I’m the organizer of the OST Composing Jam, a game soundtrack composing jam which has been growing significantly in popularity. With over 600 submissions in our latest jam, one challenge we’re facing is providing an accessible and ad-free way for participants and listeners to stream audio directly on itch.io.

Currently, we rely on external platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube for audio streaming, but limitations on upload counts and frequent ads make this solution less sustainable as we expand. It would be incredibly helpful if itch.io could implement a built-in audio streaming feature for project pages, so users can listen to tracks directly without needing to download files.

Additionally, a playlist feature would greatly enhance the listening experience, allowing for continuous playback of multiple tracks in a jam seamlessly and in a user-friendly way. This would be particularly beneficial for jams like ours, where we have a large volume of submissions and listeners want to browse through them easily.

Would it be possible to consider these features somewhere along the line in the future? I believe this could also benefit many other creators and communities on itch.io who work with audio content. I know itch.io is primarily a game store, but other stores such as Steam also has their own music player for game soundtracks. 

Looking forward to any thoughts/updates on this!