Your audio routing shouldn’t feel like solving a Rubik’s cube blindfolded.
I’ve spent weeks testing every way to get Spotify working with OBS Studio—some methods looked promising but fell apart after a few streams, others just… didn’t work. Whether you’re on Twitch, YouTube, or anywhere else, here’s what actually holds up after real use.
In This Article:
The Quick (But Limited) Window Capture Trick
Setting Up Window Capture in 60 Seconds
The fastest way? Window Capture. Takes maybe a minute—probably less if you’ve done this before:
- Launch both applications: Open Spotify and OBS Studio
- Add Window Capture: Click ” ” in your Sources panel and select “Window Capture”
- Name your source: Use something like “Spotify Now Playing”
- Select Spotify: Choose “[Spotify.exe]” from the Window dropdown
- Adjust display: Resize and position the window on your layout
Pro tip: Hold Alt while dragging edges to crop the Spotify window and show only the player controls.
Why I Stopped Using This Method
Looked great at first. Stopped being great around week three.
Performance drain: Spotify’s interface isn’t light. I lost 10-15 FPS during busy scenes—CPU was sweating to keep up with both the stream and that window sitting there.
Visual clutter: Your viewers see everything. Playlist switches, typos in search, that embarrassing song you skipped. Not ideal for professional streams.
Control issues: Can’t skip tracks quietly. Every click is on camera.
Copyright exposure: DMCA strikes happen faster when music is visibly front and center.
The Better Way: Local Files Give You Real Control
So Window Capture has its place, but it’s not a long-term solution. Let me show you what actually works for serious streamers.
What Changed My Streaming Setup Completely
Local files. That’s what fixed it.
Once you’ve got music saved locally, you’re not fighting with Spotify’s window anymore. Your library’s right there in OBS—ready when you are, zero distractions, just audio doing what it should.
Key advantages:
- Invisible control: Change tracks without showing anything on screen
- Better performance: Regain those lost CPU cycles
- Flexible audio routing: Set up ducking when you speak
- Offline reliability: No internet hiccups
- Professional appearance: Polished, not fumbling with Spotify
The DRM Wall (And How to Get Around It)
Here’s the annoying part most guides don’t mention: those Spotify downloads? Encrypted with DRM. Try importing them into OBS and you’ll just get error messages.
What’s happening: Spotify locks those offline files in their own Ogg Vorbis format. Outside the Spotify app, they’re basically bricks.
The workaround: Recording software that captures audio as it plays. Like dubbing vinyl to cassette back in the day—same idea, newer tools. For personal use, this is generally fine. Public streaming is a different conversation, which… yeah, we’ll get to that.
Now, there are dozens of recording tools out there. Some work, some don’t. Here’s the one that’s been in my daily setup for months now.
Cinch Audio Recorder: The Recording Tool That Actually Makes Sense
Why I Switched to Cinch After Wasting Hours on Other Tools
I tested maybe six or seven recording tools over a few months. Most were… fine? But tedious. Cinch was the one that didn’t feel like work.
It captures Spotify with no quality loss—that’s the baseline. What actually sold me was the automation. The stuff that used to take me an hour now just happens.
Core features that matter for streamers:
One-click recording: Hit Record, play your playlist—Cinch handles everything. I’ve recorded 8-hour playlists hands-free. Interface stays out of your way.
Automatic track splitting: Basic recorders give you one massive file. Cinch detects when songs change and splits them automatically. No gaps, no overlap. In my testing with 200 songs, it caught every transition.
ID3 tag intelligence: Metadata comes through automatically. Title, artist, album, cover art—all of it. Your library ends up looking curated even though you did nothing.
Format flexibility: Save as MP3 (128-320kbps), M4A, AAC, or lossless WAV/FLAC/ALAC. I use 320kbps MP3 for streaming, FLAC for archiving.
Silent recording: Mute your speakers while Cinch records in the background. Perfect for overnight recording sessions.
Ad filtering: If you’re on Spotify Free, it catches ads and removes them. One click. During my week of testing with a Free account, it identified all the ads I encountered.
Cross-platform: Works on Windows (7/8/10/11) and macOS (10.12 ). Plays nice with OBS Studio 28.x through 30.x.
Pricing: Free trial lets you record the first 3 minutes of each song. Full version is $25.99 one-time—less than a month of Spotify Premium, honestly.
Why This Tool Became Part of My Daily Workflow
These aren’t just feature-list bullet points. This is what actually improved after I’d been using it for a while.
Direct sound card capture: Cinch grabs audio straight from your sound card using CAC technology. You get Spotify’s full quality—320kbps if you’re on Premium, 160kbps on Free—with nothing lost. In my A/B tests with studio monitors, I couldn’t detect any quality difference, and the audio engineers I showed couldn’t either.
OBS-ready immediately: Saved tracks drop straight into OBS Media Source. No conversions, no compatibility issues. In my setup, they’ve worked smoothly in OBS, VLC, and standard players.
No DRM restrictions: Since you’re recording audio output (not attempting to remove DRM from Spotify files), resulting MP3s have zero restrictions. Use them anywhere—OBS, phone, car, any audio software.
Resource efficient: Uses maybe 2-3% CPU and 50MB RAM while recording. OBS itself uses 10-15% CPU, so this is basically invisible. In my experience, I can record while gaming or editing—no slowdowns or conflicts I’ve noticed.
Time savings: Before Cinch, I’d spend 2 hours processing 20 songs. Manual splitting, tagging, artwork—tedious stuff. With Cinch? Hit Record, walk away. Come back 60 minutes later to 20 songs that are split, tagged, and organized. Just playback time, zero manual work.
The honest cost-benefit: Free tools exist. They’ll give you one giant WAV file. No splits, no metadata, hours of cleanup ahead. Cinch is $25.99 one-time and pays for itself after 3-4 playlists just from time saved. I’ve processed over 1,000 tracks by now—the per-track cost is basically nothing, and I value my time more than that.
Quick Comparison: Cinch vs Free Alternatives
| Feature | Cinch Audio Recorder | Free Tools (Audacity, etc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic Track Splitting | ✅ Automatic (caught all in my tests) | ❌ Manual editing required |
| ID3 Tags & Artwork | ✅ Automatic | ❌ Manual entry (2 min/song) |
| Ad Filtering | ✅ One-click removal | ❌ Manual deletion |
| Recording Quality | ✅ Bit-perfect (320kbps) | ✅ Good (depends on settings) |
| Time for 20 Songs | ⏱️ 60 minutes (hands-off) | ⏱️ 120 minutes (active work) |
| OBS Compatibility | ✅ Instant | ⚠️ May need conversion |
| Learning Curve | ⭐⭐ Easy | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Steep |
| Price | $25.99 one-time | Free |
| Best For | Streamers who value time | Occasional 1-2 song needs |
My take: Recording 3-4 playlists? Cinch pays for itself in saved time. Just need one or two songs? Free tools will do.
How to Record Spotify for OBS with Cinch
Step 1: Installation Grab Cinch from the official website. Takes maybe 2 minutes to install. Open Settings and configure:
- Output format: MP3 at 320kbps
- Output folder: Easy-to-find location
- File naming: “[Artist] – [Title]”
Step 2: Start Recording Hit the “Record” tab, then the red button. Make sure Spotify’s volume is at 80-100%—the recording captures whatever volume you’ve got set.
⚠️ Common Mistake: Don’t mute Spotify’s slider thinking you’ll fix it later. I recorded an entire playlist at 30% volume once. Learn from my stupidity.
Step 3: Play Your Music Open Spotify and play tracks. Cinch automatically:
- Detects each new song
- Creates separate recordings
- Fetches metadata
- Displays album artwork
Step 4: Access Your Library Hit Stop, then open the “Library” tab. Every track’s got ID3 tags, artwork, proper file names—all done.
Step 5: Filter Ads (Spotify Free) Click “Filter.” Cinch spots files under 15 seconds (usually ads) and asks if you want to delete them. In my testing, it caught all the ads reliably.
Alright, you’ve got your music recorded and ready. Now let’s get it actually playing in your streams.
Getting Your Music Into OBS (Two Ways That Work)
Method 1 – OBS Media Source
Setup steps:
- Add Media Source to your scene
- Check “Local File” and browse to your Cinch recordings
- Enable “Loop” for continuous playback
- Configure audio monitoring: Right-click source → Advanced Audio Properties → “Monitor and Output”
Volume balancing: Start music around 30-40% in the Audio Mixer. It should sit behind your voice, not fight it.
⚠️ Beginner Trap: Setting music at 50-60% sounds fine to you. Your viewers will tell you they can’t hear you talk. Your voice is the star. Music is backup.
Creating variety: Set up multiple Media Sources with different tracks. Assign hotkeys to switch. I use F7 for upbeat, F8 for chill.
Method 2 – Using VLC Media Player
VLC is better if you’re managing longer, more complex playlists.
Setup:
- Create playlist in VLC (Media → Open Multiple Files)
- Add Window Capture in OBS, select VLC
- Enable crossfade in VLC settings (3-5 seconds for professional transitions)
Advanced use: Throw a 3-4 hour playlist into VLC on a second monitor. Music just keeps going, no interaction needed. Like having a radio station for your stream.
Got the basics working? Good. Now let’s talk about the stuff that separates decent audio from actually professional-sounding streams.
Level Up Your Audio Game (Trust Me on This)
The Audio Mixer Setup That Changed Everything
This is where amateur streams and pro-sounding streams actually diverge. Proper audio routing makes that much difference. After maybe 100 hours of recording, this setup changed everything for me.
Setting up dedicated audio tracks: OBS lets you use six separate audio tracks. Think of them as independent layers you can adjust individually. Here’s what I use:
- Track 1: Microphone (my voice commentary)
- Track 2: Game/application audio
- Track 3: Background music from Cinch recordings
- Track 4: Discord/chat audio
- Track 5: Alerts and sound effects
- Track 6: Reserved for special events or guests
To set this up: Settings → Output → Recording → Audio Tracks, check what you need. Then right-click each source in Audio Mixer → Advanced Audio Properties to assign tracks.
Why this matters: You can edit VOD layers later. Music too loud? Lower Track 3 without touching anything else. Mic had noise? Fix Track 1, leave the game audio alone.
Audio monitoring settings explained: This confused me for weeks. Here’s the breakdown:
- Monitor Off: Viewers hear it, you don’t (useful for delay-compensated audio)
- Monitor Only: You hear it, viewers don’t (perfect for metronomes or cue tracks)
- Monitor and Output: Everyone hears it (what you want for music)
Set your Cinch music to “Monitor and Output.” That way you hear what your viewers hear, in real-time. Prevents the nightmare where your stream is silent and you have no idea.
💡 Pro Insight: I streamed for 45 minutes once with music on “Monitor Only.” I heard everything. My viewers got silence. Test with a friend first.
Ducking setup: Grab the free “Audio Monitor” plugin from OBS Resources. Music drops to 25% when you talk, fades back up when you’re quiet. Sounds like pro radio mixing—people think I have an audio engineer.
Creating Seamless Background Music
Building playlists: Theme them out:
- “High Energy” (140 BPM) for competitive stuff—keeps adrenaline up during ranked
- “Chill Vibes” (lo-fi, ambient) for creative streams—lets viewers focus without fighting for attention
- “Conversation” (instrumental, low-key) for just-chatting—sits way in the background
Make them 3-4 hours long. Tracks won’t repeat noticeably during marathon sessions.
📌 Real Example: My 6-hour coding streams use three playlists on rotation. Ambient electronica for deep focus, upbeat indie when I’m debugging, jazz during breaks. Viewers tell me they use my VODs as study background—the music flow just works.
Avoiding dead air: VLC crossfade is your first defense. For fancier setups, overlap two Media Sources with staggered start times.
Volume automation: Add a Compressor filter (threshold -20dB, ratio 3:1). Keeps music from spiking too loud while maintaining consistent volume.
The Copyright Talk Nobody Likes (But You Need to Know)
Understanding Music Licensing for Streams
DMCA reality: Platforms have automated detection. Spotify tracks will trigger it:
- Twitch: DMCA strikes can suspend channels
- YouTube: Content ID typically mutes VODs or demonetizes
- Facebook Gaming: Similar to YouTube
When recording is acceptable: Personal, offline use? Generally fine. Public streaming? That’s where you technically need performance licenses.
My approach: I use recorded Spotify for offline editing and testing. Live streams get licensed music from Epidemic Sound or similar royalty-free sources.
Optimizing Audio Quality
Recommended settings:
- 320 kbps MP3: Standard. Great quality, reasonable size.
- 256 kbps AAC: Similar quality, smaller files.
- WAV/FLAC: Lossless. Use if you’re doing heavy editing.
Volume normalization: Turn this on in Cinch settings (-14 LUFS). Keeps playback levels consistent across tracks.
CPU optimization:
- Use MP3 instead of FLAC for live streams
- Disable unnecessary audio filters
- Close other audio applications
- Match audio quality to available bandwidth
When Things Go Wrong (And How I Fixed Them)
Quick Diagnostic Checklist
Before you start troubleshooting, run through this real quick:
- ✓ Can you hear the audio in OBS preview? → If no, check Audio Mixer levels
- ✓ Does the audio meter in OBS show movement? → If no, source isn’t being captured
- ✓ Does the file play in VLC/Windows Media Player? → If no, file corruption issue
- ✓ Is Desktop Audio device selected? → Settings → Audio → check dropdown
- ✓ Are you wearing headphones plugged into your mic? → Classic mistake—OBS can’t capture that
In my experience, this catches most common issues before deeper troubleshooting.
No Audio in OBS Recording
Check these first:
- Settings → Output → Recording → Audio Track must be checked
- Right-click source → Advanced Audio Properties → Verify track assignment
- Settings → Audio → Desktop Audio must show your actual device (not “Default”)
Windows fix: Restart Windows Audio services (type services.msc, find Windows Audio, restart it).
Nuclear option: Delete the audio sources, recreate from scratch.
💭 What worked for me: Most of the time when I’ve had this issue, it was Desktop Audio set to “Default” instead of the actual device. Windows forgets sometimes, OBS loses connection.
Audio Quality Problems
Clipping: Drop the volume slider to -6dB or -12dB average. Add a Compressor filter to cap the peaks.
Thin sound: Re-record at 320kbps. Also check for duplicate audio filters stacking up.
Sync issues:
- Lower streaming resolution if CPU is maxed
- Match all sources to same sample rate (44.1kHz)
- For VLC, adjust audio delay by -100ms to -200ms
Static/crackling:
- Increase Audio Buffering to 400ms (Settings → Advanced)
- Update audio drivers
- Disable Windows Audio Enhancements
Systematic approach: Test the audio in VLC first. Sounds good there? OBS config problem. Sounds bad there too? Re-record with different Cinch settings.
Conclusion
After testing every method I could find, one approach stood out: recording with Cinch Audio Recorder and importing as Media Sources. Window Capture works if you’re in a rush, but it’s clunky—like using a sledgehammer for precision work.
Your next steps:
- Quick test (5 minutes): Try Window Capture to see how it looks
- Serious setup (this week): Grab Cinch’s free trial, record your first playlist
- Long-term (ongoing): Build themed libraries, dial in audio routing
With automatic track splitting and proper OBS routing, you’re not just adding music—you’re building a professional audio layer that keeps viewers around. Audio quality is what separates “okay” streams from polished ones. This puts you in the polished camp.
Final reminder: Recorded Spotify’s fine for personal projects and testing. Public streams? Switch to licensed music (Epidemic Sound, Pretzel Rocks, StreamBeats) to dodge DMCA issues.
Better audio starts here:
Free trial available—test it yourself before committing.
FAQ
Q: Can I add Spotify music directly to OBS without any tools?
Yeah, use Window Capture to show the Spotify window. But it’s got serious limitations—performance hits, no real control.
Q: Is it legal to record Spotify music for OBS streaming?
Recording for personal use? Usually fine. Public streaming? That’s where copyright law and platform terms get complicated.
Q: Will recording Spotify affect audio quality?
With tools like Cinch using direct sound card capture, you keep the original quality. I couldn’t detect any loss in my tests.
Q: Can I use this method with Spotify Free account?
Yep. Cinch works with Free and Premium. Built-in ad filtering handles the Free account ads.
Q: How much storage do recorded songs require?
A 3-minute track at 320kbps is about 7-8MB. 100-song playlist? Around 700-800MB.
