To show the current kirtan track inside the video, add an OBS text source that reads a title file updated by the playback system. That in-picture overlay is different from changing the YouTube video’s title field: the latter updates metadata, not the stream image.
Choose what “now playing” should change
| Approach | What viewers see | What it needs | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| OBS text overlay fed from player metadata or a file | Text rendered in the video image | Accessible track information, an integration that updates it, and an OBS text source | Showing each kirtan title during playback |
| YouTube Live Streaming API title update | The YouTube video’s title metadata | An authorized API client and broadcast-update logic | Changing the listing title, not adding text to the picture |
| Manual editing | Depends on whether you edit an overlay or YouTube metadata | Operator intervention when the track changes | Occasional changes or a low-automation setup |
For an on-screen title, the playback source must identify the current item. If the recording has no usable tags, a filename convention or manually maintained title can serve as a fallback; do not leave stale text on screen as if it were live metadata.
Show the current song title in OBS
1. Identify the playback source
Find the system actually playing the kirtan: it might be an OBS VLC Video Source, an external VLC player, another media player, or a separate streaming/automation system. Confirm that it can expose the current track title or that an integration can read it. OBS’s media-source documentation describes native media playback and the VLC playlist source; VLC must be installed to use that source, which supports looping a playlist. OBS: Media Sources.
2. Feed the title from the player to a file
Use an integration matched to the actual player rather than assuming OBS can infer the song from the audio. OBS community resources describe a helper that exports media-session fields to files when information changes, and a VLC-oriented metadata monitor with optional text-file export. The first resource says its files update every five seconds if information has changed. These are community tools, not official guarantees of compatibility with every operating system, player version, or unattended setup: check their requirements before relying on them. Now Playing To File · VLC Now Playing Monitor – Metadata Display.
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3. Add the title file as an OBS text source
- In OBS, open the scene that contains the live video.
- In the Sources panel, add a Text source and open its properties.
- Enable the option to read text from a file, then select the title file produced by your integration.
- Choose the font and appearance, then position and size the source in the scene so it is legible without covering important imagery.
The OBS forum resource “Now Playing To File” gives the same core instruction: “Add a Text Source and check the "Read from file" option, then select the file you want to display and adjust the Font and everything you like.” Resource instructions.
4. Test track changes and recovery before going unattended
Check transitions across several tracks, missing or malformed metadata, pause and stop states, and a restart of both the player and OBS. Make sure the title changes when the playlist advances and that a missing title produces a sensible fallback rather than an old one. If tags are incomplete, use a maintained filename convention or supply the title manually. Test the exact operating system, player, integration, and OBS arrangement you plan to run; the cited community resources do not establish 24/7 recovery behavior.
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Update the YouTube title field instead
If your goal is to change the title displayed in YouTube’s listing, use the YouTube Live Streaming API’s liveBroadcasts.update method and set snippet.title. The API represents a broadcast as one YouTube video; an authorized API client is required. This changes broadcast metadata, not the encoded video image. LiveBroadcasts API · LiveBroadcasts: update.
Take care when constructing the update request: the method documentation says the request body requires an ID and scheduled start time, and existing values in a property group included in part can be deleted if omitted from the body. Preserve the fields you need rather than sending a partial update without checking its effect. Updating this title alone will not put the song name over the video.
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Keep rights and metadata accurate
- Track identification is only as reliable as the recording’s metadata or your naming and update process. The cited integrations describe ways to expose information; they do not verify the accuracy of a particular kirtan library.
- Do not imply that a title overlay or a looping playlist grants permission to broadcast a recording. The rights status of a specific recording and its broadcast use must be assessed separately.
- Keep a fallback title ready for recordings with missing tags, and avoid presenting an unverified title as current.
Or let it run in the cloud
If the goal is a 24/7 YouTube stream without keeping a home computer running, StreamNeo is a cloud option for uploaded videos. Upload the recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live; StreamNeo loops the uploaded video from the cloud. It plays uploaded videos rather than going live from a camera, and it does not create or update a now-playing title overlay, so use the OBS method above if the title must appear in the picture.
- Nothing has to stay on at home for the stream to continue.
- Uploaded video streams as made, up to 4K 60fps, at one price per slot with no re-encode or quality tiers.
- StreamNeo automatically recovers if YouTube drops the stream.
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