September 2018

MusicMaster Version 7 Now Available!

After years in the making, the highly anticipated new version of MusicMaster is here at last! You'll find time-saving and performance boosting shortcuts in every area of the program, as well as additional layers of customization from updated themes to easy database field creation. We are also introducing Virtual Search Depth, which can significantly increase scheduling speed as MusicMaster calculates and adjusts to the ideal dig depth for every position. To get the most out of the latest version, we recommend you take one of our feature tours. You can watch the walkthrough video here, or see screens and descriptions of each new feature on our Version 7 page. To get started, subscribers can go to Help > Check For Updates to download the latest version. You can also download the installer from the support portal of our website.

Version 7 Feature Walkthrough


Visit Version 7 Page

Liz Standerfer Joins the MusicMaster Team as Controller

The MusicMaster team has proudly welcomed Liz Standerfer to the Dallas headquarters as our new Controller. Liz brings over 30 years accounting experience, including 20+ years in human resources and management roles.

MusicMaster CEO Laurie Knapp commented, “As MusicMaster continues to expand outwards to new users, we are also growing inwards as well. We have been working to take our accounting department to a new and better level, and Liz comes in as an integral part of that growth.”

“I never expected to find someone like Liz,” MusicMaster Founder/President Joe Knapp added. “In fact, none of us actually remember actually hiring her. It was more like she fit in so well, we all just assumed she already worked here! Thank you, Liz, for being the answer to our prayers!

“Thanks also to Shane Finch, Jesus Rodriguez, Melanie Knapp, Mindy Passmore, Matthew Noggle, and Brian Miller for pitching in and helping to make this reboot a success. I’d also like to thank and recognize our office staff, Mary Jo Nsuk and Lexi Gibbons, who showed a true level of professionalism during this transition.”

Liz was asked what she looks forward to most about MusicMaster, “I am excited to join the team because it feels like a family. I have always enjoyed a work culture like that. I look forward to learning a new industry and meeting all the 'personalities' of the rest of the employees.”

Speaking of family, Liz proudly shares, “I’ve been married to the same man for 34 years and counting. We have two kids and two grandkids. We enjoy going on cruises and rock crawling in my Jeep.”

Questions you may have about billing, licenses, or contracts may now be directed to Liz at liz@musicmaster.com or by calling our office line: 469-717-0100, extension 111.

Seattle Genius Day on October 24

On October 24, MusicMaster will be hosting a Genius Day in Seattle for students at the College Broadcasting Convention. While students will be in attendance, both new and experienced programmers from the area are encouraged to join us, as we will be covering a full set of advanced topics. You’ll walk away with time-saving tricks and strategies to get the edge against your competition.

Please note that you do not need to register for the CBI convention to attend our session. The workshop is FREE and a lunch will be provided, with a special presentation from Jaye Albright, award-winning consultant with over 50 years of broadcast experience to share. The Genius Day will be taught by MusicMaster W.I.Z.A.R.D. Jill Sorenson. You’ll even have a chance to pick the W.I.Z.A.R.D.’s brain with all your questions and ideas during the Q&A session in the final hour of the day.

The Genius Day will take place from 8:30am - 5pm at the convention hotel, the Renaissance Seattle, located at 515 Madison St. For more information, or to register your spot, click the button below.

Click to Register

Upcoming Events

Jeff Sanders: "Inserting Artist Sweepers the Easy Way"

In each newsletter, we present a guest article from one of our MusicMaster ProTeam consultants. This month, you'll hear from Jeff Sanders of Sanders Radio Consulting. One of the industry's top turn-around experts, Sanders Radio Consulting prides itself on being unique and a fresh face for Radio Consulting, bringing a broader programming approach than just a “safe-list.” In this article, Jeff shares his method for setting up artist shout-out sweepers in MusicMaster.



Shhhh...we’re about to let you in on a little secret that could increase your ratings...branding. (Warning: Sharing this information with your competition could lead to a severe loss of appetite.)

Yes, “branding” is a generic term that involves numerous moving parts. However, similar to the way Starbucks is synonymous with coffee, or Uber with quick rides, your station should be “branded” as the station where you can hear (insert artist name here).

Taking ownership of your artists is an integral part of building your brand. For starters, a lot of our clients have implemented “artist shouts” or “new music intros” that air in front of a specific song or band (ex: “Your station for AC/DC is Rock 100!’, “New Music Now...Pink on Mix 103!”). The biggest complaint? Inserting these sweepers can be a huge time-suck! No worries...Let MusicMaster do it for you!

Here’s how:

1) Set up a new category that includes the imaging pieces from the artist sweepers you’d like to use. Make sure that the artist name is spelled the EXACT same across the entire system for this to work.

2) In the Rule Tree, set up a “dummy” category with NO rules. Then, right click on “MusicMaster Rule Tree” and select Rule Tree Properties. Make sure there is a checkmark in the box by your new category.

3) Right click in the category box and select Schedule Properties. Make sure that the category created for the imaging pieces is set to a search depth of 100%, allowing MusicMaster to dig through the entire category for the specific artist name.

4) On the clock, in the slot where you’d like the imaging piece to air, click on insert element. When the box appears (shown), pull down the arrow and select Special Set. Fill out the rest as follows:
  • Song: Next (Music Only)
  • Field: Artist
  • Category List: Select the category you created for the imaging pieces.
  • Use Rules From: Select the dummy category you created.


This is telling MusicMaster to look at the song after this position to see who the artist is, then pull the same artist from the imaging category you created.

Repeat if more “band shout” imaging is needed throughout the clock. (You can always clone your previous Special Set and move to the desired location.)

Schedule and watch MusicMaster do the work for you!



Want more advice like this? Read more about Jeff and his services on our ProTeam page or on Jeff's website: StationDomination.com. Or contact Jeff directly at 704-234-8564 or Sanders@StationDomination.com.


  Quick Tip

Sort by Schedule Order

You may be used to going to Schedule, Schedule Order to see how your category will be considered when you run the next log. Did you know you can see that while you are in the Library? Right-click on the header in Library Maintenance. That context menu will have an option for Arrange and then Sort by Schedule Order. Once displayed, you will see the same thing you'd see in Schedule Order after clicking on the View Category Order icon.

New From the MM Blog
New Station Library In 30 Seconds!

by Jesus Rodriguez - Lately, I have received calls from clients ready to launch a new station. Some may be simple tweaks from a current database in-house or inherited from a sister market. Then there are others that are starting a station from scratch using a blank database. What if I told you that there are two ways to get your data ready within 30 seconds?

My first option for you would be to clone your database by going to File and Open Dataset. There you will see your clone button so that you can make an exact copy of your database. It is much easier to delete the items that you don’t need like unnecessary clocks or rules than trying to build an empire from scratch.

Once you have done that there is another way to get your database up to date. It happens to be my second option of how to get a database started within 30 seconds if you are going to start a database from scratch.

I would suggest using our library sync option. This feature allows you to bring in the song metadata into your library from your automation system so you are only doing the data entry once. I would always suggest importing your audio into your automation system first, and hopefully, your files are correctly tagged with the metadata to minimize any adjustments. Once it is in your automation system, I would recommend you locate a file that most systems create that consist of your full inventory list of the items you have in it. You can then use our library sync feature to import that information from your automation system. The best part is that it can bring in all audio music and imaging as well as anything else you may have like voice tracks or promos.

Continue Reading in Blog


Schedule Editor Layouts

by Paul Ziino - You can really make your Schedule Editor look just about any way you want. You can add and subtract fields via the Modify Editor Layout icon. Here you can also change the font, size, colors, and grid attributes.


Click the Toggle Toolbars icon and you can turn on the Test Results panel, Instant Analysis, and more. Once you’ve turned on the Results Bar, right-click on any panel and select Customize to see all the different items available for review.

Continue Reading in Blog

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MusicMaster Meeting Point at the IBC

In mid-September, the IBC in Amsterdam opened its gates to media professionals from around the world. There, we had the opportunity to shake hands with many of our clients, future clients, friends and system partners. Axel Friebis, Kevin Hopkins and Tim Baas from our international distributor ON AIR, as well as Bart van Gogh from our Dutch sales partner Top of Mind, hosted our MusicMaster Meeting Point in Hall 8.

As the ON AIR team reported: "This intimate setting was a welcome alternative to the hectic life during these events, as we live and breathe the principles of the global MusicMaster family. With good coffee, smarts and a lot of humor we had great encounters and conversations and demos of the all-new MusicMaster Version 7 and MusicMaster CS with so many people from literally every corner of our planet. It is mind-blowing to see all the areas where we touch the life of so many media professionals."

For Axel, as the newest ON AIR team member, this was a first chance to experience the massive input and feedback from our clients. He shared, "We have learned even more about the needs of the future, from digital strategies, consolidation, third-party data to own-cloud services, workflows, centralized data processing as well as integration with virtually every playout system in use or future use. Let us assure you: We are ready, but will never lose focus on our users. The true spirit of MusicMaster, targeted at collaboration, power and control, has attracted many new friends during this year's IBC and we are looking forward to becoming part of their ideas and projects as well."

Bart von Gogh from our Dutch sales partner Top of Mind and Jim Hammond from WideOrbit

Sebastien Bisch from RTL France and Kevin Hopkins from ON AIR

Jorma Kivelä and Jyrki Stranius from Jutel Oy

Ronald Sebök from the Dutch radio station 100% NL and Bart van Gogh

Kevin Hopkins with Thormod Bakken from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

Laurent Finet from RTBF in Belgium

Axel Friebis from ON AIR, Bart van Gogh, Frans van Dun and Jan-Willem van Engelen from Dutch radio stations NPO 2 and 5

Dutch Partner Bart van Gogh and Martijn Plugge and Viktor Alders from Dutch Radio West

Radio Koprivnica

This month we recognize Radio Koprivnica, one of 16 stations in Croatia broadcasting in experimental DAB+ technology beside their four regular FM frequencies. Pictured above are Production Manager Goran Generalić and Music Director Jasmina Skvorc. Goran tells us: "Since our goal has always been to be competitive and implement something new and better, with our recent upgrades of all equipment we decided to go for MusicMaster. We're more than satisfied with present support and the system in general, which will allow our radio show hosts to soon be more productive and selection of music made easier to use and better, all in favour of our wide audience."

Jill Sorenson

MusicMaster W.I.Z.A.R.D.
Milwaukee, WI

Once upon a time, it was not a dark and stormy night. Nor was it a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were not striking thirteen. It was a day in March, 1997, when Jill started at MusicMaster. She spoke to clients in England and Japan that first day. As she is fond of saying, "I didn't know if it was today or tomorrow."

In the 20 plus years Jill has been with MusicMaster, she has been the Support Manager and our resident W.I.Z.A.R.D. She currently works in the Development Department testing software and writing documentation. Prior to joining MusicMaster, Jill worked in public radio in Milwaukee (WYMS), Monroe, LA (Program Director and part of the management team that put KEDM on the air, at the time, the largest area in the United States not served by public radio) and Kent, Ohio (WKSU).

When asked what piece of advice she'd give radio people today, ever the writer, she gave us two: "Ask every person you meet for one thing that has helped them in their career (radio or not) and one thing they learned from someone else. Also, be sure you're always ready to answer those same two questions."

As our resident writer, we know Jill will agree this all happened, more or less. We also know our W.I.Z.A.R.D. will recognize the four famous opening lines of books we've woven into her story. Do you?

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Frisco, TX 75034
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469.717.0100