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What, how, why?

From sign-up to music playing, then running everything remotely — every SpinLoud feature, step by step. Updated September 2026.

1. Getting started: sign-up, code, wizard

Why: SpinLoud plays radio channels programmed by music directors, on its own, in your venue — no staff involvement. You set it up once; after that it runs by itself. There is one path from sign-up to music playing, and it takes four steps.

1. Account: account.spinloud.com/register — your name, work email and a password. That's all; business details come in the next step.
2. Verification code: a 6-digit code arrives by email. Type it; the last digit opens your account and you do not need to sign in separately. The code is valid for 15 minutes; if it doesn't arrive, check Spam / Promotions (sender: SpinLoud).
3. Venue: its name, type (café, restaurant, hotel…), country/city. The timezone is detected for you. One venue is all you need for now; a chain adds the others from the dashboard.
4. Music: channels that suit your venue type are on top. Listen for 30 seconds with ▶ on a card, pick one. Undecided? "Start with our pick" — changing later is one click.
5. Device: choose what will play the music (computer, tablet or spnBox). Install links and the code box are on one screen; the moment the device connects, the screen completes itself and the music starts.

2. Which device plays the music?

Why: The thing that plays is a device connected to your speakers; we call it the "player". Each zone runs exactly one player. A plain browser does not broadcast in a venue; the player is either an installed app or an spnBox.

• The computer at the venue (Windows / Mac): the SpinLoud Venue app. It opens when the computer starts and never signs out. For venues that already have a till or music PC.
• Tablet or iPad: the same app from the Play Store / App Store. For a tablet that stays put and on charge.
• spnBox: the small box you get from us. Plugs into power and internet, connects to your speakers, has no screen; the set-and-forget option. Keeps playing for up to 8 days without internet (section 6).
• SpinLoud Remote (phone): does not play music; it's the remote control in your pocket (section 7).

Two areas (e.g. restaurant floor + terrace) need two devices; each connects to its own zone.

3. SpinLoud Venue — computer (Windows & Mac)

1. Install: on Windows from the Microsoft Store (search "SpinLoud Venue" or go to player.spinloud.com/download); on Mac download the .dmg from the same page (Apple Silicon or Intel).
2. Open: a large 6-character code appears (letters + digits; O/0 and I/1 are never used). It is valid for 10 minutes; if it expires, tap "Get New Code".
3. Connect: at account.spinloud.com open your venue → Device tab → type the code → Pair. (During first setup, the wizard's device step is exactly this.)
4. Once paired, the music starts by itself if you are inside broadcast hours; otherwise it starts when the hours begin.

• It never signs out: the device identity lives in the app's own durable store; restarts, updates or clearing browser data don't break the pairing.
• The app opens with the computer and, inside broadcast hours, the server starts the music; nobody has to press Play.
• Minimising the window does not stop the music. Closing (X) stops the broadcast; the app stays in the system tray (icon next to the clock) — reopen it with "Open SpinLoud Venue". To quit completely, use Quit in the tray.
• Updates: the screen loads from our live server; when a new version ships, the app says "New version ready — restart". Closing and reopening is enough. On Windows the app shell itself is updated by the Microsoft Store.
• Windows sound setting (important): Windows remembers a volume and an output device per app. It is the most common cause of "app open, song progressing, no sound" — see section 22.

4. SpinLoud Venue — tablet & iPad

1. Install: "SpinLoud Venue" from Google Play (Android tablet) or the App Store (iPad) — links on player.spinloud.com/download.
2. Open and connect: as on a computer — 6-character code → account.spinloud.com → venue → Device → Pair.
3. One-time permission on Android: on first open you're asked to exempt the app from battery optimisation; tap Allow. Otherwise some tablets (Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung) throttle the app in the background and the music can stop at night.
4. Keep the tablet on charge in a fixed spot; the app keeps the screen awake.

• Speakers: cable (3.5 mm), Bluetooth, or AirPlay on iPad. On iPad the output picker is on the player screen; while AirPlay is connecting, leave the app alone — it takes a few seconds.
• Volume: the slider in the player is the venue volume; a Bluetooth/AirPlay speaker's own level is the ceiling.

5. The player screen

Why: The player is deliberately plain: all a staff member can do is start or stop the music and — if allowed — switch between favourite channels. There is no skip, no like, no reordering; rotation is decided by the server with radio logic.

• Start / Stop: the single centre button. It is not a pause: when you stop and come back, the broadcast continues live, not where you left off. Stopping asks for confirmation ("Music in the venue will stop").
• Volume: the slider at the bottom and the mute button.
• Favourite Channels: only your account's favourites and live-stream channels are listed; every other channel is switched from the account panel. Tapping a channel asks: Switch now (with a 3-second transition) or After this song. If the owner enabled the "channel lock", staff cannot switch (🔒 Locked).
• Now playing: cover, channel, song, time remaining. On the right, Flow: the last 24 hours, what's on now and what's queued; schedule blocks and "Off air" windows are drawn as dividers.
• Automatic-behaviour notices: whatever the system does by itself is written on screen — "Broadcast paused — resumes with the next schedule", "Volume schedule active: Low", "→ {channel} — after this song".
• CherryPick card: the zone's QR, today's and pending request counts; the venue location is captured from the location button on this card.
• Instant Replay: 6 hot keys; an announcement or jingle with one tap (section 14).
• Status bar: Network · Server · Cache · spnSound · Audio (Stereo/Mono) · Schedule. The first place to look when something is off.
• "Subscription Required" lock screen: the trial ended, or a payment is more than 14 days overdue. Sort it out at account.spinloud.com/billing and the device unlocks by itself within 60 seconds; no re-pairing.

6. spnBox

Why: For venues that don't want a computer or tablet running all day: a box with no screen that plugs in and plays by itself. The most robust, set-and-forget option, and the choice of hotels and chains.

1. In the box: spnBox, power adapter, 3.5 mm → RCA audio cable, Ethernet cable, and the serial-number sticker (SPN-XXXX-XX).
2. Connect: the audio cable to your amp/speakers, the Ethernet cable to your router (Wi-Fi works too, see below), the adapter to power.
3. Add it to your account: account.spinloud.com → venue → Device tab → Add spnBox → type the serial from the sticker. If you chose "spnBox" in the setup wizard, the same box is right there.
4. The box boots in 1–2 minutes, fetches your channel, schedule and audio settings, and starts playing.

• Wi-Fi: enter your Wi-Fi name and password when ordering and the box connects straight out of the packaging. To change it later: with the box on Ethernet, open account → Device → the Connectivity panel and pick the network; then you can unplug the cable. On hotel/guest networks give IT the box's WiFi MAC address (shown on the card as "WiFi MAC · for IT").
• Bluetooth speaker: paired from Device → Connectivity; output switches automatically, and "Audio Output → Built-in" returns to the cable.
• There is no light or screen. Read the box's state from the spnBox card in the account: Online · synced {age} / Offline · last active {age}, now playing, temperature, memory, firmware.
• Commands arrive within 5 seconds: Play / Stop / volume / channel ("Switch now" or "After this song") and Reboot (about 30 seconds of silence). Commands sent while the box is off wait a few minutes, then expire.
• Power cut: when power returns the box starts by itself and plays if inside broadcast hours; nobody has to touch it. It starts with its last settings even without internet.
• Internet down: first a ready queue of about 2 hours, then the local library on the box (main channel + the 5 channels with the most scheduled hours) takes over for up to 8 days. Schedule, calendar days, broadcast hours and "Off air" blocks still apply; it re-syncs when the connection returns. After 8 days it goes silent — subscription protection, a deliberate limit. The "Offline protected · {n} songs" badge on the card shows the safety net is ready; during first setup it says "getting ready" until the library has downloaded.
• Updates: the box updates itself only while silent (outside broadcast hours or when stopped); no reboot, no audible gap.
• spnPlay · USB: it can play music from a USB stick (shuffle / in order, repeat, auto-start); "Back to Radio" returns to the channel.
• Ordering: account → Billing → spnBox. One-time (the box is yours for as long as you're a member) or monthly (cancel anytime); the exact price is shown on the payment page. To move a box to another zone, "Remove Device", then add it in the new zone with the same serial.

7. SpinLoud Remote — control from your phone

Why: When you're away from the venue, or running every branch of a chain from one place, the phone is enough. Remote is account.spinloud.com in your pocket; "SpinLoud Remote" on the App Store and Google Play. Sign in with the same email and password.

• For each zone: Play / Stop, the volume slider, channel changes ("Switch now" / "After this song"), what's playing; schedule, calendar, audio settings, team, CherryPick, reports.
• Notifications: when the broadcast stops during opening hours, a device goes offline, a channel changes, or a new request arrives (Settings → Notifications).
• Remote does not play music; the "Simple Player" is not shown in the app. On iPhone, subscription and invoices are shown as information only — manage them on the web at account.spinloud.com/billing; on Android there is an "Open in browser" button.

8. Venues & zones

Why: A venue is your physical business; a zone is an independent sound area inside it (restaurant floor, bar, terrace, pool). Each zone carries its own channel, schedule, audio settings and device. Every venue comes with its first zone ("Main Zone").

• Adding a venue: Venues & Zones → Add Venue (owner and brand manager). Name, type, address, city, country, timezone (schedules and broadcast hours follow it), optional logo and photo. Up to 10 venues; write to us for more.
• Adding a zone: Add Zone on the venue row; audience (18-30 / 25-45 / 45+) and stay duration (under 2 hours: more hits; longer: more variety). The default zone can't be deleted. Double-click a name to rename it.
• Zone row: the status dot (green playing · blue connected-stopped · orange stalled · red unreachable · grey no device), what's playing, the channel chip (click to choose a channel) and Manage.
• Manage tabs: Player (remote control, recent plays, Instant Replay) · Device (pairing, spnBox, Player actions) · Settings (opening hours, closed days, audience, stay duration, explicit filter) · Schedule · SpnSound · CherryPick · Activity (what happened in the zone).
• Each venue is a separate subscription and each zone is a separate subscription line; opening a new zone means a new subscription (during the trial a card is required).

9. Channels & favourites

Why: Channels are not playlists; they are programmed with real radio logic: heavy / medium / light rotation, no song or artist back to back, and a rhythm that changes through the day. There are more than 100; the Channels page has the tools to find the right one.

• Group by: genre, channel family, mood, venue type or energy. The coloured frame shows the genre. Filters: venue type and energy (calm / medium / energetic). Search also matches artist names.
• Listen: ▶ on a card plays real songs from the channel ("Next song" to skip, 6 songs per session). Channels with a LIVE badge give a 30-second live preview.
• Favourite: the heart. Favourites form the quick-switch strip in the player; it's the only list staff can touch.
• Add to venue: pick a zone from the channel card. When the zone is playing you're asked: Switch now or After this song. A zone's main channel is what plays whenever no schedule block is active.
• Your own channel: want a channel built for your brand? Send a Spotify / Apple Music playlist link to sales@spinloud.com; our music directors build it. A custom channel is a separate subscription line (same price as a standard subscription) and shows a "Custom" badge in Billing.

10. Weekly schedule

Why: Calm at breakfast, upbeat at dinner — the music has to change through the day. Draw the schedule once; switches happen every day, at the end of a song, by themselves.

1. Zone → Manage → Schedule tab.
2. Paint a block across the hours on the grid (15-minute steps) and pick its channel. Drag the edges to adjust; click a block to edit it.
3. Day types: Weekdays / Saturday / Sunday; split the weekdays if you need Mon…Fri individually. "Apply to all" copies one day's schedule to the others.
4. Save schedule. When a block ends the zone returns to its main channel.

• OFF AIR (silence): want no music at certain hours? Choose "OFF AIR" for the block.
• Overlapping blocks: where they overlap, the shorter block wins — you can embed a 1-hour happy hour inside a general evening block.
• Past midnight: a block whose end is earlier than its start runs into the next day (22:00–02:00).
• Volume lane: on the second lane of the same grid paint time windows as Low (60%) / Mid (80%) / Max (100%); transitions are smoothed over 10 seconds. The player announces "Volume schedule active".
• A manual change temporarily overrides the schedule: if you switch channel from the player or the panel, your choice plays until the current block ends; the next block brings the schedule back. This is not a fault.

11. Calendar: special days

Why: A New Year's gala, season opening, a wedding — some days don't fit the weekly schedule. In Calendar you programme a day from start to finish; on that day the calendar replaces the weekly schedule. Designed for hotels, useful for anyone.

• Left menu Calendar → pick venue and zone → click a day → Programme the day: name, colour, note, hour-by-hour blocks (copy the weekly schedule and edit it), main channel in the empty hours.
• Repeat: once, daily, weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly, yearly; limited with "how many times" or open-ended. Editing one occurrence creates a plan for that date only.
• Broadcast hours for that day: a gala running until 04:00 needs its own hours; otherwise the zone's normal stop time cuts the sound.
• Apply to other zones: lobby, pool and restaurant in one go.
• Days follow the venue's own timezone; an spnBox plays the special day even when offline. The "Upcoming special days" card lists the next 90 days.

12. Broadcast hours & auto start/stop

Why: Music in an empty venue until morning is pointless and annoys the neighbours; a venue that opens silent because nobody pressed Play is a loss. Both ends are enforced on the server: even if the tablet slept through it, the music stops on time and starts on time.

• Zone → Schedule → keep Auto Start / Stop on; enter the start and (optional) end time under Broadcast Hours. Independent of opening hours; may cross midnight.
• A device that is still "playing" outside the window gets a stop on its next heartbeat (within 30 seconds). A device sitting silent inside the window gets a morning start — unless an "OFF AIR" block covers that time or someone deliberately pressed Stop.
• What happens when Stop is pressed is a zone setting: Protected (even an accidental stop comes back shortly), Next schedule (resumes at the next block), Manual (stays off until Play). In every mode the broadcast resumes at the next day's start time.
• If you deliberately press Play after an auto-stop, the system respects it and won't silence you again until the next boundary.
• Closed days (zone → Settings): the player doesn't auto-start on those days.

13. Audio: SpnSound, mono/stereo, level

Why: Venue speakers are not home speakers; level jumps between songs and harsh highs are tiring in a room. SpnSound (10-band EQ + compressor + limiter + loudness normalisation) balances every channel to broadcast quality and works the same on every device.

• SpnSound on/off: zone → SpnSound tab. "Applies to all players — desktop, tablet & spnBox".
• When mono? If your speakers are spread around the room (ceiling speakers, a multi-room line), stereo separation sounds "half" in places; choose Mono so every speaker gets the full signal. Keep Stereo for a single amp with two speakers.
• Volume: from the player, from Remote, or from the zone's slider in the account. On an spnBox the slider is persistent; on tablets and computers the app returns to the zone's saved level when it restarts — set the permanent level in the account.
• Audio changes apply when the current song ends; no abrupt cut is a deliberate design. Don't assume "it didn't work" — wait one song.

14. Announcements, jingles & Instant Replay

Why: "Kitchen closing", a birthday song, your brand jingle, an hourly announcement — sounds that go over or between the music. All of it lives under Audio Events in the left menu.

• Instant Replay: 6 hot keys. Upload an audio file to each (AAC, MP3, M4A, WAV…; up to 30 MB) or record with the microphone via Record announcement. Play mode: Stop the music (the clip plays alone, the music resumes after — birthday song, national anthem) or Play over (the music ducks, the clip plays on top — a chime, a short sting). The hot keys sit on the player screen and on the zone's Player tab.
• Sweeper / Announcement library: upload jingles, sweepers and announcements, then use Scheduling to play them automatically on chosen days and hours (e.g. every hour on the hour, weekdays). Target: one zone, all zones of a venue (at the same moment — hotel/chain sync) or the whole account.

15. Explicit filter

Why: A family restaurant and a late-night bar don't have the same tolerance. The filter removes songs marked explicit (E) from the rotation.

• Zone → Manage → Settings → Explicit (E) content. It is per zone: off in the bar zone, on in the restaurant zone.
• The change applies from the next song.

16. Remote management & monitoring

Why: Whether you run a chain or are simply not at the venue, you should stay in control. Every zone is watched and managed live from one account; on the phone, SpinLoud Remote.

• Dashboard: the "on air now" list — each zone's song, channel and status, grouped by country/city. If setup isn't finished, the Setup card at the top shows the missing step.
• Zone statuses: Playing · Connected — stopped · Stalled (the device says "playing" but hasn't started a new song in 20 minutes, or there is no sound at the output — stop and restart the player) · Device unreachable (with the time of the last signal) · Waiting for pairing.
• Remote commands: zone → Player tab: Play / Stop / volume / channel; Device tab → Player actions: "Reload settings" and "Restart audio" (re-opens the output path without touching playback or pairing). On an spnBox also Reboot. Commands arrive within seconds; channel changes at the end of the song or with "Switch now".
• Listen to your venue: left menu Simple Player → "My venue": hear what's playing in the venue right now in your browser (position is approximate); "Channel catalog" lets you listen to any channel from home. It is not a venue player.
• Activity: zone → Activity tab: who stopped what and when, when the channel changed, when a device was paired.
• ⌘K / Ctrl-K: the search box in the panel — jump to a venue, "Pair device", "Add venue", switch theme.

17. Team & roles

Why: Not everyone needs access to everything. Roles strike the balance of "staff can stop the music but can't switch channels on a whim".

• Inviting: Team → Invite member → email, role, which venues. The invitee gets a link valid for 14 days and sets their own password. For the staff role you pick the "allowed channels" here.
• Staff can't open the account panel; they only use the player. A member can be temporarily deactivated or removed entirely.
• Billing permission: the owner can grant a member the right to see invoices and pay (edit member → Billing permission).

18. CherryPick — song requests

Why: A way to take requests without handing guests a microphone. Requests blend gently into your channel's rotation; your musical identity stays intact. Everything is on the CherryPick page in the left menu.

1. Activate: CherryPick → "activate" for a venue/zone. Our team approves shortly; after approval the zone's QR is ready (download as PNG).
2. Location: so that only people at the venue can request, the venue location is needed — "Get location from device" (the tablet/computer running the player) or by hand on the map.
3. Stickers: your first sticker pack is on us (door + table); later packs are paid, the amount is shown when ordering. Pick a colour or enter your brand's hex code. On request we share the print files ("Your print files") so you can print at your own printer.

• Guest side: scan the QR, pick a song, it plays when its turn comes; guests can vote for the pending song.
• Campaign QRs: single-use or daily-renewing codes such as "buy a cheesecake, get 1 request"; the "requests only with a campaign code" option closes free requests. Print the QRs, download as CSV.
• Analytics: requests / played / requesters, most requested genre, era, songs and artists, busiest hours (in the venue's timezone), who requested what. Periods: 7 days · 30 days · 90 days · 1 year.
• The zone's CherryPick tab only has the on/off switch; all settings are on the CherryPick page.

19. Reports

Why: "What played in my venue?" is answered every month. The monthly venue report is emailed on the 6th; the same report sits as a PDF under Reports in the left menu.

• Contents: plays / songs / artists, venue score, the music director's note and suggestions, channels played, zone split, the day's energy curve, genre and era breakdown, most played, fresh additions, guest requests (if CherryPick is on), Google rating (if connected), how you compare with other venues.
• The first report is produced after the venue has played for a full calendar month. Past months are in the archive; the PDF is named SpinLoud-Venue-YYYY-MM.pdf.

20. Subscription & billing

• Trial: 7 days, no card, every feature on. It ends on the same day for all venues. When the trial ends without a card, the broadcast stops and the player shows "Subscription Required".
• Price: $49 · €49 · £49 per month per zone, or a year for the price of 10 months (2 months free). Türkiye: ₺2.250/month or ₺22.500/year, VAT included. The currency follows your venue's country. 12-month price guarantee: the price you start on doesn't change for 12 months.
• Adding a card: Billing → "Add card — no charge until the trial ends", or the last screen of the setup wizard. The card is taken on Stripe's secure page and never stored by us; the first charge is on the day the trial ends. On return you'll see "Card saved".
• Each zone is a separate subscription line; there is no multi-venue discount. A custom channel is a separate line (same price).
• Cancelling: Billing → Cancel subscription on the row. Access continues until the end of the period; change your mind with "Reactivate". Cancelling during the trial ends it immediately, nothing is charged.
• Payment problem: if a card is declined the broadcast doesn't stop immediately: you get 14 days to fix it, an email tells you, and Billing shows "Service stops: {date}". Update the card with Update card (Stripe portal).
• Invoices: Billing → Invoices → download PDF.
• spnBox: one-time or monthly; the exact amount is on the payment page. Box payments are independent of the music subscription.
• In the phone apps (iPhone) no payments are made; use the web at account.spinloud.com/billing.

21. Sign-in, password & account

• Sign in: with the email and password you chose at sign-up. If you paste the password, watch for a trailing space (we strip it, but check).
• Forgot password: the link on the sign-in screen emails a reset link valid for 60 minutes; your current password doesn't change until you click it. Devices in the venue stay signed in.
• Sign in without a password: "Email me a code" sends a one-time sign-in code; it doesn't change your password. On shared venue accounts it's the way to get in without breaking the team's password.
• Unverified account: if sign-in says "verify your email", the code comes to the same screen; type it and you're in.
• Settings: profile, business name, brand logo (shown in the sidebar), language (Türkçe · English · Deutsch · Français), appearance (light / dark — dark suits dim venues), notifications (bell, email, app; which events), security (set / change your own password). Deleting the account is under "Danger zone", with a two-step confirmation.

22. Troubleshooting

First, know this: setting changes (channel, volume, schedule) take effect when the current song ends. Wait one song before calling it broken.

23. Support

• Technical / player: support@spinloud.com
• Subscription / billing: billing@spinloud.com
• Sales, custom channels, new venues: sales@spinloud.com
• Privacy / data: privacy@spinloud.com

We answer most messages within one business day (Monday–Friday, 09:00–18:00 Europe/Istanbul). Playback outages are handled out of hours too. When you write, include the venue name, which device you use (Windows / Mac / tablet / spnBox) and the status text shown in the panel; most issues are solved in the first reply. Other channels: the support page.