MusicMaster Blog

by Marianne Burkett

From time to time, most people go to their Primary Care Doctor for a physical exam, take the car in for servicing or have their home HVAC inspected – just to be sure there isn’t a problem lurking. In the same vein, it’s also wise to take a critical look at your MusicMaster database every so often. (más…)

by Drew Bennett

Today, I want to let you in on an interesting rule in the MusicMaster for Windows Rule Tree. It’s called, Shift Pattern Rotation and it may change the way you schedule your bigger categories. Why? Because it’s so cool!

In your Rule Tree, look at the Available Rules folders on the right side of the screen and locate the Shift Pattern Rotation rule inside the Hour Rotation Rules folder under Song/History Rules. (Hint: It’s the second rule from the bottom.)

Let’s decide if the Shift Pattern Rotation rule is right for you by taking a look at the properties of the rule to find out what it does. To see the properties of a rule, pull it over to a Breakable or Unbreakable folder in your Rule Tree.

When the properties box pops up, you can see how we are able to set up the rule. The Shift Pattern Rotation rule tests songs to make sure they schedule within the shift pattern that you define within the rule. To set the pattern you want your songs to follow, click on the numbered boxes in the rule. As you click the boxes, they will move to the Shift Pattern line. The order they in which they appear are in the order that will be used to move the songs through your shifts. Basically, you are restricting the songs to only play in the shift that follows the last shift they played in within this pattern. Cool, huh!
This is how I set up my rule. I only have 8 shifts defined in my Shift Editor so I don’t need to include the 9th box in my pattern.

Don’t forget to set your shifts in the Shift Editor. You can find the Shift Editor by choosing the Shift Editor button from within the rule properties. You can also find Shift Editor by going to Dataset, Schedule, Shift Editor or through the Related button in the Rule Tree.

See? I have 8 shifts defined in the Shift Editor and that is why I used 8 boxes in my Shift Pattern rule. Keep in mind, however, that you do not necessarily have to use all of your shifts in the rule. For instance, if you don’t want to consider Overnights when creating the pattern in the rule, leave out the shift number that corresponds with your Overnight shift. Also, any play that occurs in a blank shift will not be counted against the test as it is configured.

Now, you may be saying to yourself, ‘What about dayparted songs within the category?’ Dayparted songs are handled a bit differently when it comes to the Shift Pattern Rotation rule and it’s because of their limited ability to rotate. When MusicMaster comes to a dayparted song that must be tested for Shift Rotation, it will determine the number of shifts that song is allowed to play in. If that number is one or zero, the rule is disabled for this song, otherwise, the song would have no opportunity to play. If the number of shifts the song can play in is less than or equal to the number of plays requested in the rule properties, then the actual number of plays in other shifts required for that song will be the maximum number possible minus one.

For control on how your songs schedule through your shifts, consider using the Shift Pattern Rotation rule on your larger Gold categories. It’s a great way to space your plays evenly throughout your shifts.

By Marianne Burkett

So, you just received some great news! Your IT manager or Engineer just emailed that you’re (finally) getting that long promised new computer for the office. It’s going to be a week or so before he has it all configured and ready to go, but among all the computer programs you are starting to make a mental note of that need to be loaded and configured on the new machine is (of course) MusicMaster for Windows.

I will outline the typical steps that we would recommend you follow when planning to migrate the software and your database(s) to a new machine. If you already know the specifications on the machine you will be getting (or if your IT person has just come to you and asked “what does your new computer need to be able to run MusicMaster Windows” here are some resources to check to verify that this shiny new machine coming your way meets (and will likely exceed) the specifications to run the application.

First, you can check the HELP-RELEASE NOTES section on your currently installed MusicMaster to find out what operating systems that the application “natively” supports, as well as the major Microsoft system components that are needed for the program to run correctly. If you do not see your OS represented or you have other questions about these basic specs, please contact your Music Scheduling Consultant (MSC) to discuss your circumstances.

On the MusicMaster website you can get the basic recommendations for the hardware specs we suggest.

For a more in depth rundown, visit the Support and Downloads section of the MusicMaster website, you can also download (or direct your IT person to download) our “MusicMaster IT Guide” PDF which can be found in the MusicMaster User Guides section. Beginning on page 2 of the guide you will find minimum as well as optimal recommendations for the computer hardware itself, your internet connection, the operating system, and additional requirements.

Run TOOLS-PURGE, before making your database backup. This utility removes extra space from your data that could cause your backup to be larger than it needs to be. Make certain that no other users are in the database(s) you are backing before you run this process. This will additionally have the benefit of speeding up your database.

Back up your data (TOOLS-BACKUP.) Look for any .def files or special .ini files we’ve created for your specific databases. Copy the zip file (typically something in the format Call letters-FM.ZIP). If you have any questions about specific files that you think may need to be carried over to the new machine, please contact your Music Scheduling Consultant.

If your database(s) reside on your office network (instead of the default application folder, C:\MMwin or C:\Program Files\MusicMaster) you can skip this step, although it may be a good idea to verify that this is in fact the case with your IT support staff.

Download the latest version of the application from the support site once you’ve logged on to our web site (Contact Support/LOGIN.) Once you are logged on, go to-Downloads and select the version of MusicMaster you are currently using.

Once you’ve downloaded the full installer of the application (make certain you have Admin rights before you begin), go ahead and run the installer, and follow all of the prompts. In most cases, you will not need to make any changes to the default settings the installer will suggest.

If your database(s) reside on your office network, the default desktop shortcut to the application will need to be modified slightly to launch the application locally then source the data from your network. If this is the way the old machine was set, you can simply copy the target line for the shortcut in the old machine to the old machine, or consult with your IT staff or your MusicMaster MSC for assistance with proper setup.

Next, uznzip/extract your database(s) onto the new machine (typically) into the C:\mmwin directory. If your data is on your network, you’ll skip this step.

After you’ve installed MusicMaster on the new machine restart the machine, plug in your MusicMaster dongle and wait for Windows to find the new hardware.  Once Windows notifies you that your new hardware is ready to use, you should be “good to go” with MusicMaster on your new machine… Enjoy!

If you have any difficulty with the installation, or would like a Music Scheduling Consultant to help you install, feel free to contact them directly.

by Drew Bennett

There are lots of neat little bells and whistles inside MusicMaster and I want to cover one that I found to be especially handy once I set it up in my first MusicMaster for Windows database. I’ve always liked adding trivia to my songs. Call me old school, but I’ll include a birthday, a new tour or new CD information so my jocks know what’s going on. If your jocks don’t do their own show prep, MusicMaster makes it really easy to do it for them and it looks great when you show off your data to someone.

Today, I’m going to walk you through setting up your songs to display the band’s website when your cursor has the band selected in Library Maintenance and/or the Schedule Editor. It’s like having a personal assistant pull up artist information on the fly and precisely when you need it. When we’re done, it should look something like this:

The first thing you want to do is decide which field you’re going to use to hold the band’s web address. To make a choice, choose Dataset, Library, Fields.

In the example above, I’ve selected a field I called URL. It is a text field and the field length is 255. That will be plenty of space for web addresses. When choosing a field in the Database Field Editor, make sure you choose a Text field. If the length of the field is over, say, 100 characters, that should be plenty of space to hold a web address. If you find a Text field that you do not use, and the length of the field is long enough to hold your web addresses, you can rename that field to something like URL or Web Address and begin using it for the purposes of this tutorial. Once you find a field to use, hit OK. If you do not find a Text field that has a length to accommodate web addresses, consult your Music Scheduling Consultant to see about having a field added to your database.

Next, let’s set up MusicMaster to display a web browser inside the software. To do this, go to Tools, Options, External Database Links.

I use Firefox as a web browser so in the External Link Path, I typed in the path to firefox.exe, which is the executable file that Firefox uses when it launches a web browser for me. You can add any path in that links to the executable file for your favorite browser. Below that field you will see another field for Valid File Types. This field can be left alone or you can add in file types that can be played within your browser. Finally, you will use the dropdown box at the bottom of this screen to tell MusicMaster where you will be putting the web address for each artist in your database. You can see in my example that I’ve chosen URL as my Auto Link Field. Click Apply and OK.

Now, you will head to your first Song Card and bring your new web address field into your layout. You’ll type the artist’s web address into your new web address field.

Now it’s time to show it off. At the top of the software, choose View, Web Browser. If you’ve set everything up correctly, you should see your artist’s web page in MusicMaster’s browser window. Once you have web pages associated with all of the songs in your database, you can find artist information instantly when you’re maintaining the library or scheduling a day’s worth of music. Not only that, it looks really sharp when you’re showing off your data to the rest of the programming department or your consultant. All of a sudden, you have an assistant that pulls up artist information based on the web address you have in the song card. To enter that information into Trivia, click on the Trivia icon. (Hint: It looks like a folder with paperclip on top of it.) Finding and entering trivia and artist information was never easier.

Good luck with it! If you have any questions about how to set up this or anything else in MusicMaster for Windows, please don’t hesitate to call your assigned Music Scheduling Consultant. Happy Scheduling!

By Drew Bennett

Inside the Modify Editor Layout icon of the Schedule Editor, you will see a section on the right hand side where the colors of elements can be changed. Double click the sample for Songs:Music here and change the Foreground Color AND the Background Color to white. Click OK again to get out of the editor. Now any song element in the Schedule Editor will be filled with the color of the category it resides in.

By Drew Bennett

If you have two or more sections of MusicMaster open, you can tile them on your screen and see them all at once. In the menu at the top of the software, choose Window, Tile Horizontal or Tile Vertical. MusicMaster will arrange the sections of the software in vertical or horizontal tiles on your screen. Explore all the drag and drop features you can perform from section to section. Happy scheduling!

by Paul Ziino

Often times we are asked which Hour Rotation rule to use, and many times we end up explaining the differences between “Day Offset Window” and “Sliding Day Offset Window”. Here’s the scoop…

Day Offset Window is used to protect X number of broadcast hours for Y number of days on either side of a play being tested. The most basic setting here is “Days=1/Window Size=1 Hour”. This protects a song from being played two days in a row in the same broadcast hour.

Sliding Day Offset Window with a setting of “Days=1/Window Size=1:00” would protect a song from being played two days in a row while sliding that 1:00 over the time being tested, splitting it in half so as to check +/- 30 minutes on either side of the play being tested.

Let’s assume we’re testing a play at 9:05am on Wednesday. Day Offset Window is in place with that “Days=1/Window Size=1 Hour” setting. This would look at the 9am hour on Tuesday (one day back) and Thursday (one day ahead), and if the song played anywhere within the 9am broadcast hour on either day, it fails the rule. Note: if the song played at 8:55am on Tuesday, the 9:05am Wednesday play would pass this rule as it is in a different broadcast hour.

Now if we have that same play at 9:05am on Wednesday, but this time we have a Sliding Day Offset Window in place with a setting of “Days=1/Window Size=1:00”, MusicMaster will look at Tuesday (-1 day) and Thursday (+1 day), and if that song played within 30 minutes either side of 9:05 (8:35am-9:35am) on either day, it would fail the rule. Note: if the song played at 8:55am on Tuesday, the 9:05am Wednesday play would fail this rule as it is within the +/- 30 minute window.

Let’s take it a step further. We’re still looking at that 9:05am play on Wednesday. This time our Day Offset Window is set to” Days=1/Window Size=3 Hours”. MusicMaster will look at Tuesday and Thursday in the 8am, 9am, and 10am hours (same hour plus the hour on either side for a total of 3 hours) and if the song played within those hours on either day, it would fail the rule.

But if we used a Sliding Day Offset Window set to “Days=1/Window Size=3:00”, MusicMaster will effectively slide that time frame centering it on the play being tested with an equal amount of time on either side. This would mean +/- 1:30 on either side of 9:05am, or 7:35-10:35am.

The Sliding Day Offset Window can be more precise than the Day Offset Window, because Sliding windows can be adjusted to the minute. For example, a setting of “Days=2/Window Size=1:44” will protect +/- 52 minutes on either side of the play being tested for 2 days back and ahead.

In both Day Offset and Sliding Day Offset windows you can check the “Test Past days only” box on the rule properties window to do just that. Then MusicMaster would only look at past play history and not test against future spins.

Using a combination of Hour Rotation rules including Day Offset and Sliding Day Offset Windows can help maximize a song’s day-to-day separation and exposure.

By Drew Bennett

Purging your database will re-index the data and put everything back in order. It’s much like the defragmenter on your hard drive. It removes errant characters and puts all of your data back in order. The result is a more efficient and faster database. To purge the data in MusicMaster, choose Tools, Purge. Make sure no one else is in the data when you run purge. It needs to perform that function without multiple connections open. I tell my clients to perform this once a week or when you think about it. Happy scheduling!

By Marianne Burkett

Imagine your owner or General Manager walking into your office or the studio telling you “Hey, we’re starting a new format, you’re in charge and we’re launching ASAP.”

Oh boy…your stress level has just risen 150% and you’re wondering …”Where do I start?

The order in which you implement the project is important. The first 3 steps done in the order below will save you a lot of time and frustration.

The first thing you do is acquire a library of music from a reliable source. There are several companies that can provide libraries in a hurry, with a simple internet search. You need the new library ripped into your playout or automation software. When you do so, each cut is assigned an automation number – which is crucial in the early process.

Next, clone your existing MMwin database and strip the clone of its music and non-music. That way, you’re retaining important files like your export to automation design and printed log design.

The new library you’ve acquired can be pulled into MusicMaster using a Library Import utility, or you can copy/paste the new library right into MusicMaster from an Excel spreadsheet. You may need to put a call into your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant for assistance, but both the Library Import and Copy/Paste are relatively simple procedures.

I recommend the next steps be done in this order:

Create Categories Populate the Categories Code all the music you decide to use and make sure your Artist Keywords are in place. Build Clocks. If you’re launching a brand new format – a few starter clocks should suffice. Remember – Rome was not built in a day. Build the Clock assignment grid and activate it. Install some basic rules in the Rule Tree to get you started. Click on the Rule Tree Wizard for some basic recommendations and build from there. Run the Scheduler to see the results of the rules you’ve created. Test your export to automation to make sure the music is accepted into the playout software.

I promise if you follow these steps, the rest is easy. Checking your rotations and turnovers – tweaking the rules etc…

Of course, as with any major undertaking – consult with colleagues – or put a call into your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant with questions you may have. You can also access a world of knowledge within the MusicMaster website by accessing our webinar series or support center.

Our job is to help you be successful.

By Paul Ziino

Have categories to which you do not wish to apply your All Categories rules? Bypass them! Right-click the MusicMaster Rule Tree header of the rule tree itself, select Rule Tree Properties, then check any category you wish to ignore the All Categories rules.

Or you can click the Properties icon in the Rule Tree (third from right), then check the categories to bypass.

Click OK, then save your rule tree!