MusicMaster Blog

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.

By Drew Bennett

Did you know that choosing Ctrl-C on an element and then scrolling down and choosing Ctrl-C on another element shows you the amount of time between the two? It’s a great little tool to know when you need to time out pieces of the log or segments ramping up to a specific element or event.

By Drew Bennett

You schedule music a lot. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be using such a powerful piece of software, right? So, it stands to reason you would want to customize the software any way you can to make life easier or maybe just to brighten things up a bit and make time spent scheduling music that much more enjoyable. In the old days, you were forced to go with a predetermined color scheme or worse, no color scheme at all. With MusicMaster for Windows, you are not forced to use a set group of colors or color schemes in the software. You really can set custom colors and layouts in various sections of the software to make things more appealing to you.

Categories is a great place to start when you are building a database and setting category colors can help organize your categories better. To change the color of a category listed in the info bar, right click on the category and choose, Properties. You can also reach category properties from the main menu by choosing Dataset, Library, Categories and then double clicking a category. When you reach the category properties screen you will notice the word, “Sample,” at the bottom of the screen. Double clicking that opens a color grid and this is where you can set the Foreground color (text) and the Background color of the category.

You can even change the way your songs look within your categories and within the library maintenance screen. In library maintenance, choose the “Show/Hide Fields” icon (eighth icon from the right.) The Edit Grid Layout screen appears and this is where you can change the foreground and background color of the song cards in a category. Songs in music categories can have different colors applied than songs in non-music categories. Here, you can also change the color or songs that you have marked within the database.

Editing the grid layout can also be done in the Schedule Editor. In the Schedule Editor, the Modify Editor Layout is the 5th icon from the right. When you click it, the Edit Grid Layout screen appears. On the right side of this screen you can change the colors for anything from Hour Markers in the log, to Lognotes, or even Stopsets. The color of Unscheduled Positions can also be changed here as well as how music and non-music looks within the Schedule Editor. Note: When creating or modifying layouts in either Library Maintenance or the Schedule Editor, don’t forget to save your layout so you can come back to it later.

Highlight Filters in the Schedule Editor are a great way to add a little color to songs that meet a certain criteria defined by you. The 12th icon from the left in the Schedule Editor is called Highlight Filters. Here, you can set a value to a filter using the dropdown boxes in the Highlight Filters screen. You can also set a color to be displayed in the Schedule Editor when that criterion is met. Use the Modify Editor Layout icon to add these Highlight Filters to the Schedule Editor layout.

From the main menu, head to Tools, Options, Display Colors. Here, you can customize the colors of Clocks, History, Library and Schedule element types. For instance, changing the color of your weekends in the History Graph can help you to more easily identify weekend spins when you are editing a day. You might also want to change the color of element types in the pie chart tab of the Clock Editor.

You can also change the color of the Main Window Wallpaper you see when you open the software. To do that, choose Tools, Options, Dataset Identification. Find the Main Windows Wallpaper section and change the color that displays when you open the software.

Changing the colors around in various sections of the software can really be helpful when you use it as much as you do. It can be a difference maker in many cases so take the time to find your custom color settings in MusicMaster. It makes for happier scheduling and a better music log!

by Paul Ziino

When you need to make a copy of a clock, simply go to Dataset/Clocks/Format Clocks. Highlight the clock you wish to copy, then click the Copy button on the right. Now you’ll assign a new clock code and description to the copy. Don’t know what code is available? Just type "??" and press Enter–MusicMaster will assign a code for you.

The trick here is to highlight the clock to be copied. The check box to the left of each clock is used for mass printing, deleting, and exporting. You’ll notice that if you check one clock and then click Copy, MusicMaster will do so for whatever clock is highlighted–generally that’s the first clock in your list.

by Paul Ziino

Dataset/Schedule/QuickView. Use this to see where you have unscheduled positions lingering in your logs. Green means no unscheduled items, yellow with a number indicates how many unscheduled items occur in that hour. Double-click on it, and MusicMaster takes you to that hour in your schedule editor so you can edit, fill, or delete that position. There's also a shortcut for Schedule QuickView in the Schedule Editor–it's seventh from the right between Load Editor Layout and Vicinity Viewer.