B2B music streaming technology provider Tuned Global is upgrading its Social Radio platform with a real-time tipping feature.
Launched in November 2024, the Social Radio platform is an interactive, fan-driven broadcast layer for DSPs. The new tipping feature lets fans support artists, DJs, and creators live.
According to Tuned Global, the new “plug-and-play” monetisation tool is “inspired by creator economy giants like Twitch and TikTok” by letting fans send payments directly to their favorite streamers.
The roll out marks the latest tech expansion for Tuned Global, a data-driven cloud and software platform for music that lets businesses integrate commercial music into their apps or launch complete streaming services using customisable white-label apps.
Since 2011, Tuned Global has supported music services for what it says are “hundreds” of businesses in over 70 countries in the streaming, telecom, fitness, media, aviation, and other industries.
With Tuned Global’s Social Radio product, artists or audio creators host interactive sessions where they stream music playlists and speak live to listeners in virtual chat rooms, like a modern take on live radio.
Social Radio is powered by Tuned Global’s 2023 acquisition of music AI platform Pacemaker. The DJ mix app’s patented tech now serves “as the backbone” for Social Radio’s live, interactive features.
It also includes Tuned Global’s proprietary AutomixIQ technology, an AI-powered engine that beat-matches tracks for seamless transitions during broadcasts, without creating derivative works.
“Pacemaker’s patented Recipe format, proprietary backend, and advanced AI-driven mobile creation tool — with over 20 man-years of dedicated development — offer a market-proven solution that will save DSPs years of development time, significantly accelerating their entry into interactive audio experiences,” said Jonas Norberg, Tuned Global’s Head of AI and founder of Pacemaker.
Using Social Radio, users can interact with creators through chat and animated emojis during a live broadcast. Some emojis are free, while others carry a monetary value and function as tips. Tipping will be available starting in Q3 of 2025.
Fans can purchase these paid emojis either in advance or instantly during the session, “depending on the DSP’s setup,” according to Tuned Global.
When a tip is sent, whether it is a monetary donation or a paid emoji, it appears live on screen along with the fan’s name and the tip amount.
DSPs can also choose to display additional elements, such as the total amount tipped during a session, floating tip animations, or a highlight of recent tippers.
“The SDK is fully customisable, allowing each DSP to decide how prominent, playful, or minimal the tipping experience should be,” the company said.
Tipping has become a significant monetization tool in the wider creator economy, across multiple social platforms like Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube.
Music streaming services such as Tencent Music-owned QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music in China also allow tipping, while in Japan, livestream platform SHOWROOM allows users to buy ‘virtual gifts’ for streamers.
“In many parts of the world, especially in Asia, fandom is built into the DNA of streaming,” noted Tuned Global Managing Director said Con 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.”
“Fans don’t just want to listen; they want to participate, support, and belong. Social Radio turns a traditional streaming experience into something social, expressive, and monetisable.”
Con Raso
Added Raso: “Social Radio turns static streams into the interactive experiences listeners now expect.
“Fans don’t just want to listen; they want to participate, support, and belong. Social Radio turns a traditional streaming experience into something social, expressive, and monetisable. The platforms that move first will define the standard for what streaming looks like in the fan-driven era.”
According to Tuned Global, DSPs integrating Social Radio’s new tipping feature via the company’s SDK will be able to integrate their own payment methods and currencies “that best suit their market, and monetisation strategy”.
Tuned Global says that it provides the tipping framework, including the “frontend components and interaction logic”, while the DSP connects its own backend systems to manage transactions, balances, and “currency logic”.
“This approach gives full autonomy to DSPs to embed monetisation in a way that is native to their app,” the company explained.
Looking ahead, Tuned Global’s Raso told us that “tipping has the potential to evolve from a bonus feature into a core part of the revenue mix for many creators — particularly those operating outside the mainstream.”
Added Raso: “In the context of Social Radio, tipping is not limited to artists alone. It also applies to fans, curators, and influencers who host live shows.
“What sets tipping apart is its immediacy and emotional value. Unlike traditional royalties, which are delayed and driven by volume, tipping happens in real time and reflects a deeper connection between fans and the experience being shared.
“This immediacy can encourage more frequent, more personal interactions between artists (or creators) and their audiences, leading to increased fan loyalty and repeat engagement.”
Raso also pointed to the “valuable layer of data” that tipping can “unlock,” noting that there’s an opportunity to use tipping data to “enrich artist dashboards, helping them understand not just what content performs, but what drives fan enthusiasm and generosity in real time”.
He added: “This insight adds an emotional and behavioural dimension to the data already collected by DSPs, enabling smarter recommendations, more precise fan segmentation, and better tools for creator feedback.”
