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To show a radio station’s changing song title on a YouTube live stream, get the station’s now-playing metadata and display it in your OBS scene before the video goes to YouTube. For an Icecast station, its documented /status-json.xsl endpoint may provide the active mount’s title. YouTube’s broadcast title is separate: changing it does not create a dynamic on-screen song label.
What you need
The setup has two parts: a source for the station’s changing track metadata, and an OBS scene element that displays it. You also need the station audio routed into your stream; the metadata feed supplies the text, not the audio.
- Ask the station operator or hosting provider whether the stream uses Icecast, SHOUTcast, or a managed service, and request its documented public now-playing endpoint or supported metadata interface.
- Confirm that the feed includes a title or artist-and-title value and that it changes when the track changes. Fields depend on the station’s stream and server configuration.
- Decide whether to display the value with an OBS browser source, a local helper and text file, or a plugin that supports the media source you use.
Find the station’s now-playing metadata
Icecast
Icecast provides a machine-readable /status-json.xsl endpoint. Open the station host’s endpoint and inspect the JSON for the active mount and its title field. Icecast cautions that not every field is always present, so confirm that the station actually publishes track metadata. See the Icecast Server Statistics documentation and its status endpoint documentation.
Do not rely on scraping a human-facing status page. Icecast says: “We strongly discourage attempts to scrape data from the web interface as we do not consider this an API and will change it, even completely, between versions!”
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Other station providers
For SHOUTcast or a managed radio service, ask the station or host for its supported now-playing API or feed. A webpage’s player display is not necessarily a stable or authorized data interface. If the feed is private, unavailable, or does not include titles, the station operator must provide a supported feed or authorized access; OBS cannot infer metadata that is not exposed.
Display the song title in OBS
Option 1: Browser source that reads the endpoint
- Create or obtain a small overlay page that periodically requests the station’s documented metadata endpoint, extracts the current title, and renders it as text.
- In OBS, add a Browser source to the scene that you send to YouTube, and point it at the overlay page.
- Position and style the source so the text is readable without covering important video content.
- Preview the scene and check that the title updates at a track change before going live.
A browser overlay can be convenient, but the station endpoint must allow the page to fetch it. If browser cross-origin restrictions (CORS) prevent the request, use an authorized local helper or server-side proxy instead. Do not put private station credentials in a public overlay URL.
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Option 2: Local helper and OBS text source
- Run a local helper that polls the station’s supported metadata endpoint and writes the current title to a text file.
- In OBS, add a text source and configure it to read that file. The exact control name and steps can vary by OBS version and operating system.
- Place the text source in the outgoing scene, then verify that the helper updates the file and OBS displays the new value when the song changes.
This route avoids relying on a browser page to make a cross-origin request, but requires the helper to keep running and the file path to remain accessible to OBS.
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If your radio audio is played through a supported local source such as VLC or MPD, OBS resource Tuna is one possible metadata display option. Its listing specifies OBS 28.0.0 minimum and Windows/Linux support; check current compatibility and its documented source list before installing. Tuna’s listed sources do not promise compatibility with every arbitrary radio server URL. See the OBS resource Tuna listing.
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The “Music on stream” OBS browser overlay listing reports support for YouTube, YouTube Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, Deezer, Pretzel, and Epidemic Sound, with title sources including YouTube chapters and description playlists. That listing does not establish support for arbitrary external radio-station metadata feeds; use it only if its stated source model matches your setup. See the Music on stream listing.
Test the overlay before going live
- Check that the feed returns a title for the correct active mount, rather than a different station stream or an empty value.
- Wait for a track boundary and confirm that the displayed text changes. A static title may indicate missing station metadata, a wrong field or mount, or a polling problem.
- Check how the overlay behaves when the title is missing or stale. A clear fallback such as “Now playing unavailable” is preferable to showing an old track as current.
- Preview the complete OBS scene, including the radio audio and overlay, before starting the YouTube broadcast.
Keep the on-screen title separate from YouTube’s broadcast title
YouTube’s broadcast title is metadata attached to the live broadcast/video resource; it is not the changing label drawn over the video. The outgoing OBS picture must contain the overlay for viewers to see a live song title. YouTube documents broadcast resources and their properties in its LiveBroadcasts API reference; OBS’s streaming guide covers sending the scene to a streaming service.
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Troubleshoot common problems
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| No title appears | The station does not expose metadata, the endpoint is inaccessible, or the overlay is reading the wrong mount or field. | Inspect the documented feed and ask the operator for a supported endpoint or authorized access. |
| Title appears in a browser but not OBS | The OBS browser source may point to the wrong page, be hidden behind another source, or have a different URL or refresh state. | Check the source visibility, URL, and scene placement; reopen or refresh the source and preview again. |
| Browser overlay cannot fetch the JSON | The endpoint may disallow cross-origin browser requests. | Use a local helper or authorized proxy rather than weakening access controls or exposing credentials. |
| Title never changes | The station may not update its metadata, or the overlay may be polling a stale or incorrect feed. | Compare the active mount’s feed value before and after a track change, then verify the overlay’s polling and field selection. |
| Plugin shows no metadata | The audio may not be playing through a source the plugin supports. | Check the plugin’s current supported-source list; a station URL alone is not guaranteed to work. |
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