How to get Metadata from Westwood One Storq into Rocket Broadcaster

Introduction

Storq is a radio automation suite from radio conglomerate Westwood One, with a focus on content distribution. Rocket Broadcaster is our streaming audio encoder that can capture audio and metadata from Storq. Rocket Broadcaster can be run alongside Storq on the same PC, or on a separate PC.

In this guide, you'll learn how to configure Storq to send track metadata to Rocket Broadcaster, so your stream can have accurate "Now Playing" metadata for your listeners.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

For this guide, Storq and Rocket Broadcaster can be installed either on the same PC or on separate PCs.

Step 1 - Enable TCP Metadata in Rocket Broadcaster

First, we need to configure a couple of settings inside Rocket Broadcaster before it can receive metadata from Storq.

In the Rocket Broadcaster window:

  1. Click Broadcast in the top menu, and select Metadata Capture.
  2. Click the TCP Server tab.
  3. Check "Allow other applications to update your metadata over TCP".
  4. Ensure the port is set to 9002.
  5. If Storq is running on a different PC, change Allow TCP connections from to Remote computers (via any NIC)
  6. Beside Format, select Westwood One Storq.
  7. Beside Character Encoding, select UTF-8.
  8. Make note of the "Host" IP and "Port" listed at the bottom of the window.
  9. Click OK to save your changes.

TCP metadata server configured in Rocket Broadcaster Pro for ProppFrexx OnAir.

Rocket Broadcaster is now configured to let other applications update your stream metadata. In the next step, you'll configure Storq to connect to Rocket and send those metadata updates.

Step 2 - Configure Storq to send metadata over TCP

  1. Inside the Storq Web GUI, click the Setup tab in the menu at the top, then RBDS IP Signaling on the left.
  2. Under "RBDS IP Signaling for Port 1", click Edit. If that Port is already configured, then choose another available Port.
  3. Click "Add Destination".
  4. Change the "Type" to tcp. Enter the IP address and Port that you noted before from Rocket Broadcaster. If you are running Rocket Broadcaster and Storq on the same PC, then you can enter 127.0.0.1 as the IP address. Otherwise, if they are running on separate PCs, then you should enter the IP address of the PC running Rocket Broadcaster, which should correspond to what we noted before.
  5. Click "Update" to save your changes.

Step 3 - Test it

Storq should start sending metadata to Rocket Broadcaster as soon as the next track begins. In the Rocket Broadcaster main window, received metadata will be automatically shown under "Now Playing", and immediately inserted into your online streams. If you see your metadata there, then it's working successfully and your configuration is complete.

Troubleshooting

  • If you don't see the metadata update in Rocket Broadcaster, double check that all your settings match this guide.
  • Check the Storq logs for errors. Inside the Storq Web GUI, click "Logs at the top, then "Operational" on the left and seeing if there's anything about the IP Signaling or RBDS in there.
  • Check the Rocket Broadcaster log file for clues. (Help->View Log...)
  • Verify that the IP and port of the Rocket Broadcaster PC matches what you have entered in Storq.
  • Make sure that a 3rd party firewall or internet security suite is not blocking inbound access on that port to Rocket Broadcaster, or outbound traffic on your Storq PC. (Rocket Broadcaster automatically configures the Windows Firewall to allow inbound access.)