The sound of revelry will soon be spreading over the world as we usher 2017 into our hearts and calendars. It's the period when our ambitions come to the fore: do this, change that, learn this language ready for that trip of a lifetime...

However, if you're a radio DJ, a fresh attitude can hit you in other ways. We don't just mean playing Auld Lang Syne at the stroke of midnight, and broadcasting a live party from your radio DJ software. These resolutions can follow you well beyond the New Year:

Broaden your playlists

No-one likes being stuck in a mire of the same material, day-in, day-out. Although your listeners will appreciate having the consistency of a certain genre of music to plug into - 80s rock, jazz, pop or punk - it's best to shake up your old standards, and bring in some new blood, so to speak.

Online resources make it easy to find new or more obscure artists than the ones you fell in love with years ago. The music industry has changed so drastically that, in a lot of cases, the greatest tunes have to be hunted down rather than coming to you unheeded. Why not download a discovery app like Shazam and note any songs you like the sound of on your travels? An open mind makes for a happy listenership.

Stay 'on brand' for the year

If you haven't been getting the audience you were hoping for, maybe your brand is due a rethink. Broadcasting software lets anyone with a mic and a laptop turn their hand at DJ'ing. Amateurs can steadily gain a following, even if they don't anticipate it, which makes it essential to fine-tune your station identity.

So, what are you great at? Comedy programmes could apply their unique tone to a shedload of topics such as cooking, current affairs and the entertainment industry, to name a few. Likewise, radio dramas and news reporting should have a distinctive 'voice' to call their own. Between-track features, like jingles, also have to fall in line with whatever else you land on.

Adapt to your listeners' feedback

Just say - if you've done the legwork - that a significant cadre of people tune into your station every week, or every day. Anyone using radio automation software, such as SAM Broadcaster Cloud and SAM Broadcaster PRO, can take listener requests and add them to a queue. But what does this tell you? What are the patterns (if any) that emerge from inbound song titles?

You can also learn a lot from your social media channels. Live streams can benefit enormously from real-time read-outs of listener comments. All of this makes your audience feel included in the direction of your audio career, whether it's set on stardom or a lifelong hobby.

So, how's that for a 2017 wish list? Putting these New Year's resolutions into action will reap huge rewards for your sense of accomplishment: surely the most vital goal of any internet radio DJ! If you haven't done so already, browse through our latest SAM Broadcaster features, and upgrade your online radio streaming game in time for January: http://spacial.com/what-we-do-features/