What a student station needs that a hobby station does not
The audio path is the same as any internet station: an encoder sends to an Icecast server, listeners connect to an https link. The difference is the people. A campus station has a changing roster of presenters, a member of staff who answers for what goes out, and an institution that signs the licence paperwork. The software has to model that, or the station ends up on one shared password that every graduating class takes with it. For the plumbing itself, read the general guide to starting an online station; this page covers the school-specific layer.
| Requirement | Why a school needs it | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Separate DJ logins with set hours | A student can only broadcast in their own slot; access ends with one account | Premium, Platinum |
| Emergency cut and live takeover | Staff remove a live source without touching the encoder | Premium, Platinum |
| Recording of every live show | A record of what aired, for review and for archives | Premium, Platinum |
| Auto DJ between shows | The stream does not go silent outside term-time hours | Premium, Platinum |
| Airplay log and royalty reports | Evidence for the licence filings | Every plan |
| Station page and show line-up | Something to link from the school website | Every plan |
Accounts: staff own the station, students own a slot
The station itself sits in the dashboard account of whoever runs it, usually a teacher or the student media office. Presenters get DJ accounts: each has its own login and its own broadcast hours, so a student can connect only inside the hours their account allows. Premium carries 5 DJ accounts and Platinum 20.
- Give one account to each regular presenter, or one to each show crew when there are more presenters than accounts.
- Set each account's broadcast hours to match its slot on the weekly schedule.
- When a student leaves, close their account. No other presenter's password changes.
- On Platinum, a one-off guest such as a visiting speaker joins through a guest link, with no account, inside a DJ's hours.
Students go live from an Icecast or SHOUTcast-protocol encoder (BUTT, Mixxx and RadioBOSS all connect), or from the browser studio on the paid plans, which mixes a microphone and music in the browser with nothing to install on school machines.
The weekly schedule and the gaps between shows
Shows go on the panel's Schedule tab with a title, host, picture, days and times. Listeners see the result as on now and up next on the station page. On Premium and Platinum, Auto DJ plays the hour clocks you build whenever no DJ is connected, and a week check flags gaps, overlaps and empty slots in the schedule. Lunchtime shows, an evening block, and automation through nights and holidays is a typical campus pattern; the 24/7 automation write-up goes deeper into clocks and rotation.
Under the US statutory licence (17 U.S.C. 114(d)(2)(C)(ii)), a station must not publish the titles of specific recordings it will play in advance. List shows and hosts on the line-up, not track lists. Saying a particular artist will feature at an unspecified time is allowed.
Controls over live student shows
Safeguarding a live student show comes down to who can go on air, how fast staff can take them off, and what record remains afterwards. The paid plans give each of those a control:
- Who: DJ accounts, each with its own broadcast hours. The source password for the main encoder stays with staff.
- Stop: the emergency cut drops a live DJ from the panel; Auto DJ picks the hour back up from the clock.
- Record: every live show is recorded to the library, so a complaint can be checked against what actually aired.
- Silence: dead-air detection catches a show that has stopped sending, and off-air email alerts (every plan, opt-in) tell staff the station has dropped.
- Language in automation: on Platinum, tracks flagged explicit stay out of Auto DJ while clean mode is on.
Clean mode governs what Auto DJ plays. What a student says into a live microphone is a matter for the station's own rules and supervision; the recording is how you check it.
US licensing for a noncommercial educational webcaster
Playing commercial recordings online in the US needs two kinds of licence. The sound recordings are covered by the statutory webcasting licence, paid to SoundExchange. The compositions are licensed separately by the performing rights organisations; SoundExchange's own memo to educational webcasters names ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and Global Music Rights. Our royalty fees guide covers both sides. Hosting includes neither licence.
For the sound recordings, 37 CFR 380 Subpart C defines a Noncommercial Educational Webcaster: a noncommercial webcaster directly operated by, or affiliated with and officially sanctioned by, a domestically accredited school, college or university, whose streaming is staffed substantially by enrolled students, and which is not a public broadcasting entity qualified for CPB funding.
| Term (Web VI rates, 2026-2030) | What the regulation says |
|---|---|
| Minimum fee | A flat annual amount for each channel or station, set year by year in 37 CFR 380.21 and rising each year to 2030 |
| What the minimum covers | Up to 160,000 ATH in a month on any one channel or station |
| Counted listening | ATH counts listening hours to listeners within the United States |
| Reporting waiver | A small annual Proxy Fee instead of reports of use, if no channel exceeded 80,000 ATH for more than one month the year before and none is expected to exceed it in any month this year |
| Above 160,000 ATH | That month and the rest of the year are paid at the Noncommercial Webcaster rates, minimum fee credited |
Each separate stream needs its own minimum fee; streams that are the same apart from station IDs or sponsor credits count as one. The statement of account is signed by an authorised representative of the institution. Every plan keeps the airplay log, sealed daily records, SoundExchange-style reports and listener hours by country, which is where to read the US share of your listening.
Recordings, archives and podcasts
On Premium and Platinum a recorded live show lands in the library, and from there it can be published as a podcast episode, with an RSS feed and download statistics. That suits interviews, news, sport commentary and debate.
SoundExchange states that the statutory licence does not cover downloads of any kind, including downloadable podcasts of archived programming. A recorded music show cannot go out as a podcast on the strength of the webcasting licence; publish the talk segments, or obtain direct licences.
The station page and the school website
Every plan, Free included, can publish a public station page with the logo, description, website and social links, the live player and the show line-up, and can ask for a place in the radio guide; our team approves each listing before it appears. The web player embeds in the school site in bar, standard, card or full layouts, and the listen link is https, so it plays inside a secure page without mixed-content warnings. Premium and Platinum add a station app for iPhone and Android, published under the school's own developer accounts.
Which plan fits which school
| Situation | Plan | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Live commentary of school matches, nothing in between | Free | Live only, 32 Kbps, 1,000 listeners at once, no DJ accounts or recording |
| A radio club with a handful of shows and automation between them | Premium | 5 DJ accounts, Auto DJ, 20 GB library, recordings, 128 Kbps |
| A college station with a full roster and music in rotation | Platinum | 20 DJ accounts, clean mode, guest links, 100 GB, 320 Kbps |
Limits to know: a plan's DJ account count is fixed, so a station with more presenters than accounts shares by show; above 5,000 listeners at once the setup is quoted; and this is an internet stream, not an AM or FM signal. Plan details and prices are on the internet radio hosting page.
Questions
Can staff take a student DJ off air in the middle of a show?
Yes, on Premium and Platinum. The panel has an emergency cut that drops the live source, and Auto DJ resumes the clock. Because live shows are recorded to the library, staff can review what led to the cut.
How is the SoundExchange fee for an eligible school station worked out?
An eligible station pays a flat annual minimum fee per channel or station, set for each year from 2026 to 2030 in 37 CFR 380.21; it covers a channel's first 160,000 ATH (aggregate tuning hours) in each month. A station that last year did not go over 80,000 ATH on any channel for more than one month, and does not expect to go over it in any month this year, can pay a small annual Proxy Fee instead of filing reports of use. The current amounts are in the regulation and on SoundExchange's educational webcaster page, and the compositions are licensed separately.
Do students need to install broadcasting software?
No, on the paid plans: the browser studio mixes a microphone and music in the browser. Students who prefer an encoder can use any Icecast or SHOUTcast-protocol client, such as BUTT or Mixxx, with the settings printed on the Go live tab.
Can we publish recorded music shows as podcasts?
Not under the webcasting licence: SoundExchange says it covers no downloads, podcasts included. Talk content can go out as episodes straight from the recording, on Premium and Platinum. Music in a podcast needs licences from the rights holders.
Our school is outside the United States. Does the same licence apply?
No. The Noncommercial Educational Webcaster category is a US statutory rate and counts only listening in the United States. Licensing at home is set by your own country's collecting societies; the royalty reports include layouts for PRS, GEMA, SACEM, SOCAN and UCMR-ADA among others.
Is the free plan enough for a school station?
For live-only use, such as commentary on fixtures, it can be. It has no DJ accounts, no recording and no Auto DJ, so the stream stops when the encoder disconnects and every presenter uses the same source settings.