How do I play background music or share computer program audio?

You can easily share music or other audio with StreamYard in a few ways!

StreamYard now has built-in background music! See here for more information.

From a browser tab:

You can share music from YouTube or other sources using a tab in Chrome.

1. Open up your music source in a new tab in Chrome.
   Note: In this example we'll be using a YouTube video. Make sure your music is copyright-free, or you have the rights to it!
2. In StreamYard, click "Present", then "Share Screen".
   
3. Click "Chrome tab" at the top, select your music tab, check "Share audio", and click "Share".
   
4. Click "Add to stage" to add your screen share to the stream, and then (to hide the video so it's "audio-only") switch to a layout that does not have a share shown.
   

From a video file:

You can share music from a .mp4 file using Video Share.

1. Download/create a .mp4 file using the music you'd like to play on stream.
   Websites like this can be used to convert audio files to .mp4 files. Make sure your music is copyright-free, or you have the rights to it!
2. In the StreamYard studio, click "Present", then "Video File", and choose the file from your computer.
   
3. Click "Add to stage" to add your video share to the stream, and then (to hide the video so it's "audio-only") switch to a layout that does not have a share shown.
   
   

Sharing desktop audio:

You can share audio from your entire desktop easily from PC computers. This is currently only supported in Chrome on Windows computers. It is not supported on MacOS computers.

1. In StreamYard, click "Present", then "Share Screen".
   
2. Click "Entire Screen" at the top, choose the screen you'd like to display, check "Share audio", and click "Share".
   
3. Click "Add to stage" to add your screen share to the stream, and then (to hide the video so it's "audio-only") switch to a layout that does not have a share shown.
   

To share audio from specific desktop applications, or for a more advanced setup, you will need a physical audio interface like a Rodecaster Pro, or a virtual audio mixer like VoiceMeeter on PC or Loopback on Mac. Once you have everything configured, you can select that device as your audio input in the mic menu on StreamYard, so it feeds directly into the live stream.

Updated November 04, 2023 20:02