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Traveling for the Love of Music Part 3: Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan Tribute at Carnegie Hall Publicado por Laurie Knapp en agosto 27th, 2024

By Brian Wheeler

I’m not singing for the future
I’m not dreaming of the past
I’m not talking of the first times
I never think about the last

-Shane MacGowan

It’s time for the third installment of Traveling for the Love of Music. I feel like I need to share a bit of background to bring you up to where I was when I embarked on my most recent experience.

I grew up in a sleepy farm town in rural Minnesota, 75 miles outside of the Twin Cities. The town itself is less than a square mile in size, and the population at the time was under 600. A two-lane highway ran through the town, splitting the town into not quite equal halves. At one time I was the paper boy for the whole town, it’s that small. Everyone knew everyone, which was a blessing and a curse. Not much entertainment was to be had in a town that small, so you had to make your own fun. When I wasn’t outside hanging out with friends, I was spending time listening to the radio, trying to tune in stations in the Twin Cities metro and beyond with the AM/FM/short wave/cassette radio I got for Christmas one year. This opened a whole new world for me, as I could hear broadcasts from far-reaching places. My friends and I had also started making mix tapes.

I personally had precious little in the way of source material for mix tapes. Truth be told, I spent more time making mock-up radio shows, doing ‘interviews’, creating spoof commercials, and recording the radio broadcasts I could tune in. But I had friends who had other friends, and those friends had access to a musical world that was foreign to me. In my little corner of the world, the only place you could buy music was a gas station on the edge of town that had a spinning display of 25-30 dusty and overpriced cassettes. The selection consisted of stale country artists and the occasional outdated pop star. The town a few miles down the road had a Pamida (a department store akin to K-Mart) and their selection was bigger, but equally bland. I was starved for something more.

It was the 80s, which was a great decade for music. Through my friends, I was introduced to R.E.M., The Talking Heads, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Replacements. I got to know The Cure, The Pogues, The Smiths, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants…I could go on and on. The more music I consumed, the more I wanted to consume. I became a seeker of this previously unknown world of ideas and sound. I owe my friends a debt of gratitude for sharing this gift of music.

Right after high school, I’d end up going to Brown Institute in Minneapolis. I welcomed the new environment, not only because I could finally work toward my dream of a career in radio, but I could slake my thirst for music at some truly legendary record shops. Northern Lights, Oarfolkjokeopus, The Electric Fetus, Let It Be Records, and Cheapo Records became favorite places to deplete any expendable income. All three of my roommates and I would frequent these locations to add to our meager yet growing collections. Wedged into the cramped two-bedroom apartment in South Minneapolis, music was our common bond. We remain in contact with each other to this day.

Earlier this year, I received a call from my good friend Mike Gaffey, one of my three aforementioned roommates. He’d had a pretty rough year, and we’d talked about what was troubling him from time to time as he navigated some difficult waters. He started off this conversation with a declaration.

“Hey…I really need to just do something. I need to go somewhere. You’re the first person I could think of that would possibly do this.”

“Okay. What’s your idea?”

“I want to go to New York City. I want to see the Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan Tribute.”

I’d already thought about trying to see this show myself. Both Sinéad and Shane MacGowan (by virtue of his work with The Pogues) had been two artists that impacted me greatly in my youth. They both had died recently and within months of each other. Both losses were quite difficult for me. They were both staunch and unapologetic in their beliefs and weren’t afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves in life or in their music. I admired them for that and still enjoy their art to this day. Mike felt the same way about them, and I believe he felt attending the event would serve as a sort of therapy.

We secured tickets, flight, and hotel and endured only a few weeks of anticipation before we’d set foot in The Big Apple, ready to see what the city could show us in 72 hours. Since we were both hockey fans and had fond memories of sitting in the nosebleeds for North Stars games, we decided to take in a New York Rangers game. The Rangers played the Winnipeg Jets that night, which I incorrectly predicted would be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals this year. It was a competitive game nonetheless, and between the on-ice action and Mike’s comedic prowess, a memorable time was had during our first visit to the mighty Madison Square Garden.

The next day we decided to head to the Lower East Side to take in the majesty of Katz’s Deli. A place like Katz’s doesn’t need my endorsement. They’ve been feeding New Yorkers since 1888 and are officially New York’s oldest deli.

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Having stuffed ourselves with glistening stacks of pastrami, we decided to wander the neighborhood. We stumbled upon the Tenement Museum, a museum that is dedicated to preservation of the historic Lower East Side tenements that housed countless immigrants looking for a better life. We took a tour, and it was as though we were transported back into the formative years of the city. The neighborhood’s history is rich, and their story is critical to the fabric of the city. It was a fascinating glimpse into the past. After the tour, we wandered some more and found the corner of Ludlow and Rivington which is now known as Beastie Boys Square. The corner is featured prominently on the cover of their ‘89 release, Paul’s Boutique.

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Back in Midtown Manhattan, the moment we’d waited for had finally arrived. We walked into Carnegie Hall as doors opened for the evening so we could take in the venue. Carnegie Hall is such a majestic building. The architecture is stately and not stale, and the walls decorated with portraits of myriad past performers tell a deeper story.

The halls bustled in quiet anticipation of the evening’s events. Mike and I had seats in the first balcony which gave us a bird’s eye view of the stage. Unfortunately for Mike, these balconies were built at a time in history when people were generally a bit smaller than we are today. Mike’s six-foot-nine frame had to wedge into the small seat assigned to him. He didn’t seem bothered by this and when I asked him about it, he said he was used to it. Settled in, we awaited the start of the show.

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The lineup of artists that had gathered to pay tribute was impressive by name but would prove to be even more impressive by virtue of their performances. I’ll share with you the highlights, but honestly the whole show was incredible. There were a handful of musicians that remained on stage to accompany each of the performers as a backing band. The numbers performed would alternate between Sinéad’s and Shane’s catalog. The performances themselves were an emotional rollercoaster, with each performer bringing their own flavor to their respective tributes.

The evening began with a solo bagpipe performer that walked from the back of the main floor to the stage while playing a mournful tune called “The Foggy Dew”. Then a trio comprised of Joy Askew, Amy Cervini, and Kat Edmonson sang “In This Heart”, a Sinéad O’Connor song. The sound filled the room, and I now knew the power of Carnegie Hall, as the music swelled to fill the space. Then, a solemn Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes took the stage, acoustic guitar in hand. He played “A Pair of Brown Eyes”, a familiar favorite from The Pogues. I was already tearing up and we’d barely begun the evening.

Cait O’Riordan, the former Pogues bassist, had taken up her position on stage at this point and Steve Earle stepped up to the mic and performed a rollicking version of “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”, which got the audience dancing and howling. The P.A. announcer predicted during the introduction that this may be the first mosh pit in Carnegie Hall history. The mosh pit didn’t form, but the energy in the room made up for it.

While I didn’t personally know every performer, it became evident why each performer was present to participate in the tribute that evening. A constant thread that carried throughout the evening was reverence for both artists and what they represented. Sinéad O’Connor was known as an advocate for causes held dear to her, and many of the selections reflected her fight for social justice. Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls performed “Black Boys on Mopeds”, a song referencing a young man that was murdered by British police over a falsely presumed moped theft. Her rendition was captivating and reminded me of why I was drawn to her vocals years ago.

A man who is no stranger to activism, Billy Bragg, took the stage and performed “A Rainy Night in Soho”. Again, goosebumps and that now familiar knot in my throat as he sang the lyric “You’re the measure of my dreams”. Bettye Lavette’s a cappella performance of “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” had the audience hanging on every note. Cat Power brought her lyric sheet out and delivered “Feel So Different”, and rousing performances from Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys (pictured below), and Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello peppered the evening with their frantic energy. Glen Hansard, Imelda May, David Gray, and a number of other talented individuals graced the stage throughout the evening. I felt extremely fortunate to have witnessed such a collaboration in celebrating the lives and work of two artists that had touched mine and so many others’ lives with their music.

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Toward the end of the evening Roisin Waters, the daughter of Sinéad O’Connor, took the stage to warm applause (pictured below). When she began to sing the Prince-penned song “Nothing Compares 2 U”, you could hear her mother’s voice emerge from her throat with every word. Her voice left the audience rapt. During the instrumental bridge leading up to the final verse, a gentle applause reached out to hold Roisin as she stood there under the spotlight, awash in love for her and her departed mother.

Waterworks continued to flow as Glen Hansard returned to the stage with Cait O’Riordan to perform “Fairytale of New York”, which of course became a cathartic sing-along. The only thing missing was Shane MacGowan’s impish grin and a pint of beer.

A rousing ovation concluded that number and summoned the entire roster of artists that had performed that evening. “Dirty Old Town” closed the performance, with nearly all the artists taking turns on a verse at the microphone. If there’s one thing the Irish have perfected, it’s the catchy sing-along. Many in the audience were in full-throat, belting out the refrain as the performers hugged each other and swayed back and forth. It was a beautiful ending to a magical night.

The whirlwind trip had now come to an end. The chilly March wind didn’t seem quite so chilly as we walked back to the hotel, recounting the evening’s events as well as reminiscing on how the music we’d just enjoyed was abundantly seasoned within our life’s mix tape. We were both grateful for that, and grateful that we were able to experience such a heartfelt and cathartic event. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

MusicMaster CS for the Student Classroom Publicado por Laurie Knapp en julio 30th, 2024

by Jesus Rodriguez

MusicMaster is used in many classrooms around the world, ranging from high schools, college, universities, trade schools, and internal company training centers. While MusicMaster, regardless of which edition, can assist with many standard features from our legacy products, MusicMaster Client-Server (CS) can give a classroom a significant edge not only for competitive purposes but also for a professor and student workflow.

In this blog, I will explore the numerous advantages of using MusicMaster CS in an educational setting. This software is not just a tool for the classroom; it can also be a valuable resource during school holiday breaks, allowing students to continue their musical exploration even when they’re not on campus.

Shared Enterprise Library

The first advantage of MusicMaster CS is its Enterprise Library, a feature that simplifies the management of your students’ music collections. This tool allows you to effortlessly collect and maintain all of your students’ music over the years, making it readily available for future students. Say goodbye to the hassle of manually organizing and updating your music database.

Automated Tasks

With MusicMaster CS, scheduling music becomes a breeze. The software’s automated tasks feature is particularly beneficial during student and staff holiday breaks. Imagine the peace of mind of not having to work ahead or worry about the station being off the air. With MusicMaster CS, your automated tasks can handle these responsibilities daily, weekly, monthly, or any other period you select. There are also automated tasks for exporting the logs to automation in your absence, saving you valuable time and effort.

Easy Access

No more classroom labs! With MusicMaster CS, you no longer have to worry about having campus space available for a computer lab should you decide to use MusicMaster in the classroom for assignments or group projects as part of your teaching. With our previous version and other software, the station database is usually installed on a shared computer for all the students to access. The MusicMaster CS client application can be installed on any of your student’s computers using an IP directory to access the MusicMaster CS server.

User Roles and Security

With MusicMaster CS, a unique login can be created for each student, and roles assigned to only allowed to access specific stations, with permission to do specific tasks at any given station, like scheduling, adding music, and changing rules or clocks. The possibilities are endless. Once that student moves on and graduates, there is no longer a concern of retrieving a station database before they leave for the real world because it all lives in your MusicMaster CS server, and their access can be eliminated upon graduation.

More Collaboration

MusicMaster CS empowers students in group or individual projects. As the lead professor, you can create a super administrator role, giving yourself access to your students’ stations. This eliminates the need to hunt down assignments, as you can see their progress over time. You can even adjust students’ access to clocks if a clock assignment is due by Friday, ensuring timely submissions. Group projects are made easier as students can all work on the same station project simultaneously, fostering collaboration and engagement. This is especially convenient when using the MusicMaster CS client remotely. Students can share things like clocks, shows, music libraries, and much more between their station collaborations, just like in the real world.

Web Version

Our new Web Client, which was revealed at the 2024 NAB, will allow your students to access their stations from just about any web browser by pointing to your MusicMaster CS IP directory. The Web Client will allow users to complete any standard daily task from anywhere.

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Instructor Notifications

As the instructor, you can also set up notifications to alert you when certain tasks have been completed by your students. This will free up your time for other things and eliminate the need to check to see if projects have been completed.

These are only some of the exciting advantages for your classrooms.

If you’d like to incorporate MusicMaster CS into your teaching environment, contact our sales department to request a demo.

MusicMaster Pro 8.0.14 Publicado por Scott Wirt en julio 22nd, 2024

MusicMaster Pro 8.0.14 is now available to you under Help, Check for Update. Changes are as follows:

  • When using Direct Entry in the Schedule Editor on Runtime or any length type field, you can now prefix the desired time with ~ to perform a Close To search and find songs at or near the specified Runtime. For example, entering 4:00 will find songs where the runtime Equals 4:00, but entering ~4:00 will find songs where the runtime is Close To 4:00.
  • When viewing a Numeric type field in the History Browser, the header row will now provide a tooltip showing the minimum, maximum and average values that appear in that field during the history time period you are viewing. This applies to numeric type fields added in the User Field properties on the Display tab in the History Browser configuration.
  • History loaded by the History Graph can now be refreshed after a short time to reflect changes made by other users, even if you are not making schedule history changes yourself.
  • Made an adjustment in the Scheduling Calendar to prevent it from stealing the focus after you launch an operation from it, in the case where you have it set to remain open.
  • Corrected an issue where the History Purge function could cause locked elements to become unlocked.
  • Updated the calculation of the vocal music counters on the Canadian CRTC Self-Assessment Report.

You can find the full list of changes under Help, Release notes. Contact your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant with any questions.

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Enterprise Functions Publicado por Laurie Knapp en julio 17th, 2024

Adding Songs to Stations

Unlike in the Desktop client, Stations are not yet able to import songs from the Enterprise library. However, songs can be assigned to Stations from the Enterprise level in the usual manner.

Enterprise Menu

The Web Client has a Manage Stations option directly under the Enterprise menu, where in the Desktop, this is a submenu under Enterprise > Stations. 

Add Station is available in the Manage Stations dialog, where in the Desktop it’s also available as a submenu item.

Station Options

The Web Client has a sub-option for LibraryEditorOptions, while the Desktop has Library Options as a toolbar option in Library Maintenance. 

The Clocks, History and Misc. will display a red angled line through areas where no color has been selected.  This is depicted as a gray box in the Desktop Client.  

Not Yet Available in the Web Client

Enterprise functions that still require the use of the Desktop Client include Automated Tasks; Create Database Backup; and Users and Roles.

Optimum Rule Performance Goal Publicado por Laurie Knapp en julio 15th, 2024

by Paul Ziino

MusicMaster offers lots of options when it comes to Optimum Goal Scheduling. There are goals for song and keyword separation, goals for numeric fields to get the highest or lowest scores, goals for hour and shift exposure on keywords and songs, and more. Today we focus on the goal of Optimum Rule Performance.

In your rule tree you’ll find this goal under the Available Rule Types/Optimum Goal Scheduling/Song Goals.

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Click and drag that goal into the Optimum Goal Scheduling folder under any of your categories in the MusicMaster Rule Tree.

Here’s how it works. Every song in the active library has a score indicated in its Performance field. This score is calculated by the average number of times MusicMaster has attempted to schedule that song before it is plotted in a log. The higher the Performance score, the more difficult it is for that song to auto-schedule. Open a category, add the Performance field to your grid, and sort by it. You’ll see the songs that are easiest to auto-schedule (lowest Performance score) and most difficult to auto-schedule (highest score).

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In the images above you can see that “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Dude Looks Like a Lady” are much easier to schedule than “Already Gone, “Live and Let Die,” and “Listen to What the Man Said.”

Based on the songs we see in those images, if MusicMaster is given the choice between “Play the Funky Music” and “Crumblin’ Down,” and all other things are considered equal between the two songs, Optimum Rule Performance goal would dictate that “Crumblin’ Down” will be favored because it is more difficult to schedule. The goal gives preference to songs with higher Performance scores because those songs are more difficult to schedule (e.g. takes more attempts on average to schedule). With those two songs, it is likely more difficult to schedule the Mellencamp tune because there are more songs by that artist in our library than there are by Wild Cherry.

When you look at Performance scores, it’s all relative to the other songs in the category. If you have some songs with scores of 10 or 20 and others with scores of 2000 or 2500, what makes those with the higher score so much more difficult to auto-schedule? Is it an overabundance of that artist in the library and the separation for that artist is too great? Is it because you are limiting slow songs too much in a library that is heavily coded as slow? Is it due to incorrect coding, keywording, or dayparting? With all other factors considered and adjusted as you see fit, Optimum Rule Performance can help get those harder-to-schedule songs to plot a little more frequently.

Have questions on this or any other MusicMaster Scheduling Goals? Make sure to reach out to your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant for help.

Schedule Editor Publicado por Laurie Knapp en julio 8th, 2024

Test Results

The Test Results panel appears as part of the Infobar in the Web Client. It will automatically appear when you search for a replacement song as long as you have the Infobar active. You can also change the Infobar to other tabs while it is open, hiding it, but it is always available as the Schedule tab of the Infobar. The Schedule Editor has a Test Results icon on the toolbar that will also make this visible.

Schedule Editor Toolbar

Some toolbar options are not shown in the Web Client. Note, the order of icons may also differ from the Desktop.

Schedule Calendar

When you open this you will see options at the bottom for both the Schedule Editor and Automatic Scheduler.  The Schedule Editor only allows you to pick the date, while the Desktop Client has other options to load the number of hours and how the cursor is handled.

Schedule Editor Options

Shift-Insert is not a setting that is used in the Web Client.  Likewise, hot keys are not used, so the option to Emulate Hot-Keys is not here.

Other Functions Not Yet Available on Web

Direct Data Entry, Song Card Editor, Song Marking, Vicinity Viewer, Display Burn Spreadsheet, Check the Log, Export to Web, Key Mapping, Recap Report, and Traffic System Interface.

 

Library Maintenance Publicado por Laurie Knapp en julio 8th, 2024

Display

In the Web Client, only the Grid view is available for viewing and editing songs.

Grid Editor

Once you’ve opened a category, the Library toolbar will be shown. The layout icon has a drop down arrow for editing, saving and loading a grid.

NOTE:  This Edit\Save\Layout display is used throughout the Web Client and will be shown this same way everywhere.

Currently Only Available in Desktop

Library Toolbar functions that currently require the use of the Desktop Client include Song Marking Options dialog, Song Highlights, and Import Enterprise Songs (Note: songs can still be assigned to a station from the Enterprise section of the Web).

Other Library functions that require the use of the Desktop Client include AutoMove, Category QuickMove, Key Mapping, Library Export.

Who’s Who in your Database? Publicado por Laurie Knapp en junio 25th, 2024

By Vicky James

Not long ago I had a client call me after noticing his coding within an entire field of the database was M-I-A… Missing. Gone!

After sharing the devastation of the missing coding that he’d worked on for so long, most importantly, that coding would affect majority of his rules in place. Luckily, he had a recent backup from the Friday before and a simple restore fixed the problem. However, my client was still puzzled by who accidentally cleared that field. I then asked him if he was aware of the Dataset Security feature. He wasn’t, so I led him straight to it. We enabled security and set up user log in and assigned rights. Here’s how we did it….

Select Tools. Options. Dataset Security. It will prompt you that the security system is disabled in red as it is here, so go ahead and click Enable Security.

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Once the security is enabled it will turn green and a prompt will appear reminding you to set up your users and rights along with adding a password for the Administrator. I strongly advise you to do so and save your password in a safe place, or make it something you remember, as the next time you access your database you will need that password.

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Click Ok. Select Users and Rights. Create User.

As seen below you will start by assigning the Username and Password as I have done for the Music Director.

Next, you will need to select the rights that will be granted to each user for the following features. Keep in mind that you can also select Administrator, which will grant the user those same admin rights. However, it doesn’t give that user access to the current users’ passwords, but it does allow them to create new users and passwords.

Another option is ALL which is obvious; if selected, that user has access to everything listed.

Notice an option to Copy which allows you to copy selections from one user to the next user created. Once the next user is created, it will disable paste so that you can grant this user the same rights as the previous user.

Below is the full list expanded for each section. In this example, I chose not to select all rights for the Music Director, but specifically what I believe he or she will need to access to work as efficiently as possible.

Be sure to review the list after you’ve made your selections. Once you’ve created the users, click Apply.

Now let’s give it a test run!

Go to File. Close Dataset. Then Open Dataset

You will now be prompted to Log In. Enter your Username and Password.

Voila! Your database is now officially secure!

Now, go back to Tools > Options > Dataset Security

Displayed will be the System Entry Log for WHO accessed the database and when.

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Now, if you see any unexpected changes in your database and want to know who was responsible, you can go here to see who was recently logged in before you!

I hope you enjoy reading about the Dataset Security feature as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you. If you have any further questions about securing your database or need further help, don’t hesitate to reach out to your favorite music scheduling software support team, or directly to your dedicated Music Scheduling Consultant!

Ta-ta til my next blog… Vicky

Rule Group Scheduling Trick for Near Perfect Logs Publicado por Laurie Knapp en junio 18th, 2024

by Jesus Rodriguez

In my previous life before MusicMaster, I was tasked with scheduling up to eight radio stations that were under my watch in one day. As you can imagine, that can take hours to do, especially if you have some strict rules and unscheduled positions. In this brief blog, I will share one of my favorite tricks to get the job of scheduling done quickly and accurately by using two different rule group setups. When you walk away from this, I hope you tell yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that, genius!”

I first created two rule groups, one for the Automatic Scheduler and the other for the Schedule Editor. Let’s begin with the first one, the Automatic Scheduler rule group.

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Place this group in your Unbreakable section of the All-Category folder at the top of the Rule Tree. You can name it anything you like, as the name is not essential. Just make sure it’s something you can easily remember. The key settings here are the ‘Availability’ dropdown, which should be set to ‘Rules are only available in the Automatic Scheduler’ and the ‘Group Mode’ in the upper right, which should be set to ‘Test rules as if they are not in a rule group.’

In this Rule Group, place all your most restrictive rules that would be perfect in a perfect world. If you had enough music, genres, artists, tempo, etc., this rule would create your perfect radio station for the entire day. However, yes, I am hearing you. “Wouldn’t this create some unscheduled positions?” Yes, so now let’s move on to the second Rule Group.

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Like the first Rule Group, you can give it any description you like. The name does not matter. Make it something familiar to you. The most critical parts are the dropdown under ‘Availability’ set to ‘Rules are only available in the Schedule Editor’. Also, like with the first, put your Group Mode on the upper right to ‘Test rules as if they are not in a rule group’.

Copy the rules from the first Rule Group and paste them into the second one. You can place this group in your Unbreakable or Breakable folder in the all-category section. I personally like mine in my Breakable section for this group. Now, go through your rules, and relax those you usually break when manually filling in unscheduled positions. For instance, if your rule is set to not play more than two rock songs in a row, but you occasionally allow three in a row to fill in the unscheduled position, set it up that way here. This way, the next step does it for you, eliminating the need for manual adjustments. This applies to any other rules you tend to look past or relax in your decision-making when you have to fill unscheduled positions. Think of what is ok and not that big of a deal for your station’s listening experience; hits are hits!

Now that these two Rule Groups are ready, run your Automatic Scheduler by going to Dataset, Schedule, and Automatic Scheduler. You will end up with unscheduled positions because of the stricter rules of your perfect radio station scenario in Rule Group One. When the Schedule Editor is opened after your Automatic Scheduling is complete, hide everything but your unscheduled music elements from the log by going to the Show/Hide Elements tab.

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This will open the following window, and you can hide these items temporarily by unselecting them.

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Your log should look something like this with all your unscheduled music elements. To turn all those positions blue, click on the top left corner box, as shown in the image below.

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Are you ready for the magic? Press Shift + F9. This will now fill in all of your unscheduled positions with the more relaxed rule settings you created the same way you would select your songs manually for unscheduled positions, should you decide to break your rules.

Now, I will get my occasional third rock song in a row, which is not the end of the world for me, and any other rules I felt were worth relaxing. On the plus side, I only have a handful of unscheduled songs, an almost 100% perfect log based on my ideal radio station rules. It also allows for filling in unscheduled positions in seconds rather than taking much longer to go through each position.

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I highly recommend restoring all the hidden elements and reviewing your log for any adjustments you may want to make.

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This trick is helpful and saves time while getting you closer to a perfect log in minutes. If you need any assistance, please contact your support representative at MusicMaster.

Using MusicMaster to Conduct a Deeper Analysis based on Music Research Scores Publicado por Laurie Knapp en mayo 29th, 2024

By Joe Knapp, President/Founder – MusicMaster

Bringing your research scores into MusicMaster lets you do a very detailed analysis that can uncover some interesting trends.

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For example, I’ve found that the audience prefers songs that are not “begging” or “desperate” sounding. They prefer songs that have a “happy” or “charitable” mood. Unexpectedly, they also seem to prefer songs, at least in the oldies format, that have an “angry” tone.

Clicking on the header of each column instantly sorts the list by that field, allowing you to make comparisons and observations.

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I’ve also discovered that the audience prefers medium or up-tempo songs over slow or down tempo songs. The gender of the singer doesn’t matter at all when it comes to audience favorability. There is a slight correlation between Era, however. The newer songs are preferred over the older songs, in this case being 1964-1973 versus 1955-1963.

These results, of course, will vary greatly from one format to another. But, if you’re doing music research, bringing those scores into MusicMaster is easy and quite valuable. You can learn things about your audience that you cannot see by looking at the same numbers in the research analysis software alone.

With your scores in MusicMaster, you can easily establish Rules and Optimum Goals to help the AI scheduling engine select the ideal song for each position in your log.

If you need help with this, we’re always here for you. Music scheduling is all we do, so we tend to do it very well!

(For Part 1 of Joe’s series on Music Research, view this article: https://musicmaster.com/newsletters/0224.php#coj)