Your first broadcast

This guide gets you on air from a browser tab, with no encoder or extra software. We built browser broadcasting for first shows and last-minute guest spots: anything you can play in a tab or say into a mic can go out on your station.

Before you start

• Use Chrome or Edge. Both can send a browser tab, your computer's audio and a mic. Firefox can send a mic only, and Safari isn't supported yet.
• Wear headphones if you're using a mic. We send your mic as it is, with no echo cancellation, noise suppression or automatic gain, so it sounds like your mic and not like a video call. That also means it picks up anything playing from your speakers.
• Stop any other broadcast on your key. Going live here takes over your stream key, so if OBS, BUTT or another tab is broadcasting to your station, it gets disconnected.
• Check your Calendar. A prerecorded show scheduled during your broadcast will start on time and end it.

Open the Go Live page

Log in and click the red Go Live button at the top right of your dashboard. On smaller screens it's the red button with the broadcast icon. Go Live from your Browser is the first section on the page.

Add your sources

Each source has its own toggle under Sources. Turn on the ones you need:

• Tab / System Audio. Your browser opens its sharing picker. Choose the tab option (Chrome Tab in Chrome), pick the tab that's playing your music, and leave Also share tab audio switched on.
• Second Tab. Mixes in another tab, like a call with a guest or a video. It's only offered in Chrome and Edge.
• Microphone. For talking over the mix. Your browser asks for permission the first time.

To send everything playing on your computer instead of one tab, it depends on your system. On Windows, choose your entire screen in the picker and tick Also share system audio. On macOS, the picker doesn't offer your screen and a window never carries audio, so share a tab.

Set your levels

Each source gets a volume slider and a level meter. Aim for a meter that moves and stays green. If it flashes red, that source is close to distorting, so pull its slider down. The Microphone slider starts at the top because a mic without automatic gain comes in much quieter than tab audio.

Go live

Click Go Live. It shows Connecting… for a moment, then turns red, reads End Broadcast, and a timer starts next to Sources. You're on air. To hear what your listeners hear, open your station page, at an address like evenings.fm/sample-radio, on your phone.

Keep this tab open while you're live. Your browser asks you to confirm if you try to close it, and leaving the page ends the broadcast and saves the recording. If you click your browser's Stop sharing bar, only that source drops out of the mix. If it was your only source, you stay on air with silence, so turn a source back on.

End the broadcast

Click End Broadcast. Like every broadcast on Evenings, it was recorded, and the recording appears in your Library once you've stopped. Here's what happens to recordings.

Record without going live

Click Record instead of Go Live. This records in your browser and nothing goes out to listeners. Click Stop & Save and the take is added to your Library. It's a good way to do a test run before your first real show, or to put together something to schedule as a prerecorded show.

If saving fails, the file downloads to your computer instead, named "Browser Recording" with the date and time, so you don't lose the take. It's a .webm file from Chrome or Edge, or .ogg from Firefox. Upload Audio doesn't accept those formats yet, so convert it to MP3, WAV or FLAC first (Audacity, from the Audacity team, does this for free), or email it to us and we'll add it to your Library.

If something goes wrong

The Go Live page shows a message when something interrupts a broadcast. Here's what each one means:

• "No audio was shared." You shared a window, or your screen on a Mac, and neither carries audio. Or Also share tab audio (or Also share system audio on Windows) was switched off in the picker. Turn the source on again and choose a tab with its audio switched on.
• "Couldn't reach the broadcast server." Your browser couldn't connect to us. Check your internet connection and any VPN, then press Go Live again. Browser broadcasts use the same port as ordinary secure web pages, so office and school networks that block streaming software usually let them through.
• "Connection lost." Your connection dropped, or we went 30 seconds without receiving audio, or a scheduled prerecorded show started. Press Go Live to reconnect.
• "Your connection couldn't keep up." Your upload speed fell too far behind to send audio in real time. Pause other uploads and large downloads, move to a wired connection if you can, then press Go Live again.
• "Another broadcast took over your stream key." Something else connected with your key, like the Go Live page in another tab, or BUTT. Whichever of those connects last is on air, so stop the one you don't want and press Go Live again.
• "Your stream key was rejected." Refresh the page and try again. If it keeps happening, email us.
• "Browser broadcasting isn't supported in this browser." Switch to Chrome, Edge or Firefox, or go live with streaming software.
• "Nothing was recorded." The take from Record was empty. Check that a source is switched on and its meter is moving, then record again.

For anything else, the troubleshooting page covers streaming software, recordings and scheduling.

What's next

You've been on air. Where you go from here depends on the station you want to run:

• Put your shows on a schedule. Schedule a live show so listeners know when you'll be on, or schedule a prerecorded show to play at a set time.
• Keep your station playing. Turn on Always On and your station plays tracks from your Library whenever you're not live.
• Use streaming software. We have guides for OBS, Audio Hijack and BUTT, for when you want a full mixer or a hardware setup behind your show.
• Put your station on your own site. Start with the HTML player guide or the Streams API.

If your first broadcast didn't go the way this page describes, email contact@evenings.email with what you saw and we'll work through it with you.