MusicMaster Blog

By Brian Wheeler

Collaborations. It’s all the rage in music these days. Artist A with Artist B featuring Artist C and Artist D with a cameo by Artist X. Sometimes your artist fields are a who’s who of a particular genre of music. Sometimes you’ll span multiple genres with a single song! But how do you keep them all straight when it comes to scheduling? And does it matter?

Yes, most times keeping all your artists separated and governed DOES matter. It’s why the Artist Keyword field and the associated rules are so important and so commonly used. MusicMaster provides as many keywords as you’d need to fulfill even the most challenging of collaborations. Couple that with specific artist keyword separation settings for each artist and you can have complete control over the flow of your station.

But can you have too much of a good thing? Some programmers say YES. It’s possible you don’t really care that Wiz Khalifa has a cameo on a particular recording. His role in the song may be so insignificant that you don’t wish to separate this song from other Wiz tunes. Simply leave the artist keyword off the collaboration. His name can still appear in the artist name field so your jocks are aware of the contribution, but MusicMaster won’t meddle in your rotations on his behalf.

The same goes for other formats, too. As a programmer, you might not care that a Foo Fighters song plays in close proximity to a Nirvana song. Yes, Dave Grohl was in Nirvana. But you don’t care if Nirvana plays near the Foos, and neither do your listeners. So why govern it, then? Keep the Foo/Grohl keyword off the Nirvana songs and vice versa. Just because you CAN govern it, doesn’t mean you HAVE to!

By Dave Tyler

One of the greatest parts of being a Music Scheduling Consultant for MusicMaster is that I get to work on a daily basis with many of the top programmers in the world. It is an honor to be able to help them. As a 34-year radio vet, I love sharing and learning from them too!
Recently I was speaking with a terrific CHR Programmer who had an interesting question. He said “I have my Artist Keyword Separation set to 1:05. We are a hits/current driven format so a lot of the songs we play have “Featured” artists that are named on the song but do not necessarily play a big role in the song. By listing them as a Secondary Artist on the artist keyword this means that one of the featured artist’s songs will also be restricted from playing for 1:05. Is there a better way to control this or do I just have to decide if I list them on the keywords?”.

What an awesome question! You can see in my example below I have a Brad Paisley song that features Allison Krauss. Although in this particular song Allison plays a substantial role we can use it as an example. For demonstration purposes let’s say she only does background harmonies but is featured in the video and listed on the CD. As you can see in my Library Maintenance view in the Artist Keyword field they are both listed and therefore (per my rule settings which you can also see below) once this song plays BOTH artists will have to sit on the bench for one hour and five minutes.

While it makes complete sense for Brad to have to wait the allotted time it may or may not (depending on your programming philosophy) make sense to have Allison have to wait that long. As mentioned before the programmer I was talking to programmed a CHR station so he faced this constantly in his Currents, Recurrents and even Golds. What can we do?

MusicMaster provides several ways to control artist separation from rules to custom settings on a per artist level. However, let’s go deeper and do something cool. By going to Dataset/Library/Fields I can open my Database Field Editor and sort by “Type” and see if there are any Keyword fields that I am not using. In my case I had a Keyword field for “Theme” that I was not using. I can, within the editor, just type in a new name for this field. I will call this “Secondary Keys”.

I can add this field to my Library Maintenance layout and now I have an option when entering artists. If the song is literally a duet or the featured artists play a big and obvious role in the song, then I will add them as a secondary artist on the regular Artist Keyword field and the full separation will apply to them. If I deduce that they play a very minor role overall in the song then I can list them instead in my “Secondary Keys” field and then apply a shorter time restriction on those keywords.

In my example above my “Secondary Keys” only have to separate by 20 minutes. This keeps this artist from playing back-to-back with a song they are the lead on but also allows it to play a lot sooner than it would otherwise. It is a unique way to use MusicMaster to get even more control over your sound.

For the record (pun intended) I can already hear some of you saying “Great idea Dave BUT I do not have a Keyword field that I am not using so what now????” No problem any of the MusicMaster Music Scheduling Consultants on our Support Team can add the fields you need to your database.

No matter what you format is, if you have a primary and secondary artists, consider this method to assist in your scheduling.
As always if you have any questions just give us a ring. We are always happy to help.

Coming next time, another perspective on this topic.

By Jesus Rodriguez

Have you heard about our Genius Days yet? If you haven’t you need to visit our site to find out when we’ll be in your region hosting one. You can visit our Genius Day page to find out where we’ll be next as it is continuously updated.

So what is a Genius Day? It is a full day of learning about MusicMaster where we go over the entire software from the Scheduler, Library, Rules, and everything in between. I have the pleasure of hosting some of these as the instructor, and I love the Oh Wow moments we get from the clients.

It is a great day to learn and even network with other MusicMaster clients. Come on let’s face it our industry is known to be a cutthroat business. Why not sharpen up your skills and network with other programmers as well. Even I get to learn from our clients with new ways that they are using MusicMaster and so can you. The open dialogue among a room of so many passionate people like you will help you see things in a way you may not have before.

I am a Genius Days alum. I went to one years ago after being promoted to Assistant Music Director. I decided to invest in myself and go to a Genius Day hosted by Joe Knapp because I wanted to get to know more about what I was going to be doing. It was the best investment I ever made in my career. I went from scheduling my shift to scheduling a top five show. That led me to take the entire station from the high twenty rankings in our market to top 10. I was then asked to implement what I learned on our sister stations where I was able to direct music logs for eight stations; six in top 10 markets taking a few to top five in their markets and a couple to number one.

Who would of thought I would of ended up here hosting these around the country. The student has become the… Well, I am not quite a master but we will do our best to make you a MusicMaster Genius. If your employer doesn’t have a budget to get you to a Genius Day, do it for yourself and I promise that you too will get as much as others have already done. There is no charge for the actual Genius Day session so finding one close to you might mean little, if any, cost to you. You’ll come away with tips to make you a better MusicMaster user and we even provide a free lunch! Check out this video of what these MusicMaster Genius’ got out of the session.

By Jerry Butler

Programmers will often move an outdated liner or song out of rotation to a resting or hold category, but leave it in the database.  Later they use that number again even though the original audio element is still in the database.  Using the same automation number for multiple audio elements can cause issues including the wrong song airing or your history not showing up correctly for what you believe you had scheduled.  When this happens, the first thing I check is to make sure there are not multiple items in the database with the same automation number.   This is where the issue often begins.  To help make sure you don’t run into this issue in MusicMaster, you can tell MusicMaster that you want the automation number field to be a unique value.

Click on dataset, library and fields to access your database field editor.  Scroll down to your automation field, select and then double click the unique value field on the right to toggle between no and yes.  If you want the field to be unique, select yes for the field and click OK to save.  It’s that simple.  Now MusicMaster won’t allow you to enter a number that is already in your system.

(You also want to make sure you are not giving multiple items in your automation the same number unless they are a rotator cart in your automation system.)

Any questions? Call your Music Scheduling Consultant.

By Marianne Burkett

I just got off the phone with a client who consults several stations.  Each week the station sends him a backup zip file to restore and view.  It’s not imperative, but keeping the filename the same all the time makes this whole process much easier.

If the backup file is the same name as the last backup file and is in the same location as your previous backup, what you do is open the database and go to Tools/Restore.

The issue with changing the name of the file all the time is that there is no “previous” backup by the same name, so restoring like this, is not going to work.

When someone sends you a new backup zip, you can ALSO double click on the zip and EXTRACT the database into the data folder.  Download the zip from your email or dropbox and double-click on the Zip to open.

See the EXTRACT ALL button?  Go there.

From there just extract to your database folder like so:

If a database of the same name exists in the database folder you will get the warning below, but go ahead and keep going to overwrite the old data.

There are several “zip” programs out there like WinZip or RAR, but Windows compression is the free default program within XP/Win7, 8 and 10.

I hope this clears up some of the mystery behind restoring data.  Remember, do not right click and copy the database from inside the zip or drag the database out of the zip.  You need to extract it, or it may become corrupted.

Please remember to go to Tools/Backup daily in MusicMaster.  It takes a few seconds but will save you future grief in the event of an issue.  Also, you can only backup when ONE person is accessing data, so check Tools/User List before attempting backups!

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support Team.

Happy Scheduling!

By Dave Tyler

Around the MusicMaster headquarters we are proud to talk about how MusicMaster is the only music scheduling software that allows you to create a custom database! That’s a big deal. I have programmed radio stations for more than 30 years and I have used most of the popular schedulers at one point or another. You know one thing that used to drive me crazy? Tabbing! Especially tabbing past fields I don’t even use to get to ones I do. MusicMaster allows you to set up your layout so you only have the fields you actually use in your view but MusicMaster goes way past that with customization! You can even rename the fields anything you want.

In the following example I am going to exaggerate a bit.  I am not recommending you actually change your field names to the examples but I am showing that you could if you wanted to.

Let’s say there are three fields that are driving you nuts:  your Artist, Title and Energy fields. You wish they were called Singer, Song Name & NRG (because that looks cool!). Here’s how you would change it.

First if you look at a category in Library Maintenance, your layout displays Title, Artist and Energy.

To change these names go to Dataset/Library/Fields.

Now you can rename these fields by simply selecting the field and typing via direct entry. As you can see those fields names have been changed.

Now close and reopen the category you were viewing in Library Maintenance and viola! Your new yet slightly ridiculous new field names have appeared.

Making this sort of change does not affect your export or anything. It is simply the name of the field as you see it. Let’s face it you sit in front of your computer potentially for hours a day, you set your computer’s background graphic and choose fonts etc. to your preferences.  Do the same with MusicMaster! Make it look your way today.

If you have any questions always feel free to contact any of us here on the MusicMaster Support team and we’ll be more than happy to help.

By Paul Ziino

You’ve cloned your database and want to get busy working on a bunch of new clocks.  The structure of the clocks will remain, but with new element types and some cool new features.  Is there a way to clone all my active clocks?

Go to Dataset/Clocks/Assignment Grids.  Highlight the grid you wish to clone then click the Copy button.  Now you’ll be able to give this new grid a unique description as well as make copies of all the clocks.  You can also tell MusicMaster with what character you want those clock copies to begin.

Click OK and you’ll have an exact copy of each clock from the original grid, now assigned to that cloned grid.  To edit the clocks, open the new assignment grid, then double-click on the clocks within to make your changes.  Don’t forget to save the changes after you’ve completed your new clocks!

By Brian Wheeler

It’s an odd experience to write a blog as ‘the new guy’.  It’s not a bad place to be, being the new guy. I usually enjoy learning new things, and I consider myself a perpetual student in life. Returning to work for MusicMaster is definitely an education, especially since so much has changed from when I departed in 2003!

The changes were evident. The team had grown. The software is rich with features and modifications and has changed with the times and the needs of our users. Of course, I’d seen some of the new features while I was using MusicMaster myself, but you see the software differently when you are a Music Scheduling Consultant. You see the depth and breadth of the program. You begin to appreciate the magnitude of the tool at your fingertips. You also get an insider’s view of MusicMaster’s secret weapon:  The people.

Not just the people who work here, although that is a big part of the equation. The management, the developers, the programming team, right down to the front-line folks who work with MusicMaster users around the world…the passion for our industry and to be the best runs deep here. It’s an excellent and rewarding culture. But it’s the folks who use the software that impress me the most. Many of them have been using MusicMaster for decades. Some have come from using other scheduling software and have since made MusicMaster their own with their personal touches and modifications. New users dive in and are quick to learn the ins and outs of MusicMaster, and their infectious curiosity is energizing. It’s a testimony to the vibrancy of the industry and the desire to make great programming.

I love the stories, too. In the last three months, I’ve heard some fascinating stories from programmers all over the continent. The unsolicited testimonials floor me. Imagine how humbling it is to be on the other end of the phone when a MusicMaster user says he used “X” software for 20 years, but how he loves how much easier and better MusicMaster achieves his goals? The stories are inspiring, to say the least.

What’s your MusicMaster story? We look forward to hearing it.

By Jerry Butler

I’ve received numerous requests to schedule custom new music intros for songs.  MusicMaster has a couple ways of doing this, but one very easy way to do this is by using our Virtual Shows feature.  This works if you want the intro to run every time the song is scheduled.  A Virtual Show allows you to schedule a single song card, but play back multiple files.  So, when you schedule your new song, your custom intro can air adjacent to it and you don’t have to change your clocks.  Here are some basic steps to get his set up.

Click on Dataset, Library and Fields.  Find an unused keyword multiple field and rename. You can call it virtual shows, custom intro or whatever you like. Note what field number you are using.  (Ex. Field 151)  Click OK to save your changes.

Now click on Tools, Options and Additional Properties.  Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list and enter your field number in the VirtualShowField and click OK.

Now that the field is set up, it’s time to tell your system what you would like to schedule using the virtual show field.  I recommend a couple of steps to make this easy to manage on a weekly basis.  First, let’s create a new category group so you can see all elements that will be used in scheduling your new music and intros.

Second, pull up the new category group and using the Show / Hide fields button, show both your song ID and your new Virtual Show field.  It makes it easier to see if you sort by title as well.  To make the intro schedule directly before your new song, you are going to add the song IDs of both the intro and song into the Virtual Show field of the song.  You can see I added 3419, the song ID for Compass Intro and the 3389 for the actual Compass song.  This tells the system when you schedule the song, you want the intro to air then the new song.   Whatever order you list in this field, is the order the elements will play.  Click OK.

This is a great option if you want the intro to air every time the song is scheduled.  When you move the song to a new category that you don’t want the intro to schedule, just delete the Song IDs in the virtual field and your song will schedule by itself.

There are a couple of other things to keep in mind:

You likely do not want an imaging element scheduled in your clock before the song where you are using the Virtual Show as you will then have an imaging element and your intro back-to-back.

When the Virtual Show is used, you will not see the individual elements of the Virtual Show on your log.  You will see the song scheduled on the log, but both the song intro and song will however export to your automation to play in the order specified.

Contact your Music Scheduling Consultant with any questions.

By Paul Ziino

A client posed the following scenario.

I am only using one clock 24/7.  The categories always show up in the same place every hour.  As such, those items at the end of the hour aren’t getting played very often—they’re dropped due to time updates in automation.  I play primarily 80s pop, but have four positions per hour that are 90s, 70s pop, 80s rock, and 70s rock.  Right now, that 80s rock drops almost every hour as it’s the last position.  What can I do without rebuilding everything else that is working so well?

We looked at his clock.  He has things spread out very well, so anything that strays from that core 80s pop sound is surrounded by that core sound.  He still wanted one of each of those categories scheduled in the hour, but maybe he didn’t always need it to be the 80s rock that gets dropped.

So, what did we do?  Migrating Positions!  We turned those four clock positions that called for the 80s Rock, 70s Pop, 70s Rock, and 90s into migrating positions.  Now MusicMaster knows where in the hour to schedule those four items, but it can move them around making their specific placement different one hour to the next.

By looking at the clock and Flex Rules, you can see that we have four positions in the hour (Usage column in the Flex Rules) and that one of each of those positions must come from each of those four categories (Min/Hour and Max/Hour in Flex Rules).  We let MusicMaster decide which position will come from each, and the result is the same rotation overall, but different placement within the hour.  Overall, it’s an easy way to move things around and keep it interesting without the need to create a bunch of different clocks.

If you have questions on this or any other MusicMaster topic, make sure to reach out to your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant.