Live365 is one of the most established streaming platforms available to independent internet radio broadcasters — and one of the few that bundles music licensing, hosting, distribution, and royalty reporting into a single monthly subscription. For most stations, that combination eliminates more paperwork than anything else in the broadcast stack.
This guide covers everything you need to know about Live365 before signing up: how the platform works, what each plan includes, how pricing actually breaks down, what licensing covers, and how to connect your playout software.
This guide is part of the Complete Guide to Building a 24/7 Internet Radio Station with PlayoutONE.
What Live365 Is
Live365 is a managed internet radio platform. When you subscribe, you get:
- Streaming infrastructure — Live365 hosts and delivers your stream to listeners worldwide
- Music licensing — Live365 holds direct agreements with the major performance rights organisations in the US, Canada, Mexico, and UK, covering your station for legal music broadcast
- Royalty reporting — Live365 handles the tracking and reporting of plays to the relevant rights organisations on your behalf
- Dashboard and AutoDJ — a web-based control panel for managing your music library, playlists, and scheduling
- Distribution — your station is listed in the Live365 directory and, on higher plans, on TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and through a custom Alexa skill
This all-in-one approach is what distinguishes Live365 from a bare streaming server. With a basic streaming server (SHOUTcast, Icecast, or a managed provider like StreamGuys), you get the transmission infrastructure only — you must arrange your own licensing separately. Live365 wraps both into the same subscription price.
How Live365 Licensing Works
Music licensing is the most important reason independent broadcasters choose Live365. Broadcasting music without a licence is a legal liability — rights organisations can and do pursue unlicensed internet radio stations.
What countries are covered
Live365’s licensing coverage includes four countries:
- United States — ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR, SoundExchange, AllTrack, and Word Collections
- Canada — SOCAN and Re:Sound
- Mexico — SACM and SOMEXFON
- United Kingdom — PPL and PRS for Music
Coverage applies to your station’s broadcasts reaching listeners in these countries. If you have listeners outside these four countries, those plays are not covered by Live365’s licensing agreements — though most independent stations at the scale that uses Live365 have primarily US-based audiences.
Two types of royalties covered
Live365’s licensing covers both categories of royalty that apply to internet radio:
- Performance rights — paid to songwriters and publishers through organisations like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC for the right to publicly perform their compositions
- Sound recording rights — paid to record labels and recording artists through SoundExchange for the right to play the specific recorded version of a song
Both are required. A station that pays performance rights only (the songwriter) but not sound recording rights (the record label) is still operating unlicensed. Live365 covers both.
The metadata requirement
Licensing coverage is entirely dependent on accurate, real-time metadata for every track played. Live365 uses your stream’s Now Playing data to generate the royalty reports it submits to rights organisations on your behalf.
If your metadata is wrong — blank, delayed, or showing the wrong track — Live365 cannot accurately report your plays. This creates a potential gap in your licensing coverage. Accurate metadata is not optional; it is a technical requirement of the service.
This is why correctly configuring the metadata chain in PlayoutONE (covered in the Metadata guide) matters so much when using Live365 as your provider.
Understanding Total Listening Hours (TLH)
Every Live365 plan is defined primarily by its monthly allocation of Total Listening Hours (TLH). This is the most important number to understand before choosing a plan — and the one most new broadcasters misread.
TLH is not how many hours your station broadcasts. It is the cumulative total of all listener-hours in a month.
The calculation is: number of concurrent listeners × hours they are tuned in = TLH consumed
Some examples:
- 1 listener tuned in for 1 hour = 1 TLH
- 10 listeners tuned in for 1 hour = 10 TLH
- 50 listeners tuned in for 10 hours = 500 TLH
- 100 listeners tuned in all day (24 hours) = 2,400 TLH in a single day
A station broadcasting 24/7 with zero listeners uses zero TLH. A station broadcasting 2 hours a day but with 500 simultaneous listeners burns through TLH very quickly.
Practical rule of thumb: Broadcast 1 (1,500 TLH) supports approximately 50 concurrent listeners across 30 days of typical listening patterns. If your audience regularly exceeds 50 simultaneous listeners, you will need a higher plan.
What happens when you exceed your TLH
Live365 does not cut your stream when you hit your monthly limit. Instead, additional listening hours are charged at an overage rate of $0.05 per hour, and you may be automatically moved to the next plan tier for the remainder of the month. You can monitor your TLH consumption in real time through the Live365 dashboard.
Plans and Pricing
Live365 offers five plan tiers (Broadcast 1 through Broadcast 5), each available in two versions: With Ads (lower price, Live365 inserts ads into your stream and shares revenue 50/50) or Without Ads (higher price, no Live365 advertising in your stream).
Annual billing saves the equivalent of two months — you pay for ten months and get twelve.
With Ads Plans
Live365 delivers ads; you receive 50% of ad revenue generated by your station.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | TLH / Month | Storage | Bitrate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast 1 | $59 | $590 | 1,500 | 30 GB | 192 kbps |
| Broadcast 2 Popular | $99 | $990 | 3,500 | 50 GB | 192 kbps |
| Broadcast 3 | $199 | $1,990 | 7,000 | 100 GB | 320 kbps |
| Broadcast 4 | $499 | $4,990 | 10,000 | 200 GB | 320 kbps |
| Broadcast 5 VIP | $999 | $9,990 | 20,000 | 500 GB | 320 kbps |
Without Ads Plans
No Live365 advertising in your stream. You control the full listener experience.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | TLH / Month | Storage | Bitrate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast 1 | $79 | $790 | 1,500 | 30 GB | 192 kbps |
| Broadcast 2 | $134 | $1,340 | 3,500 | 50 GB | 192 kbps |
| Broadcast 3 | $274 | $2,740 | 7,000 | 100 GB | 320 kbps |
| Broadcast 4 | $664 | $6,640 | 10,000 | 200 GB | 320 kbps |
| Broadcast 5 | $1,330 | $13,300 | 20,000 | 500 GB | 320 kbps |
Overage rate: $0.05 per listening hour beyond your monthly TLH allowance.
Annual billing: Pay for 10 months, get 12 — effectively two months free.
Free trial: 7 days available before committing to a paid plan.
What Each Plan Tier Includes
The differences between plans go beyond TLH and storage. Here is what each tier unlocks:
Broadcast 1 and 2 — Core broadcasting
- Music licensing coverage (US, Canada, Mexico, UK)
- Live365 directory listing
- Web-based dashboard with AutoDJ, playlist management, and scheduling
- Standard analytics (listener count, listening hours)
- Standard support (24-hour first response)
- 192 kbps maximum stream bitrate
Broadcast 3 — Adds Alexa Skill and higher bitrate
- Everything in Broadcast 1 & 2
- Amazon Alexa skill — listeners can tune in via “Alexa, play [your station name]”
- 320 kbps maximum bitrate — higher audio quality
- Standard support (24-hour response)
Broadcast 4 — Premium tier with mobile apps and TuneIn
- Everything in Broadcast 3
- Custom iOS and Android mobile apps — branded to your station, maintained by Live365
- TuneIn On Air distribution — your station listed on TuneIn
- iHeartRadio submission eligibility — limited seats, not guaranteed
- Benztown imaging library — access to professional station imaging elements
- Enterprise analytics
- Full-page customisable player
- Premium support (12-hour first response)
Broadcast 5 — VIP tier
- Everything in Broadcast 4
- 20,000 TLH — the highest standard allocation
- 500 GB storage
- VIP support — 3-hour first response
With Ads vs. Without Ads: Which to Choose
This is the decision most new subscribers find confusing. Here is the plain-English version:
With Ads
Live365 inserts their own advertising into your stream. You receive 50% of the ad revenue generated by your station’s listeners. The subscription price is lower because the ad revenue partly subsidises your plan.
Choose With Ads if: You are starting out and want to minimise cost while potentially offsetting some expense through ad revenue. The ads are managed by Live365 — you have no control over the ad content or timing, but you also have no work to do.
Without Ads
No Live365 advertising in your stream. You control the complete listener experience from start to finish. You can still run your own sponsorship reads, pre-recorded commercials, or keep the station completely ad-free. The subscription price is higher because there is no advertising subsidy.
Choose Without Ads if: You want full control of the listener experience, you are running a professional or branded station, you sell your own advertising, or the ad interruptions are not appropriate for your format (classical, ambient, children’s radio, etc.).
Technical Requirements for Connecting PlayoutONE
Live365 accepts incoming streams from external playout software — including PlayoutONE LiveStream — via standard encoder protocols.
Audio format requirements
- Supported formats: MP3, AAC, M4A
- Sample rate: 44.1 kHz (required — other sample rates are not accepted)
- Bitrate: Up to 192 kbps on Broadcast 1 & 2; up to 320 kbps on Broadcast 3–5
Connection requirements
- Internet connection: Wired Ethernet strongly recommended — Live365 requires a stable, consistent upload connection
- Upload speed: Minimum 5 Mbps upload. At 192 kbps MP3, the stream itself uses a fraction of this — the headroom is for connection stability, not raw bandwidth
- OS: Windows 10 or later, or macOS 10.15 or later
Metadata requirement
Every track played must transmit accurate Artist, Title, and Album metadata in real time. This is not optional — it is a condition of your licensing coverage. PlayoutONE’s Billboard → Monitor → LiveStream metadata chain handles this automatically when configured correctly. See the Metadata guide for the full setup.
Choosing the Right Plan: A Practical Guide
If you are unsure which plan is right, Live365 themselves recommend starting with Broadcast 1 and scaling up as your audience grows. You will not lose your station if you exceed your TLH — you will simply pay overages or be moved to the next tier temporarily.
- Starting a new station, audience unknown: Broadcast 1 With Ads — lowest risk, lowest cost, test what you actually need
- Established station, ~100 regular listeners: Broadcast 2 — comfortable TLH headroom for a station with a small but real audience
- Growing station, want Alexa + better audio: Broadcast 3 — the first tier with 320 kbps and Alexa skill
- Professional station, want mobile apps and TuneIn: Broadcast 4 — meaningful jump in distribution and audience reach
- Full-scale operation: Broadcast 5 — maximum TLH, VIP support, same distribution as Broadcast 4
The With Ads / Without Ads decision for new stations
Most new stations start with the With Ads tier to keep costs down while building an audience. The 50/50 revenue share rarely produces meaningful income at small audience sizes — but the lower subscription cost is real. Once the station has an established audience and potentially its own advertising relationships, switching to Without Ads becomes worthwhile.
The Live365 Dashboard: What You Get
All Live365 plans include a web-based dashboard that handles the management side of your station. Key features:
- Media library — upload and organise your audio files directly in Live365 (separate from your PlayoutONE library if you are using external playout software)
- Playlist builder — create and schedule playlists within the Live365 system
- AutoDJ — Live365’s own built-in automation engine, an alternative to external playout software
- Event scheduling — time-based programming for automated shows, content blocks, and overrides
- Analytics — real-time listener count, TLH consumed, geographic data, and on higher plans, ad performance reporting
- Relay/external encoder management — the settings for connecting PlayoutONE or another external playout system to your Live365 stream
Using PlayoutONE with Live365
Most stations using PlayoutONE treat Live365 as the streaming server only — PlayoutONE handles all scheduling, rotation, and automation, and LiveStream pushes the encoded audio to Live365’s servers. In this configuration, you will not use Live365’s AutoDJ or media library for day-to-day playout. You will use the Live365 dashboard primarily for monitoring listener stats, managing your relay encoder credentials, and accessing your licensing documentation.
iHeartRadio and TuneIn: What to Expect
TuneIn (Broadcast 4 and 5)
Broadcast 4 and 5 plans include TuneIn On Air distribution — your station is listed and streamable on the TuneIn platform. TuneIn has a significant global user base across web, mobile, smart TVs, and in-car systems. This is a meaningful distribution benefit for stations at this tier.
iHeartRadio (Broadcast 4 and 5)
Broadcast 4 and 5 plans make your station eligible for iHeartRadio submission — but this is not a guaranteed listing. Live365 is clear that iHeartRadio distribution is a “limited-seat opportunity.” Not every eligible station is accepted, and approval timelines are not defined. Treat iHeartRadio as a potential benefit, not a guaranteed one.
Live365 vs. Self-Managed Streaming
The main alternative to Live365 is running your own streaming server (or using a bare server host like Centova Cast, AzuraCast, or a managed SHOUTcast/Icecast provider) and arranging licensing independently through SoundExchange and the relevant PROs.
| Factor | Live365 | Self-Managed |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing included | ✅ Yes | ❌ Arrange separately |
| Royalty reporting | ✅ Handled by Live365 | ❌ Your responsibility |
| Directory distribution | ✅ Live365 + TuneIn (B4+) | Manual submission |
| Monthly cost at small scale | From $59 | From ~$10–25 (server only) |
| Technical complexity | Low — managed platform | Medium to high |
| Control over stream | Moderate | Full |
| Best for | Stations wanting legal clarity + simplicity | Technically confident broadcasters or those already licensed |
The honest summary: Live365 costs more than a bare streaming server, but it includes licensing that you would otherwise need to arrange, pay for, and report on yourself. For most independent internet radio operators who want to be legally compliant without becoming amateur music-rights lawyers, Live365’s bundled approach is worth the premium over a raw server.
Getting Started with Live365
- Sign up for the 7-day free trial at live365.com/broadcaster/pricing — no payment required to start
- Choose your plan — when in doubt, start with Broadcast 1 and scale up once you know your real listener numbers
- Get your encoder credentials from the Live365 dashboard — you will need the server address, port, and stream password to connect PlayoutONE LiveStream
- Configure PlayoutONE LiveStream with your Live365 credentials — follow the LiveStream setup guide
- Verify your metadata is transmitting correctly — check your Live365 dashboard’s Now Playing display matches what PlayoutONE is playing
- Test your stream — listen via the Live365 web player and confirm audio is clean and consistent