MusicMaster Blog

MusicMaster Pro 8.0.10 is now available to you under Help, Check for Update. Changes are as follows: 

You can now configure a new prompt message to remind you to make a backup when closing a station. This setting is available in the Backup/Restore utility under the new Options button in the lower left corner. This message can appear every time, or only when the last backup reaches a specified number of days old.

The AutoKick rule now tests in both directions by default, but contains a property to make it look
backward only like other history rules.

Adjusted the Unique Value search dialog so it better handles the case where you manually edit the current value before clicking OK.

The unique values search function was adjusted to better handle the case where you were entering plain numeric values into a text field without any padding to make the entries equal length.

Corrected an error that would sometimes appear when deleting a packet.

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

By Jesus Rodriguez

Never let voice track recordings go to waste again! Why have your on-air personality record one short segment once and then delete it? Why not use the voice track again? Did enough people hear the voice track that was only seconds long? Why not maximize it and use it again?

There are so many more questions I can ask but you get the point. In this blog, I hope to open your mind to that idea. This was originally targeted to smaller stations where there may only be a few on air personalities or none, like some streamers or HD channels. However, this concept can be useful for any station at any level for several reasons. What if your jock loses their voice or is ill and can’t come in to work? The remote jock that voice tracks lost power or internet and can’t do the tracks? Maybe give the jock a break and truly let them enjoy their vacation not having to voice track the days they are out. I mean, does it really count as a vacation when you still must do the work from your vacation time?

The goal is to save all your voice tracks in a category or multiple categories if you prefer so that you can repurpose them the same way you do your new music or your gold records. We will create a new multiple keyword field so you can give your voice tracks and songs any number of descriptions that will allow the proper voice track to play in front of the correct songs. This will allow you to create a massive library of voice tracks overtime and the more you have, the better it will sound because your listeners will not catch on.

For the first step, let’s create the multiple keyword field. You can do this yourself if you are using MusicMaster Version 7 or greater. On the menu bar go to Dataset, Library, Fields, then at the bottom left corner, click on Add Field. Create the settings as shown in the image below.

Press OK to create the new field and OK again on the Field list window to return to the database.

If you did not do so already you can create your Voice Tracking category and add your Voice Tracks information the same way you do with songs. In case you need a reminder of those steps, I included them in the links below with short 1 minute video clips.

How to Create a New Category Video:

https://youtu.be/FZ1azvQfAow

How to Add Music/Voice Tracks to Your Library Video:

https://youtu.be/ockIX0Ue3U8

Next, you will want to add your new field to your library layout so you can begin to label each of your voice tracks accordingly. This tells MusicMaster what they are, so that in the next step, I can show you how they will match up to the perfect song each time. Double click on that new field in your library layout to open up the Keyword entry.

Below are examples of a few of my voice tracks. Each voice track will have a description designating what songs they will be allowed to play in front of.

Voice Track 1: Only be allowed to play in front of Katy Perry’s “Firework”

Voice Track 2: Can play in front of any song where I also gave that song the keyword description of Listener Phoner. This is great for songs with long intros.

Voice Track 3: This Voice Track may be good in front of any song if all the songs have the keyword of Station Info in this same field.

Voice Track 4: This recording may only play in front of any Katy Perry song because it possibly is a generic topic about the artist that works any time of the year like “Did you know Katy is a huge fan of… Here she is on XYZ-FM!”

You will repeat this process with all your voice tracks and my personal recommendation is to only give your voice tracks one description. Another recommendation is to use voice tracks that are not seasonal or contain current events like “this week this next artist got a divorce” or “this artist will perform on the Channel 8 Christmas Special” 

So how do we match the voice tracks to the songs you ask? It is a similar process to what we did with the voice tracks in the previous step. I suggest taking note of the descriptions you created for the voice tracks so you can use those same keywords in the same field we created, but for the songs themselves. It is important that the keywords be written the same so they find their match later in the process.

You will want to go through every song and add all the keywords for voicetracks that will sound great in front of the song. In this case the more the better, because more options you have, the less likely to sound repetitive with your voice tracks.

For Katy Perry “Firework”, I included the following voice track keywords we created that are all allowed to play in front of this song.

How do we do the actual matching of the correct voice track to the correct song? This is where we use Special Sets in the clock positions where your talk breaks will occur. In your clock add a Special Set element position as shown below.

You will want to make sure that your Voice Track category is bypassed from the all-category section of the rule tree by right clicking on the bold MusicMaster Rule Tree and going to Rule Tree Properties as shown below to place a check mark on that category. This will prevent any other rules in the all-category section from affecting this category, and we can place any rule we need directly in the category, which I will explain later in this blog.

Also, go to the menu Dataset, Schedule, Schedule Properties to adjust the scheduling pass order. You will want your special set to schedule last, so move it to the bottom of the list so that your music schedules first followed by the voice tracking category special set to match. This is important because without the song in the log first, the voice track category will not have anything to reference to make the proper decision of which voice track to place in front of it. I also suggest you set the depth for the voice track category to 100% so it can dig in deep enough to locate the best option, should you decide to use additional rules.

We can take this a step further in the Rule Tree for the Voice Track category and add rules for the Voice Tracking field we created for things like Keyword Separation, so we don’t get the same tracks too close to each other or sounding repetitive. We can also add more rules, such as dayparting, so the right jock voice plays during the right shift. Minimum rest, Day or Play Offset, and other rules can help with the rotations, so the tracks don’t play as frequently or in the same positions, allowing you to maximize the voice tracks for weeks, months, even years.

Now for the fun part! Call all your friends and family members that owe you favors and have them record a lot of exciting voice tracks for your station. I also hear AI voices are sounding very realistic these days at reading back scripts, so maybe it’s time to hit the record button.

What Rules are we using and where are they?

by Chris Hulsether

What if I told you, you could save time and find out what rules you are using and where they are in your Rule Tree?

Maybe you just took over a database and you have no idea what the person who had it before you were doing. You see all these available rules and you’re wondering “What are we doing?” and “Where are the rules set up in my Rule Tree?” Maybe you see a rule that you want to use, but you are not sure if has already been set up. Maybe you have a lot of categories and you don’t want to go through each category one by one to see what rules they have. Or maybe you could be getting unscheduled events in your log because of a rule you didn’t know you had, and you want to find where it’s being used so you can adjust it or get rid of it.

To help see these things easier, you can Filter your Rule Tree to identify everywhere a specific rule is being used. It’s a quick and easy way to see what rules you are using and which ones you are not.

First, go to your Rule Tree using the Dataset/Rule Tree or clicking the toolbar icon.

On the left is your Rule Tree with all the rules you are using. On the right is the list of all the available rules you can use.

To expand your rule tree folders or the available rule folders, click on the little square box with the plus sign in it.

You can also right click on the Category and select Expand or Collapse to open or close it. If you right click on the words in bold MusicMaster Rule Tree you can Expand or Collapse all the categories at once. The same can be done on Available Rule Types.

In your Rule Tree you will see the Breakable and Unbreakable folders. Unbreakable means MusicMaster will not violate the rules in that folder when you auto schedule or when the replacement window is choosing the “perfect” songs to choose from. Breakable means the rules inside the folder will attempt to be followed, but if the software cannot find another song to schedule that passes those rules, it will break the rule as a last resort.

To Filter the Rule Tree

Right click on any available rule on the right.

Once selected, the left column will show you everywhere the rule is being used. If it’s not being used, the left side will be blank.

To clear the Filter, look for the icon of the filter with an x on it.

MusicMaster is all about saving time and working as quickly as possible. Ask your Music Scheduling Consultant for assistance if needed.

By Brian Wheeler

I saw a fascinating factoid recently and I had to share this, as the vast majority of MusicMaster clients program music. I want to preface this blog with my pledge to you that I’m going to do my best to not sound like the ‘old man shaking fist at cloud’ while presenting this information to you. I do hope that the information reaches the music industry and a bit of a renaissance takes place because I feel like there’s been some stagnation in popular music today, and this graph appears to support that theory.

A handy and effective tool in a musician’s arsenal is modulation and key change. Modulations and key changes can help the artist convey emotion and feeling. There are countless examples of key changes that brighten (or darken) a soundscape or change a mood in general. A well-placed key change can have a very powerful effect that captivates or moves the audience.

But is this tool disappearing from the collective toolbox? This is the astonishing graph that compelled me to ponder that question.

There are many factors in play here, but the flatline can’t be ignored. Popular music structure has been undergoing changes for the best part of the last two decades. Instrumentation and general structure have seen a shift, and tools like Autotune and sampling have seen wider use. Even the length of a good number of popular hits has shifted to the 2-to-3 minute range we saw decades ago. Simple can be good, but are the days of complex compositions behind us?

As I went down the proverbial rabbit hole of key changes and their role in popular music over the last 60 years, I stumbled upon an astonishing nugget. There was a song I remember hearing on the radio when I was younger that boldly went into some impressive key gymnastics, although I didn’t realize it at the time. The song is “Never Gonna Let You Go” by Sergio Mendes, a song written by the popular writing team of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. The single hit number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in ’83 (Number 1 on the US AC chart), and it boasts a whopping 22 key changes! There’s an entertaining YouTube video from Rick Beato that discusses his attempt to decipher the song. I encourage you to check it out.

Obviously that’s an extreme example of key and modulation usage, but the question remains: are we seeing the demise of the unforgettable melody? What is the anatomy of a timeless hit? What is the essence of a well-crafted song? Is it the creation of thoughtful couplets? Perhaps the key change/resolution? And who will be the next great innovators? That may be an entirely different discussion. Back to the question I asked earlier: Will we see a musical renaissance? I believe we will, despite the assertion that it’s all been done. New ears will demand it.

For another Rick Beato video on this topic, check out “The Disappearance of Key Changes in Modern Music”

MusicMaster Pro 8.0.8 is now available to you under Help, Check for Update. Changes include:

There is a new option in Tools, Options, Dataset Identification that allows you to show the date/time of the latest station backup on the title bar.

You can now right click a song that is hosting a Virtual Show in Library Maintenance or the Schedule Editor and use the new Show Virtual Show Songs function to show the details of the songs contained in that Virtual Show.

A warning will now be shown when opening the Datafile Manager if the data path or file specified on the command-line is invalid. This can help you avoid the case where you might accidentally open the wrong copy of a station database from the wrong folder.

The Format Clock Editor Element Properties dialog now allows you to edit the User1 and User2 text fields that are available in the Schedule History Element Properties. These fields work just like the Transition field in the Clock Editor and Schedule Editor.

There are also several adjustments designed to improve performance and responsiveness.

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

by Vicky James

I know the thought of considering clock changes can be just exhausting when you likely have several clocks, which then makes it an even more of a tedious project!

Well, what if I told you that making a mass change to your clocks can take a matter of moments!

It can! Allow me to guide you through this quick and simple “How To” on making a mass change in your clocks.

Before beginning any changes to your database we ALWAYS recommend making a backup, which is found in the Tools tab.

Now, let’s change your clocks!

You can launch the feature using the Clock Icon on the main toolbar.

If you are already working in a single clock, you can also find the Mass Change Clock Elements icon here:

Note that if you use this method, you are given option to mass change elements just within the active clock you have open, or on all of your clocks.

But if you want to change several (but not ALL clocks) at once, instead of opening up a single clock first, you should click on the Clock icon on the main toolbar. Then, checkbox the clocks you want to edit and use the Changer button at the bottom of the panel.

Some examples of when you may want to edit multiple clocks at once is swapping in a different category, picking a new song ID for a forced element used in multiple hours, or plugging in a new format list you’ve created.

In my example, I plan to swap my Secondary 80’s category for my new Super 80s category in four of my clocks at once. I’ll set things up as in the image above, by checking the four clocks and clicking Changer.

When the Changer opens, you can see the split screen gives you options to select the Element Type that you would like to “Search For:” (on the left), and “Replace With:” (on the right).

You can change use the Changer to edit properties for a selected clock element, or you can change an existing Element Type to another Element Type.

In my example, I’ll set it up so that any Fixed position set to the Secondary 80s category is replaced with a Fixed position that calls for the category Super 80s, as below.

Another gentle reminder, make certain you have a verifiable database backup before proceeding.

When you’ve completed the task, this notification will appear indicating the Total clock changes.

Note that if you had your clocks open, you would have to save them each before closing them to apply the changes. But if your clocks were closed already, you don’t need to worry about this.

Finally, check the clock changes to be sure that this is what you were looking for, and that all of the elements you expected to change did in fact change. If they didn’t, you may have needed to tweak the Properties to find the right match.

Keep in mind, the Properties available in the “Search for” section of the Changer help you target which exactly which elements will be replaced. For example, you might have multiple Lognotes with the same text, but using the Properties, you can target those with a specific runtime, or those that do or don’t have a sweep marker.

Or, for another example, you might have many different instances of Proportional, Combo or Migrating Position elements in the same clock that each call for different categories. You can use the properties to configure which instance want the Mass Changer to look for.

A handy trick, if you select the element in the clock itself before clicking the Mass Changer button, it will open up with the properties already set to match that selected element. In the example below, you can see that my clock has several different flavors of a Proportional Element, but when I open the Mass Changer, you can see I’m only targeting the one that uses a ratio of 40% A3 and 60% 60s category (position 11) and not the other Proportional elements at positions 10 and 17.

It’s also important to remember that any clock filters you have on targeted positions will NOT be considered when looking for elements that match the “Search For” criteria. In other words, elements with the selected element type and properties will be targeted for replacement, whether one of them has a filter on it or not.

Should need any further support, you can always reach out to your dedicated Music Scheduling Consultant!

by Paul Ziino

The Results Bar in your Schedule Editor can be set up to show a variety of information about the active song in the log. Today we review the various options.

To turn on the Results Bar, click the pulldown on the right side of the wrench icon (Toggle Toolbars) then check “Results Bar.”

The first time you turn on the Results Bar it may be empty, or it may populate with a few items right away. Either way, you can customize it by right-clicking within and selecting Customize. You will be presented with a Customize Results Bar window that looks like this.

You will see available panels for any Keyword field’s Separation and Nearest Plays, Current Date and Hour Displays, Hour Rotation Map, Multi-Station Separation, Nearest Play Yesterday/Same Hour/Same Shift, Shift Hour Rotation, Shift Rotation Map, Song Segue Nearest Plays and Separation, Song Failure Alerts, as well as Song Nearest Plays/Rotation and Separation. Following is a breakdown of each and what they mean.

Current Date Display and Current Hour Display

This tells you where your cursor is, on the date and hour.

Hour Rotation, Shift Hour Rotation, and Shift Rotation

Hour Rotation shows the song plays leading up to the play where your cursor sits.

Shift Hour Rotation shows the plays of this song within the same shift and indicates what shift that is.

Shift Rotation shows the shift sequence in which the current song has played, with dashes on either side of the current play selected.

Song Segue Nearest Plays and Song Segue Separation

Both these panels tell you similar information. Note that the segues are looking at the song where the cursor resides and the song that played before it. Song Segue: Nearest Plays looks back and ahead to when these two songs last played together (in either order), and when they will play together next (in either order). Song Segue: Separation displays this same info, but as a total of Days/Hours/Minutes.

Song Fail Alert, Nearest Plays, Rotation, and Rest

Song Fail Alert will display in Red if the active song violates an unbreakable rule, yellow if the rule is breakable, or blank if no rules are violated.

Nearest Plays tells you the date and time when that song was last scheduled or scheduled next time.

Song Rotation is a mini snapshot of the last 8 days of a song’s play history.

Song Rest tells you the amount of time back and ahead of a song’s play history.

Keyword Nearest Plays and Separation

Keyword Nearest Plays will show you the last/next time a keyword is scheduled.

Keyword Separation will show you the amount of time back and ahead that keyword is scheduled.

You will have a Nearest Plays and a Separation panel available for each keyword field in your database.

Favorites?

Of course I have my favorites—the panels I like to have in my display include Current Hour, Nearest Plays in Same hour and shift, Artist Keywords Separation, Song Separation, and Song Rotation.

Try the different panels out to figure out which work best for you and your station!

by Chris Hulsether

What if I told you MusicMaster can help you spread out the airplay of your songs or artists throughout your day and cut down any perception you play the same songs in the same hour?

Optimum Goal Scheduling is a unique and exclusive concept in MusicMaster. We like to say it’s a tie breaker. When the Automatic Scheduler has two or more songs that clear all of the existing rules you set up, we call them “perfect songs”. A perfect song can be one that passes all of the breakable and unbreakable rules. Or, in the less common case where all the songs in the search depth fail at least one breakable rule, MusicMaster will apply the tie breaker to the songs that all failed the lowest priority breakable rule. (Songs that fail unbreakable rules are always skipped).

Optimum Goal Scheduling will score songs based on the various Goals you’ve applied and tell MusicMaster which perfect song it should choose. An example is choosing the song that meets the Goal for the most rested song among all the available perfect songs.

To learn more about Optimum Goals read this Blog: https://musicmaster.com/?p=1587 See this quick walkthrough video on how to set them up here: https://youtu.be/7ZmUchZsUow

I want to talk about Optimum Exposure Goals and what those goals will do for you when you activate them. The exposure goals will look at the available songs and choose the one that has been exposed or played the most in other hours, shifts, quarter hours, etc. before scheduling in the same spot. This gives you a better rotation of your category and helps prevent the perception that you play the same songs at the same time all the time. You will need to decide what exposure goal makes sense for your database.

To learn more about your Hour Exposure you can read this excellent Blog about Hour Exposure in your database here: https://musicmaster.com/?p=7494

Let’s look at the options:

Optimum Hour Exposure

This Goal will favor the song that has played in as many of the other 23 hours of the day as possible before playing again in the same hour. For example, let’s say the scheduler is trying to break the tie between two songs for a 2pm slot. Since the last time Song A played at 2pm, it has played in six other hours. Since the last time Song B played at 2pm, it has only played in two other hours. You’d want to give Song B a chance to play in more different hours before you play it again at 2pm. So Song A would be favored, because it’s played in more different hours before returning to the same hour and has the best Hour Exposure of the two.

Note that it is important that your Purge History settings have enough plays to test. This Goal would need a minimum of 23 plays to work to its fullest.

To find Purge History go to Dataset/Schedule/Purge History

Optimum Shift Exposure

This Goal favors a song that has played in as many of your other shifts (as defined in the Shift Editor) as possible. To find your Shift Editor, go to Dataset/Schedule/Shift Editor.

There, you can customize the shifts. You can match them with your on air shows or set them up as you define different parts of the day.

Optimum Quarter-Hour Exposure

This Goal favors the song that has played in as many of the other quarter hours as possible before playing again in the same one. This only makes sense if the category you schedule the song in is located in different quarter hours in your clocks. If your D category is always at :18 after the hour and not anywhere else the clocks, then those songs in D will not get exposed to other quarter hours anyway.

Optimum Keyword Rest

This refers to the ideal rest of keywords such as Artist or Title Keywords. A good example would be favoring the song whose artist has rested closest to the ideal separation calculated for that artist.

Optimum Keyword Hour Exposure

This favors the keyword that has played in as many of the other 23 hours of the day as possible. This logic is similar to the Hour Exposure goal described above. Let’s say MusicMaster is scheduling a song at 2pm and it has a choice between a song with a Brittany Spears Artist Keyword and one with The Backstreet Boys Artist Keyword. The goal scheduler will see which keyword was used in more different hours first before playing again at 2pm. If the Brittany Keyword played in 4 different hours since it last played at 2pm, and The Backstreet Boys keyword played in 2 different hours since it last played at 2pm, the goal would choose Brittany. That way the Backstreet Boys would have a chance to be exposed to more different hours before being scheduled in the 2pm hour a second time.

Optimum Keyword Shift Exposure

The keyword that has played in as many of your other shifts as defined in the Shift Editor as possible. Using the Brittany/Backstreet Boys Artist Keyword example, If you have 6 different shifts set up throughout the the day, it’s 2pm, and Brittany’s keyword played in 3 different shifts and The Backstreet Boys’s keyword has only played in 2 different shifts since the last time Brittany and The Backstreet Boys were scheduled in this (2pm) shift, the goal will schedule Brittany because The Backstreet Boys hasn’t been exposed to more different shifts before scheduling in the same shift as your 2pm shift.

Optimum Keyword Qtr-Hour Exposure

This favors the keyword that has played in as many of the other quarter hours as possible. Let’s say at 2:05pm, Brittany’s keyword has been exposed to 3 different quarter hours before being considered again in that first quarter hour (00:00-15:00). The Backstreet Boys keyword has only been exposed in 2 different quarter hours before trying to schedule at 2:05pm, Brittany gets scheduled because her keyword has been exposed to more different quarter hours.

Optimum Radial Spread

As a final note, the Optimum Goal scheduling will never prevent a song from scheduling. That’s where your rules come into play first. You also want to be careful on how many Goals you set up, as it can slow down the automatic scheduler because it has more calculations to do when scheduling. However, you’ll make up some of that time in less time spent editing, since the log will be closer to the intuitive sound goals you have for your station.

If you have more questions, reach out to your Music Scheduling Consultant to assist you.

By Dave Tyler

I get asked quite often about how large or small a music database should be for a successful station. It is an interesting and very broad question for sure. The easy answer is: I don’t know, what are you trying to accomplish? In this article, we will start from the science of creating a database playlist size and wind our way to a more philosophical look at having a small or large playlist.

A hot CHR might have a very small and tight database, while a streamer or local station might have a very broad playlist, and a Classical programmer may have 200,000+ pieces easily. There is no right or wrong size, only “What size most efficiently accomplishes your sound goals?”

Let’s get to the foundation of any station: Categories, Category Song Counts and Clock calls. These three things determine our “Turnover” or how long or soon it takes for the category to play each song once before the same songs play again on the schedule.

Let’s break it down further. When creating categories, you can think of them as folders where you store songs. Keep in mind that the categories you will use in your “Active” clocks/grids need to be thoughtfully considered because the amount of songs (Song Count) directly affects how quickly a song will play, rest and come back to play again, or turnover.

Clock calls are the final deciding factor on how Turnover will play out. As a simple example, if I have a HOT category with 6 songs in it (Song Count) and that category is used in each clock one time (Clock Calls) then my turnover will be every 6 hours. As another examples, if there were 24 songs in the category and the clock called for that category once per hour, it would take 24 hours to go through the entire category and in other words, each song would play would play once every 24 hours.

By the way, did you know you can see your Song Count without having to open the category? It is easy to set up. Go to Tools/Options/Library Editor Options and choose “Song Count” from Info Bar Options. (Pic below)

Going back to the start of Top 40, could you imagine having a playlist of just 40 songs? That is a tight rotation, but is it wrong? Again, there’s no right answer but if the goal was to play the newest songs that folks wanted to hear the most, then it is spot on. Of course, once a song falls off the list well…people still want to hear it sometimes. That’s the purpose of Recurrent and Gold categories. So, a small fast rotating “Currents” category(s) supported by larger but carefully curated, slower turning over Recurrent/Gold categories made a lot of sense. Give the people what they want, because like the old saying goes “Every song is a three minute opportunity to either keep a listener or have them switch to your competition.”

In MusicMaster, we have a couple of amazing tools that will show you what your turnover actually looks like. In the main toolbar, click on that icon with the two blue arrows in a circle…that is Turnover Analysis. When you click on this you get a full suite of information about how your categories plot, turnover, and move. In the example below, looking at the Recurrent category for this database, you can see there are 15 songs in the category playing an average of two per hour. The Short Turnover for this category is 6:56, the Long 14:24 and the Mean or Average is 7:29. Below that is a chart that gives an example of how one song in that category, not a specific song but how any song in that category would move. This is before rules come into play. Here you can see how the larger categories, even those with more Clock Calls, turnover slower because the song count is much higher.

Now let’s look at that New Gold 2000+ category. It shows an average of 3.33 plays per hour. How can that be? Well if we click on the Format Clock Category Usage button (Clock Calls) we can see that they never actually have three calls for this category in any hour, it’s either two or four. But this averages out to 3.33. This too is a good place to gather up information when trying to determine where you want to be, what you want turnover to be, and how many songs vs how many clock calls will get you there. In short: to get a category to turnover faster, you can either have a smaller category or more clock calls. To get a category to turnover slower, either make it larger, or use it less often in the clock. It’s a balancing act to get you where you want to be!

Now let’s go to the philosophical side of things. How much music is too much music? Should I only schedule songs that are released by the labels and adhere to the Industry charts? What if I want to play deeper cuts off an album, would that make sense? Heck in the 70s with FM radio starting to get its feet under it, there was an entire format dedicated to that! AOR Album Oriented Rock! It’s one of the most well-known pieces of rock trivia that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” was NEVER released as a single but it is arguably their most popular song by a long way and had us dashboard drumming years before “In The Air Tonight” or “Jack and Diane”! Why was AOR successful for it’s time? Perhaps we listened to music differently. When I would get an album I would go home, put headphones on, pull the liner notes or lyrics out, and listen to the whole album. Because a lot of people my age did that, maybe folks kinda knew the music already. We had heard the entire piece of work, not just the songs that would become singles. As a life long radio guy, I think I can listen to any album from any format that I’ve played over the years and find at least one song that I cannot believe never got radio play. I bet you can too!

The way we listen has changed since the iPod and then Spotify and Amazon etc. Like most radio people, my musical interests and likes are broad. I have playlists that include everything from Patti Page to Powerman 5000 (NOT on the same list!) and there is a LOT in between those two! I am a Singer/Songwriter ballad junkie and I have a cousin who is constantly sending me the greatest acoustic performances by people you’ve never heard of. Dylan, Carole King, John Prine level songwriting that most will never hear.

What are the main formats out there? Urban, CHR, Country, AC, Classical, Jazz and Rock. But then, think of all of the formats that have branched from these…the “Alt” formats of each mentioned above that were created to introduce us to folks outside the box. Heck, Americana may be the Godfather of these formats. It might be fair to say that a lot of these are run by Universities that have funding to support a lesser known more ambitious format, as opposed to having to serve the masses and hustle for advertising dollars, and maybe for that reason can take the risk.

I think music lovers/listeners are much more open to new sounds than ever before and are willing to give deeper, unknown artists/songs a chance. At the end of the day, we can ask our phones to play any song we want to hear on the planet when we tire of the unknown and want to hop back into our comfy place. Some stations with tight playlists have feature programming later at night or on the weekends that might show off some of these incredible fringe performances and the people who are interested can tune in at this specific time.

I work frequently with a Programmer who believes 300 actively rotating songs is the max for a Country station and 200 would even be better and 150 better still. On the other side of things, I have a client with a massive library that literally has every song from the artists they play. All the hits and all of the album cuts, and they rotate equally with the goal being that every song will play before the list starts over. Which one of these programmers is correct? To bring it full circle, they both are if they are accomplishing their goals. One may be feeding listeners nothing but the hits while the other aspires to broaden their listeners by presenting tunes they likely have not heard before or going for variety. Goals being met = success, whatever those individual goals may be.

A Streamer might focus on a feel or vibe while a terrestrial station picks a format and does just that and keeps it simple but good. A “Hobbyist” on a stream has the incredible freedom to play anything they want, while the PD of several stations has a bottom line because this is a business. I run a pretty tight playlist but I am also a big fan of my “Variety” or “Oh Wow” category of songs that go pretty deep but are all well known songs that just kind of went away. I use it sparingly but love the idea of a listener going “Dang I forgot about that song!”

At the end of the day, the playlist size that is right for you is up to you and will likely change as you change. From huge playlists that take months to turnover to tight lists that keep the hits in the ears of your fans…we can help you with both. Just let your Music Scheduling Consultant know what you are looking to do and we’ll work with you to make it happen. That great radio in your head can come out of the speakers. Let’s get to work!

Maybe you want to do an update or even install the software for the first time, but you’re not sure how to proceed. This article will give you step-by-step instructions on how to properly update or install your MusicMaster Software.

If you are installing the software for the first time, you can go to the MusicMaster website to check the basic recommendations for the hardware specs we suggest.

1. Purge and Backup Your Existing Database

First, if you already have MusicMaster installed and are looking to update, we recommend doing a Purge and then saving a safety Backup in a special location outside of your local system (Flash Drive, Network location, External hard drive etc..)

This is important because once you upgrade to a new major version (like from Version 7 to Version 8) and open your database in that new version, it no longer be compatible with any previous versions. Note that this does not apply to service releases. You can open your MusicMaster database in either a newer or older service release, as long as the major version number is the same.

If, after updating, you needed to back to your old database for any reason, you’d need access to a copy of the database that hasn’t been opened in the newer version yet. Keeping this safety backup in an external location ensures you won’t get the old and new databases mixed up.

Before purging or backing up your database, we recommend you open Tools > User List to confirm you are the only one in the database.

Once it’s confirmed you are the only one in the database, Run Tools > Purge, before making your database backup. This utility removes extra space from your data that could cause your backup to be larger than it needs to be. This will also have the benefit of speeding up your database.

It may be a good idea to verify the location of your database(s) and backup(s) with your IT support staff.

2. Do a Back Up!

When Purge is complete, you can now backup your data (Tools > Backup). Look for any .def files or special .ini files we’ve created for your specific databases. You’ll also want to make copies of these files and save them in a location that is not on your local drive. Copy the zip file (typically something in the format Call letters.ZIP), from your Data folder and paste it in that location. If you have any questions about specific files that you think may need to be carried over to the new machine, please contact your Music Scheduling Consultant.

3. Download the Latest Version of MusicMaster

Whether installing for the first time or updating, you can download the latest version of the application from the support site musicmaster.com. Once you’ve logged on to our web site (LOGIN), complete the station information section of your online registration, then go to Downloads and select the version of MusicMaster you want to upgrade to.

4. Install the Software

Before installing, we recommend creating a MusicMaster folder in your C Drive (C:\). Then, during the Install process, you can change the default folder from C:\Program Files (x86) to this C:\MusicMaster folder you’ve created. If you already have a separate folder like C:\MMWin or C:\MM80, you can use that folder to install the software.

We recommend whatever your current folder is called, that it is not in the Program Files (X86) or Program Files folder in the C Drive of your computer. We recommend that the folder you currently have or are creating for the first time is in the C Drive by itself. During the Install process, all of your older versions of MusicMaster files will be uninstalled and new files will be placed in this folder, so you do not need a separate folder for the older version of MusicMaster.

Once you’ve downloaded the full installer of the application (make certain you have Admin rights before you begin), go ahead and run the installer, and follow all of the prompts. In most cases, you will not need to make any changes to the default settings the installer will suggest, except for the Data folder location. This is where your MusicMaster database files will be stored. Just make sure it is not in the Program files (X86) folder. Then you can restart your computer to complete the install/update.

5. Installing the License

Now about those green dongles… How would you like to add a keyless license at no extra cost, where you never need a dongle and you can add as many computers as you need?

If you are a brand new user, you will automatically receive a keyless license. Instructions will be emailed to you separately. We can add as many seats as you need to this license, which means you can use that code on that number of computers. If you need additional seats, let us know.

If you already have a green dongle, you can upgrade to keyless. Ask your Music Scheduling Consultant about this and they can get a license to you right away and you can add it instantly. You need to be on version 7.0.13 or higher, which includes all version 8 databases. Then you can mail back your dongles to us. The same goes for red network keys. This can be very helpful if you are looking to add a Nexus Server with your automation system (see list of automation systems compatible with Nexus here)

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact your Music Scheduling Consultant to help you make this update happen!