Here is the short version. We built a WordPress plugin that lets your station stream clean audio while your listeners chat in Matrix on the same page. No middlemen, no walled gardens, no shadow throttling. Audio in one pane, decentralized chat in the other. It works, it is free, and it is open source.
Big Tech has been playing bouncer at the public square for years. They wave in some folks, and “accidentally” lose the ID of others. You know what? I am done asking permission to speak. That is why I wrote this plugin. If you run an online radio station, podcast, or community stream, you should be done asking too.
Airwave Audio Player Matrix is our answer. It is a WordPress plugin that gives you professional radio streaming, live metadata, and a full Matrix chat client on your site. Install it, drop in two shortcodes, and your audience gets the whole experience without a social platform deciding who can talk. (GitHub)
What it is, in plain English
- A reliable audio player for Shoutcast, Icecast, and SonicPanel. It rotates streams if you want, and it handles M3U playlists correctly. It fetches now playing, DJ info, cover art, and recent tracks. It deals with CORS and mixed content so your page does not break when your streams are on different protocols. (GitHub)
- A real Matrix chat pane, not a dumb embed. Persistent logins. Join rooms by alias. Room list, message timeline, send and receive in real time. It talks to any Matrix homeserver and uses the official Matrix JavaScript SDK. Visual status indicators tell you if the connection is live. Sessions persist across reloads. (GitHub)
That is the core. Stream plus chat, side by side, under your control.
Why I built it
I am a free speech guy. I do not need Silicon Valley to grant me a hall pass. Silencing speech is like putting duct tape over a smoke alarm. The fire still burns, you just cannot hear the warning. We have watched platforms throttle, ban, and label any view outside the approved lane. They call it safety. I call it centralized power.
Matrix is a protocol, not a platform. No single company can flip a switch and cut it off. Radio is one of the last honest mediums. Put them together on your own site and you get a full media experience that is hard to censor and easy to love. This plugin is my small contribution to that world. Free software, MIT license, fork it and make it yours. (GitHub)
Features you can count on
Audio that does not flake out
- Shoutcast, Icecast, SonicPanel support
- Automatic stream rotation across up to five streams
- Robust event handling and server-side playlist resolution for M3U and redirects
- Mixed content detection so HTTPS pages warn about HTTP streams instead of failing silently
- Proper CORS handling out of the box (GitHub)
Matrix chat that belongs to you
- Full Matrix SDK integration with persistent login stored locally
- Join by room alias, browse your rooms, and send messages in real time
- CORS-free operation with a server-side proxy so you do not fight browser blockers
- Live connection status checks every 30 seconds with clear visual indicators (GitHub)
Metadata that makes your station feel alive
- Polls metadata every 15 seconds
- Parses Shoutcast, Icecast, and SonicPanel formats
- Shows artist, title, DJ, listeners, album art, and recent track history
- Normalizes fields so everything is consistent across servers (GitHub)
Admin that respects your time
- Configure up to five streams, pick single or rotation mode, set the interval
- Set a default Matrix homeserver and room alias
- Autoplay toggle and theme display controls
- Input sanitization and nonces for security, no server-side storage of credentials (GitHub)
It is MIT licensed, so you can study it, remix it, ship your own version, and nobody sends you a lawyer letter. (GitHub)
How to use it in five minutes
- Upload to your WordPress site at
/wp-content/plugins/airwave-audio-player-matrix/, then activate in Plugins. - In WP Admin, open Settings, then “Airwave Radio + Matrix.”
- Add your stream URLs. Pick your mode, rotation interval, and autoplay.
- Add your Matrix homeserver and a default room alias.
- Drop these shortcodes on any page or post:
[airwave_radio title="My Radio Station"]Community Chat
Place both shortcodes on one page for the full radio plus chat cockpit. That is it. You now run your own little media network without a permission slip. (GitHub)
Why this beats the usual social widgets
- You keep your audience. Traffic lives on your domain, not in someone else’s feed.
- You choose the server. Any Matrix homeserver works. You can run your own or use a trusted host.
- You avoid surprise outages. If a social platform sneezes, your station should not catch a cold.
- You get a real community. Radio cuts through noise. Chat bonds people. Together, they build culture.
Paying a social giant with your audience is like handing the town drunk your wallet and hoping he buys groceries instead of whiskey. Keep your wallet. Keep your voice.
Part of a bigger toolset
Airwave Audio Player Matrix pairs well with our commercial WordPress suite, Airwave Automator, which adds interactive song requests, AI chat for listener Q&A, and deep streaming integration for SonicPanel, Shoutcast, and Icecast. If you need station operations, requests, and advanced widgets, that is your upgrade path. The new plugin and the pro tools live in the same family, so you can start free and grow when you are ready. (Spun Web Technology)
If you want a browser-side companion for listeners, there is also a free Chrome side-panel app that combines radio streaming and Matrix chat in one tidy view. Listeners can tune in and talk without even leaving the page they are on. That tool shares the same philosophy: simple, fast, and controlled by you. (Spun Web Technology)
Who should run this
- Independent stations, podcasters, and scene builders who are tired of platform whiplash
- Community radio that wants open chat with real names or pseudonyms
- Musicians and labels that want a launch page with live streams and live rooms
- Activists and educators who value resilient comms over blue-check vibes
The state will not protect speech online. The platforms will not either. Speech protects itself when we run our own tools and protocols.
A quick peek under the hood
- Real-time checks keep the Matrix status honest, with clear green or red indicators.
- A PHP proxy handles Matrix and metadata requests to avoid CORS headaches.
- Local storage keeps auth tokens on the browser, not your server.
- Admin notices are clean and focused so you are not drowning in WordPress noise.
- Performance is tuned so status checks are fast and UI is responsive on modern browsers. (GitHub)
It is like the Fed is running money on a carnival ride when you use centralized platforms. Flashy lights, rigged games, and you walk out lighter. Protocols and plugins like this are the hard-won cash in your pocket. No carnival, just work.
Call to action
Run your station. Host your chat. Own the room. Install the plugin, add two shortcodes, and give your people a home that does not disappear the next time a trust and safety intern decides your playlist is dangerous.
Freedom of speech is not a setting in someone else’s app. It is a habit you build with your own hands.
Sources
- GitHub: Airwave Audio Player Matrix, features, usage, license
https://github.com/veracitylife/AirwaveAuidioPlayerMatrix - Airwave Automator, commercial suite for radio station sites
https://spunwebtechnology.com/airwaveautomator/ - Airwave Automator Free, Chrome side panel radio plus Matrix chat
https://spunwebtechnology.com/airwaveautomator-chrome/
Spun Web Technology SMART SEO
