by Marianne Burkett - Many radio stations around the country celebrate the weekends by spicing up the music starting Friday afternoon. Whether it’s an A-to-Z weekend, a countdown show or maybe just a focus on some “type” of music. There are different ways to program those specials in MusicMaster. Today I’m going to focus on programming a specific “type” or “style” of music using Session Filters. For example: How to schedule a #1 hit weekend. Once in place in the clocks, Session Filters are like a secret weapon for one click specialty programming. Here’s how:
by Jesus Rodriguez - In this blog we will touch upon one of my favorite new things about version 6.0 of MusicMaster. If this is the first time you have heard of MusicMaster 6.0 then we need to get you up to speed pronto! You can find out about all of the new enhancements we have made to the MusicMaster you know and love on our website. One of these enhancements may seem like a small detail but boy it is one of my favorites. This new feature is already making my life easier as a support representative so I am sure that it will make your life easier as well. I am speaking about our new enhanced search engine.
by Drew Bennett - MusicMaster PRO v6.0 includes a good list of user requested features. One of them is our new History Snapshot feature inside the Schedule Editor. A History Snapshot can be taken any time in a log’s history. For instance, you can take a snapshot after you schedule a log and again after it’s been edited. You can compare these snapshots to the current state of the log.
Under Analysis, Special History Reports, the Artist/Title Analysis report is a quick way for you to see how often titles are playing. This simple report has you specify your artist and title field and determine whether you want to group the result by artist or not. If you don't, the report will be in title order and show how often the song played. If you do sort by artist, not only will the artists be sorted, but the songs by those artists also will be sorted. As a bonus, we'll also tell you how many total plays occurred by that artist. This report is a handy way make sure you are focusing on the artists and songs to win in your market.
Everything You Need To Know About MusicMaster NAB 2016
MusicMaster welcomes you this year to Booth N6129. Stop by to meet with our team, watch presentations from our integrated partner systems, learn about the exciting new features in Version 6, and get your first look at our brand new product - MusicMaster CS!
Would you like to set up a demo or personal appointment? Simply fill out the RSVP form on our website and we'll schedule a time and send you two free exhibitor passes when you register!
Watch the NAB Teaser!
Your First Look at MusicMaster CS
We're very excited to be showing off a brand new product for large/multi-station organizations: MusicMaster CS (Client-Server). This new edition not only includes the unique features found in the MusicMaster Pro edition, such as the user-defined database and Optimum Goal Scheduling, but also adds a few more new features. Some examples are: Category Groups in the Rule Tree, Multi-Station Scheduling, Customizable Themes, and more.
This new client-server architecture puts all the program's business intelligence on a powerful central server for a faster and more streamlined workflow. The user-defined, multiple station enterprise library keeps all song metadata and station-level rules and clocks in a single central SQL database, providing comprehensive management oversight while eliminating redundant data storage at individual station locations. Programmers access their data wherever and whenever they need to, and can override any data field to input station-specific attributes.
For more information on how CS works, visit our website or check out the video below:
Meet Our Partners
In a tradition that began last year, MusicMaster's booth is now a hub for all of our integrated partners. We will be joined by representatives from automation, billing, traffic and other media systems that offer streamlined integration with MusicMaster. Some of these include Nexus enhanced integration, which takes advantage of our open API to bring real-time connectivity between MusicMaster and the automation platform.
Schedule of Events
We'll be offering presentations every half hour, covering new features in MusicMaster, highlighting our unique software editions, and even offering some master class training. You'll also hear from our integration partners as they demonstrate the streamlined workflow between their products and MusicMaster. Check the schedule below to plan your visit.
Partner amily to share space with MusicMaster at NAB
This year, in keeping with our goal to make our NAB Booth a one-stop shop for all things broadcasting, the booth will also be home to our integrated partner amily. For those who aren't yet familiar with amily, it is a German-based company that creates software and system solutions for the commercial advertising market. Jochen Richter of amily reports: "It is our ambition to provide our customers and the market with a high-quality, comprehensive, integrated and – most importantly – future-oriented overall solution for advertising business."
Jochen adds: "The amily product is cross-medial and offers advertising solutions for radio, online, webcast, print and TV. With an experienced team of 14 colleagues in Munich and Hamburg, amily is constantly improving the product and supporting customers as well as business partners."
This year, amily will also be offering a sneak preview of adremes, a new communication and trading platform for radio and audio advertising. According to Jochen: "adremes is the only communication and trading platform for radio and audio advertising in Europe.
The technology company provides solutions for extensive automation of booking processes for radio advertising inventory. adremes’ platform features an interface that enables direct communication between radio stations and their respective ad-dispositions and playout-systems, marketeers and media agencies. Today, adremes already maintains interfaces with classic radio-systems and is continually expanding these. At present, adremes is a team of 15 industry experts with outstanding know-how in the radio ecosystem. The company was founded in Germany and is headquartered in Hamburg."
This year at NAB, amily and adremes will focus on the potential customer value increase by demonstrating the future-oriented combination of both products, especially for high-level automation and programmatic advertisement. If you'd like to set up an appointment with an amily representative, contact Jochen Richter or just drop by the booth (#N6129).
MusicMaster Sponsors 2016 Worldwide Radio Summit
MusicMaster is thrilled to support AllAccess.com and the 6th Annual Worldwide Radio Summit, to be held April 13-15 at the amazing, historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in sunny California.
While In Town, Why Not Become a MusicMaster Genius?
MusicMaster President/CEO Joseph Knapp invites all current clients and radio enthusiasts to learn special music scheduling tips. Not only will you meet MusicMaster staff, you’ll bond with some of radio’s most knowledgeable pros. See firsthand how sessions like this have helped Joe and the team advance the software over the past 33 years.
Topics Include: Customize your MusicMaster database • Schedule the best song every time with Optimum Goals • Edit and optimize your music logs much faster • Connect your MusicMaster to other systems • Keyboard shortcuts that slice editing time in half • How to look at turnover in a completely different way • Learn the least used and the most time saving feature in Library Maintenance • The one tip to take with you that lets you diagnose issues in any database • How to use your favorite editor and audio player with your MusicMaster library • How to win between the records with Special Sets • How to run your dream station on your own • Three Scheduling Goals designed to crush your competition • Clock editing secrets • Learn the two biggest issues programmers face when scheduling music • Learn about and master the Swiss Army Knife of rules in the MusicMaster Rule Tree
WWRS Attendees: Contact Us for your free Genius Day ticket.
PD of New York City Ratings Leader Shares Insight
There’s headline radio news in the Big Apple as MusicMaster client Mega 97.9 (WSKQ) assumes the #1 position for total week age 6+ AQH share. Ratings historian Chris Huff says, “This is the first time WSKQ has ever led the market in PPM.” Chris adds, “WSKQ is only the fourth different station to lead New York in the PPM era, with the others being Lite, [top 40 Z100] WHTZ and [classic hits] WCBS-FM."
MusicMaster shared a few questions with SBS Program Director Arturo Sosa about their recent success:
MM: Obviously there are many nationalities represented in those statistics. How have you been able to bridge various cultures and become the voice of the entire Latino community? Sosa: It's really no secret. We work very hard to provide great content in the AM and PM drive. More importantly, we understand all of the cultures and the countries behind them. We play music that attracts people from each Latin community. For a major market station, we're extremely local and recognize the holidays, customs, and festivities of each individual group. At the end of the day, we treat all cultures as one giant Latino family.
MM: Recent ratings success reveals your reach into groups other than Spanish speaking listeners. Have you faced any difficulty maintaining your broadcast mission with the influx of non-Spanish speaking partisans? Sosa: While this should be surprising, we're really not surprised. We credit much of our cross-cultural listenership to our 30 year history as a heritage station. Generations of people have been exposed to Mega through family or friends, and our station culture is familiar to many of them. I personally credit the total package we provide, much like a restaurant. If you serve great food, you'll get loyal customers. Spanish Broadcasting System has also done an amazing job branding through exclusive concerts and live events. In addition, crossover artists like J-Lo and Pitbull have helped expose the whole world to Mega flavor. The influx of bilingual content in mass media and pop culture transcends all lines.
MM: Tell us about “behind the scenes” management within SBS. Sosa: I'd start with CEO/President Raul Alarcon Jr. He's always in the know and involved with our entire team. His open door policy and approachability is empowering to each manager and employee. Next, EVP/Programming Jesus Salas is great about staying involved in the lifestyle of the format and is a visionary. Jesus empowers me to pass along his work ethic, transparency and availability to those around me. Our management team takes a level-headed approach to daily operations and that trickles through the rest of the SBS family, personally and professionally. SBS recognizes we spend as much time together as we often do with our family so they encourage unity within.
MM: Have you seen stronger Latino representation and acceptance at the advertising agency level due to the power of your ratings? Sosa:We have been noticing new clients jumping on and current clients shifting larger percentages of budget to the Latin market. Clients are seeing better results from Mega than even TV ad buys. We love when the great product we program generates excellent results for business clients.
MM: How has MusicMaster allowed you to customize your format to the needs of your listeners? Sosa: Our format is truly unique and the flexibility of MusicMaster helps me create artful and balanced daily logs. While I’ve used other schedulers, this is an essential program to have for music schedulers.
MM: What’s the greatest compliment you’ve heard coming from a radio competitor? Sosa: They mention their surprise in the consistency of our ratings. The NY radio pros always share kind regards and congratulations. Some ask about our secret but I won’t ever reveal that...even with MusicMaster.
Just before finalizing this interview, Arturo was announced as Programmer of the Year for the third year running (2014, 2015, 2016) by Radio Ink Magazine, and Mega 97.9 was awarded Station of the Year. Congratulations GM Eddie Garcia, Arturo and the entire Mega 97.9 staff!
A-Ware Software Now Officially MusicMaster, Inc.
MusicMaster's parent company, A-Ware Software, was launched back in 1983 by our President/CEO Joseph Knapp. Now, our Dallas-based music scheduling software company has undergone an official name change and will be known exclusively as MusicMaster, Inc.
Joe Knapp commented: "Through decades of solid branding, MusicMaster has become known as a worldwide leader of music scheduling innovation. It was evident that people didn’t associate us with A-Ware Software, our former corporate name. As has been our practice with software revisions, we listen to the desires of our clients. We realize very few people refer to our corporation as A-Ware and strongly recognize MusicMaster. The timing was perfect after our recent corporate relocation to Dallas in September, 2015."
Knapp continues: "This is just one of many exciting announcements we’ll make in the spring of 2016. After thousands of hours and millions invested in product development, we'll release MusicMaster Client Server at the upcoming NAB Radio Show in Las Vegas. Our team couldn’t be more excited to be conceptually on the move. Client Server will have a huge positive impact on media operations around the globe."
ON AIR Welcomes New Team Member
The MusicMaster family is thriving and flourishing. This month, ON AIR - MusicMaster’s international distributor - is happy to welcome a new member to the team!
ON AIR has appointed Jochen Reinecke as sales manager. Jochen will reinforce the Berlin sales team and be responsible for customer relation and communication activities.
Jochen, a graduated Audio Engineer, is an old friend of ON AIR: From 1997 to 2000, he worked as a sales agent for MusicMaster. Afterwards, from 2000 to 2013, he gathered experience in building and raising a startup company as head of content and business cooperations, and worked as a senior communications and editorial manager for a big Berlin based advertising agency. Besides working he loves writing novels, bicycling, sailing and playing the guitar and the piano.
Welcome Jochen! We are happy to have you back and look forward to working with you.
Berlin sales team (from left to right): Kevin Hopkins, Thomas Roth, Jochen Reinecke, Rainer Eichhorn
Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Famer Passes
Thousands of broadcasters owe their start to longtime Brown College teacher and director, Mike Kronforst. Mike succumbed to a brain tumor days ago and leaves a long trail of broadcast professionals with deep appreciation for a job well done. For more on Mike, you can check out this brief story from the Pavek Museum website.
Mike Kronforst
OAB Convention Recap
The 2016 Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Convention was held March 31 and April 1st. MusicMaster President & CEO Joe Knapp, Director of Marketing Melanie Ross and Sales Manager Jerry Butler welcomed a record 770 broadcasters from throughout Oklahoma to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa. Many MusicMaster stations were present during the event.
Congratulations goes out all of our MusicMaster stations picking up awards on both the OAB/OBEA Student Day Thursday as well as the OAB Annual Awards on Friday night. Congratulations also to Corey Fletcher from Bacone College. Corey won a copy of MusicMaster PE (Personal Edition - a $295 value). In true "radio contest" tradition, we put together this little spot of the call to Corey to announce his win! Listen below:
Northwestern Oklahoma State University broadcast students with Joe Knapp and Jerry Butler
MusicMaster's Jerry Butler, OAB President Vance Harrison, MusicMaster CEO / President Joe Knapp.
MusicMaster's Jerry Butler with Rogers State University's Geoff Parachin
Pictured left to right - MusicMaster President & CEO Joe Knapp, from Northwestern Oklahoma State University Instructor of Mass Communications, Allison Zimmerman and Instructor of Mass Communications, Public Relations & Marketing Adviser Matt Adair, MusicMaster Sales Manager Jerry Butler
MusicMaster "l'approche intelligente de la programmation" at Radiodays Europe in Paris
"The smart approach to music scheduling" is how media journalist Brice Vidal introduced MusicMaster in his French article which was published in the Radiodays-Europe-Edition of La Lettre Pro, the leading radio industry magazine in France. Thanks to Brice for finding such nice words!
Thanks as well to Paris, which, once again this year, was the host of one of the leading broadcasting industry events in Europe. Radiodays Europe opened its doors on March 13-15 to over 1500 media professionals from 62 countries. The event provided 120 conferences, lots of croissants and ... some serious networking.
MusicMaster's European Network, led by ON AIR with the support of Top of Mind (Netherlands), SwissMediaPartners (Switzerland) and BVMedia (Italy), had a great time meeting lots of already existing but also upcoming MusicMasters from all around Europe, Africa, Middle East, Oceania and South America.
Thanks to all our friends and partners who stopped by at Europe's MusicMaster Meeting Point this year in Paris. We very much enjoyed the cup of espresso and the nice chat with you. See you next year at Radiodays Europe in Amsterdam!
Meanwhile, Europeans are looking forward to the next big event in France this year, the 2016 European Soccer Championship in June. Vous voir à Paris, see you again in Paris, so to speak.
MusicMaster European Network at RDE 2016
Tom Oakes - VP/Programming 'Ohana Media Group VP/GM Anchorage-Wasilla, Anchorage, Alaska
Tom shares: "In my dual role, I serve as VP/Programming for our company as well as the general manager of our Anchorage-Wasilla, AK cluster of six stations. Wearing multiple hats is a tough deal…but it is made easier when you have a program like MusicMaster as a part of your resources.
The program is so easy to learn and to use. It does exactly what we need done regardless of format and if we get hung up on a challenge, there’s no hang-up from our MusicMaster team. They are always ready to help solve those challenges and make sure we're running smoothly. And to have the MusicMaster on-line site for continued education on what the program can do takes it to another level of great service.
I was a MusicMaster client in the DOS days and I'm proud to have them as a part of our team in the digital age."
Everything You Need To Know About MusicMaster NAB 2016
This year, in keeping with our goal to make our NAB Booth a one-stop shop for all things broadcasting, the booth will also be home to our integrated partner amily. For those who aren't yet familiar with amily, it is a German-based company that creates software and system solutions for the commercial advertising market. Jochen Richter of amily reports: "It is our ambition to provide our customers and the market with a high-quality, comprehensive, integrated and – most importantly – future-oriented overall solution for advertising business."
This year, amily will also be offering a sneak preview of adremes, a new communication and trading platform for radio and audio advertising. According to Jochen: "adremes is the only communication and trading platform for radio and audio advertising in Europe.
There’s headline radio news in the Big Apple as MusicMaster client Mega 97.9 (WSKQ) assumes the #1 position for total week age 6+ AQH share. Ratings historian Chris Huff says, “This is the first time WSKQ has ever led the market in PPM.” Chris adds, “WSKQ is only the fourth different station to lead New York in the PPM era, with the others being Lite, [top 40 Z100] WHTZ and [classic hits] WCBS-FM."
MM: Obviously there are many nationalities represented in those statistics. How have you been able to bridge various cultures and become the voice of the entire Latino community?
The 2016 Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Convention was held March 31 and April 1st. MusicMaster President & CEO Joe Knapp, Director of Marketing Melanie Ross and Sales Manager Jerry Butler welcomed a record 770 broadcasters from throughout Oklahoma to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa. Many MusicMaster stations were present during the event.
