Radioplayer encourages radio stations to submit additional metadata about on air content to enhance the experience for end users. This information can be submitted to our systems and will automatically populate the web console and mobile apps. Radioplayer can accept metadata about the radio station itself, the shows, and segments within shows – right down to individual track now playing data. All of this is then indexed by our search engine, so if you’re playing Rihanna on air and someone happens to search for the artist in Radioplayer Search, your station will appear as a match.
The basics
Radioplayer metadata is an extension of the DAB EPG specification so if you are already familiar with the terminology and structure, you’ll find ours pretty straightforward to follow.
We support three key classes of metadata – schedule, on-demand and Now Playing
Schedule metadata
SI (Service Information)
This is the most basic information you can submit. It includes the station name, description and logos but is no more granular about the radio station than that. It doesn’t specify the currently playing show or track.
PI (Programme Information)
Programmes across the schedule are submitted as items of PI metadata. You are able to specify the start and end times of broadcast, together with additional descriptions if required. You can also specify the URL of the full ‘listen again’ broadcast if you offer this show as catch-up content after initial TX.
On Demand metadata
OD (On Demand)
In this context, OD is defined as content which isn’t a copy of a previously broadcast programme. These ‘off-schedule’ items might include podcasts.or interview clips.
Now Playing metadata
PE (Programme Event)
PE items are typically the method used to supply information about segments and Track Now Playing information. It is possible to use an HTTP API to submit Now Playing metadata to Radioplayer.
The process
Radioplayer publishes the current XML specification on this page. Take a moment to download the PDFs and have a read. The specification is quite detailed and includes links to the XML XSD. If you have questions, feel free to open a support ticket or post a question here.
Once you’re ready, download the sample XML files and work through the process of getting your playout systems to provide data in the required format. Many do provide exports but you might need to write a transform to have it comply with the schema.
We’ll then ask you to provide us with a sample of SI, PI and if you’re utilising them – PE and OD – files, populated correctly. You can submit these as a support ticket and we’ll validate them. If all is good, there are two methods you can submit your metadata to us on an ongoing basis
HTTP delivery
The main method to submit metadata is by HTTP POST. Our implementation is rather different to normal web services where you submit something and get a definite response. This is because we process metadata asynchronously ie. not at the time you submit it. By posting XML to us, it goes into a queue and the response you get back is merely whether it was added to the queue or not. In order to find out whether it’s been processed, you have to poll a callback URL. We are looking at ways that this can be changed so that it is assumed that “no news is good news” and that if something goes wrong, an email notification is sent. We realise this process is unfamiliar but, as mentioned, it is due to the asynchronous way this data is processed.
There are four distinct URLs – one for each type of data you wish to submit. As with all Radioplayer services, authentication is required so if you’re planning on using this, please open a support request and ask for a set of credentials. Please include the RPID of your station (it’s the number you see next to your station name when you login to the Station Control Panel).
Quick route – track now playing
If the above seems like a lot of heavy lifting and you just want to submit details of the track-now-playing on air (in a similar way to what you might be doing elsewhere), you can to this directly through the HTTP API. The HTTP API user guide (shown below) provides further information about this route. It’s a quick way of getting more metadata into Radioplayer products.
FTP delivery – legacy
Some stations and technology partners provide Radioplayer with metadata via FTP rather than HTTP. We no longer create new accounts but if you are a legacy user, please be assured we plan to continue supporting this delivery mechanism indefinitely so if you need assistance, do drop us a help request.
Supporting Documents
MetaData Companion Guide
Metadata Specifications
HTTP API Client User Guide
Radioplayer Metadata Examples