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How to Multi-Stream
By Think of all the sites out there you can multi-stream LIVE content – YouTube, Twitch, Facebook Gaming, Kick, Trovo, and more! Every streaming site has its own set of pros, cons, audiences, and benefits.
When you’re just starting out, or even just trying to diversify your content, it can be hard to pick your service of choice. So what do you do? Stream to a different platform every time until you find a fit for you. That seems like a bit of a hassle to try one after another before you find the right fit(s).
So instead let’s talk about multi-streaming and get your content out there! In this article we will go over all of the following:
- What is Multi-Streaming?
- Can Affiliates and Partners Multi-Stream to Different Platforms?
- How do you Multi-Stream?
- Mirvan’s Multi-Streaming Setup Walkthrough
🔓 | How to Start Streaming on Twitch in 4 Easy Steps | How to Stream on YouTube | How to Stream on Instagram | How to Stream on TikTok | How to Stream on Facebook Gaming
What is Multi-Streaming?
Multistreaming, or simulcasting, is where a content creator broadcasts their livestream to multiple platforms at the same time.
This is done to:
- Increase reach
- Compare platform performance
- Find existing audience on multiple platforms to sustain engagement
- Build a diverse income
- Funnel views back to a main stream like Twitch or YouTube
Potential Negatives of Multistreaming:
- Need to juggle multiple stream locations and chats
- Increases stream prep time
- May be confusing to audience when talking to someone in a different chat
- Solution: restate comment/question out loud
- Solution: Add a combined chat to overlay
- Warning: Twitch does not allow this, do so at your own risk
- Restream Chat
- SocialStream.ninja
- Botrix
- Currently only accepts Trovo, Twitch, Kick, Youtube
Can Twitch Streamers Multi-Stream to Different Platforms?
As of October 20th, Twitch allows all streamers to simulcast (multi-stream) to any other livestreaming platform. Twitch streamers who want to simulcast must adhere to the following guidelines:
- Maintain the quality of your Twitch stream and ensure the experience is, at minimum, no less than the experience on other platforms. This includes your engagement with chat.
- Do not direct your audience to leave Twitch to watch the stream on another site.
- You may not use a third-party service to combine activity from other platforms during the simulcast, such as merging chat together.
For the latest up to date information, review Twitch’s simulcasting guidelines.
🔓 | Diversify Your Content | How to Grow Your Twitch Stream
🔐 | Module: Tools for Analytics | Module: Important Metrics & Why Numbers Matter | Module: Alternative Income Sources | Module: Importance of Social Media Platforms | Module: Understanding Discoverability | Module: How to Get Discovered Outside Twitch
How do you Multi-Stream?
If you’re already used to streaming, multi-streaming is as easy as 1-2-3. Whichever sites, software, and solution you choose will have their own specific steps. A creator that wants to multi-stream needs to:
- Set up accounts on platforms that support livestreaming
- Pick the multistreaming solution that works best for them
- Set up the multistreaming solution
- Go live
Now you just have to pick where you want to stream; Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok – there are a ton of places you can take advantage of multi-streaming.
Once you select your platforms, you need to figure out which multi-streaming solution works best for you. There are several ways to get your content out to your platforms.
Options for Multi-Streaming:
Cloud-Based Multi-Streaming Solutions
This is likely to be the most popular method of simulcasting. It’s cost-efficient, easy to use, and there are several options to choose from.
Some Cloud-Based Multi-Streaming Solutions:
These solutions are no more demanding on your resources than streaming to one platform, and are fairly simple to set up.
Multi-Streaming Software
The quality of your stream will depend on the hardware in your streaming rig, as each stream destination will take up more CPU processing power and upload bandwidth.
Cons of Multi-Streaming Software
This solution can be very demanding on your computer, and is less reliable than using a hardware encoder.
Examples of Multi-Streaming Software
Want to design separate scenes for different platforms, or perhaps only have your Twitch alerts play on Twitch? You can use Aitum’s Vertical plugin, change the resolution settings to your normal output settings (ex: 1920×1080) and have a secondary output display that is unique using the plugin’s separate sources and scenes.
Hardware Encoders
A hardware encoder is a device that takes your livestream data and can send it to multiple destinations. These devices are very reliable and do all of the heavy lifting when processing your stream.
Cons of Hardware Encoders
The cost can be a bit prohibitive, though, and the quality of your stream will depend on your available bandwidth.
Examples of Multi-Streaming Hardware Encoders
- Pearl-2 by Epiphan Video
Mirvan’s Multi-Streaming Setup Walkthrough
Once you’ve chosen your Multi-Streaming solution, it’s time to set it all up and get started! I’m going to walk you through my setup process for Multi-Streaming so you can get a feel for the process!
MirvansMusings
he/him
Mirvan is a writer for SolarStream. Father of 3 by day, variety & charity streamer by night, Mirvan is a man of simple tastes.
“Since I use Aircast, a Cloud-Based solution, those are the instructions I’ll use.”
➡️Log in to your Aircast account
➡️Go to your Stream Profile page
➡️Set up your input and output
➡️Select all the platforms you would like to multi-stream onto, set up your stream keys accordingly
➡️Go live on all those platforms
Setting Up Stream Input
Aircast has two different ways of getting your input stream: Either through an RTMP Input that you’ll set up in your OBS settings, or by streaming to one platform and letting Aircast re-stream to other platforms.
If you use one of your platforms as an input, it has to be either a Twitch stream, a Theta.tv stream, or a Glimesh stream. Twitch and RTMP inputs will also give you the option to auto-start the outputs whenever you go live, which helps save an extra step or two.
Setting Up Stream Output
After setting your Stream Input, you need to add your outputs. With Aircast, there are two plans: Essential (£2.00 GBP) and Streamer (£5.00 GBP). With the streamer plan you get unlimited outputs to stream to. When you click the “Add Stream Output”, you’ll see about 12 different platforms to choose from, including Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, and Steam. Select the platform you’ll be multi-streaming to, and enter the stream key for that platform. Repeat as necessary until you have all of your platforms ready.
Once all of your Outputs are set up, it’s time to go LIVE! If you don’t have Aircast set up to auto-start when you go live, you’ll need to have the Stream Profile page open so you can hit the “Start All” button, or hit the Start button next to the different outputs if you want to multi-stream to only certain ones.
Now that you know how it works, it’s time to find your favorite method of multi-streaming and get started! There are so many places to put your content to find growth in the industry and multi-streaming is a great way to do that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MirvansMusings
About the Author
MirvansMusings
Mirvan is a writer, certified tech wizard and jack-of-all-trades! He is a father of 3 by day, then a variety & charity streamer by night. Mirvan is a man of simple tastes who loves TCGs, RPGs, and MMOs.