Radio Bot: Music in Voice Chats

Want background music in your chat that everybody hears at the same moment, without passing links around? Radio bot streams sound straight into the voice chat of your group or channel. 🎧

It does three things: plays internet radio with a choice of station, takes the audio from YouTube videos, and plays an audio file you send to it.

Three sources of sound

• Radio. Streams stations from a website, and you pick the station.
• YouTube. Plays the audio track of a video, no picture needed.
• Your own file. Send the bot an audio file and it plays it in the chat.

Everyone in the voice chat hears the track at the same time, which suits an online party or a work background.

Playlists with timing

Besides one-off playback, the bot can build a playlist with playback times. You can line up in advance what plays and when.

Another convenience: one bot can be connected to several chats at once. If you run several communities, you do not need a separate bot for each.

Setting up without fuss

1. Open the bot and press /start. It is the only listed command, and the rest runs through buttons and hints.
2. Add the bot to your group or channel and make it an admin, since it cannot work with the voice chat otherwise.
3. Start a voice chat in the community so there is somewhere to stream.
4. Choose a source: a station, a video or a file.

If nothing plays, check that the voice chat is actually running and that the bot's admin rights are not restricted.

Music on air and other people's rights

Playing music in public touches copyright. In a private chat of friends the question is mostly theoretical, but on a large public channel the risk is real.

Radio stations broadcast for private listening, and replaying music in a commercial channel with ads may require licenses. When in doubt, use your own recordings or material that is free to share.

Where it fits best

Bots like this usually go into study groups, gaming communities, hobby clubs and themed channels where people already sit together in a voice chat.

• Listening together. One track, one moment, shared discussion.
• Work background. Switch on a station and get on with your tasks.
• Community broadcast. Your own recordings and podcasts on a schedule.

The bot's description carries a 2024 note, so test it in a small group before relying on it for an important community, and confirm that all three sources work.

Small tips for hosts

Before the session, tell members that music will play and agree who may queue tracks. That way the bot does not turn into a fight over the queue.

Mind the volume: loud background music drowns out conversation, so members should know in advance how to lower the sound on their side.