Check you can change the land's music
The Music URL can be set by the parcel's owner, or on group land by someone in the group with the right abilities. If you rent a spot in a club or a mall, you'll need the owner to paste the address for you. Send it to them once you've finished the next two steps.
You don't need a mixer, a studio or anything in-world to buy. A computer, a free encoder such as BUTT or Mixxx (an encoder is the app that sends your sound to the internet) and a radio station to send it to are enough.
Set your encoder to MP3
Choose MP3 in your encoder's settings. Second Life's wiki pages don't fully agree on the other formats: one lists Ogg Vorbis as working, and another says AAC and Ogg aren't supported. MP3 is the one they all accept, so there's no reason to gamble.
Copy your server, port, password and the other details from Go live › Encoder settings in your control panel. Keep your bitrate (how much sound data you send each second) at or below your plan's limit. If you send more, your encoder gets dropped, and the panel tells you why.
Check what format actually reaches listeners, whether it's AutoDJ or an encoder on air. In VLC, a free media player, open your link as a network stream, then look at the codec details (Tools, Codec Information, or on a Mac, Window, Media Information). MPEG Audio is what you want, even if it mentions layer 1/2. If it shows anything else, ask our help desk before you set up the parcel.
Copy the right address
Your station has an https link and a plain-http link under Listen on the Overview, and Platinum adds a Nearest server link. The plain-http one is the same stream, listed for older players. Second Life's pages don't say whether every viewer plays https, so begin with the plain-http one, because it's made for players that can't handle https. Try the https link afterwards if you'd like to.
- Use the stream's own address. Playlist links ending in .pls or .m3u don't work, according to the wiki, even though one help page lists M3U. If that's all you have, open the file in a text editor and copy the stream address. In a .pls file it's after File1=; in an .m3u it's the line starting with http.
- Check it's playing first. Open the link in VLC on your computer as a network stream. If VLC stays silent, Second Life will too, so fix that before you log in.
- Drop any slash at the very end of a SHOUTcast address with a port number, such as one ending :8000/.
- Apart from that, paste the address exactly as copied, with nothing before or after it.
Paste it into your parcel
- Stand on the parcel and open the About Land window. Menus differ a little between viewers, so look under World.
- Open the Sound tab. Use the Music URL box here. The Media tab is for something else.
- Paste your address into Music URL and press Enter.
- Tick Hide URL if you'd rather visitors didn't see it. It's only a casual deterrent, since Second Life's help says it can still be copied by technical means. Your listen link isn't a secret in any case, but your encoder password is, so never put that anywhere in-world.
Test it from a second account
Have a friend or an alt (a second account of yours) stand on the parcel. They should see the music controls, and they may need to press play. If something's off, start here.
| What you notice | Likely cause | Try this |
|---|---|---|
| Silence for everyone | A wrong address, a playlist link, or nothing on air | Test the same address in VLC, and check your station is online |
| Silence for you, fine for a friend | Streaming music is off in your viewer | Look in Preferences under sound, and switch music on |
| VLC plays it, Second Life doesn't | The format, or the https link | Check it's MP3, then try the plain-http copy |
| Music stops when the DJ leaves | A Free station has nothing to play when no encoder is connected | Stay connected, or use AutoDJ on Pro |
| Some avatars hear nothing while others do | Often their viewer settings; rarely your plan's listener limit, and only if you have a big audience outside Second Life too | Check their music setting, then look at Listeners on the Overview |
Run a live DJ night at your club
Set the parcel to your station once, then leave it. Nobody has to swap the Music URL between sets, because the change happens at the station end.
- On Pro or Platinum, give each DJ an account under Go live › DJ accounts, then set their hours under Live settings › DJ hours. Pro has up to 5 DJs, and Platinum has 20.
- Each DJ connects from their own encoder in MP3 during their slot.
- When they disconnect, AutoDJ comes back by itself, so the club isn't left silent between sets.
- On Platinum, use Next-show handoff in Live settings: the next DJ connects ahead of time to the /next mount and goes on air as soon as the current one leaves.
If a guest DJ insists on their own stream, whoever can change the parcel's music has to swap the address, or the land owner can set up a scripted object that does it with llSetParcelMusicURL, a command Second Life provides (on group land, the object must be deeded to the group). Your audience also hears you a little after you play, so don't monitor the stream as you talk. Listen to your own computer instead, and keep the chat window open.
Choose a plan for your land
Start small, then move up when you need to. Each visitor's viewer connects to your station for itself, so every avatar playing the music counts as a listener, along with anyone tuned in elsewhere, such as visitors to your website.
| Your parcel | Plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Occasional live sets, and you're trying it out | Free | 1,000 listeners at 32 kbps. Fine for a test, but thin for music |
| Music all day, or a club with several DJs | Pro | 128 kbps, AutoDJ with a 20 GB library, and up to 5 DJs |
| A busy venue with a full DJ line-up | Platinum | Up to 320 kbps, 20 DJs and a 100 GB library |
The music rights stay with you. Second Life's wiki says that if you stream music, the content and any copyright or royalty fees are your responsibility, so look into licences for where you are. If you get stuck, our help desk can check your station's side of it.