Using MusicMaster with Dropbox

By Drew Bennett

Today, I’m going to share an inter-office secret. I’m going to tell you how we share files between one another. Now this is top secret information so don’t go telling everybody. It might get back to your competition and they might become productive of all of a sudden.

That’s right, we use Dropbox to share files with one another. In fact, I used it to deliver this article to the person who is in charge of posting the blogs we write. Now, THAT is some super secret MusicMaster information I’ll bet you didn’t know. Today, I’m going to show you how to use Dropbox with MusicMaster at the station to make your life easier (and maybe your consultant’s life easier as well.)

First, I’m going to cover how to set up a Dropbox account and then I’m going to discuss some tips that might send your productivity through the roof.

Go to the Dropbox website at www.dropbox .com and download Dropbox using the link on the homepage. Once you’ve downloaded the executable file, run it. Follow the directions within the install wizard and bingo; you’ve just installed Dropbox on your machine and you’re ready to create and share a folder.

You will find your brand-spankin’ new Dropbox folder on your Desktop. Double-click on it and it opens to show an empty folder. Right-click, just like you would if you were creating a folder in Windows and choose, “New,” and then, “Folder.” Name the new folder and hit OK. Now Right-click again on the folder and choose, “Dropbox,” and then,  “Share this Folder.”

Your browser window will open and take you to the Dropbox website where you can type in the e-mail addresses of the people you would like to share this folder with. Send your invitations to the e-mail address you’ve chosen. Those users must install Dropbox as well and accept your invitation to share the folder. Now, each of you can simply drag and drop files from your computer into this shared folder. No more e-mailing attachments, no more searching for downloaded files. It’s all right there in your shared Dropbox folder. Cool, huh? We thought so, too.

So, how can you use Dropbox with MusicMaster to become more productive? Well, right away, you’ve probably figured out that passing databases around to your Program Director or consultant is going to get pretty easy. However, there are some other ways to use Dropbox and MusicMaster that might save you a lot of heartache someday.

What if you and your consultant wanted to do some work together on the database but he’s in Pensacola today and you’re still back at the station? Storing your data in your shared Dropbox folder allows you and your consultant to work on the same data. You can open MusicMaster, make a change, close MusicMaster and then wait for Dropbox to sync the file so your consultant can open and view the change.

You can also backup your data to your Dropbox folder and download it from anywhere or just archive old backups for safe keeping. To do this, open MusicMaster and head to Tools and then Backup. Choose the “Create,” button. MusicMaster takes you to the Custom Backup Profile options screen. In the description box at the top, call this, “Dropbox Backup.” At the bottom of this screen, look for the Backup Filename field and surf to the Dropbox folder. Click, “Open,” and that will set the path to the Dropbox folder inside the Backup Filename field. Now, click, “OK, “and you will end up back at the Backup screen. Now, you can highlight the Dropbox Backup profile and choose the, “Perform a Custom Backup,” button. MusicMaster will backup the database to your Dropbox folder. See? Now you’ve backed up the data and anyone you share the folder with can grab it and use it. You can also backup databases and keep them safe and online in the event you lose your computer to a crash.

Note: Dropbox is an online resource. It is ALWAYS important to keep a backup on your machine. Dropbox is a great tool to use, but it you lose your internet connection, you also lose Dropbox so keep that in mind.

Dropbox is a great way to pass files to your workmates and colleagues. It’s a great way to share and work on files together and we love using it with MusicMaster. If you think Dropbox might be useful, download it and try it out. Your consultant will thank you for it.