. Ports are configured in Central Server Configuration Web UI > Devices > Ports.

In this section, setup a Port to match the Port configured in MetaRadio (in our example this is Port 63299).

Event Driver Setup

An Event Driver provides a definition for the data you want to send from WideOrbit.

  1. Click the Event Drivers tab, and then click “Add New Event Driver”.
  2. Type a friendly name for the Event Driver (e.g. ‘MetaRadio’).
  3. Configure your Event Driver with these settings:
    • Event Export Trigger: Start Play
    • Output: All Outputs
    • Media Type: Unspecified (this will allow metadata to be sent for all media types)
    • Export Type: XML
  4. Save your Event Driver

Event Rule Set Mappings

The Event Rule Set Mapping allows you to send your Event Driver XML to a TCP port.

  1. Go to the “Event Rule Set Mappings” tab. This section allows your Event Driver to send the XML data to MetaRadio via IP.
  2. Click “Map event rule set”
  3. Setup your Event Rule Set Mapping with these fields:
    • Device Server: This is the server which will send the TCP data
    • Radio Station: This is the station in WideOrbit which will be sent via TCP
    • Event Driver: Select your MetaRadio event driver from the earlier steps
    • Mapping Type: TCP Port
    • Radio Automation System is: Client
    • Remote Port: (this is the Port you configured in Central Server Configuration Web UI > Devices > Ports)
  4. Save your changes

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 WideOrbit.

FAQs

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

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

  • In WideOrbit, create one Event Rule Set Mapping for each station, and put a separate filename in this mapping. (e.g. C:\NowPlaying\NowPlaying_Station2.xml). Use this same Filename in your extra Inputs in MetaRadio.
  • You will need one MetaRadio license per WideOrbit 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 exclude certain asset types from sending now-playing data?

Yes. You can exclude certain asset types (such as spots, sweepers, IDs, voice tracks, etc.) from being sent. You can do this in either WideOrbit or MetaRadio.

  • In WideOrbit, you can edit your Event Driver to only output certain Asset Types (e.g. SONG).
  • Alternatively, in MetaRadio you can use the “Allowed Asset Types” setting to restrict your now-playing data to certain asset types. Or you can use the “Minimum Track Duration (Seconds)” setting to ignore all tracks under a certain length.

Can I disable WideOrbit 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 WideOrbit data.

What does “Zero items are currently playing” mean?

When a track is sent from WideOrbit 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. 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 unable to find the XML file at the path specified. Use your Windows File Explorer to double check the WideOrbit XML file has been written in the exact location you configured in MetaRadio.

What does “Could not parse XML” mean?

This occurs when your WideOrbit system does not write XML to the file. Sometimes this is a user error – make sure you have configured your Event Driver in WideOrbit to write an XML file (not a Text file or any other format).

If you need assistance, please contact out support team.