FAQ & Support

Find answers to common questions

Uploads and formats

What audio formats and specifications are supported?

We support MP3, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, M4A/AAC and WMA audio files.

Technical Specifications:

Playback bitrate: 192 kbit/s (constant bitrate)
Stereo mode: Joint stereo
Recommended sample rate: 44.1 kHz or higher

All uploaded files are automatically transcoded to ensure optimal compatibility across all devices and network conditions.

How long does music transcoding take?

The duration depends on the file length and current processing queue. In most cases, transcoding is completed within 30 minutes. If it takes significantly longer, please feel free to contact us via a bug report.

Why do you transcode uploaded music?

We convert all uploaded sounds to a unified streaming format: 192 kbit/s, constant bitrate (CBR), joint stereo. This ensures compatibility across all devices. Premium members can set their own bitrate preferences.

What does "Lossless" or "320 kbit/s" next to the duration mean?

It shows the streaming quality of the sound when it is higher than our standard of 192 kbit/s: Lossless (WAV, FLAC or AIFF uploads, played without any loss), Original (the uploaded MP3 or M4A, not transcoded), or 320 or 256 kbit/s. Sounds in the standard quality show no label.

Lossless plays on hearthis.at in the browser on a computer; in the apps and on phones the sound plays at 320 kbit/s. Premium members choose the streaming quality of their own uploads.

Why was my upload rejected, or why is it pending?Free accounts

Common reasons for rejected uploads:

Weekly quota exceeded: Free accounts can upload up to 400 MB per week. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited uploads.
Total storage exceeded: Free accounts have a total storage limit of 5.000 MB (5 GB). Upgrade to Premium for unlimited storage.
Sound limit reached: Free accounts can upload a maximum of 30 sounds. Delete old sounds or upgrade to Premium.
Format or length: Free accounts upload MP3, M4A, OGG and WMA files of up to 90 minutes. WAV, FLAC, AIFF and longer sounds need Premium.
Too many uploads in progress: While many of your uploads are still being processed, the upload page pauses. Continue once they are ready.
File already checked: A file that is waiting for our copyright check or was blocked cannot be uploaded again.

Free accounts see how much of their weekly limit, sounds and storage they have used at the top of the Upload page. While a sound is processed, its waveform is still being generated.

A pending sound is waiting for our copyright check: Why does my upload say "Waiting for copyright checkup"?

Why does my upload say "Waiting for copyright checkup"?

After processing, every new upload goes through an automatic check. If it finds a possible match with a protected work, or something else our team should look at, the upload waits instead of going public. This is not a decision yet - we check it by hand.

Until then the sound stays private: only you see it in your lists, with a note on why it was flagged, and its visibility cannot be changed. In most cases we also send you an email.

You can help us decide: choose write us to discuss this case below the note or reply to the email, and tell us about your license, the permission of the rights holder or links to your releases.

Once we release the sound, it goes public and we let you know by email. If we have to block it, it stays hidden and you get an email as well.

When is the upload limit reset? (400 MB)Free accounts

Your weekly upload quota of 400 MB is automatically reset every Sunday at 7:00 pm (CET).

Can I upload covers, remixes, or music with samples?

Yes, you can upload covers, remixes, and sounds with samples. However, you must:

Credit the original artists and producers in the sound description
Ensure you have the proper licenses for any samples or cover versions
Mark the sound appropriately (e.g., "[Cover]", "[Remix]", or "[Sample]") in the title
Avoid uploading copyrighted content without explicit permission

You can add featured artists and remixer credits in your sound metadata. Use the tags and artist fields to properly credit collaborators.

Sounds import from sharehosters doesn't work

Dropbox works for MP3 files: on the upload page, choose Dropbox under "Import from" and paste the share link of a single MP3 file. For other formats, download the file from Dropbox and upload it directly.

Other sharehosters like Google Drive are not supported - their links open a download page instead of the file. For those, choose "Your Own Server" and use a link that points directly to the MP3 file on a publicly accessible server.

How do I import my SoundCloud tracks?

You can import your SoundCloud tracks using our Podcast Import feature. Here's how:

Get your SoundCloud RSS Feed:
- Go to SoundCloud.com and sign in
- Click the three dots (⋮) in the top right corner and select "Settings"
- Go to the "Content" tab
- Copy your RSS Feed URL
Import to hearthis.at:
- On the upload page, choose SoundCloud under Import from
- Paste your SoundCloud RSS Feed URL
- Click Import and wait for the system to process your sounds

Important: The podcast import feature requires a valid RSS feed URL. Your SoundCloud tracks will be imported in batches and processed in the background. Import is limited to 500 sounds from SoundCloud.

How do I edit several uploads at once?

Open Edit all Uploads in your account menu and tick the uploads you want to change - or all of them at the top. A bar appears with a menu for each topic: visibility (public or private, downloads, podcasts), listeners (comments, statistics, tracklists, subtitles), genre, set, images and streaming quality, and delete.

Each menu shows how many of the ticked uploads have a setting on; one click sets it for all of them. The selection stays, so you can change several things one after another. Deleting asks once more.

When all shown uploads are ticked, a link selects all of them, including those not loaded yet.

Click the genre of an upload to change it right there; the sliders button opens all its switches. Every change is saved right away.

Search and the filter (all, public, private) find uploads quickly, Load more shows the next 50.

How do I give several new uploads the same settings?

When you upload several files at once, every file has the button Apply these settings to all files below its fields. It copies the genre, the sets and the switches (for example Private or downloads) of that file to all other files in the list. Title and description stay with each file.

Files you add later are not included - click the button again once they are in the list. If a setting cannot be saved, the page shows a notice and stays open: click Save uploads and return to your profile again.

How do I change the streaming quality or the cover of many uploads at once?

With Premium, tick the uploads in Edit all Uploads and open Streaming quality: choose the highest quality each upload offers, or a bitrate. Lossless needs a WAV, FLAC or AIFF upload, the original file an MP3 upload; uploads that cannot take your choice stay as they are.

The uploads are transcoded again one after another - with hundreds this can take a few hours. They keep playing meanwhile; Updating audio marks the ones still in progress.

Images gives all ticked uploads the same cover or background image: pick it for the first one, the others get a copy with the same crop.

How do I add several tags at once?

Type or paste your tags into the tag field of a sound or story, separated by commas - for example from a list you keep for your mixes. A # in front of a word is left out. Each tag becomes its own entry. A comma or Enter adds what you typed.

A tag of a sound can have up to 19 characters; letters with accents or from other alphabets count as two or more. A longer one stays red in the field: shorten it and press Enter.

Below the tag field of a sound, the tags of your other uploads are suggested - one click adds them.

Editing step by step

How do I edit a set or a group?

Open your set or group and choose Edit Set or Edit Group. The mask has tabs for the settings, your followers or members and the podcast feed.

Details Change the title, the link and the genre. The link shows right away whether it is still free.
Visibility Not listed to public audience hides the set from your profile and the search; anyone with the secret link can still open it.
Who can add sounds In a closed set only you add uploads. In a public set others can add theirs and you approve each one. In a group the switches under Submissions decide this.
Followers, members and podcast The tabs at the top lead to your followers or members and to the podcast settings of the set.
Save Save at the bottom right. Delete at the bottom left asks once more before anything is removed.

How do I write and edit a story?

Choose Write a new Story under Stories on your profile. To change a story, open it and choose Edit Story.

Story Give it a title, check the link - it shows right away whether it is still free - and write a short teaser and the text. Type @ to tag other users.
Linked Search your sounds, sets and the people the story is about. Sounds and sets play right in the story. Press Enter to add a tag.
Links and media Add websites, shops or socials. Links to YouTube, SoundCloud or Mixcloud under Media become playable widgets.
Visibility A private story stays hidden. If it has never been public, you can let it go public automatically at a set date and time.
Save or publish Save at the bottom right - a story that has never been public shows Publish instead. Without Premium our team checks new stories before they go public.

How do I edit a sound?

Open your sound and choose Edit. The mask has tabs for the basics, the details, your sets and groups and the Premium options.

Details and tags Change the title, the link and the description. Tags help listeners find it - Used before adds tags of your other uploads with one click.
Music Genre, sub-genres, type, tempo, key and release date tell listeners and the charts what it is.
Visibility A private sound stays hidden; anyone with the secret link can still listen. If it has never been public, it can go public automatically at a set date and time. The downloads are set right below.
More tabs Details holds tagged artists, the buy link, the podcast feed, statistics and comments. Sets and groups adds the sound to your sets and groups right away. The Premium options set related music, embedding, theme and waveform colours.
Save Save at the bottom right. Delete at the bottom left asks once more before anything is removed.

How do I edit my profile?

Open your profile and choose Edit Profile. The mask has tabs for your profile, the profile page, uploads, the podcast, Fan subscriptions and your login.

Profile Name, subline and address of your page, your description, up to four genres and your links.
Profile page Choose the featured upload and the tab that opens first. With Premium you set the order of your profile tabs and can hide your followers and who you follow.
Uploads A text below every sound, your profile picture as cover, and with Premium the settings and player colours every new upload starts with.
Login Information Change your email address or password. If you chose your password yourself, we ask for the current one first.
Save Save at the bottom right. Delete Account at the bottom left asks once more before anything is removed.

How do I upload a sound?

Choose Upload at the top of the page. Free accounts upload one file at a time, Premium accounts several at once.

Choose files Drag your sounds onto the field or choose them from your computer. The upload starts right away.
Title and progress Every file gets its own card. Change the title while the bar shows how far the upload is.
Genre and set Pick a genre and, if you like, add the sound to one of your sets.
Description and settings Write a description and decide whether the sound is private, downloadable and open for comments. Every change is saved on its own.
Publish Save uploads and return to your profile publishes your sounds. Private sounds stay hidden until you make them public.

How do I change my profile picture, background or a cover?

On your own profile, the camera buttons on your picture and on the banner open the dialog. On a set, it is the camera on its cover. For a sound, open More and choose Cover or Background Image.

Choose a picture Drag an image onto the dialog or choose one: JPG or PNG up to 10 MB. A square image of 1000 × 1000 px or more works best for a profile picture or cover.
Choose the section Drag the frame to choose the section that is shown. Arrow keys move it, + and - change its size.
Save Save keeps the section. Delete removes the picture after asking once more.

How do I go live?

Choose Stream Live at the top of the page. You broadcast with your own software, for example OBS for video or butt for audio only.

Streaming type Audio & Video (RTMP Streaming) for OBS, Wirecast and similar tools, Audio only (Icecast2 Streaming) for butt and other radio software.
Publish and record automatically If you like, your stream goes public or is recorded as soon as you connect. Both switches change the key - copy it again afterwards.
Server and key Enter the server address and the key in your software and start broadcasting. They stay the same for every later stream.
Go live Once connected, your stream is a private preview: change title, cover and description, then press GO LIVE. From there you can also stream to YouTube, Twitch or Facebook. You end the show in your software.

How do I create or edit an event?

Open the tab Events on your profile and choose New event. To change an event, use the pencil on its card.

Title and genre Title and main genre are required; up to three more genres help people find the event.
Date and time Choose when it starts and ends. A festival or a day event gets the switch all day event? instead of times.
Location Name the venue and pick the address from the suggestions - then the event appears on the map and for people nearby.
Line-up Search artists on hearthis.at and add them. Tagged artists show the event on their profile too.
Details and save Further down follow description, admission, tickets and the flyer. Save at the bottom right - for a new event the button says Create event.

Account and login

I can't log in, but my login details are correct

Forgot your password? Choose Lost Password? in the login dialog - we email you a link that logs you in.

If the dialog says Limit reached. Please try again later, wait a few minutes and try again.

Why can't I use parts of my account?

Email address not confirmed: Comments, reactions and going live need a confirmed email address. Use the link in the email we sent you after registering.
Uploads blocked: After repeated copyright takedown notices, the upload page and the dialogs for importing or replacing a file say Uploads are blocked for your account.
Account blocked: If we blocked your account for a violation of our terms of service, we told you by email. Your profile and your sounds are then no longer visible.

In every case, write to us with the Help button - we will look at your account.

How can I change my password?

Open your profile, choose Edit Profile and then the tab Account & connections. Enter the new password and save.

If you chose your password yourself, we ask for your current one first, so nobody who gets hold of your open session can take over your account. Accounts created with Google, Apple or Facebook are not asked.

Forgot it? Choose Send the link below the field. We mail you a link that logs you in, and for one hour you can set a new password without the old one.

How do I sign in with a passkey?

A passkey lets you sign in with your face, fingerprint or device PIN instead of typing your password. It is kept on your device or in your password manager and only works on hearthis.at, so a fake login page cannot catch it.

To add one, open your profile, choose Edit profile, then the tab Account & connections and Add passkey under Passkeys. If you chose your password yourself, we ask for it once more first.

On that device the login offers Sign in with a passkey, or your browser suggests the passkey when you click into the email field. Your password keeps working as before.

You can rename or remove your passkeys in the same place. We send you an email whenever one is added or removed.

How do I log out?

Click your profile picture at the top right to open the account menu. Logout is the last entry.

On a phone, open the menu at the top right and then More - Logout is at the very end.

How do I switch between the light and the dark design?

Click your profile picture at the top right to open the account menu and choose System, Light or Dark next to Website Design. Without an account you find the same choice in the menu with the three dots at the top, on a phone in the menu under More.

With System, hearthis.at follows the setting of your device and changes with it, for example in the evening.

Your choice is kept in this browser and applies at once to all its open tabs. On another device or in another browser you choose again.

How do I delete my account?

Open your profile and choose Edit Profile. Delete Account is at the bottom left of the mask, on every tab. After you confirm, you are logged out and your profile goes offline right away.

The button is not shown when only Change Email / Password is open - open the whole mask with Edit Profile.

About 14 days later the account is deleted together with your uploads, sets, comments and likes. Right after you confirm, we send you an email. Changed your mind? Log in again or reply to the email within the 14 days, and your account is back.

A Premium subscription from our payment portal ends with the deletion. Cancel Fan subscriptions you pay for other artists and Premium taken out directly with PayPal beforehand - they are not ended automatically.

How do I delete the data Facebook Login stored?

Open Delete Facebook data. Signed in, choose Delete my Facebook data - optionally with your profile picture. Not signed in, enter the email address of your account and confirm with the link we send you.

We delete the connection to your Facebook account and the name details Facebook passed on. Your account, your sounds and your email address stay, and you sign in with your email address and password.

An account that was created with Facebook only needs an email address of its own first, otherwise you could no longer sign in.

Where do I find my invoices and how do I download them as PDF?

Your invoices for Premium, points and Fan subscriptions are on the page Invoices in the account menu (your profile picture at the top right). The invoice for featuring a sound is linked in its confirmation email.

Click Download PDF next to an invoice in the list, or open the invoice and click Download PDF there, to save it as a PDF. Print prints it.

Every invoice email has the PDF attached as well. Fans get a payment receipt with the PDF when their subscription starts; every later payment is in the invoice list.

To your invoices

How do I change the address on my invoices?

Open Invoices in the account menu (your profile picture at the top right) and click Billing address. Enter your name, address, postal code, city and country and save.

The new address appears on all future invoices for Premium and Fan subscriptions. Invoices that were already issued keep the address they were issued with.

Points and features show the billing address you enter when paying. Earlier purchases with PayPal show the address of your PayPal payment.

To your invoices

How can I send you feedback or report a bug?

Click Help at the bottom right of any page, describe what happened and send it. You can add a screenshot and mark the relevant spot on it. On a phone, open the menu at the top right and tap Help.

If you are logged in, we know which account it is about and answer you with a message on hearthis.at. Otherwise we reply to the email address you enter.

Please never send passwords or payment details in your feedback.

The form is also the quickest way to reach us with any other question - Write to us at the end of the FAQ opens it as well. If you prefer email, write to contact@hearthis.at.

Where can I see what's new on hearthis.at?

Under What's new you find every new feature, day by day - open it with the bell at the top right, in the menu under More or at the bottom of the navigation column.

You can filter the updates by topic, and each one opens the matching answer from this FAQ. A red dot on the bell shows that something new has been added since your last visit.

To What's new

Is there an API for developers?

Yes. Developer API in the More menu at the top opens the documentation of the hearthis.at API; it is available with Premium.

Reading feeds, sounds, profiles, sets and search results works without logging in. Uploading and changing your own content through the API needs a Premium account.

For your own scripts, create a personal API key in your settings under Account & connections. To let other people sign in with hearthis.at on your site or in your app, register it under Connect with hearthis.at - that is part of Premium.

Can I use hearthis.at with an AI assistant like Claude?

Yes. With Premium, the hearthis.at MCP server connects an AI assistant such as Claude to your account. The assistant can search and browse hearthis.at, upload and edit your sounds, manage your sets, groups and profile and send messages - with the same rules as the website.

To set it up you need Node.js 20 or newer: run npx hearthis-mcp login in a terminal, log in once with your hearthis.at email and password and add the printed line to your AI client. Your password is not stored; the key pair it prints acts as your account - keep it secret.

The assistant acts as you: what it posts is public like your own posts, and before deleting anything your client asks you first. The Developer API documentation describes the setup in detail.

What happens when I connect an app with hearthis.at?

Some sites and apps let you sign in with your hearthis.at account. A small hearthis.at window opens: you sign in there - never on the other site - and see the app's name and what it asks for. Only when you choose Allow does the app get access, and only to that.

Depending on what it asks for, an app may see your name, profile picture and profile address, your email address, your feed, likes, sets and private sounds, or like, follow, comment and upload on your behalf. It never gets your password, your messages or your payments, and it cannot change your password, your email address or delete your account.

You find every connected app in your settings under Account & connections. Disconnect takes its access away at once. Apps marked Not yet reviewed by hearthis.at are still being tested by their developer - only connect them if you know who made them.

What is a personal API key?

A key for your own scripts, the MCP server or automation tools, instead of your password. Each key has a name, only the rights you choose - reading, likes and follows, uploading and editing - and if you like an expiry date.

Create one in your settings under Account & connections with New API key. The key is shown only once, so copy it right away; we send you an email whenever a new key is made. Revoke ends a key at once, and a new password ends all of them.

A key can never sign in, change your password or email address, read your messages or pay - keep it secret anyway, like a password.

Messages, comments and notifications

How do I send and read messages?

Open a profile and choose Send Message. Your conversations are under Messages in the account menu (your profile picture at the top right) and in the menu on the left, with the number of unread ones.

To send messages, your email address must be confirmed. A message can have up to 2,000 characters; if you send many in a short time or the same text twice, we ask you to wait.

One tick next to the time of your message means it was sent, two ticks that the other person has opened the conversation. The trash icon deletes the whole conversation - for both of you.

If someone has switched off chat messages, the button is missing on their profile. To stop someone from writing to you, open More on their profile and choose Block.

We do not send emails about new messages - you see the number of unread ones on hearthis.at.

How do I turn off emails and notifications?

Open the account menu (your profile picture at the top right) and choose Edit Options / Notifications. Under Email notifications you switch each kind of email on or off - likes, comments, reposts, new followers, new uploads and livestreams of people you follow, the newsletter and more. Every switch is saved right away.

Every notification email has a link at the bottom. It opens a page where one click on Unsubscribe turns off just that kind of email - no login needed. The link in the newsletter unsubscribes you from the newsletter only.

For one artist you follow, open More on their profile and switch off Receive notification mails.

The email about your weekly chart placement has no switch of its own: it stops when you take your uploads out of the ranking with Exclude my uploads from the weekly genre ranking.

Notifications in your browser are switched off with Receive Push-Notifications in your browser in the same options, or in the settings of your browser.

How do I manage the comments on my sounds?

A comment is tied to the moment of the sound that was playing and appears at that spot on the waveform.

You can delete any comment on your own sounds with Delete; its replies are deleted with it. Whoever wrote a comment can delete it as well - editing is not possible.

With Premium you can switch comments off: Allow comments in the edit mask of your sound, or for many sounds at once in Edit all Uploads under Listeners.

In an embedded player, Hide comments and reactions in the Embed tab of the share dialog hides the comments and reactions on the waveform.

People you block with Block in the More menu of their profile can no longer comment on your sounds.

How do I tag someone in a comment?

Type @ and the first letters of a name in a comment, a reply or the live chat. A list of matching profiles appears - pick one with the mouse, or with the arrow keys and Enter. In the published comment the name links to that profile.

You can tag one person per comment. If you write more than one @name, only the first one counts. If you type the name yourself, leave a space after it.

The person you tag gets a notification, and an email if comment emails are switched on in their options. Nobody is notified about a comment on a private sound, and people who have blocked you are not notified either.

Premium

Which Premium plans are there and what do they cost?

Premium is a yearly or a monthly subscription. The yearly plan costs less per month. The current prices are on the Premium page.

If your country uses another currency, we also show the price converted for orientation - you are always charged in euros. The first subscription period comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

To the Premium page

What are the credit points that come with Premium?

Every Premium payment adds credit points to your account: 600 with each yearly payment, 100 with each monthly payment.

Use them to feature your sounds on the start page and your genre page. Points are not paid out as money. Learn more

How do I redeem a coupon code for Premium?

Coupon codes work with the yearly plan. Choose the yearly plan on the checkout page, click Have a coupon code? and enter your code.

A valid code is applied on the payment page, where you see the reduced price before you pay. An unknown or expired code is ignored.

How do I manage or cancel my Premium subscription?

Sign in and open the checkout page. With an active subscription it takes you straight to the payment portal, where you change the payment method, download invoices or cancel.

A cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have paid for: Premium stays active until then, and we send you an e-mail with the date. Until that date you can take the cancellation back in the payment portal. The Premium page shows the date as well, with the button Take back the cancellation.

The link in our payment reminder emails leads there too - sign in first. Older subscriptions taken out directly with PayPal are managed in your PayPal account.

Manage subscription

How do I cancel Premium or a fan subscription?

Click Cancel contracts here - in the menu at the top or at the bottom of the left column. Choose the contract and click Cancel now.

An ordinary cancellation ends at the end of the period you have paid for, until then everything stays as it is. You get a confirmation by email right away, with the date and time we received it.

Signed in, you see your own contracts and the cancellation is done at once. You can cancel without signing in as well: enter your profile link and email address, and we match them to your account and confirm the end date by email.

Cancel contracts here

Can I switch from monthly to yearly payment?

Yes. Sign in and open the Premium page: if you pay monthly, it shows the yearly price for your country and what you save. Choose Switch to yearly payment - the switch takes effect at the end of the month you have already paid, nothing is charged twice.

Until that date you can take it back with Keep paying monthly; cancelling your subscription drops a planned switch as well. Subscriptions taken out with PayPal cannot be switched there - cancel them in your PayPal account and choose the yearly plan on the checkout page.

To the Premium page

Profile and images

Upload background image size

To get the best visual result, use an image with a size of 1415 × 468 pixels (width × height). The image will automatically adjust to fit the full browser window.

Profile background image size

For your profile page, we recommend an image size of 1420 × 280 pixels. The image will be scaled to cover the browser width.

How do I add, sort or clear the entries on my stage?

The Stage tab of your profile shows the sounds, sets and stories you pick. On a sound choose Add and then to Stage; sets and stories have Add to Stage on their card.

To change the order, open the Stage tab and choose Edit & Sort Stage. Drag an entry to its new place, or focus it and move it with the arrow keys, then choose Save order. Stories always appear above your sounds and sets, so they have a section of their own in the dialog and are sorted separately.

The bin next to an entry removes it right away. Clear stage at the bottom left removes all entries at once; it asks once more and cannot be undone. Your sounds, sets and stories themselves are not deleted.

What is my link page and how do I set it up?

Your link page is one page for the link in your Instagram, TikTok or YouTube bio. Its address is hearthis.at/@ followed by your profile address, for example hearthis.at/@yourname. It shows your profile picture, your links, sounds and sets, and your stories and upcoming events appear on it by themselves.

Set it up in your profile settings in the tab Link page: add links, sounds and sets with the search fields, drag them into the order you want and remove what should not appear. Without a choice, your five newest public sounds and sets appear. A running livestream and your newest replays always come first and open on hearthis.at. You also decide whether a sound plays right on the page or opens on hearthis.at in a new tab. The preview shows your changes before you save.

The link page goes online once your profile has a public sound. It is free for every account.

Reach and statistics

How do the weekly charts work?

The weekly charts rank the sounds uploaded during the current week in each genre. The score combines plays and engagement — not simply the total play count shown on your sound page. Sounds from earlier weeks keep the placement they reached in their week.

Engagement actions such as likes, shares, reactions, and comments are factored into the ranking alongside plays. This means a sound with fewer total plays but strong engagement can rank above one with more plays — the charts are designed to surface actively engaged content, not just frequently streamed sounds.

Chart positions for the current week are recalculated regularly, so they can still move during the week. On Sunday at 7:00 pm CET the week closes: the positions are final, and artists in the charts get an email with their placement.

Purchased promotion points contribute to visibility and play delivery, which in turn can influence your weekly score — but they are not directly added to the ranking score itself.

Why is the Popular list of a genre empty?

The Popular list of a genre shows its weekly chart: up to 30 sounds uploaded in the current chart week, ranked by plays and engagement (How do the weekly charts work?).

Only the genre chosen in the Genre field of an upload counts - subgenres and tags don't. A sound appears once it is public, fully processed and has been played or received reactions.

Early in the week, smaller genres can still be empty - the page then says Not enough uploads this week for this category to create a list. Uploads of artists who switched on Exclude my uploads from the weekly genre ranking are not listed.

How do I get my music featured in playlists?

Your music is automatically indexed and discoverable through our platform:

Your sounds appear in category-based collections automatically upon upload
Accurate tags and categories help listeners discover your music through search
High engagement (plays, likes, shares) increases visibility in trending sections
Create your own public playlists to showcase your music and build community

To maximize discoverability, choose the most relevant category and add descriptive tags that match your music's style, genre, and mood.

How do I track my music performance and download analytics?

Open the account menu (your profile picture at the top right) and choose Statistics. The page shows plays, downloads, likes and other actions over all your uploads as numbers and as a chart. Below, your sounds are listed - pick one or more to see them on their own.

With Premium you choose the time range - from 7 days up to a year or more - and switch between plays, downloads, likes and more. Depending on your account, you can also pick your own dates, see where your listeners come from (countries, cities, sources and devices) and download the data as CSV.

For a single sound, open More on your sound and choose Statistics: plays, embedded plays and downloads over the last 30 or 90 days, 12 months or all time.

On a phone: Where do I find my statistics on my phone?

Where do I find my statistics on my phone?

For all your uploads, tap your profile picture at the top and choose Statistics - or open You in the bar at the bottom, then More next to Edit profile and Statistics. In the list of your sounds, the chart icon Open statistics shows a single sound.

On the page of your sound, open More below the player and choose Statistics.

New plays count right away; your own plays are not counted. On the overview page, today's numbers can take up to 30 minutes to show.

What counts as a play?

A play counts when someone starts your sound - on hearthis.at, in an embedded player, in the app or in a podcast app.

Not counted are your own plays, a player loading a sound in advance, podcast directories and search engines checking your feed, and servers in large cloud networks downloading your files. They still get the file, but no one is listening there.

Your numbers jump on a single day and the plays are spread over many older sounds? That is usually automated traffic - wherever we recognise it, it does not count. In the statistics chart, your five most played sounds of the period are shown on their own, all others together as Other uploads.

How do reactions on stories work?

Below a story you can leave one reaction. A click sets it, a click on another one replaces it, and a second click on the same one takes it back.

The author gets an email with your first reaction, not every time you change it.

How do reactions work in livestreams and replays?

Next to the chat field of a livestream or replay you find the reactions. A click sends one - it appears in the chat for everyone, with your name.

Between two reactions you wait 20 seconds, and you can send up to 20 per stream. Your own reaction can be taken back with the trash icon next to it in the chat.

Is my livestream recorded, and what is a Replay?

Only if you switch it on: automatically record stream on connecting before you connect, Enable recording when going live in the preview of your stream, or Start Recording while you are live. As long as it records, your stream shows Livestream is recording.

After the show, the recording is a sound on your profile. It stays private unless your stream was public, and you edit, publish or delete it like any other upload; it counts towards your upload limits. Without recording, nothing of the stream is kept once it ends.

A Replay is something else: it plays one of your sets around the clock like a radio station. Choose Stream Live at the top of the page, select a set and press Start Replay. Replay is part of Premium.

Can I save my stream keys for YouTube, Twitch or Facebook before I go live?

Yes. Choose Stream Live at the top of the page - under Stream to other platforms you find a card for Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and any other RTMP server. Paste the stream key there: it is saved right away, and the card shows Ready.

The cards for Facebook, YouTube and Twitch link to the page where you find your key. If you paste the whole address (rtmp://…/key), only the key is kept. Your keys are visible only to you; Remove deletes them again.

As soon as your broadcast is connected, the keys are already filled in on the dashboard of your stream: one click starts forwarding, with the cover of your stream.

How do I plan my Replay with the schedule?

While your Replay is running, Replay Settings shows your schedule as a week: one row per day from midnight to midnight. Each bar is a slot - it starts at its time and plays its set until the next slot starts.

Click a bar to change its set, start time or days, or to remove it. + next to a day adds a new slot there. Then press Save schedule.

The red line marks the current time. If two slots start at the same time on the same day, both are marked - only one of them can play. All times are in your local time.

Sets in your schedule are loaded ahead of time, so a slot switches within seconds. If you add a large new set, save the schedule a few hours before its first slot.

What is "Repost to Download"?

You can make the download of your sound depend on a repost: listeners can download it only after they reposted it to their followers. Switch on Allow public downloads in the settings of your sound and choose Repost to Download under Who can download?.

On such a sound a repost stays - it can no longer be taken back, even one made before the setting was switched on. You can still add a message to it.

How can I change the look of the video for stories and reels?

In the share dialog of a sound, choose a look above the download button:

Spectrum shows the sound as a red spectrum at the bottom of the cover.
Waveform draws a thin line across the middle.
Cover only leaves your artwork untouched - the right choice if your cover carries text, such as your website, at the bottom.

Your browser remembers the choice for the next video. The video is offered as soon as the preview of your sound is ready.

What has changed about the embedded players?

All embedded players - Sounds, Sets, profiles, Inside lists and the live player - now have the look of the hearthis.at player. Codes you already use keep working without any change: same address, same size, same options.

The height of the frame picks the layout: below 130 pixels a slim player without waveform, from 200 pixels a larger player, from 300 pixels a card with the cover in a narrow frame and an even larger player in a wide one. Sets and profiles show their track list below the player from 200 pixels.

The highlight colour (for sounds: played part) now colours the whole player - play button, progress and buttons. In the embed dialog you can also hide the statistics, as well as the comments and reactions on the waveform.

If you restyle the player with your own stylesheet, adjust it: the class names of the old player no longer exist. Colours and fonts from your stylesheet still apply; text sizes, spacing and alignment stay as they are, so the player fits every frame size.

Can my embedded players keep the classic look?

Yes. Add retro=1 to the address in your embed code - after a ? if the address has none yet, otherwise after a &. For example: https://hearthis.at/embed/12345/transparent/?style=2&retro=1

The player then shows the plain look of the earlier embedded player: no upload date and no badges such as Private or Premium, the title in regular type, a flat waveform without reflection and labelled buttons. In a tall frame it keeps its size instead of growing. A live broadcast still shows that it is live.

It works for sounds and for the player on top of a set or profile list. Colours, waveform style and all other options of your code stay as they are.

Where do I see my points and my personal link?

Open the account menu (your profile picture at the top right) and choose the entry with your points balance. Without points yet it is called Get your first Points.

A window shows your balance, what you can do with points and your personal link to copy or share. Whoever joins hearthis.at through the link stays linked to you - you get points when they buy Premium or feature one of their uploads.

The entry appears once you have uploaded at least one sound. Points are not paid out as money. Learn more

How do I buy points and what can I use them for?

Choose Buy points on the page Reseller Program, or in the window that opens from the entry with your points balance in the account menu (it appears after your first upload). Pick how many points you want - every purchase comes with bonus points on top. You pay through our payment provider Stripe by card and more - PayPal from €10.00 on - and the points are credited as soon as the payment is confirmed.

With points you feature your sounds: 100 points put a sound among the featured sounds on the start page and its genre page for 24 hours. Without Premium, 100 points buy a Premium Shot: lossless audio and the Premium features for a single upload - switch it on when you upload.

Every purchase comes with an invoice by email; you also find it under Invoices. Points are not paid out as money. Learn more

How does featuring a sound work?

Click Gain more listeners on your public sound - after an earlier feature the button is called Reach more listeners!. A feature costs 100 points and starts at once. Not enough points? The window offers Buy points: the smallest pack costs €4.00 and brings 300 points with the bonus - enough for 3 features.

Right after you publish a single sound, the window "Your sound is live!" offers the feature too - at most once a day. The email telling you that your sound is published has a "Feature now" button as well. Both appear once the sound is public and ready to play.

For 24 hours your sound is one of the featured sounds. On the start page they take turns: every visit shows a few of them at the top of the feed, picked at random. On the genre page of your sound, featured sounds stand at the top of the list for up to three days.

All sounds featured right now are listed on the Featured page. To the Featured page

Points can be bought or earned for free with your personal link. Learn more

How do I get my podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify?

Open your profile, choose Edit Profile and the tab Podcast - it appears once you have a public sound. Switch on Enable Podcast feed for your profile and fill in title, author, category and language. Enter your own email address: Apple and Spotify send their confirmation there.

Copy the address under Podcast URL and submit it once: Send to iTunes opens Apple Podcasts Connect with the address filled in, Send to Spotify and Send to Deezer open the sign-up pages of Spotify and Deezer, where you paste it. Each service decides itself whether and when it lists your podcast; after that, new episodes reach the apps on their own.

If Apple asks for proof that the podcast is yours, paste the token from Apple Podcasts Connect into Apple Podcast Claim Token.

The feed holds your public sounds that are marked for the podcast - in the edit mask of a sound, or for many at once in Edit all Uploads. Its cover is your profile picture.

A set can be a podcast of its own: switch it on in the Podcast Settings of the set and submit its address the same way.

Earning money

How can I earn money from my uploads?

We offer multiple ways to monetize your music:

1. Direct Fan Donations

Enable donations on your Artist Page and allow fans to support you directly. Donations go straight to your PayPal account with no commission.

2. Fan Subscriptions

Set up subscriptions for your fans - they pay monthly or yearly. You choose the price and decide what exclusive content they receive. hearthis.at handles payments via Stripe securely.

3. Partner Program

Partners such as labels, agencies or communities receive a share of the revenue from the accounts they bring to hearthis.at. Write to us if you would like to become a partner.

4. Reseller Program

Every account can earn points with its personal link and use them to feature its sounds. Points are not paid out as money. Learn more

Note: You must have an active artist account to access monetization features.

Can I share exclusive content with my fans?

Yes! You can offer exclusive content to your fan subscribers:

Exclusive Sounds: Upload music that only paying subscribers can access
Subscriber Playlists: Create special playlists exclusively for your fan subscription members
Early Access: Release new sounds to your subscribers before the public
Premium Pricing: Set your own subscription price and earning percentage

To set up exclusive content, visit your Artist Page and configure your subscription settings.

How do I see who my paying Fans are?

Your paying Fans are listed in your profile settings: Edit Profile → Fan Subscriptions → Your Fans

There you see every paying Fan with name, since when, the amount per month or year and the status.

On your own profile, paying Fans among your followers carry this badge - only you can see it: Fan

Following a profile is free and is not a Fan subscription. A follower only becomes a Fan by choosing a price and paying for it: Become a Fan

The list and the badge are not available on the old mobile site yet.

Where do I find the invoices for my Fan subscriptions?

Your Fan subscriptions are in your profile settings: Edit Profile → Fan Subscriptions → Your Fan subscriptions

Each subscription is one row with its price per month or year and its status. The invoice button beside it shows how many invoices there are - click it to see every payment with its amount and open the invoice. A subscription with a single invoice opens it directly.

To end a subscription, click the X and confirm: it keeps running until the end of the month or year you paid for.

Can I pay for a Fan subscription once a year?

Yes. In the window Become a Fan, choose Yearly above the prices: you pay for 10 months and get 12 - 2 months free.

The subscription renews every year until you cancel it. Cancelled, it keeps running until the end of the year you paid for.

For artists: a yearly subscription is paid out over its twelve months, a twelfth with every monthly payout.

Playback and controls

How do I subscribe to a podcast on hearthis.at?

Artists offer their sounds or a set as a podcast. Open the profile or the set, click the three dots (More) and choose Podcast.

A page with the episodes opens. Subscribe with one of the app buttons (Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, AntennaPod), or click Copy feed URL and add the address in any other podcast app - usually under "Add by URL".

New episodes then appear in your app on their own. You can also play every episode right on the page.

Artists switch their podcast on in the Podcast tab of their profile mask or in the Podcast Settings of the set.

Apps and developers get the feed address through the hearthis.at API (podcast_url).

Playback stops after a few minutes (Battery Optimization)

If playback stops unexpectedly after a few minutes, your device may be optimizing battery usage for the app.

On Android, open your device settings and search for "Battery Optimization". Select the hearthis.at app and disable optimization to ensure uninterrupted playback in the background.

Keyboard shortcuts

Clear input (search, comments, playlists): ESC
Play / pause: Spacebar
Open link in new tab: Cmd + Shift + Click (Mac) / Ctrl + Click (Windows)
Open link in new window: Shift + Click

How does the search work?

Click the search field at the top or just start typing: the search opens in its own window and shows suggestions while you type - artists at the top, below them sounds, sets and groups.

Use the arrow keys to move through the suggestions, Enter opens the selected one and Esc closes the search. Enter without a selection, or "All results", shows the full search page.

With an empty field you see your recent searches. They are only stored in your browser: remove a single one with the X (or the Delete key), or all of them with "Clear history".

What does the map show, and how do I find events near me?

Maps in the menu at the top shows sounds and artists on a map - sounds at their recording location, artists at the location of their profile. Search for a place or use Use my location, and filter by genre, release date and length. The map is available on a computer when you are logged in.

Your public sounds appear there with the Recording Location from their edit mask, or else with the location of your profile.

Events near you are shown beside your feed: upcoming events around the location of your profile and events of artists you follow. An event appears there when its address was picked from the suggestions.

How does hearthis.at work on my phone?

On a phone, hearthis.at shows its mobile layout:

The bar at the bottom takes you to Home, Explore, Search, Live and your profile (You).
While a sound plays, a small player sits above it - tap it to open the sound page.
On the sound page, drag the waveform left or right to jump to any point; the buttons skip 15 seconds back or forward and repeat the sound.
In lists, tap a cover to play the sound; tap the title to open its page.
Menus and dialogs open from the bottom of the screen.

How do I save a sound to listen to it later?

Click the clock below a sound - in a list or on the sound page. It turns red: the sound is saved. Click it again to remove it.

Your saved sounds are in the Listen later tab of your profile, newest first. Only you can see this list.

The list holds up to 1000 sounds; when you save more, the oldest ones drop out. If the artist makes a sound private or removes it, it disappears from the list.

Apps and developers can read the list through the hearthis.at API (/categories/later/).

How do I download a sound?

If the artist allows downloads, the sound has a Download button - on the sound page with its label, in lists as an icon with the file size. You get the file in the format the artist uploaded, for example WAV or MP3.

Some artists allow downloads only after a repost, a follow or for their paying Fans - the button then shows what to do. A download after a repost needs a login with a confirmed email address; until you have confirmed it, the button is not shown.

Otherwise a missing button means that the artist has not allowed downloads, or that the sound is still being processed.

Can I play sounds on my TV or speakers (AirPlay, Chromecast, Sonos)?

Yes. While a sound plays, a device button appears next to the volume in the player bar - on a phone, open the sound page. Click it and choose your TV or speaker.

Safari on Mac, iPhone and iPad: AirPlay - Apple TV, HomePod and AirPlay 2 speakers, many Sonos speakers among them
Chrome and Edge: Chromecast, Google TV and speakers with Google Cast
Firefox: cannot send audio to other devices, so the button does not appear there

The button only appears when your browser finds a device in your network. Sounds for Fans only cannot be played on other devices yet. A play on another device counts like a play in the browser.

The media keys of your keyboard, the lock screen and the notification on Android show the sound that is playing and control it as well.

Apps and developers get a stream URL for a device through the hearthis.at API (/{author}/{track}/cast/).

How does Track ID work, and how do I get a tracklist for my mix?

While a mix plays, Track ID in the player bar recognises the song at that moment and shows title, artist and label. Track ID is part of Premium.

For your own mixes between 15 minutes and 12 hours, Premium creates the tracklist automatically: switch on Create the tracklist automatically in the edit mask of the sound and save. After a while the recognised songs appear under Tracklist on the sound page.

Recognition works best where a single song plays without talking over it, so some songs may be missing. A tracklist you enter yourself always comes first: choose Edit next to the tracklist on the sound page.

In a livestream, Automatic playlist generation in the stream settings lists the songs while you play - also part of Premium.

Songs in a livestream are recognised for its first 12 hours. If the stream runs longer, recognition stops and the automatic tracklist is no longer shown - neither in the stream nor in its recording.

Which formats does the tracklist import understand?

Open More on your sound and choose Tracklist - or Edit next to a tracklist that is already there. Then choose Import Tracklist and paste one song per line:

00:00 - Artist - Title
03:16 - Artist - Title (Remix)
1:02:30 - Artist - Title [Label]

Times can be minutes and seconds (03:16) or include hours (1:02:30). A name in square brackets at the end of a line becomes the label; versions such as [Radio Edit] or [Live] stay in the title.

Lines without a time are added without one - give them a start time later by clicking below the waveform.

How do subtitles for sounds work?

We create subtitles automatically for public sounds with spoken words or vocals, such as podcasts, talks or songs with lyrics. A mix without vocals usually gets none. The automatic text can contain mistakes.

Listeners switch them on with Subtitles in the player; the current line then shows over the waveform.

Show subtitles in the edit mask of your sound - or Subtitles in Edit all Uploads for many at once - decides whether listeners get the button. It is on for new uploads.

To correct the text, open More on your sound and choose Subtitles. Your changes are saved automatically, and Download as SRT saves the subtitles as a file.

Why does my sound say "Audio removed"?

The audio file of this sound no longer exists on our servers. This can happen when a Premium account ends: uploads in formats other than MP3 or M4A are hidden and deleted after some time. If you upgrade again later, these sounds come back, but their audio may already be gone.

Only you can see such a sound. Click "Replace file" and upload the audio again - the sound keeps its title, cover, plays, likes and comments. Once the new file is processed, it is playable again, and public again if it was public before.

Rights and safety

How do I report abuse or copyright issues?

On the page of a sound, open More and choose Report abuse to notify our team about any issue.

For copyright issues, sign in and use report infringement at the end of the details beside the sound. It is not shown on your own sounds.

How are my personal data and music protected?

We take security and privacy very seriously:

Encryption: All data is encrypted and transmitted securely (SSL/TLS)
GDPR Compliant: Your personal data is protected according to European data protection regulations
Music Backups: Your uploaded music is backed up and protected against data loss. Sounds you delete and audio removed after a Premium account ends cannot be restored, so please keep your own copies of your original files.
Account Control: Only you can access your account and music through your secure login
Copyright Protection: We monitor and enforce copyright policies to protect artist rights

For more information, please review our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Who can read my private story?

Only you. A private story does not appear on your profile, in the search or for your followers.

With Premium you also get a secret link: anyone you send it to can read the story, everyone else still cannot find it. You find the link under Visibility in the story mask.

Who can open my private set or group?

Only you and people with its secret link. Open the set or group, choose Share and copy the link - it carries the secret.

For a private group, this link is the invitation: whoever opens it sees the group and, once logged in, can join. Members keep access and can leave at any time. Without the link, nobody can see or join the group.

The podcast feed of a private set also works only with its secret address. You find it in the edit mask of the set under Podcast URL. Only share it with people who may hear the set.

How do I allow only certain websites to embed my sound?

Open the page of your sound, choose Edit and then the tab with the Pro or Premium options. Under Embedding, type the address of a website and press Enter, for example myradio.com.

Only the name of the website counts. We remove the https:// at the start and everything after the name. myradio.com also allows www.myradio.com. If the list is empty, every website may show the player.

In the same tab, Theme sets the look of your sound page: Standard, Aurora with a background that glows in the colours of the cover, or YouTube video with your video behind the player.