RunBeat Media didn't start with a business plan. It started with a problem — and a belief that radio stations deserve better tools than the ones they've been stuck with for decades.
If you've ever worked in UK radio, you know the frustration. The playout software that hasn't been meaningfully updated since the 2000s. The compliance processes held together with spreadsheets and good intentions. The CRM that was built for estate agents and shoehorned into ad sales. The DAB management tools that only run on one specific Windows machine in the corner of the office.
We lived that world. Twenty years of running and managing community radio stations and independent local stations. Not advising from the outside — actually doing it. Owning the licence, hiring the presenters, selling the airtime, filing the Ofcom returns, keeping the transmitter on air at 2am when something breaks. Every frustration we're solving is one we've felt firsthand.
RunBeat Media is solely owned and built by people with direct industry experience. No outside investors telling us what to prioritise. No board of people who've never set foot in a studio. Full ownership, full control, real experiences — and a very clear picture of what radio stations actually need.
We kept asking the same question: why does it have to be this way?
It doesn't. So we started building.
Every product we build starts with the same question: what does a radio station actually need?
We don't adapt generic software and hope it fits. We sit inside the problem — how stations schedule music, how sales teams sell airtime, how programme controllers manage compliance, how engineers monitor a DAB multiplex — and we build from there.
That's why our compliance tool is structured around the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, not a generic content moderation framework. It's why our CRM has a campaign builder that thinks in spots and airtime, not widgets and SaaS seats. It's why our playout system understands BPM, segues, voice tracking, and network broadcasting with local opt-outs.
When you build for a specific industry, you can make decisions that generic tools never will. And those decisions compound — every feature we add already understands the context it lives in.
Our approach is simple: cloud-native, integrated, and designed for the UK.
No rack servers. No on-prem headaches. No "install this on a dedicated Windows PC and don't turn it off." Every RunBeat product runs in the cloud, accessible from any browser, anywhere. Your station keeps broadcasting whether you're in the studio or on the other side of the country.
Our products are designed to work together. Compliance results feed into your playout decisions. Your CRM pipeline connects to your contract workflow. Your bonus calculations draw from your sales data. Your CMS pulls now-playing data and schedules straight from Pulse. You can use any product standalone — but together, they're more than the sum of their parts.
We build around the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, UK broadcasting standards, Companies House data, and the way UK stations actually operate. This isn't a US product with a currency conversion. It's built here, for here.
We believe in getting real tools into real hands quickly, then iterating based on what stations actually need — not what a product roadmap imagined six months ago. Every product we've launched has been shaped by the people using it.
When we built playout automation, we didn't stop at scheduling. We built the music library, the compliance scanning, the listen-again recording, the streaming infrastructure, the network broadcasting, the station website CMS, the mobile apps, and the Alexa skill. When a station needs something, we'd rather build it properly than point them somewhere else.
Community stations, small commercial operators, and regional groups shouldn't need enterprise budgets to run professional software. Our pricing reflects that — and our All-Access bundle means a station can get every product we make for less than most pay for playout alone.
RunBeat isn't a weekend project or a reskinned template. It's a serious engineering effort — and the numbers tell the story.
Every product goes through the same rigorous process: design, build, internal testing on RunBeat Radio, iteration, documentation, and then release. We don't ship features we haven't used ourselves. We don't launch products we haven't stress-tested in production. And we don't stop iterating once something is live — 150 database migrations and counting means the platform is always evolving.
What started as one product became a platform. Here's how it grew.
Where it all began
A cloud playout system that could do what the legacy desktop tools do — but in a browser, from anywhere. Drag-and-drop scheduling, a proper media library with BPM tagging, live-assist with a cartwall, voice tracking, and real-time streaming to DAB+ and online. Then we added network broadcasting for station groups, listen-again with catch-up radio, and smart music scheduling with clock templates. The UI draws inspiration from the professional playout systems broadcasters already know — but rebuilt for the modern web.
Because Ofcom doesn't wait
If you're broadcasting in the UK, you need to demonstrate due diligence under the Broadcasting Code. We built a compliance framework that automatically transcribes lyrics, scans them against configurable forbidden words lists, classifies severity, and generates regulatory-ready reports with a full audit trail. It's baked into Pulse, but it also works as a standalone tool for any station.
Sales, the way radio actually sells
Radio ad sales is its own discipline — campaigns, spots, airtime packages, renewals. Generic CRMs don't get it. Ours does. We built pipeline management, campaign builders, and contract generation around how radio sales teams actually work. Then we added the Prospector — a Companies House intelligence engine that finds new businesses registering in your broadcast area every day, complete with director lookups and automated alerts. It turns public data into your next sales conversation.
DAB management, modernised
Managing a DAB multiplex shouldn't require a specific desktop application on a specific machine. We built a web-based controller for ensemble configuration, capacity planning, encoding management, and transmission chain monitoring — with What-If mode so you can model changes before committing them.
Transparent compensation
Sales teams work harder when they can see exactly where they stand. We built a target and bonus management platform with tiered frameworks, accelerators, pro-rated phasing, gate payouts, and year-end true-ups. Salespeople get an earnings modeller. Managers get a clear view of the whole team. No more spreadsheet arguments at quarter-end.
The full contract lifecycle
From authoring and negotiation through approval workflows and e-signatures to obligation tracking and renewal management — a complete contract lifecycle platform. With a clause library, AI-powered analysis, counterparty redlining, bulk send, and public signing forms. Built so the person signing doesn't need an account — they just sign.
Scheduling that connects
Shared team calendars, resource and studio booking, smart find-a-time scheduling, and public booking pages — with two-way sync to Microsoft 365 and Google Calendar. Free with any RunBeat subscription, because scheduling shouldn't be a premium feature.
Your sales intelligence layer
A customer engagement platform that puts your sales team right where the prospects are. Embed a live chat widget on your website, track visitors in real time, score leads automatically, and let an AI chatbot handle conversations using a knowledge base you can build from your own website in minutes. Deep integration with CRM, Contracts, Calendar, and Bonus means you can look up accounts, send contracts, and book meetings without leaving the chat. Available standalone or as part of the CRM.
Your station's website, sorted
Radio station websites have always been an afterthought — a WordPress install that nobody updates, or a template site that doesn't know what's on air. We built a CMS that's wired into Pulse from the ground up. Now-playing data, schedule sync, listen-again embeds, show and presenter profiles, competitions, events, photo galleries, and a proper block editor for news and articles — all managed from one place. Custom domains with free SSL, ad zone management, and a headless API if you want to build something custom. Your website finally knows what your station is doing.
Broadcast-critical stream distribution
AzuraCast was flaky. Listener counts didn't work. We had no way of knowing if our DAB MUX sites were actually connected. So we built our own — a broadcast-critical stream relay and monitoring platform designed for stations that can't afford to go off air. Real-time connection monitoring per output (know instantly which MUX is connected and which isn't), automatic backup audio failover if your playout drops, per-output transcoding to any format and bitrate, instant alerts via email and Slack, and full uptime reporting. Supports pull, push, and dual-mode outputs. Integrates with Pulse for zero-config stream ingest, and with Controller for one-click MUX delivery. Built to never fail — because this is the shop door to your radio station as a business.
Everything, together
Every product in one subscription. Because a station shouldn't have to choose between compliance and CRM, or between playout and contracts. All-Access gives you the complete platform — and it costs less than most stations pay for playout software alone.
Cloud-native doesn't mean browser-only. We're bringing RunBeat to every screen and every speaker.
Dedicated native apps for Windows and macOS — with system tray integration, native OS notifications, and a clean, tab-free experience. Particularly useful for Pulse operators who keep it open all day. Available now for Windows and macOS. Included free with every subscription.
Native iOS and Android apps for Pulse, CRM, and Compliance — so you can monitor your station, manage your pipeline, and review flagged tracks from your phone. Push notifications, background audio, and offline caching. Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
"Alexa, open RunBeat Radio." We built an Alexa skill so listeners can tune in on any Echo device — with live station playback, now-playing info, and schedule lookups. Because radio should be as easy as asking for it.
RunBeat Radio is the UK's first radio station dedicated entirely to the running community — music curated by BPM, training tips, race previews, and real stories from real runners. Broadcasting on DAB+ and online.
It's also our proving ground. Every product we build gets tested in production on a real station with real listeners before it reaches anyone else. If it works for RunBeat Radio, it works. If it doesn't, we fix it before you ever see it.
We believe the best way to build tools for radio stations is to be a radio station.
Radio is one of the most resilient, personal, and community-connected media there is. It deserves technology that matches its ambition — not software that holds it back.
We're building the platform we wished existed when we started. Modern, integrated, affordable, and built by people who care about getting it right. Not perfect on day one — but always getting better, always listening, and always building with radio stations at the centre of every decision.
That's the RunBeat way. And we're just getting started.