How to Start Multiple Instances of SAM Broadcaster

Note: You cannot just copy SAMBC.exe into a folder, you must use the installer; otherwise the application will not work correctly. (Application will exit and/or have audio problems)

You will also need one license for each instance, you cannot run multiple instances with a single license key and all licenses MUST be for the same software version.

On your desktop, right click and select “New --> Shortcut” from the context menu.

In the shortcut wizard select the browse button and browse to the SAMBC.exe file in your SAM Broadcaster installation.

Typically this would be under “C:\Program Files (x86)\SpacialAudio\SAMBC\SAMBC.exe”.

In the textbox showing this path on the wizard now add the text: /INSTANCE=SAM123 or a reference which helps identify the instance, for example /INSTANCE=Station01, /INSTANCE=Station02.

e.g.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\SpacialAudio\SAMBC\SAMBC.exe" /INSTANCE=SAM123

Using SAM123 provides an unique name for this shortcut.

If you create another shortcut and give it another name then it will start a different instance of SAM and this way you would be able to launch multiple instances of SAM. For example adding – /INSTANCE=SAMRadio1 to another shortcut will launch a separate instance of SAM.

Tip: For the name do not use any spaces or special characters and ONLY use “Alphanumerical” characters (i.e. A-Z and 0-9)

The full text in the location textbox will then look something like this:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\SpacialAudio\SAMBC\SAMBC.exe” /INSTANCE=SAMRadio1

Click on “NEXT”, select a name for the shortcut (like SAM123).

Click finish and you are set.

Repeat this process with different names for /INSTANCE=SAMRadio1 parameter for each of the different instances you want to launch.

Once you have created the shortcut, the first time you double-click the shortcut, this will take you through the second part of the installation process.  During the database selection, we would recommend using the same database solution but you will need a separate database for each instance.

Creating the Shortcut

Second Stage Installation

Click Next...

Whilst you could select a different database solution for each different instance, it is simpler to stick with the current database option which for this installation was MariaDB.  Click Next...

Select Specify custom settings and click Next...

Ensure the information matches your actual installation, enter the password and importantly, rename the Database.  Whilst you can give this any alpha-numeric name, we would recommend using something which helps match the database to the instance...

As this shortcut has been named SAM1, the database for this instance has been given a corresponding name, SAMDBSAM1.  After entering the password, click Next...

The rest of the installation process is straightforward and would be familiar to anyone who has previously used SAM Broadcaster.

Points to Note

Only use alpha-numeric characters when naming both instances and database tables

Each instance requires its own license

Each instance must be of the same version; if you have different versions you could either consider upgrading older versions of just using the oldest version for which all licenses would work.  For example, if you had licenses for 2020.3, 2021.2 and 2023.1 then the oldest common version you could use would be 2020.3

To shutdown all instances the application could run with the /SHUTDOWNALL flag.