The folks at CBC Radio 3 have made a nice little widget for your Facebook, MySpace, or blog that will play your personal playlist, that of another user, all the songs on your favourite band’s page, or even the R3 web radio stream.

CBC Radio 3′s own blog post about it says:

We think it’s kind of huge, because it means that you basically get to program CBC Radio 3, and broadcast it to whomever you please. All of our audio content – including individual songs, concerts, sessions, interviews, and other special features – is available for you to plug into your personal playlist.

For instructions on how to install it, just follow the link below to keep reading.

The player works great, though the design is not customizable. It’d be even cooler if there were a version which looks a little more like the general Facebook look-and-feel (the R3 player kind of sticks out in a MySpace sort of way). Maybe version 2. Still, this is a great first step.

If you don’t have a playlist, or want to know more about how the player works, you should read our Media Player FAQ before taking another step.
Adding the Player to Facebook

Facebook users go to the CBC Radio 3 Player page and follow the instructions. Note that the system will automatically add the player in radio mode (the default stream that you see to your right, right here on this site). If you want to make your player play a specific playlist, you have to add the permalink for the playlist of your choice.

To find the permalink for your playlist, make sure you are signed into CBC Radio 3 and in playlist mode. You should see the word “permalink” in red, to the left of the rating area. Click and a box will appear with the permalink for the playlist currently playing, which you may copy and paste where needed.

Adding the Player to MySpace and Blogs

First off, please note that the player is 250 pixels wide, so you may have to tweak your page to make it fit nice and snug.

To add the player to MySpace and other blogs, first make sure you are signed into CBC Radio 3, and in playlist mode. Begin playing the playlist you want to add to your site and then click on the button that says “embed” on the player. Copy the html and paste it into the appropriate space on MySpace or your blog.

If you want to add the player to run in radio mode (no playlist attached), here is the html you’ll need to embed:

<object width=”250″ height=”450″><param name=”movie” value=”http://radio3.cbc.ca/web-templates/flashplayer/R3_EmbededPlayer.swf”></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”></param>

<embed src=”http://radio3.cbc.ca/web-templates/flashplayer/R3_EmbededPlayer.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”250″ height=”450″ allowScriptAccess=”always”>

</embed></object>

I Want to Use Another User’s Playlist. Can I Do This?

Of course! But keep in mind the chosen playlist will continue to evolve over time, as that person may change it at any time. To use someone else’s playlist, you can browse the User Playlist section of the Radio 3 site, and choose whatever playlist you find in the ‘Browse all Playlists’ index. Same deal as before: launch the playlist in the player using the play button, and then click the permalink (for Facebook) or embed button (for MySpace or blogs) to get the html for your CBC Radio 3 Player.

I Want my Favourite Band to Play Instead, How Do I Set That Up?

First check to make sure your favourite band exists on New Music Canada. Once verified, go to their band page, and you will see a red link that says “play all tracks”, just to the right of the band’s name and city. Click on the link, and the band’s tracks should start playing. You can then go to the media player, and click the permalink (for Facebook) or embed button (for MySpace or blogs) to copy the html you need for your CBC Radio 3 Player.

How Do I Choose Only One Track to Play in My CBC Radio 3 Player?

To play only one track in your Facebook embedded player, simply mouse over the track that is playing in the media player, and click on the envelope symbol. A window will appear with the permalink. For MySpace or blog, just hit the embed button, and copy the html.

Having Problems? With the player I mean…

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