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For a song title and artist label in OBS, start with Tuna. It can read now-playing metadata from supported music sources, write formatted text to a file, and let an OBS text source display that file. Add an OBS image source if you also want cover art. The right setup depends on where your audio plays and whether that player provides metadata: Tuna is not a universal tool for identifying any sound sent to your stream.
Choose the setup that matches your audio source
A “YouTube radio stream” can mean different things: music played in YouTube Music, audio from a regular YouTube browser video, or a playlist mixed from local files and other players. Those cases do not expose metadata in the same way. Tuna’s documented integrations include YouTube Music and several other playback sources, but that does not mean it reads a live broadcast’s YouTube title or automatically identifies arbitrary audio in OBS.
| Playback setup | What to try | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube Music | Tuna’s documented web-browser-source route, with its local information server enabled and Tuna enabled in the YouTube Music application. | Use the selected Tuna source and its current instructions; available fields depend on the integration and the metadata provided. |
| Local music played through an OBS VLC source | Select VLC in Tuna, then select and add the VLC source from the scene. | The documented integration requires VLC 3.0.0 or later and does not support a VLC source nested in a group. |
| Another supported player or service | Check Tuna’s source list and project instructions for the relevant integration. | Support for a playback source does not guarantee every field, such as artist or cover art, will be available. |
| Audio with no usable metadata | Add or correct metadata in the source/player, or enter a label manually. | Tuna retrieves metadata; it does not establish that it can recognize any song from audio alone. |
Tuna’s upstream project lists sources and integrations including Spotify, MPD, VLC, YouTube Music, MPRIS, Windows Media Control, window title, last.fm, and Icecast. It also lists browser-player integrations for Soundcloud, Spotify Web Player, Deezer, Yandex Music, and Pretzel.rocks through a Tampermonkey script. Treat these as documented paths to check, not a promise that every integration is currently available or returns complete metadata.
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Set up the simplest option: Tuna text output
This workflow creates a text file containing the current track information, then makes OBS read that file as a text source. Tuna’s documented example for a title-and-artist line is {artists} - {title}.
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- Check compatibility and install Tuna. The Tuna OBS resource lists OBS Studio 28.0.0 as its minimum and names Windows and Linux. Use the current installation instructions on the Tuna OBS resource page rather than assuming an older download or installation path still applies. Its Windows instructions describe running the installer or extracting the
dataandobs-pluginsfolders into the OBS installation directory. For Debian-based Linux, the resource describes an installer; other Linux distributions may require a source build or manual extraction, which may not work on every distribution. The resource also notes reports of loading problems with Flatpak OBS and limits support for that packaging. - Choose the playback source in Tuna. Open Tuna’s settings or Basics area and select the integration corresponding to the player supplying the music. Follow the resource’s instructions for that specific source, including any login, browser script, or local information-server requirement it documents.
- Set an output path and format. In Tuna, configure the file path for the formatted metadata and enter the fields you want. For example, use
{artists} - {title}for artist followed by song title. Configure cover-art output separately if you plan to display artwork. Available fields depend on the selected source. - Add the text file to your OBS scene. In Sources, add a Text source, enable the option to read from a file, and select the output file path you configured in Tuna. Arrange, size, and style the text source in the scene as you would other OBS sources.
- Test a track change before going live. Start playback, confirm the file updates, then check that the OBS source displays the new text. If you configured cover art, add an OBS image source that points to Tuna’s saved image file and verify it updates too.
Labels can be blank or incomplete when the selected player does not provide a field. For local files played through VLC, Tuna’s guide notes that VLC may use a filename as the title; its option to remove extensions can prevent suffixes such as .mp3, .wav, or .flac from appearing in that title.
Configure the documented YouTube Music route
If the radio audio is playing in YouTube Music, Tuna’s documented route uses its web-browser source integration; it is not a method for reading the title of an existing YouTube live stream.
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- In Tuna, select Web browser as the music source.
- Enable Tuna’s local webserver option as described in the Tuna setup documentation.
- Enable the Tuna plugin in the YouTube Music application, following its current instructions.
- Configure Tuna’s metadata output, then connect that output to an OBS text source using the text-file workflow above.
- Play a track and verify the artist and title actually appear in the output before relying on the label during a broadcast.
The exact behavior depends on the selected source and current application/plugin behavior. Do not assume that YouTube’s live-stream metadata or a regular YouTube browser video is automatically queried just because the destination is YouTube.
Use Tuna with a VLC source
For music played by an OBS VLC source, the Tuna resource documents a direct source-selection workflow. First confirm that VLC is version 3.0.0 or later. In Tuna, choose VLC as the source, refresh or select the relevant scene and VLC source, and add it according to the guide. The documented setup does not work when that VLC source is grouped or otherwise nested.
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If the title comes from a filename rather than embedded track metadata, consider Tuna’s remove-extensions option. Check the resulting text in OBS: removing a file extension does not supply a missing artist name or turn a filename into complete music metadata.
Optional: use a designed browser overlay
If a plain text line and a separate cover image are not enough, the community project NowPlayingRevamped-universal documents a browser-source overlay with album art, artist and title, a progress bar, animations, and customization. It is a community overlay, not an official Tuna distribution.
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Its documented setup requires Windows, Tuna, Windows Media Control, and a local web server. The README’s example has Tuna save title, first artist, and cover-art files; enables Tuna’s webserver on port 1608; serves the overlay files locally; and adds the resulting URL as an OBS Browser Source. That example uses a 500 by 150 browser source and says to refresh it when its scene becomes active. Follow the project README for its current files and configuration rather than treating those example dimensions as a requirement for Tuna itself.
There is a source-selection edge case: the project README reports that when multiple browser sources play simultaneously, Windows Media Control may show whichever source became active most recently and may not return to the earlier source until a track-change event. If your overlay displays a different player’s track, check which media source is active and test with only the intended player running.
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Check OBS and operating-system compatibility
The Tuna OBS resource lists OBS Studio 28.0.0 as its minimum, and lists Windows and Linux. This is a requirement stated on the resource page, not a guarantee that every current OBS build, distribution, or packaging format will work. Plugin compatibility can change; the resource’s update history includes a September 12, 2025 entry fixing a crash with a latest beta that had removed a deprecated API function. Check the current release and installation links before upgrading OBS or installing Tuna.
The same resource dates MPRIS and Windows Media Control support to October 27, 2022. Its page identifies version 1.9.11 and a creation date of August 11, 2019, but those details do not establish the newest release available now. For Linux, pay particular attention to distribution-specific instructions and the stated Flatpak support limitation.
Troubleshoot a missing or incorrect now-playing label
- Tuna does not appear under OBS Tools: The resource guide says this can mean the plugin was installed incorrectly or OBS could not load it. Recheck the installation for your OBS packaging and consult an OBS log to investigate loading errors.
- The text source is empty or does not change: Confirm that the music is playing in the source selected in Tuna, that Tuna’s output path matches the file selected by the OBS text source, and that the chosen source integration is configured. Test with a track known to expose metadata.
- The artist, title, or artwork is missing: Check what fields the player actually supplies. Tuna’s guide cautions that not every source supports every formatting option; a missing field is not necessarily an OBS rendering problem.
- VLC displays a filename or fails to update: Confirm VLC 3.0.0 or later, make sure the VLC source is not grouped or nested in the documented setup, and check whether the file has useful metadata. Remove extensions if they are showing as part of a filename-based title.
- A browser overlay shows the wrong player: If multiple browser sources are playing, Windows Media Control may select the most recently active source. Stop other sources to isolate the intended player and check again after a track change.
- Spotify login or updates are unreliable: Tuna’s guide mentions version, service availability or rate limiting, and login cookies as things to check. Its Spotify authentication instructions may be dated, so confirm the current project instructions instead of assuming an old login procedure still applies.
Keep metadata rights separate from stream operation
A now-playing overlay only displays the information a player provides; it does not grant permission to broadcast a song, recording, artwork, or other copyrighted material. Before using music in a YouTube radio stream, confirm that your use is authorized and that the license covers livestreaming and any relevant territories or monetization. YouTube’s handling of music and rights can affect a stream independently of whether Tuna is configured correctly. Use a rights checklist such as StreamNeo’s copyright safety checklist as a starting point, not as a substitute for confirming your own permissions.
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Tuna adds now-playing metadata to an OBS scene; it does not keep a computer-generated radio stream online after the computer is turned off. If your separate goal is keeping a pre-recorded YouTube stream running without leaving a home computer on, StreamNeo is a cloud option for uploaded videos and playlists. Upload the recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key, and go live. Nothing has to stay running at home; it streams the upload as made, up to 4K 60fps at one flat price per slot, with automatic recovery if YouTube drops the stream. The first day is free with no card; the Monthly price is $9.99 per month. StreamNeo is for YouTube and uploaded video playback, not a camera-based live feed or a replacement for an OBS now-playing overlay. Start the free day with StreamNeo.
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