MusicMaster Blog

If You Do THIS Today, Future You Will Thank You!

By Brian Wheeler

Some would say it is a wee bit early to get ready for the holiday season. With the temperatures rising and people itching to get out and enjoy some sun, the last thing anyone should be thinking about is Christmas, right? Not so fast! Phil Thompson and Bill MacNeil of Coast 89.7 CKOA have been busily preparing for a season that’s months away. Are they crazy? Like a fox. Here is what they’re doing and what YOU can do, too!

Phil wanted a tiered Christmas calendar. When he introduces Christmas music, his first several days he plans to just dip a toe in the water using one Christmas song per day. What he does next is the difference maker. He clones his one-song-per-hour grid using the grid copy feature in the Format Clock Maintenance screen, creating a three-song-per-hour version of the same grid.

He even renames the clocks to begin with the number 3. That way, he knows immediately which clocks are his ‘3 Christmas song’ clocks. Once cloned, he goes into the grid, modifies each clock to now contain three Christmas songs instead of one. Then, he takes it a step further. He clones the grid containing the three-song-per-hour clocks, creating an even more Christmas-saturated clock (75% Christmas). He’s already got three songs per hour in each clock, so he only has to add a handful more each clock. Now he’s got three grids created with minimal work.

Finally, he creates an all-Christmas grid for the last few days leading up to and including Christmas. He creates clocks containing wall-to-wall Christmas music, which are already heavily populated from the 75% Christmas grid. He now has four Christmas grids total and he is all set for the ramp-up to Christmas.

Here’s the best part: He doesn’t have to wait to put these grids in action. Phil will use the Format Scheduler (see arrow pointing in the picture above) to apply these grids to the calendar in November/December. He can have this all planned out months in advance, as can you! You can click here for a brief and informative video on using the Format Scheduler: https://youtu.be/ylVgnC0U4pc

Sssshhh! Secret bonus tip for those who are still reading! Phil said I can share a cool secret with you. I thought this was great idea! For the days following Christmas (Boxing Day through the end of the year), Phil cloned the one-song-an-hour clock and applied a format clock filter (check this video out to learn more about format clock filters! https://youtu.be/D76hqFv8nzc ) so only seasonal songs (i.e. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Or Winter Wonderland) played in that position. What a great way to wind down the holiday season and not just abruptly end the festive feel of your playlist!

As always, if you should have any questions you can reach out to your friendly neighborhood MusicMaster MSC. We’ll be happy to answer any questions and help you take these steps to streamlining your holiday programming.