MusicMaster Blog

By Paul Ziino

You are in the Schedule Editor, you double-click (or press F9 or K) on a position to replace that song but often don’t like the options presented.  Now you click the binoculars icon to open a new query within that replacement list, check some additional categories, and OK.

Wouldn’t it be nice if MusicMaster could just load that full list of categories each time you wish to do a replacement?

Go to Tools/Options, and under Schedule Editor Options click Replacement Song Options.  The first search mode that appears is for Replacement Song Search (F9).  By default, it is set to “Use category of currently scheduled song or element.”  But you have four other options to choose from.  You can have it look at all categories with or without uncategorized, the category list from the clock element, or the one I’m suggesting, “Specific Category List (Below).”

Select that option, then check the categories you want your double-click (or F9 or K) to load.  Or you can check the box to “Show selection box” and MusicMaster will let you choose the categories each time you wish to replace an element.  I’d advise to “sort matching songs by rest” so the most rested songs appear at the top of your replacement list.

There are lots of customization tools at the ready.  Ask your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant which ones will work best for you!

By Marianne Burkett

As I’m digging deeper into Version 7, I’m seeing things I’ve always dreamed of as a programmer.

First go to Tools/Options/Display Colors and set up this feature that has been in the program for some time.  You can select colors you’d like to see for various elements in the clocks.  In the capture below, I made Stopsets Deep Red and Lognotes Pale Yellow.

When building clocks, I love our “Pie” view.   If you color your categories with various colors, it makes it simple to distribute the categories evenly through the clock.

Check out the default view in Pies which we’ve always had.

In Version 7, with a quick visit to Tools/Options/Additional Properties you can put the number “1” in “PieClockLabels” in the Clocks Section, and you get category code and element information in the pie view as well.

When you hover over anything in the pie you also get details about lognotes, music and non music descriptions below the pie.  In the sample screen shot, my cursor was on a P2 Power 2000 category.

If you made a lot of clock changes and use the pie, this new feature can help in making sure they’re spaced out correctly.

If you’d like the video tour of new core features in Version 7, click the link below.

https://www.musicmaster.com/version7.php

Any questions, call your Music Scheduling Consultant!

By Brian Wheeler

If you’re like most programmers you’re getting ready to dust off the holiday music for another season. Some of you may be playing holiday music already!

There are lots of pitfalls that can occur when reintroducing holiday music to your programming. Do I have enough music? Are there elements in the clocks I no longer use? Do I need to put in new programs I didn’t run in past years?

With all the other things you’re trying to remember for the holiday season, you may forget to see how those holiday music categories are rotating. Holiday music can burn easily. You don’t want to add to the burn by having bad rotations. To make matters worse, many stations gradually ramp up their holiday music which CHANGES the rotations on these holiday categories with each increase of usage in their clocks. Are you checking those rotations to make sure you’re not stacking up? What can be done to compensate for a poorly rotating holiday category?

The turnover analysis screen can give you some great insight as to how these categories are plotting out as the holiday season advances. If you do run into a rotation that plots the same songs in the same hours or dayparts, like this:

An “autoburn”, which can be described a simulated play, can be put into place to alter an otherwise redundant or “stacking rotation”. In this case, we ‘burned’ one song at midnight each overnight to force an otherwise mathematically redundant rotation into a more ‘stair-stepped’ rotation that moves your music through the dayparts over time.

The result is better coverage from day to day and less chance of premature burn with your audience.

Autoburn can be the fix you need to get those holiday songs moving through the different hours and dayparts again when changing the clocks or changing the category size is not a possibility.

As always, if you have questions don’t hesitate to ask your Music Scheduling Consultant. Happy Holidays!

By Dave Tyler

The Field really should get more respect.  It’s the key to all the magic in MusicMaster.  The fields you have in MusicMaster allow you to organize the data, filter it and later turn on the rules to make your station sound great. Often a user will want a specific field type but they have already used all of the fields of that particular type in their database already. Let’s say for instance you want a “Sound Code 2” field but you have already used all of the Attribute Multiple fields in your data. Since the dawn of MusicMaster you would need to send your database to me or one of our other Music Scheduling Consultants and we would go “Under the Hood”, add the field for you and then return your data to you. Although not a lengthy process, MusicMaster 7.0 will now allow you to perform that process to happen in mere seconds.

Let’s use my example from above and say you want a new “Sound Code 2” field. This field is usually an “Attribute Multiple” which means if you were a Country station and used codes in this field like P-Patriotic, T-Trucks & S-Sad then Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck” could have all 3 codes on it P,T & S and if you wanted to keep “Sad” songs from playing back to back you could put a Segue Protection rule on it or if you wanted to play a group of “Truck” songs you could filter to achieve that too. So let’s make the field but get ready because this is going to be as fast as driving through a one traffic light town.  Click Dataset/Library/Fields:

Now click the “Add Field” button:

And now select the type of field you want to use and name it. I chose “Sound Code 2” Attribute Multiple. You will also notice the “Abbreviation” box. I labeled this “SC 2”.

The abbreviation of SC 2 comes into play when I add this field to my layout. In my examples below you see that when I added the field I get the full name “Sound Code 2” but if I am having a screen real estate issue and want to shorten that field to keep my layout view all on one page without having to scroll, the field automatically becomes the abbreviated “SC 2”.

It is important to note that when you are creating a new field you need to know the “What” and “Why” of it. What are you trying to achieve with it and why are you using it? Do you just need a Text field or a Keyword field or one of the different Attribute field types?

One other important note:  You need to be the only one in the data when you add the field.  If not, you will receive a warning about this when you try to exit the Field screen.

Most of this can be found in the terrific “Help” section in MusicMaster but if you are not sure then double checking with your Music Scheduling Consultant is always a good idea.

By Jesus Rodriguez

I am writing this blog at about the same time as the NFL is kicking off the season. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to plan ahead for every game your station airs? Well the NFL and about every sport from the NBA, NHL, MLB, NCAA, and even down to the high school level all have prescheduled dates that are announced to the public way ahead of the season getting started. Let’s use that information so that we can also plan ahead for our stations scheduling.

(more…)

By Paul Ziino

The Automatic Scheduler relies on settings in Dataset/Schedule/Schedule Properties to know how far to dig into a category before leaving the position unscheduled.  This setting is listed as “depth.”  The number here can be a whole number or a percentage.  Setting it at 5 means MusicMaster will look at the first five songs in the stack to find a song to play.  Setting at 5% tells MusicMaster to look at the first five percent of the items in that category—so if you have 500 songs MusicMaster will look 25 deep to find one to play.  If no song in the available search depth works based on the rules set for that position, it is left unscheduled.

In the past, many programmers would use 100% depths to allow MusicMaster to look through every song in the category before giving up.  This meant that a lot of songs were being tested even though we know they likely violate Minimum Rest rules.  As such, this meant the auto-scheduling process would take longer than necessary.  Now in Version 7 we introduce “Virtual Search Depths.”  To use the Virtual setting, in the depth column of Schedule Properties, type the letter V or click the edit helper button.

With the virtual setting, MusicMaster calculates and adjusts the Search Depth based on how difficult it is to find a song for each element. This means that MusicMaster may not have to search as deeply for some positions, resulting in a log that schedules much more quickly while still getting the results you expect.

You can also disable a category from being auto-scheduled by using that setting or typing D in the depth column.

Virtual Search Depths is just one of many new features you’ll find in MusicMaster 7!

By Jerry Butler

In a time when many program directors are programming multiple stations, it can be really frustrating to find you have made changes in one database, when intending to make those changes in a different database.  MusicMaster gives you the ability to customize multiple settings throughout the software for a different feel and look for each database.  Many programmers have cloned databases to create a new station.  This works great, but copies everything including your categories and category colors over to the new database, making it difficult to tell them apart.   A very easy way to customize each database is by using a station logo or sweeper when you open the database.  Here is how you can set up these features.

Click on Tools, Options and Dataset Identification.  In the first field, you can change the name that you see on the top left of the screen when you have the database open.  This can differ from what the actual database file is called when opening up MusicMaster.

The next field allows you to set up an Audio Logo (Sweeper, Liner, Favorite Movie Drop).  Click on the button to the right of the audio logo field to search your computer for an audio file you would like to play when opening the database.

The next field allows you to show a Graphic Logo file.  Click on the button to the right of the field to find a file on your computer that you would like to show in the main window of MusicMaster upon launch.

Once the file is selected, you need to click display the graphic logo file check box.  You can also adjust the position of the logo with the dropdown selection and choose to have the background as transparent.  There are also settings for a background color with or without using a logo.

When you open the database you will now see your logo and hear the audio you selected.

Play with the setting and get the database customized the way you want it.  Happy Scheduling from MusicMaster!

By Jesus Rodriguez

Lately, I have received calls from clients ready to launch a new station. Some may be simple tweaks from a current database in-house or inherited from a sister market. Then there are others that are starting a station from scratch using a blank database. What if I told you that there are two ways to get your data ready within 30 seconds?

My first option for you would be to clone your database by going to File and Open Dataset. There you will see your clone button so that you can make an exact copy of your database. It is much easier to delete the items that you don’t need like unnecessary clocks or rules than trying to build an empire from scratch.

Once you have done that there is another way to get your database up to date.  It happens to be my second option of how to get a database started within 30 seconds if you are going to start a database from scratch.

I would suggest using our library sync option. This feature allows you to bring in the song metadata into your library from your automation system so you are only doing the data entry once.  I would always suggest importing your audio into your automation system first, and hopefully, your files are correctly tagged with the metadata to minimize any adjustments.  Once it is in your automation system, I would recommend you locate a file that most systems create that consist of your full inventory list of the items you have in it. You can then use our library sync feature to import that information from your automation system.  The best part is that it can bring in all audio music and imaging as well as anything else you may have like voice tracks or promos.

We have the necessary file set up for most major automation systems.  We also have blogs on how to create the necessary file to make this import happen.  Either way, feel free to contact your MusicMaster support representative for any assistance you may need.

By Paul Ziino

You can really make your Schedule Editor look just about any way you want.  You can add and subtract fields via the Modify Editor Layout icon.

Here you can also change the font, size, colors, and grid attributes.

Click the Toggle Toolbars icon and you can turn on the Test Results panel, Instant Analysis, and more.

Once you’ve turned on the Results Bar, right-click on any panel and select Customize to see all the different items available for review.

And with other icons you can toggle the history graph on and off, as well as the Info bar.

With Show/Hide Elements you can hide different elements from view.

You can turn off lognotes, only display the unscheduled items, hide specific categories, display hour and day counters, and more!

Get it all set up just the way you want it, and you have a completely customized workspace!

And with a few clicks and drags you can rearrange the whole thing and some color adjustments, you have a whole new look!!

Customization of your Schedule Editor is just one of the ways you can make your MusicMaster yours!  Have any questions?  Contact your Music Scheduling Consultant for help.