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How to Add Album Art to a YouTube Internet Radio Livestream

By Freedom251 Team · · 4 min read

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To show album art inside a YouTube internet-radio livestream, add the artwork to the video scene in OBS. Use an Image source for a fixed cover or station graphic; for artwork that changes with each track, use a metadata-aware plugin or browser overlay and confirm your radio source provides compatible track and artwork data. Changing YouTube’s live thumbnail alone does not place art in the stream.

Choose the right way to show artwork

What you want Use What to expect
A station logo, poster, or one cover that stays on screen OBS Image source The selected image remains part of the composed video until you change it.
The cover to change with the currently playing song A metadata-aware plugin or browser overlay, such as the Tuna workflow documented by the OBS community Track-by-track changes depend on the player or station exposing usable metadata and artwork, and on the chosen tool matching it successfully.
An image shown as the broadcast preview before or around playback YouTube live thumbnail controls This is broadcast metadata/preview imagery, separate from the video frames viewers see during the stream.

Add a fixed album cover in OBS

  1. Open the broadcast scene. In OBS, select the scene you use for the radio stream, or create a new one. Add and configure the station or music playback source. OBS supports media sources in scenes; if you use the VLC Video Source, VLC must be installed for that source to be available. See the OBS Media Sources documentation.
  2. Add the artwork. In the Sources panel, select + and choose Image. Create a source, browse to the cover image file, and confirm. The image source places the artwork into OBS’s video composition.
  3. Position and size it. Place the cover where it is visible without covering important station information or other content. Resize it in the preview; check the full scene at the output aspect ratio so the image is not cropped unexpectedly.
  4. Preview before going live. Confirm that the artwork is visible in the composed scene while the audio source is playing. Start the YouTube broadcast from OBS only after checking both the picture and sound.

Make the displayed cover change with the music

A static Image source will not change when the song changes. For a now-playing cover, use a metadata-aware source. The OBS community’s Tuna guide describes a plugin-based route for displaying track information and artwork. Follow the guide for the installed version, then test the result with your actual playback source.

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  • Check whether the music player or radio station supplies current-track metadata and artwork.
  • Confirm that the plugin or overlay supports the player, metadata format, and OBS version you use.
  • Play several tracks and watch for title and cover changes. A station may publish titles but no artwork, or its metadata may not match a usable image.
  • If automatic matching fails, use a fixed station image or another supported artwork source rather than assuming every station will update correctly.

For one radio-to-YouTube example, Radio.co describes using a playlist or URL through an OBS VLC source; it also discusses an audio-input approach for talk radio. That is a vendor workflow example, not a guarantee that every radio URL or metadata format will behave the same way. See Radio.co’s radio-to-YouTube tutorial.

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Keep the live thumbnail separate from the on-screen art

A YouTube live thumbnail is not an overlay. The image visible during the broadcast must be included in the video composed by OBS, as an Image source or a changing browser/plugin source. YouTube’s API documentation treats thumbnails as broadcast-related metadata; it does not make a thumbnail part of the live video frames. See YouTube LiveBroadcasts documentation.

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You can set a separate broadcast thumbnail if you want a chosen preview image. The OBS community guide on custom thumbnails describes an older setup flow, so do not rely on its 2015 click path as a universal current YouTube Studio instruction. Check the current broadcast setup controls in your account. See the OBS community thumbnail guide.

Do not confuse album-art overlays with YouTube Art Tracks

YouTube Art Tracks are part of a music-release distribution workflow built from recordings, artwork media, and metadata. They are not the method for overlaying cover art on an internet-radio livestream. For the live visual, compose the artwork in OBS. See YouTube’s Art Track documentation.

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