Frequently asked questions

StreamFX turns your music into a live overlay for your stream. Connect your DJ software or radio stream, and we show the current track with album art — plus song requests, polls, stream scenes and a public bio page — on Twitch, YouTube, TikTok or anywhere you use OBS.

Most streamers are live in under five minutes: create your account, copy your personal push URL into your DJ software (or paste your stream URL), then add your overlay links as browser sources. No developer skills needed.

Every new account gets 7 days of Pro completely free — all 90+ themes, the overlay builder, song requests, scenes and polls, and your bio page. No card is required, and you can subscribe any time to keep everything.

Dashboard → My links (the first tab). It has every link in one place: your Now Playing overlay, the song requests banner, widgets, scenes, your bio and donate pages, and links for your website and chatbot — each with Copy and Open buttons and the size to use in OBS. The three you need most are also at the top of the Playout tab.

Click "Find anything" at the top of any dashboard page, or press / (or Ctrl+K). Type what you're after — "overlay link", "password", "fun facts", "discount" — and press Enter to jump straight to it.

A short checklist on your dashboard while you set up: connect your music, pick your overlay look, add the overlay to OBS and make your bio page yours. Each step ticks itself off as you do it. You can hide it, and it disappears by itself once everything's done.

You need somewhere to show a web page: OBS Studio, Streamlabs, vMix, XSplit and TikTok LIVE Studio all work. Overlays are added as "Browser Source" widgets using the links in Dashboard → My links.

PlayIt Live, RadioDJ, mAirList, SAM Broadcaster, StationPlaylist, ProppFrexx, Serato, rekordbox, VirtualDJ, Traktor and Mixxx — plus AzuraCast, Icecast and Shoutcast streams, or any software that can write the current song to a text file (our 1-click File Watcher handles that).

Yes, on Pro. In Dashboard → Playout, choose "FTP upload" and click "Create my FTP login". Put the server, username and password into your software's FTP upload setting and have it upload a text file (like nowplaying.txt) containing "Artist - Title" — or pick another layout. Your overlay updates within a few seconds of each upload. Only .txt files are kept; anything else is deleted automatically, and each login can only see its own folder.

This means StreamFX hasn't received a track yet. Send a test track from Dashboard → Playout ("Send Test Track"), or play a song in your DJ software. If you use Pull mode, double-check your stream URL with the "Test Connection" button. If it was working and suddenly stopped, check our status page.

Dashboard → Themes. Every theme shows a small live preview with your current track — tap one to try it in the big preview. Under "Make it yours" you can set your own colours, font, corners, animation, how long the card shows and a logo for when there's no album art. Your overlay updates within seconds of saving.

Yes — in Themes, switch on "Match each album cover". The overlay picks two colours from each cover, so it changes with every song. It works with themes that support custom colours and with your own builder designs. Covers that are mostly black, white or grey keep your normal colours.

Yes — Dashboard → Builder. Tap a layout, start from one of the colour palettes, then pick fonts, corners and animation. The live preview shows it over a pretend stream, a see-through backdrop or a green screen. Press "Save & use" to put it on your overlay. You can keep up to 10 designs, and they also appear in Themes under "My designs".

Yes — in Themes, under "On the card", set Track progress to "Bar" or "Bar and time". You can also switch on "Album, year and genre". Song lengths come from iTunes, so an extended mix may run longer than the bar expects; the bar hides itself if that happens.

Yes — in Themes, every theme has a link button. It copies an overlay link that always shows that theme, so you can add a vertical theme to your TikTok scene and a card theme to your Twitch scene at the same time. Your colours, font and other settings still apply. Your main overlay link keeps showing the theme you saved.

Yes — choose a theme from the "Vertical (TikTok)" category in Themes and add it as a 400 × 600 browser source. The stream scenes also have vertical versions.

Little badges on your overlay and bio page taken from your own history: "First time played on this stream", "Played 50 times on this stream" (at 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 plays) and "Last played 6 months ago" for tracks you haven't played in 3 months or more. Switch them on in Themes under "On the card" → "Track milestones".

Yes. In Themes, scroll to "On your website". Pick "Match my overlay" (it changes whenever you change your stream theme) or any single theme, choose "Fits the page width" or a fixed size, then copy the code into your site — a Custom HTML block on WordPress, Embed code on Wix or a Code block on Squarespace. It uses your colours and settings, shows what's playing live, has a see-through background and scales to fit the space. Visitors never see your private overlay link. To take it down everywhere, switch off "Allow on websites" in Live Tools.

Yes. A small "Powered by StreamFX.co.uk" credit sits in the corner of your Now Playing overlay, widgets and request banner, and it's on to start with. Turn it off in Themes under "On the card" → "Powered by". Overlays already in OBS update within a few seconds.

Yes — Dashboard → Playout has a Blocklist field. Add comma-separated keywords (e.g. "Sweeper, Station ID, Jingle") and matching tracks are ignored, keeping your last real song on screen.

Now Playing 650 × 160, Song Requests banner 600 × 130, vertical themes 400 × 600, and scenes 1920 × 1080. Every link in Dashboard → My links shows the size to use.

A short fact about the song or artist that's playing — like a chart record, an award, who wrote it or its tempo. Each track is looked up in Wikipedia, Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Deezer and Last.fm, and facts from your own stream are added too, like the first time you've played it. Nothing is made up: if there's no good fact, nothing shows. Your dashboard shows every fact found under Now playing, so you have something to talk about. To show one on stream, switch on Fun facts in Themes → On the card (it slides in 20 seconds into each track, with a different fact each time the song plays), or add the Fun fact widget from Live Tools.

Wikipedia, Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Deezer and Last.fm, facts suggested by streamers and checked by our team, and play stats from every StreamFX stream (like "played by 86 different DJs" or "trending this week"). Each fact shows where it came from on your dashboard. Nothing is made up: if no source has anything worth saying, no fact shows.

Lesser-known tracks may not be in any of our sources yet. Your own stream's facts still show (like the release year or how often you've played it), we look the track up again every week, and you can suggest a fact for it yourself.

Yes. Click "Suggest a fact" under Now playing on your dashboard, or the 💡 next to any track in History. Our team checks every suggestion; once approved it can show on any StreamFX stream when that track plays (without your name), and we email you either way.

Yes — that's what the dashboard is for. Under Now playing you'll see the fact on screen now, plus "more facts to talk about" with every other fact we found for the track.

From your public bio page. Requests appear instantly in your dashboard queue, where you can pin them to your stream, mark them played or remove them.

Usually not. When a track starts that matches a request — even typed a bit differently — it's marked played automatically, and your overlay can show "Requested by @name". You can turn either of these off on the Song Requests page.

Yes — Song Requests → Request settings. Use the − and + buttons to set a cooldown between requests, how many songs one listener can have waiting, a maximum queue size, no repeats of recently played songs, and a list of blocked songs, artists or words. You can also show a message while requests are closed.

Full-screen Starting soon, Be right back and Ending screens for your stream, with your own text, the current track, a countdown and a QR code to your bio page. Find them in Dashboard → Live Tools.

In Live Tools, enter 2–4 songs and start the poll. Viewers vote on your bio page (one vote each) and the poll widget shows the votes live on stream. Close it to show the winner.

Yes — Live Tools → Fundraiser goal. Set a target and link your donation page (JustGiving, GoFundMe and so on), then add donations as they come in. The fundraiser widget and your bio page show the total. Donations go straight to the charity — StreamFX never handles the money.

An on-air timer, a track goal, a poll, a fundraiser goal, donation alerts, Up next (your next requests), Recently played (your last few tracks) and a "Did you know?" fun fact. Their links and sizes are all in Dashboard → My links; their settings are in Live Tools.

A page at a link like streamfx.co.uk/live.php?u=yourname showing what's playing, your recent tracks, polls and a song request form — alongside your social and tip links. Put it in your social profiles — copy it from the top of Dashboard → Bio & Account.

Your page link is streamfx.co.uk/live.php?u=yourname (with your own username). It's shown at the top of Bio & Account with Copy and Open buttons, and it's the link on your QR codes and scenes.

Yes — Dashboard → Bio & Account → "Look & links". Pick a background (one colour, a two-colour fade or your own picture), a font, light or dark text, button shape and box style, with a live preview on a phone.

Yes — add up to 8 link buttons (your website, merch, next gig, mixes and so on) in Bio & Account → "Look & links", and put them in any order with the arrows. They show under your social links.

Yes — Live Tools → "Now playing on your website". Pick a card, slim bar or playlist style and paste the code into any page. Developers can use the JSON, RSS or plain-text feeds instead.

Open Dashboard → Song Requests on your phone. The big round button opens or closes requests, and every request has big buttons to copy the song, pin it to your stream, mark it played or remove it. The page updates by itself every few seconds.

Yes — use the plain-text feed from My links → Website & chatbots (it ends in &format=text). For Nightbot, set the command to $(urlfetch YOUR_LINK).

Your month or year as a shareable festival-style poster: your headline artist, top tracks, longest show and busiest night. Open it from Dashboard → History. You can make it private if you prefer.

13 months. You can download it as a spreadsheet (CSV) from the History page at any time.

Yes — History → "Your shows". Each show has three downloads: a spreadsheet (opens in Excel or Google Sheets), plain text ("Artist - Title" per line) and a list with times, ready to paste into a Mixcloud or YouTube description. A new show starts after 90 minutes with nothing playing.

Download the show's spreadsheet from History → "Your shows" and upload it to a free importer such as TuneMyMusic or Soundiiz, which finds each track on Spotify. DJ apps like rekordbox need the music files themselves, so they can't import a tracklist.

Dashboard → Donations. Click "Set up card donations" — Stripe makes you a free account for cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay — and/or enter your PayPal email, then tick "Take donations" and choose your suggested amounts. Viewers donate from your donate page, a box on your bio page, or a widget on your own website.

Straight into your own Stripe or PayPal account — StreamFX never holds it. Payouts, receipts and refunds are all handled in your Stripe or PayPal account.

Stripe and PayPal take their normal processing fees. The Donations page shows if StreamFX takes a small share of card donations — PayPal donations go to you in full.

Yes — add the alert link from Dashboard → Donations as a 560 × 200 Browser Source. It pops up the donor's name, amount and message. Donations can also be added to your fundraiser goal automatically.

Yes — Dashboard → Donations → "Donate widget for your website". Pick light or dark, choose whether to show your latest supporters, and paste the code into any page.

Click Hide next to it on the Donations page. Their name and message disappear from your page, widget and stream. Words on your request blocklist are filtered out of donation names and messages too.

Yes — refund it from your own Stripe dashboard or PayPal account, since the payment is in your account.

Yes. In Dashboard → Presenters, add up to 25 presenters. Each gets their own private push link for their DJ software, so nobody needs your password.

Yes — when a presenter's software sends a track, the overlay can show "with DJ Sam" under the track. You also get track and show stats for each presenter.

Click "Forgot your password?" on the login page and enter your username or email. We'll email you a reset link that works for 60 minutes.

Dashboard → Bio & Account → Two-step login. Scan the QR code with an authenticator app such as Google Authenticator or Authy, enter the 6-digit code, and save your backup codes somewhere safe.

Yes. We email you when someone signs in, or tries to and gets the password wrong, with the time, their IP address and device. Failed attempts are grouped into one email every 15 minutes at most. Choose "every sign-in", "only failed attempts" or "off" in Bio & Account → Sign-in alerts, where you can also see your recent sign-ins.

Use one of your backup codes in place of the 6-digit code — each one works once. If you've lost those too, contact support; we'll check it's really you before removing two-step login.

Dashboard → Bio & Account → Personal details. Update your name, email, phone, address and stream details, then press Save. If you pay by card, your receipts update to match. These details are private — they're never shown on your page or stream.

Yes — Dashboard → Bio & Account → Your data. Download everything we hold about you as one file, or delete your account permanently (this also cancels any subscription).

Yes — Bio & Account → Your data → "Back up my setup" downloads your theme, colours, scenes, request rules, bio links, playout connection and designs as one file. Sign in to the other account and use "Restore from a backup", choosing which parts to copy.

Our status page shows whether overlays, DJ software connections, bio pages, payments and emails are working, and lists every incident. If something affects you, you'll also see a notice in your dashboard.

Yes. About an hour after your show ends (when nothing new has played for 45 minutes), we email you a recap: tracks played, time on air, your most played artist, requests, donations, polls and a link to download the tracklist. Shows with fewer than 3 tracks are skipped. Turn it off, or send yourself the latest one now, in Bio & Account → Show recaps.

Yes. In Bio & Account → Emails from us, switch off "Tips and offers", or use the link at the bottom of any of those emails. You'll still get emails about your account, like password resets and sign-in alerts.

Account emails that always arrive: password resets, sign-in alerts, receipts and gift codes. Emails you can switch off in Bio & Account → Emails from us: show recaps after each stream, setup tips during your free trial (three at most), and one "we miss you" email if your plan ends, sometimes with a personal discount code.

Check the pricing on our homepage — it always shows the live prices. You can cancel any time from Dashboard → Billing and keep Pro until the end of your paid period.

On the Billing page, type it into "Have a discount code?" and click Apply — the plans show the discounted price, and Stripe applies it when you pay. If someone sent you a link with the code in it, it's applied for you. Each code can be used once per account.

Yes — Dashboard → Billing has your invite link. Friends who join with it get a 30-day free trial, and when they subscribe you get a month free (up to 12 a year). If you're paying, it comes off your next bill.

Dashboard → Billing → "Manage Billing & Cancel". It opens the secure Stripe portal where you can update your card, download invoices or cancel. Your overlays keep working until your paid period ends.

Your overlays pause and show a "subscription expired" notice — but your account, settings and history are kept safe. Resubscribe from Dashboard → Billing and everything switches back on instantly.

You'll see a notice in your dashboard. If it isn't sorted, your account is paused — you can still sign in and update your card from Billing, and everything comes back on as soon as the payment goes through.

Yes — at gift.php you can buy a month or a year as a one-off payment (nothing renews). We email you a code, and them too if you add their email. Gift codes never expire.

Sign in (or create a free account), go to Dashboard → Billing → "Redeem a gift" and enter the code. If you already pay by card, the gift becomes credit off your next bill instead.

Yes — payments are handled entirely by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.

For billing and invoice records (required for tax on digital services). It's stored privately and never shown on your stream or public pages.

Yes — the Fun Facts API lets websites, apps and chatbots get the same facts as JSON, free up to 5,000 requests a day. Apply on the Fun Facts API page (you can use your StreamFX login), and once approved you make your key in the developer portal. The docs explain the rest.

The free plan allows 5,000 requests a day, resetting at midnight UK time. Your developer portal shows how many you've used today and your recent requests. Facts for a track rarely change, so keep answers for a day or so on your side.

Yes — My links → "Website & chatbots" has a ready-made website card, a plain-text feed for chatbots like Nightbot, and JSON and RSS feeds of what you're playing. These only show your own stream and don't need an API key.