Arena DJ: Bring Game-Day Music to Your Rink Board

Every real hockey game has music. The organ plays during stoppages. The PA blasts warm-up tunes. The crowd hears that familiar playlist between periods. Now your Forecheck Hockey rink board can do the same thing.

What is Arena DJ?

Arena DJ is a built-in music system that plays YouTube playlists automatically based on what's happening in the game. You set two playlists — one for stoppages and one for intermissions — and the system handles the rest.

When you stop the period clock during a game period, music fades in. When you start the clock again, it cuts instantly. When the period ends or you switch to intermission, the intermission playlist takes over. It's designed to feel like a real arena without any manual track management.

How to Set It Up

1. Open the Scoreboard panel (Panels > Scoreboard or Alt+1)
2. Click the DJ tab at the bottom of the scoreboard
3. Toggle the DJ ON
4. Paste a YouTube playlist URL in the Stoppage field — this plays during whistles
5. Paste a different playlist in the Intermission field — this plays between periods
6. Optionally type a Name for each playlist and enter a DJ Name

That's it. Start your period clock and the system takes over.

How It Works During a Game

Game periods (1st, 2nd, 3rd, OT):

• Clock stops → stoppage music fades in
• Clock starts → music cuts immediately
• Period reaches 0:00 → buzzer plays, then intermission music starts

Intermission and Warm-up:

• Clock starts → intermission/warm-up music plays
• Clock stops → music stops

This mirrors real arena behavior. During play, silence. During stoppages, energy. During intermissions, entertainment.

Transport Controls

Even though the system is automated, you have full manual control:

• Play/Pause — override the automatic behavior
• Previous / Next — skip tracks
• Mute — silence music without disabling the system
• Volume slider — adjust level
• Playlist browser — click to see all tracks, pick any song

Works with Collaboration

Arena DJ state syncs across all collaborators. If you're running a game with someone else editing the board remotely, they hear the same music at the same point. The DJ name, playlist, and playback state all travel over WebRTC.

Tips

• Use a high-energy playlist for stoppages — short bursts of 10-30 seconds of music
• Use a longer, mellower playlist for intermissions — players and fans will hear full songs
• YouTube Music "radio" playlists (RDCLAK IDs) work — the system recreates the player for each playlist switch
• Regular PL playlists auto-fetch their name from YouTube; for radio playlists, type the name manually
• The DJ controls also appear in the collapsed scoreboard strip, so you can manage music without the full panel open

Try It

Open the Rink Board, set up a scoreboard, paste in your favorite playlists, and run a period. The first time you hear music fade in on a whistle stop, you'll wonder how you managed games without it.