AutoDJ keeps your station on the air automatically. It plays your uploaded music in the order and schedule you set, even when no live DJ is connected. This guide gets you from an empty station to a 24/7 broadcast in a few steps. Everything happens in your CastHost dashboard at dashboard.casthost.net.
Step 1: Set your station profile
In the sidebar, go to Settings -> Profile and fill in the basics:
- Stream title is your station name.
- Genre, Description, and Website URL are optional, but they show up on your public pages and players.
- Timezone and Country should match your location, so scheduling and statistics line up with your local time.
Click Save.
Step 2: Upload your music
Go to DJ -> Auto DJ. On the Playlists tab, click Upload Files and select the audio files you want to broadcast. They're added to your station's media library.
If you have a large library to move at once, open FTP Detail on the same page for SFTP upload credentials. That's handy for bulk uploads instead of one file at a time.
Step 3: Create a playlist
Still under DJ -> Auto DJ on the Playlists tab, click Add Playlist:
- Give the playlist a name.
- Add tracks to it from your uploaded media.
- Save it, then make sure it's enabled (use the Enable/Disable control on the playlist).
You can create more than one playlist. For example, you might keep a main rotation plus a separate playlist for specials, and you can reorder tracks within each one.
Step 4: (Optional) Schedule and add jingles
- Scheduling Tool tab: use the calendar to set when a playlist plays (for example, a morning show every weekday at 8 AM). Click Add Schedule, pick the playlist, and set the start and end times. Playlists without a schedule simply run in general rotation.
- Jingles tab: upload station IDs, promos, or ads and set how often they play (after a number of songs, or on a time interval).
Step 5: Tune your AutoDJ settings
Open the Settings tab on the DJ -> Auto DJ page to adjust how songs play, including crossfade between tracks for smooth transitions. Save when you're done.
Step 6: Start broadcasting
If your server isn't already running, start it using the Start Server control on your dashboard Home page, or the Start / Stop / Restart Server controls in the top bar. Once the server is on and AutoDJ is enabled, your station broadcasts your playlists around the clock.
Your Home page shows the AutoDJ status badge, what's playing now, and your public listen links (PLS Playlist and M3U Playlist downloads, plus the listen URLs you can share). To check who's tuning in, see Statistics -> Live.
Going live with a DJ later
AutoDJ runs your station automatically, but you can also broadcast live whenever you want. AutoDJ takes over again as soon as you disconnect:
- From your browser: DJ -> Web Encoder lets you broadcast live with no extra software.
- From broadcasting software: DJ -> Encoders shows your connection details (server host, port, mount, source username and password) and built-in guides for BUTT, Mixxx, and SAM Broadcaster. See Quick Start: Going Live with an Encoder for the full walkthrough.
If anything isn't playing as expected, just open a ticket from the Support Center and we'll help you sort it out.
