MusicMaster Blog

By Aaron Taylor

Play MPE is a content distribution system that is available to the radio industry. Many in the industry use it as a “one stop shop” for all new content needed for their stations. In addition to the actual song or video, Play MPE makes available to its users additional data that can be useful in their programming. We’ll discuss how to obtain this information and integrate it into MusicMaster in this article.

Here is how Play MPE describes themselves on their website:

Play MPE® system is the most widely used digital distribution system available to the recording and radio industries. Play MPE® is a secure distribution system that features state-of-the-art encryption to protect content while delivering high definition audio to users in radio, marketing and media. A powerful promotional tool, Play MPE® also allows record companies to distribute video, text and graphics including music videos, CD covers, credits, lyrics, promotions, and other content.

You’ll need to make sure you have access to the content, and then download the player application.

Once you’ve installed the program and begin to browse through your available tracks, you’ll want to follow these steps to get the metadata from your downloaded tracks in a format that MusicMaster will be able to interpret.

Now that you’ve installed Play MPE and have become familiar with the interface and the offerings that are relevant to your format or stations, get in touch with your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant, and ask them to send you the “PlayMPE Synch” definition file. We’ll help you configure this file to the fields in your database. Here is a sample of what a typical version of this file looks like:

[Description]
Name=PlayMPE Import
Type=LibSynch

[LibSynch]
AddMsg=1
LogFile=1

[Import]
SourceType=MultiAsciiD
SourcePath=C:\MMWIN
SourceSpec=*.asc

[ImportProperties]
Header=1
Delimiter=tab

[ImportFields]
Fld1=LABEL
Fld2=ALBUM
Fld3=ARTIST
Fld4=TITLE
Fld5=VERSION
Fld6=WRITER
Fld7=FORMAT
Fld8=INTRO
Fld9=TOTALTIME
Fld10=TOTALSEC
Fld11=BPM
Fld12=ENDING
Fld13=RELEASEDATE
Fld14=RELEASETIME
Fld15=GOINGFORADDS
Fld16=YEAR
Fld17=ISRC
Fld18=SAMPLINGRATE
Fld19=BITSPERSAMPLE
Fld20=CHANNELS

[ImportValidation]

[LibImport]
Mode=Add

[LibImportProperties]
DeleteSource=0

[LibImportMap]

[LibImportMapAdd]
Map1=3,,"NEW"
Map2=12,TOTALTIME
Map3=102,ARTIST
Map4=103,TITLE
Map5=104,ALBUM
Map6=105,INTRO
Map7=106,ENDING
Map8=121,LABEL
Map9=111,YEAR
Map10=139,m_File,replace(im.CurrentValue,".asc",".wav")

There are only a couple of areas you have to adjust for your specific database. Those are highlighted above in red. These would be the Sourcepath= line that will tell MusicMaster where to find the metadata file(s) for the tracks you download, as well as the [LibImportMapAdd] lines that denote where the data in the file goes in the database (what fields) which is the Map1=3 “New” lines you see. It is not necessary to import all of the metadata that is in this file into your MusicMaster, not would you want to in some cases as it is just not needed. In that case, the [LibImportMapAdd]lines will likely vary for you, depending on what you’ll actually use. This definition file will be placed in your MusicMaster application directory.

Now let’s return to the Play MPE application, Select the “Add to library” icon:

Once the track downloads, go to “My Library” in the upper left hand corner of the application.

Then, right click over the data for the track you’ve downloaded:

Then, the following settings window will appear. Check the box for Export Audio File. Use the drop down box to select the audio file type you want, the bitrate as well (just a note, I’ve just selected my personal preferences here, you’ll want to check with the administrator of your automation system to determine the right properties to select for the file itself).

Regardless of the file properties you select, you’ll need to determine the path to send the metadata to. In the example below in the Output Folder line, I’ve sent it to my C:\MMWin directory for simplicity sake. Also make sure to check the Export Track Information box, and also check the Generate track info into .asc files (Music Master) option.

Then select Export. You’ll see a progress bar in this window as the content downloads.

When finished, this box will also appear which will allow you to go the output folder if desired.

Now, open up your MusicMaster database, and go to Dataset-Library-Synchronize:

Select the Play MPE Import in the Available Definition Files box, and then select Run the selected synchronization.

The first time this is done, it will create the “New” category as shown. This is where you’ll find your new song data imports. From here, you can enter the rest of the relevant data on the song card and move the song to its intended category:

We’d love to help you start utilizing this valuable programming resource at your stations integrated into your MusicMaster database. Get in touch with your Music Scheduling Consultant to start the process!