Destinations are the other platforms a live plays on at the same time as your BackstagePass room: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and X. Your room is always on. You connect a platform once on Studio → Destinations, then turn it on or off for each live.
The page
- One row per platform, always in the same order: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, X.
- Live is where your lives go out. Clips Posting is a separate sign-in for posting clips after the show. It never asks for a stream key. The Clips how-to covers it.
- The three figures at the top: Live Ready, Post Ready and On by default.
How this works
When you press GO LIVE in BackstagePass, we send your one stream to every destination you’ve turned on for that live, all at the same time. Each platform just needs two pieces of information from you first, and this guide shows you exactly where to find them.
| What you copy | Other names platforms use | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Stream URL | Server URL, RTMP URL, RTMPS URL, Ingest URL | The address of that platform’s live server. Usually starts with rtmp:// or rtmps://. |
| Stream key | Stream name, Stream secret, Live key | Your private password for that server. Anyone who has it can stream to your channel, so never share it or show it on screen. |
One stream goes out of BackstagePass, and each platform gets its own URL-and-key pair.
How often you do this depends on the platform. YouTube, X, Instagram and Facebook keep the same key, so you paste it once on Destinations. LinkedIn gives you a new key for every live, and TikTok takes its key on the day. Both of those go in the control room.
Where to paste it in BackstagePass
YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X: save on Destinations
- Open Studio → Destinations.
- In the Live column, press Connect next to the platform. Its page opens: Get your key on the left, with screenshots, and Paste it here on the right.
- Paste the stream URL in the first box and the stream key in the second, and press Save. The eye beside Stream key shows what you typed.
- The next page shows what to do each time you go live, in order. Back on Destinations the row reads Key saved, with How to go live on {Platform} → under it.
- Changing a key later? Press Manage next to the platform, then Replace key, paste the new one and press Save new key. A saved key only ever shows its last four characters.
A saved key goes onto a live when you set that live up. So save a new key first, then set up the live that needs it.
LinkedIn: turn it on once, add its key each live
- On Destinations, press Set up next to LinkedIn, then Turn on LinkedIn. There’s no key to save: “Its key changes every live, so you’ll paste it in the control room each time.”
- Before each live, create a LinkedIn Live event (Open LinkedIn Events ↗ on LinkedIn’s page) and get its Stream URL and Stream key in LinkedIn’s Live Studio. LinkedIn shows the key about 1–2 hours before your start time.
- In the control room, click the LinkedIn icon next to Ready on. It has a red dot until today’s key is added. Paste the Stream URL and Stream key and click Add.
- Press GO LIVE without it and BackstagePass asks first: LinkedIn isn’t ready. Choose Add LinkedIn’s key, or Go live without LinkedIn.
TikTok: link now, paste on the day
- On Destinations, press Connect next to TikTok, then Link TikTok. There’s no key box: TikTok’s key changes when you log out, so it goes in on the day.
- On the day, set up your live with TikTok turned on under Choose destinations, and press Continue to open the control room.
- In the control room, open the Destinations panel. The TikTok row says Needs today’s key. Paste its server URL and stream key, and press Add.
- Do this before you press GO LIVE. A platform that still has no key is skipped, and it can’t join once you’re live. The rest of the show goes out as normal.
Once a platform shows Key saved, ◷ Key added each live, Linked or Proven in the Live column, it’s one of your choices every time you set up a live.
The one thing most people miss
On Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X, pasting the key is not the last step. Open that platform’s live page first. After you press GO LIVE in BackstagePass, wait for your preview to appear there, and press its own Go live button. On YouTube, keep YouTube Studio open and check you’re live; if YouTube shows a Go live button, press it. TikTok starts as soon as your video arrives. Each platform’s guide tells you exactly what to click, and the checklist below sums it up.
What a row says
- Not connected (or Not set up on LinkedIn), with Connect (Set up).
- Key saved: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or X has a key on file. Saving a key doesn’t make anything live.
- ◷ Key added each live: LinkedIn is turned on.
- Linked: TikTok is connected and no live has gone out through it yet. “Turns Proven after your first live goes out here.”
- Proven: a live has gone out through it. Last live and the date sit under it.
- Needs attention: something to fix. The row carries the one fix: Sign in again, Paste a new key, or Check again.
The check runs by itself
There is no sound check button. Saving a key checks that the address and key are there and well-formed, and a daily check runs on its own. Nothing can prove a key works until a live goes out through it, which is when a platform turns Proven. YouTube has one more step: the key you saved has to be the one picked in YouTube’s own Key dropdown. Sound check has the detail.
Your key stays private
- While you paste, the eye beside Stream key shows and hides what you typed.
- A saved key shows as dots and its last four characters. The full key never comes back to your browser.
- “Locked so nothing changes by accident. Press Replace key to paste a new one.” Replace key clears the key box. Paste the new one and press Save new key, or Cancel.
- Remove this key sets the row back to Not connected, and takes the platform off lives you’ve scheduled.
On by default
“When this is on, {Platform} is already ticked every time you create a new live. You can still untick it for any single live.” On YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn the switch is at the top of that platform’s page once the key is saved (LinkedIn: once it’s turned on). On TikTok it’s in the row’s Manage menu. Lives you’ve already set up don’t change.
How many you can connect
Your plan carries a number of destinations, and it’s counted when you connect. Your BackstagePass room never counts. With no slot left, Connect is greyed out and the page says why: “{Plan} carries {N} destinations. Disconnect one to connect another, or move to {next plan}.” Anything already connected stays connected. Playing a live on your socials needs a paid plan; on a plan without it, the platforms are greyed out when you set up a live.
Putting a platform on a live
Connecting a platform doesn’t put it on a live. Each live picks its own:
- When you set up a live, Choose destinations shows each connected platform as a round toggle. Tap one to turn it on or off. The + opens Destinations in a new tab while there’s a platform left to connect.
- A platform that can’t go out says so under the toggles, for example YouTube Needs attention — needs re-auth. Fix it on Destinations.
- In the control room, the Destinations panel lists each platform: Ready, Needs today’s key, Not ready or Not connected. Add puts a connected platform on this live with its saved key. Remove takes it off this live; the connection stays.
- Ready on at the top of the control room counts the platforms that will go out. A platform with no connected account never shows up on a live.
- Press GO LIVE. A platform can’t join once you’re live.
Mid-live, CUT THE SOCIALS switches every social feed to a card that brings people to your room.
Quick checklist: who can go live where
Check your row before you start. These minimums are each platform’s own rules, not ours: if your account doesn’t meet one, the platform hides its live option and there’s no stream key to copy.
| Platform | Account you need | The platform’s minimum | Key reusable? | Where it goes in BackstagePass | Still click Go live on the platform? | Video shape |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Channel verified by phone, age 16+ | Live enabled once (up to 24 h wait), no live strikes in 90 days | Yes, permanent | Destinations, once | Only if YouTube shows a Go live button | 16:9, plus automatic vertical copy |
| Page, or profile in Professional mode | Account 60+ days old, 100+ followers | Yes, with Persistent stream key turned on | Destinations, once | Yes (or schedule with auto-start) | 16:9 | |
| Professional account (Creator or Business), public | 1,000+ followers | Yes, with Manage Persistent Key | Destinations, once | Yes | 9:16 vertical; landscape is cropped | |
| TikTok | Age 18+, LIVE access from PC granted by TikTok | 1,000+ followers | Usually, but changes when you log out | Control room, each live | No, starts when video arrives | 9:16 vertical |
| Profile or Page approved for LinkedIn Live | 150+ followers or connections, 30+ days old | No, new key every stream | Control room, each live | Yes | 16:9 | |
| X | X Premium or Premium+ | Active subscription | Yes, permanent Source | Destinations, once | Yes, create a broadcast, then Go live | 16:9 |
Your show-day order
Do these in order, about 15 minutes before you start, and you won’t miss anything:
- Instagram: on instagram.com, click + Create, then Live video. Add a title, keep it Public, click Next, and check your saved key is picked in the Stream key dropdown. Leave the tab open.
- Facebook: click the red Live video button, then Set up live video, then Streaming software. Leave the window open.
- YouTube: click + Create, then Go live. On the Stream tab, check the Key dropdown shows the key you saved. Leave the window open.
- LinkedIn: in Live Studio, click Prepare to go live next to today’s event, then Get URL, and copy the Stream URL and Stream Key.
- TikTok: open LIVE Center, click Go LIVE and Save & Go LIVE. Leave the tab open.
- X: create today’s broadcast and pick your Backstage Pass source.
- BackstagePass: set up your live with your platforms turned on, and press Continue to open the control room.
- In the control room’s Destinations panel, paste today’s URL and key for TikTok and LinkedIn, and press Add. Check each platform shows next to Ready on.
- Press GO LIVE in BackstagePass.
- Click Go live on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X once each preview shows your video. On YouTube, check the status changes to live, and press Go live if YouTube shows it. TikTok starts on its own.
Scheduled the live ahead of time? At step 7, open it from Lives with Control room instead. Its GO LIVE turns on 30 minutes before the start time.
Each platform, step by step
Where the key is, what the platform asks of your account, and what to click on the day:
When something goes wrong
Nine times out of ten the fix is one of these.
| What you see | Most likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No preview appears on the platform | URL and key swapped, an extra space pasted in, a key reset on the platform (Instagram, Facebook), or an expired key (LinkedIn) | Copy both values again with the platform’s Copy buttons and check each goes in the right box. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X: on Destinations, Manage, Replace key, Save new key, before you set up the live. TikTok: in the control room’s Destinations panel, before you press Add. On LinkedIn, get a fresh key. |
| YouTube shows nothing, but Destinations says Key saved | YouTube is listening on a different key | In YouTube Studio, pick the key you saved in the Key dropdown, not the default one. |
| A row in the control room says Needs today’s key | TikTok or LinkedIn needs this live’s key before GO LIVE | Paste the URL and stream key in that row and press Add. Without it, that platform is skipped. |
| A platform says Needs attention | A sign-in ran out or a key was refused | Use the fix on its row on Destinations: Sign in again, Paste a new key or Check again. |
| Connect is greyed out on Destinations | Your plan’s destinations are all in use | Disconnect one, or move to a bigger plan. The sentence under the table names both. |
| GO LIVE is greyed out in the control room | It’s more than 30 minutes before the scheduled start | It turns on 30 minutes before. Hover it to see when. |
| Your video reaches one platform but not the others | The others need their own Go live click | Open each platform’s live page and click Go live once the preview appears. |
| Platform says the key is already in use or you are already live | A previous broadcast is still open | End the old live on the platform first (Facebook’s persistent key allows one live at a time). |
| Instagram or TikTok viewers see a cropped picture | Both platforms show 9:16 vertical video | Keep faces and text in the centre of the frame. |
| Facebook does not show Persistent stream key or Streaming software | Account under 60 days old, fewer than 100 followers, or no create-content access on the Page | Check the requirements in Facebook’s guide; ask the Page owner for access. |
| LinkedIn’s Prepare to go live button is grey | More than 1 hour before your scheduled event | Wait until 1 hour before the start time. |
| TikTok has no LIVE option, or no Server URL box | Fewer than 1,000 followers, or no LIVE access from PC yet | Grow to 1,000 followers, then apply for PC access (the link is in TikTok’s guide). |
| X shows connected but nothing appears on your profile | No broadcast was created, or Go live was not clicked | In Media Studio create a broadcast using your source, then click Go live. |
| Live ends after a few seconds on one platform | That platform rejected the video (wrong shape, old key, or a policy check) | Get a fresh key, confirm the account meets the minimums, and try again. If it repeats, contact us. |
Keep your keys safe
A stream key is a password to your channel. Don’t share it, don’t read it out on camera, and don’t paste it into chats or comments. If you think someone has it, make a new one: on YouTube use Manage stream keys, on Facebook turn Persistent stream key off and on, on X delete the Source and create a new one. Then save the new one on Destinations: Manage, then Replace key and Save new key. The same goes for a reset Instagram key. TikTok and LinkedIn keys change on their own.
Test before it matters
Use Practice mode on Instagram and Unlisted or Private on YouTube to rehearse without an audience. In BackstagePass, Destinations confirms each saved address and key is there and well-formed. No tool can prove a key works without going live, so a five-minute test live the day before is what saves the show: pick Now, and choose Don’t notify anyone under Who hears about it. Nothing goes out for this live: no Live scheduled, no reminders, no cancellation notice, no GO LIVE push or email.
Your camera
You go live from your browser or phone, in the control room. When the control room’s Greenroom panel says “OBS and Zoom can’t feed this live — your room is the camera,” an encoder can’t be used for that live.
Your website and your own systems
The site embed and webhooks live on Studio → Automations, under APIs & Webhooks.
Still stuck?
Write to us with Contact us at the bottom of this page, or at support@backstagepass.com. Tell us which platform, what you see on its live page, and whether BackstagePass shows the destination as Linked, Proven or Needs attention. Platforms change these screens often; if a button in this guide has moved, tell us and we’ll update it.