MusicMaster Blog

By Marianne Burkett

Can you program randomly – with control, using only one clock in your assignment grid? Yes! Using MusicMaster’s various clock elements – like Migrating & Proportional positions or using “Format Lists”, you can control category usage and turnovers in addition to having a clock that is not predictable! Take a look at the possibilities available to you. Search the Help section, or call your Music Scheduling Consultant for guidance.

by Drew Bennett

Did you know that MusicMaster tackles some of the most common issues and questions you might have right there in the software? What if you want to schedule an A to Z weekend or a Top 500 Countdown? How can you evaluate your own data? How do you make a Weekly Spins Report in the History Browser? These and other issues are tackled in the Help Section of the software under Contents, Tutorials. In there you can find step by step setup instructions for some of the most common questions about music scheduling.

by Paul Ziino

When you are in Library Maintenance, click the third icon from the right "Show Balloon Tips". This comes in handy when looking at coding in your library. For example, when Show Balloon Tips is activated, you are able to hover on your sound code field for a given song, and a balloon will appear that details what each code assigned to that song means. For example, instead of just seeing BP in the field, the balloon will indicate B=Ballad and P=Pop–or whatever codes are assigned. In a multi-keyword field such as Artist Keywords, instead of seeing only the primary/first keyword assigned, when hovering your mouse on the field the balloon will display all the Artist Keywords assigned to the song. For example, instead of only seeing the primary keyword of BEATLES, the balloon will contain all the keywords assigned to that song: LENNON, McCARTNEY, HARRISON, and STARR.

By Aaron Taylor

Here are a few quick tips on the Clock Format Assignment Grid.

To see which hours a particular clock is active, either click on one instance of the clock on your grid (remember the one with the YELLOW clock is the one that is currently active and MusicMaster is using to Schedule with…) OR use the drop list in the upper left hand corner to select a clock from the list. The hours that the clock you have selected are active will be highlighted in the lighter color on the grid.

To change a clock designation for a particular hour, you can simply type the clock code into the hour(s) space (if you know it) or again, select it from the drop down list.

You can copy/paste and highliight and add/change to multiple hous in the grid (a huge time saver if you are creating a pattern on alternate days, for example)…

The replace clock utility (see the magnifying glass with the two red arrows at the top) is a quick way to swap out all instances of a particular clock across the entire grid with another clock of your choice.

by Drew Bennett

Next time you schedule, take a look at a section of the Automatic Scheduler that you may not have noticed. In the Options tab you will find Scheduling Session Style. Here, you can change how the scheduling session will be conducted. Schedule Entire Session schedules the category throughout the days selected. Schedule Each Day schedules each day and then moves to the next days selected to schedule. Schedule Each Level schedules the session based on the levels given in Schedule Properties. Schedule Each Hour schedules each individual hour in succession. Those four different methods can change the way your log looks when you schedule a day. Experiment with each of them to find your favorite way to schedule a log.

by Paul Ziino

Gold Recycling can be used to help expand the exposure of a given category. Use it on any category you wish, but for best results, consider only those with a natural turnover greater than 2 days. Gold Recycling "picks up" songs that played during one time frame and "drops them off" during another. Access it via Dataset/Schedule/Gold Recycle. You'll set it up category by category.

Here's a walkthrough video that describes how to implement Gold Recycling.

From time to time, we get calls about the fields that a client sees in their MusicMaster database. One of the great things about MusicMaster Windows is that every database can be customized when you are gettting started, and as your needs evolve. Did you know that you can rename fields to better match your descriptive needs (under DATASET-LIBRARY-FIELDS)? Your Music Scheduling Consultant can help you identify field types you can re purpose for other needs, assist you with understanding what the appropriate type of data that should be entered in each field type is, show you how to “un hide” hidden fields, even work with you to determine if fields may need to be added to your existing database. It is a straight forward process, that can be handled with an exchange of backups.

We are always happy to discuss questions or “bounce ideas back and forth” with you on how best to utilize MusicMaster Windows to its fullest extent!

By Marianne Burkett

If you have a “Memo” field type in your database, consider it’s uses. You can import or type in an unlimited number of characters – so whether you want to import promo/PSA copy or import lyrics from a Notepad or ASC type document, the memo field can accommodate. You can check your field map to see if a Memo field is available in your database. Dataset/Library/Fields If you’ve got the field, once populated it can also be added to your paper log.

If you haven’t had the opportunity (or the need) to utilize the mass changer, here is a quick overview. The Mass Changer utility is available in Library Maintenance by right clicking on the header row in the QuickEditor or in the field column of the Song Card. If the field does not allow mass changes, the option will not appear. These fields include:

Add Date, Category, Category Plays, Dayparting, Library Plays, Non-Music, Packet, Performance, and Song ID.

The Mass Changer will default to the field you clicked on originally, but you will be able to select any available field by selecting the Target Field.

When you have selected a field to change, you can select from the available mass change Operations. The type of operations available will change depending upon whether you are in a keyword, attribute or text field.

Options available to you (again depending on field type) include:

Convert to UPPER, lower, mixed case case.
Add, remove and assign specific keyword.
Clear field contents.
Extract sub-string and delimited sub-strings.
Assign sequential values.
Search and Replace

Plus several more!

There is also a separate mass changer available for keywords.

Please remember to back up your data before you utilize this tool, and don’t hesitate to contact us if we can assist in advising on the best option for your project.

by Paul Ziino

Did you know you can open multiple screens within your database at the same time, and then tile them vertically or horizontally? For example, open one of your categories. Leave it open, now open the schedule editor. Now click on Window and Tile Vertical…the two screens are now next to one another. You can click the grey pointer for an item in the library, then drag it across to your schedule editor and drop the song into the log! This can come in handy when you're scheduling a countdown show or other feature.