Social Radio is Tuned Global’s interactive broadcasting layer that lets artists, fans, and creators host their own shows inside music apps and interact with listeners in real time. With its new tipping feature, Social Radio helps any DSP build fan-focused communities, support creators, unlock new revenue streams, and gain deeper insight into user behaviour. It brings fandom into the heart of the platform, turning passive listeners into active participants.
We are expanding our innovative Social Radio platform—an interactive, fan-driven broadcasting layer for DSPs—with the launch of real-time tipping, letting fans support artists, DJs, and creators live. Inspired by creator economy giants like Twitch and TikTok, this plug-and-play monetisation layer lets DSPs roll out direct rewards for anyone curating a livestream, saving hundreds of hours in development time and significant cost.
With an industry laser-focused on fandom and the challenge of scaling artist-fan connections, as Spotify’s CEO recently noted, the pressure is rising for DSPs to deliver more participatory fan experiences. Tuned Global’s Social Radio answers that call, sparking significant interest at Music Biz and NAB this spring, as its latest evolution enables monetisation, emotional engagement, and new fan data—all in one SDK.
The new tipping feature, which lets fans send payments to their favourite streamer, is the latest expansion of Tuned Global’s existing Social Radio product. Social Radio lets listeners join virtual rooms where artists or audio influencers go live, play tracks, talk to fans, and get instant feedback from their listeners. Fans can cheer with emojis, respond in the chat, and, starting in Q3 of 2025, tip their favourite hosts directly.
With Tuned Global’s Social Radio integration, every second of every show becomes a data point, illuminating more than what someone listened to, but revealing how they felt, when they reacted, and who they shared that moment with. This emotionally and socially nuanced data offers DSPs an entirely new input for their recommendation engines, one that reflects real human connection, not just clicks, skips, and lookalike cohorts. It reflects human experiences more precisely than lean-back listening ever could.
Social Radio has been powered by Tuned Global’s 2023 acquisition of music AI pioneer Pacemaker. The DJ mix app’s patented formats and infrastructure now serve as the backbone for Social Radio’s live, interactive features.
Social features like interactive chats, fan reactions, and tipping are no longer a nice-to-have addition for music platforms; they are requirements in an era of changing fan expectations. Because of this, Tuned Global is already seeing strong global interest from savvy leading platforms. With integration-ready SDKs and a roadmap that includes show replays, user follow features, and more creator tools, Social Radio is fast becoming the social layer DSPs didn’t know they needed.
“In many parts of the world, especially in Asia, fandom is built into the DNA of streaming,” reflects Raso. “Western DSPs are only now realising how vital it is to long-term user loyalty. Social Radio helps bridge that gap by turning passive listeners into superfans.”
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