MusicMaster for Windows

MusicMaster/iTunes Integration

2011-08-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Want to add your song data from iTunes straight into MusicMaster? How about creating playlists that can then be played out via iTunes? There’s got to be a way, right? In this article, we’ll lay out the steps to do just that.

First off, you’ll want to get in touch with your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant to discuss your needs and plans. They will assist you in reviewing your database(s) to identify whether additional fields will be needed to allow the integration to work. Your MSC will also provide you with the needed files to add to your database, and your Music Master directory.

Synchronizing your iTunes music library with MusicMaster

Your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant will need to forward you our library synchronization.def for iTunes (we’ve already done most of the set up work on this for you). We’ll likely need to schedule a call/GTM session with you to direct on configuring where the library file from iTunes will be sent, and where the field data from that program will be imported into MusicMaster. That shouldn’t take more than five or ten minutes.

Once this is customized to your database, then you are ready to go into iTunes and export your library to MMWIN. In iTunes, you will want to go to FILE-LIBRARY-EXPORT LIBRARY.

The library.XML will then appear in the directory you designate in the export path in iTunes. Once that step is completed, you’ll then go to your MusicMaster database and run the library synchronization def.

When you run the synchronization, you will find the songs you imported from the iTunes library in the NEW category list (this category will be created for you automatically if it does not already exist). From here, you’ll likely add the songs to their proper categories and get ready to schedule a playlist for export.

Exporting a scheduled playlist to iTunes for play out

Your Music Scheduling Consultant will also need to forward you our export XML template for iTunes, (again, we’ve done most of the work here already), and we’ll just need to align the fields in the template design to the available fields in your database. If you’ve had prior experience adding in a “template” design we’ve provided to you in the past, this is the same procedure. Of course, we are happy to assist in this process! This is done via the MMExportDesignEditor.exe found in your c:\mmwin directory.

Next, we’ll assume here that you’ve already scheduled and edited a playlist; you wish to export to iTunes.

Now, you’ll want to go ahead and export the playlist you’ve created to a place that your iTunes can find it. Export the playlist the same way you export currently…DATASET-SCHEDULE-EXPORT-EXPORT TO AUTOMATION. Select your iTunes export this time, and you probably should double check the Export Path and Export Filename boxes at this time as well.

Once the file has been exported, go to your iTunes application and import the playlist.

And play when ready!

If you’d like more information on the set up of this functionality, or further assistance, please contact your Music Scheduling Consultant for assistance.

Emergency Preparedness

2011-07-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

In the light of the unusually severe weather we’ve experienced this summer, I thought it a good time to discuss being prepared to “cut and run” with your stations database, your dongle and a copy of the MusicMaster software application safely tucked away.

This isn’t just about flooding, snow emergencies, hurricanes, tornados, fires and earthquakes. It can also encompass something as simple as a rolling brownout, sudden power outages, hard-drive meltdown, illness or worse!

A Short, Mostly True Story:

The rain was relentless and the rivers were spilling over their banks. Homes were being engulfed in water all through the city. The radio station, seemingly impervious to other bad weather situations in the past, was locked up for the weekend. The staff headed home to save their properties and help those in trouble. Then, the unthinkable happened. The river crested on Sunday and completely flooded the radio station. Every desk, every computer, every laptop, the studios – EVERYTHING destroyed in the blink of an eye.

On Monday I received a call from the Program Director. He explained what had happened. I asked the simple question: Do you have a backup with you? He did not have a backup, it was at the station. He did however have an old laptop at his home, with an old backup stored on it. It was a very old backup… five years old! I explained what type of things would need to be done in MusicMaster, including Library Synchronization and rebuilding Categories, Clocks and Coding and… I worked with him on the project. The Program Director also re-named old export files to recent dates, so something was on the air until his work was completed on the database. The station was re-built and life is back to normal in the River City.

I certainly don’t mean to alarm you, but I would suggest doing a “Standard” backup to your hard drive, or server on a daily basis, in addition to performing a “Custom” flash drive backup on a daily basis. Along with backing up the database – save a copy of the MusicMaster software application on a flash drive. This way, in the event of an emergency, you can run the software and restore your backup onto your home computer or laptop and still generate logs.

Performing backups:

Tools/Backup/Perform a Standard Backup. The backup file will be created and be stored to whatever location your MusicMaster icon is pointed to. To find that, right click on your MusicMaster icon, go to Properties and look at the path. In the example below you’ll see my icon is pointed to N:\MMdata

Performing a Custom Backup
It’s as simple as performing a Standard Backup! You’ll need to create the backup profile before you can perform the Custom Backup. First, you’ll need to find out what letter your flash drive is. Plug in your flash drive, go to “My Computer” or “Computer” and take a look at what drive letter is assigned to the flash drive. In the example below, my flash drive letter happens to be “E”. Then, go to Tools/Backup “Create.”

Under Additional Files, consider adding in any files you need for reconciliation or traffic processes (the .DEF files). These will then be included in your backup for safekeeping.

Click OK and you’ll be all set to perform a Custom Backup every single day.

You can create multiple Custom backup profiles as well.

Another safety net is to email yourself a backup on a daily basis. Cyber-space is a wonderful thing.

I’ve also discovered the joys of using a new free service called Dropbox, to store my backup in “the cloud”.

You may think I’m a bit paranoid in doing all these backups every single day I do work in MusicMaster. So what? I’d rather be a bit paranoid and careful, than lose even one day of work to some kind of natural or unnatural disaster.

Another thing of not is that you can access all versions of the MusicMaster software application from our support center.

Of course, if you have any questions at all – feel free to contact your Music Scheduling Consultant. We are always here to help.

Alternate Categories

2011-07-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

By Paul Ziino

Once set up, Alternate Categories within MusicMaster can offer a lot of options to music programmers. The basic concept is that in some dayparts you want a song to rotate in one category, but in other dayparts it should rotate in a different category. However you want MusicMaster to count plays in both categories for that song’s play history.

Step One: Cloning songs

In order to copy a song from A and add it to B, find the song in category A, right-click on it, then select Copy/Selected Song then select the category to copy it to (B).

Step Two: Sharing History

You’ll need a Keyword Single field in which to place a unique identifier for the song—typically its automation number. If your data is lacking an unused Keyword Single field, contact your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant and ask them to add one for you. You can label this field as “History Link”. Make sure to note the field ID assigned to the History Link field in Dataset/Library/Fields.

Now go to Tools/Options/Additional Properties. Under the History Header, indicate the History Link field ID in the Primary Rest Field, and set Primary Rest Rules to 1. This tells MM to use the History Link field when determining song rest. Then click Apply and OK.

Step Three: Adding the History Link and Dayparting the songs

Now that you’ve copied the song into its alternate category and set up the Primary Rest Field and Rules, you’ll need to add the History Link to the two copies of the song. This should be the same on all copies that you wish to share a history. As stated earlier, this is commonly the Automation ID for that song.

Once the link is in place on all copies, it’s time to set the Dayparting restrictions on them. For this example, we want the copy in A to play from 6am-6:59pm and the B copy to play from 7pm-5:59am, seven days a week. Double-click in the Dayparting field for the first song and create the restriction. Then repeat the process for each additional song.

Restriction for song in A

Restriction for song in B

You are now ready to schedule your logs.

Step four: viewing combined histories

After you have scheduled music, open the F6 history graph for one of your linked songs. By default MusicMaster displays all scheduled spins of that song within the active history. But you can use the dropdown at the right of the song line to switch from the Song view to any keyword history, packet history, and even move history. And since the History Link is a keyword field, you can see a combined history of all songs sharing that History Link! Furthermore, you can click the icon to “Highlight plays by the active song” to add boxes to the display for spins of this copy as opposed to other copies of the song.

History graph of song in A

How long should I keep the copy?

That really depends on your situation. Remember, if you delete a song from MusicMaster, its history will disappear. So we would suggest that if you no longer wish to play the copy that you remove the Automation code from it and then put the song into an unscheduled rest category, while leaving the History Link in place.

Why Use Alternate Categories or History Links?

There are a couple reasons you might use Alternate Categories or History Linking in MusicMaster. One reason—you schedule a song in Heavy during the day, but at night you want it to schedule in Light. A second reason—you have a special show that uses its own music categories, and you want this song to appear in both regular rotation and the special show’s rotation as well. A third reason—you have 2 or more versions of the same song, and you want MusicMaster to treat them equally, so you’d add the same history link to each version. And you may come up with more reasons, too.

Virtual Shows

2011-06-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

What is a “Virtual Show?” Here we’ll define it and give you some examples of how you might use it!

Definition:

Virtual Shows are automatically assembled when you export logs to your Automation System. A Virtual Show is a single song card that contains a list of Song IDs in a field that you specify in Tools, Options. When the main song card is exported, it is replaced by the list of songs that are specified in that field. The field MUST be an available “Keyword Multiple” field.

Step One:

Open your Database Field Editor (Database/Library/Fields) and scan the list for an unused Keyword Multiple field and rename it to your liking. In the example below you’ll see I named my field “Virtual Show.” It is field number 138.

Click Ok.

Then go to Tools/Options/Additional Properties and scroll down to the bottom of the Scheduling Section and fill out the field number of your Virtual Show field. Click Apply and Ok.

Now the field is activated for the Virtual Show export feature!

Step Two:

Pull the newly named field for Virtual Show and your Song ID field into your view in Library Maintenance using the Show/Hide Fields icon:

You may want to save this view as a “new” view, adding it to your list of existing views.
Now, the reason I list both the Virtual Show field and the Song ID field is because we are going to be using the Song ID numbers IN the Virtual Show field.

Step Three:

Decide which events you want to travel together in your export, and in what order you want them to play. In the example below I’ve decided that whenever Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You” is scheduled, I’m going to attach a specific Katy Perry Artist Liner to that song card, with the Liner event playing first.

Her Song ID is “918,” the Liner Song ID is “966.” I add them to the field in the order I want them to play in automation.

Now run the scheduler.

In the Editor you’ll see Katy Perry’s song “Thinking Of You”…but you don’t see the attached liner.

However, when you export to automation the attached event is visible at 7:22am.

Of course, this example of just attaching a Specific Liner to a song is just a teaching mechanism.
Another example of a great use of the Virtual Show Feature would be if you wanted to play a series of titles in a specific order, like to play out a full classical composition with single song card, but then automatically export the individual movements without actually having to schedule those individual movements.

Keep in mind the Schedule Editor is the basis for individual song histories, so if the individual songs are not listed in the editor – they will not be counted in history reports, like BMI/ASCAP or Sound Exchange.

With automation and MusicMaster’s Automatic Reconciliation you can reconcile those missing histories back into the editor.

For more information on Virtual Shows, we have a short Training Video on the MusicMaster Website at http://www.mmwin.com/support/videos.php under the Library section.

Using Rule Groups to “Ignore” Weekday vs Weekend Plays

2011-04-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

This is quite simple to set up, so if you follow this step by step you’ll be done in no time!

Open your Rule Tree and go to the very first folder in Available Rule Types on the right hand side of the rule tree, called “Special Rule Tree Items”. Inside that folder you’ll see Rule Groups.

First drag two rule groups into either the Breakable or Unbreakable folder of the first category you’d like to work on. Identify one Rule Group as your weekday rule group and the second as your weekend rule group. Once you’ve created a Time restriction for each rule group…be sure to select from the drag down menu immediately below your Time Restriction window “Ignore plays outside this time period”.

See illustrations below:

Once you have these first two Rule Groups set up, don’t populate them yet! Copy and paste the empty rule groups into the other categories you’d like the “Ignore weekday or weekend rotation rules” to adhere to. Once you’ve done that, populate your rule groups with rotation rules that make sense for each category.

In the close up below you’ll see a Minimum Rest rule and Exclusive Day Offset rule that are “outside” the rule group and will be adhered to 24/7. Inside the rule groups you’ll see some “dayparted” or “time restricted” Rotation Rules.

Also, in the example below, the Sliding Day Offset rules are different since we’re dealing with a larger window for the weekday rule group and a small window for the weekend rule group.

Remember, each category rotates differently, so be sure to utilize the power of the MusicMaster Turnover analysis icon, which on the illustration above is the blue arrow icon next to the calendar icon. The turnover analysis will give you a good idea about what kind of rules you need, such as day offsets or play offsets. The day offsets test from day-to-day, and are often used with small categories where a song would play every day or several times a day. In the next illustration you’ll see The Recurrent category will play almost everyday:

Play Offset Windows are used on categories that turn over at a much slower pace, like the sample below:

For more information about how to set up Rule Groups and the correct rules for your library, contact your Music Scheduling Consultant!

Using MusicMaster with Dropbox

2011-04-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

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.

Taking a Look "Under The Hood" of MusicMaster

2011-04-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

by Aaron Taylor

In this article, we thought it would be helpful to run you through some "under the hood" areas of MusicMaster for Windows that you may have never had the opportunity to see before, or perhaps had poked around in these corners and always thought, "hmm, I wonder what this does" and figured you'd either ask your MSC about these areas, or might read up on those areas someday. Someday is today!

This article is meant as an overview to these areas. We’ll be looking to write more about these areas in the future in more detail. In the meantime, if you have any questions about these areas, just contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss the areas with you in more detail.

System Information

You can access the following area by going to HELP-SYSTEM INFORMATION, HELP-ABOUT MUSICMASTER-USER INFO, or via the C:\MMWIN directory, look for mmsysinfo.exe (this can be helpful if for whatever reason you are not able to get into the application at a particular time).

If any of these are missing or are out of date, the mmsysinfo.exe file or HELP-SYSTEM INFORMATION file will list them. Look for the columns of smiley faces on the left.

If any of them are YELLOW, typically that particular component is out of date and should be upgraded as soon as possible. If any of the smiley faces are RED, this generally means that the system component is missing and you may have issues with the program operating properly. Contact your Music Scheduling Consultant immediately if you see any “unhappy” smiley faces and they will work with you to correct this.

Note that this window can also tell you (or your tech rep) what OS you are running and it’s service pack, and if Daylight Savings is activated on your machine and when it will occur. Finally, there is an option in the left hand corner for Copy To Clipboard, which allows you to create a more in depth list of the information above to your Clipboard utility in Windows, which can in turn be pasted to a file that can be sent to us for further review if needed.

Tools-Options

This area of MusicMaster for Windows is wide ranging in the number of options that can be configured from here (another separate article could be written to detail all that you can “tweak” from here!) Major areas of interest here are typically:

Dataset Options/Dataset Identification, where you can adjust the name you’ve given a database change the opening color scheme or add a station logo to the opening screen if you wish.

Audio File Options, which is where you configure MusicMaster to play audio from your automation or an internal drive.

Traffic System Interface, where MusicMaster is configured to accept an incoming traffic/spot log to merge into MusicMaster for timing purposes, or a combined music/traffic export.

Library Editor Options and Schedule Editor Options contain a lot of exciting configuration adjustments you can make to those areas of the application.

Dataset Security, which is where you’ll want to go to configure various user permissions.

Finally, Additional Properties contains a wide variety of setting adjustments for everything from audio to timing tolerance. The HELP file in MusicMaster does a good job of detailing how each of these are configured and what they control, but don’t hesitate to reach out to your support representative if you have any questions on what can be done in this powerful area of the software.

Release Notes

Whenever MusicMaster for Windows is updated to a new version (see HELP-CHECK FOR UPDATE or mmupdate.exe), this file is added onto. This is the place to visit if you’d like to find out what has been added or updated to MusicMaster. This file will also tell you the Microsoft operating systems that MusicMaster is currently supported on, and it also lists (at the top of the file) the major Microsoft components that your machine must include to run the application properly. Check HELP-SYSTEM INFORMATION (as described above) to verify your machine is up to date with these components.

Export Design Editor (MMExportDesignEditor.exe)

This file resides in the c:\mmwin folder and is the utility that we use to make your export to automation and also library exports (if utilized). You see the end result in DATASET-SCHEDULE-EXPORT-EXPORT TO AUTOMATION (typically). Beyond giving you the options to define export designs by category as well as by types of items in the database, the configuration options here are limitless! You can also import designs in from other databases if you wish. This is extremely helpful if you are adding a new station to your cluster and already have other MusicMaster databases with working export design for your existing automation system. Almost anything that you need to get “out” in a text-based file from MusicMaster can be accomplished from here. If you’d like an overview of this area of the software, or are trying to emulate some sort of information export that you can’t quite figure out, let us know and we’ll likely have some ideas on how it can be done!

Check for Update (MMUpdate.exe)

Find this in the C:\MMWIN folder or by going to HELP-CHECK FOR UPDATES. This will allow MusicMaster to check our servers for the latest version of MusicMaster your key is licensed to download. You do need to make sure your machine has internet connectivity at the time you click this for it to function. Also, you’ll need to be certain that you close MusicMaster completely once the download of the new version is complete and you begin the update procedure. Admin rights are required when you do the installation. Typically, the MusicMaster newsletter that you receive each month will let you know if a new update is available, but you can also feel free to check this utility or ask your Music Scheduling Consultant if you are running the latest version.

Tools-User List

Go to TOOLS-USER LIST, if you need to verify that someone else on your network is not also in your database before you make a backup.

Here is another tip, if for whatever reason you have any issues making backups (for example getting a message that indicates the data is in use:

Control-Alt-Delete, will display the Windows Task Manager, which is a fast way to know if MusicMaster is simply open twice on your machine. If you see it listed twice on this list below, this is a good indication that an instance of the application is stalled out, and may need to be “end tasked” Consult with your MSC if you have any questions on this.

Help-User Registration

This can be helpful to find out if your key is available to upgrade to allow for download of a newer version of MusicMaster, if your MSC asks you to check the serial number of a key (if it becomes damaged and a replacement may be in order) or to simply make certain that your MusicMaster key is able to connect via the internet to our licensing servers. You often will see a “connecting” message while communication is established and then some information will display in the boxes as shown below.

Thinking File

You will find this file in your C:\mmwin directory listed by call letters if the option is turned on (under DATASET-SCHEDULER-AUTOMATIC SCHEDULER -OPTIONS), ”save thinking process to disk”.

This can be an extremely useful tool in helping to decipher the decision making process that MusicMaster is using when it schedules each category. Not only can this be viewed via the MMWIN directory on your computer, but it can also be accessed from either the Schedule Editor or Library Maintenance. From Library Maintenance, load the category and right-click on the song you wish to review. From that context menu, select Scheduling Recap. You will then be able to choose the Current Song, Selected Song(s), Marked Songs or All. MusicMaster will then load the information for review. If you are in the Editor, right-click on the song you wish to review and also select Scheduling Recap.

You can also review the Thinking File via the Recap Report (DATASET-SCHEDULE-RECAP REPORT). This report will show you the decision process MusicMaster went through in the last scheduling session. It will show you why songs failed before finally choosing a song or leaving the position unscheduled. This can be very helpful in determining why some songs are not playing.

This is by no means meant to be an all-inclusive overview of the “nooks and crannies” of this incredibly powerful application, but more and intermediate introduction to some of the other areas of the software that a general user may not have been aware of.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to your personal MSC, or via support@mmwin.com if you have questions or concerns about something you are doing, would like to be doing, or something that you are seeing in MusicMaster that you have questions about.

Scheduling Intros

2011-03-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

By: Paul Ziino

Lots of MusicMaster customers use Segue Protection rules to make sure slow songs don’t segue into fast songs or to prevent female artists from playing back-to-back. But have you ever considered using Segue Protection to match the talk-over times to the appropriate song intros? This is the question we get:

“I have a song with a 12 second intro. I want to make sure that the imaging piece before it will go over the ramp of the song and meet the post. Is that possible?”

The answer is YES! First you’ll need a field in your database that can accommodate the coding necessary to do this. An unused Attribute-Overall field will work, or an Attribute-Multiple field can work as well.

Step one: Create the appropriate codes. To do this, go to Dataset/Library/Attributes. Use the pull-down at the top to select the desired attribute field. Make sure you enter the number of seconds in the Value field as well as the description, so that the field sorts in the correct order.

You can choose whatever single characters you wish for the codes, however we would recommend using something intuitive. For example, we’ve used codes 0-9 for intro times of zero to nine seconds. We used Shift-1 (!) for 11, Shift-2 (@) for 12, and so on.

Step two: Code the library. Query the library for songs where Intro equals X.

Then, add the X code to the Talk-Over field. Then do a new query for Intro equals Y, then add the Y code to the Talk-Over field, and so on. When you are finished, the library should look something like this…

Do the same thing with your Imaging categories so that dry imaging has the appropriate talk-over attribute code assigned. Produced imaging should be assigned the code for 0 seconds.

Step three: Create the rule. In the Rule Tree, open the Imaging category (or categories). Then under “Attribute Field Rules” find the Talk-Over field, then the Segue Protection rule. Drag and drop that rule into the appropriate Imaging category. It should be set up so that a code can only segue into itself, the rule should only test forward, and it should ignore non-music.

We Test Forward and ignore Non-Music so that the imaging only looks at the next scheduled music item in the log and doesn’t look at anything scheduled before it.

Step four: Set your Schedule Properties. Go to Dataset/Schedule/Schedule Properties. Make sure the Imaging category is scheduling later in the pass order than the music categories. Also, you’ll want to give the category a 100% depth so that MusicMaster can look at every item in the category.

TIP: You’ll probably want multiple imaging pieces for each Talk-Over code to prevent the exact same item from playing over the ramp each time that length is required.

Another variation of this question is…

“I want to have MusicMaster schedule imaging that matches the tempos of the music on either side.”

You can use the same steps for matching tempos of imaging to the song that follows. And if you are using an Attribute-Combo or Attribute-In/Out field for Tempo, you can actually test Forward and Backward…that way the first code of the field is the beginning and the last code of the field is the ending. For example…

Codes are S, M, and F for Slow, Medium and Fast. In an Attribute-In/Out field, your songs would be SS=Slow In/Slow Out, SM=Slow In/Medium Out, SF=Slow In/Fast Out, MS=Medium In/Slow Out, and so on. Then you would set up your segue protection grid like this:

Notice we are testing forward and backward. This will give you the desired sweeping effect. You have two songs scheduled with imaging between. The first song ends Slow, the second song starts Fast. When MusicMaster plots the imaging piece in between, it will pick one with a tempo of SF, so the imager starts Slow and ends Fast, perfectly sweeping between your two music elements!

Note: With an Attribute-Combo field, segue protection only looks at the first and last code. The middle code would be used in other rules applicable to that field.

There are a lot of ways you can put the Segue Protection rule to use: Year intros, Harmonic Key segues, and more. If you have questions, you can always connect with your Music Scheduling Consultant for answers.

Three Important Lessons in Caring for Your MusicMaster Database

2011-02-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

by Marianne Burkett

Clients contact me for all types of reasons. Let's take a look at three different scenarios.

Scenario A:

The Program is not responding normally to commands. You stroll to your desk on Monday morning and try to open the database and get this message:

The very first thing to do when you see this message is to check your Windows Task Manager. If you’re uncertain about how to open the Task Manager you can press “Control-Alt-Delete” simultaneously and it will come up. You can also right click on any gray space on your Task Bar and you’ll find it on the menu that pops up there. Once you have the Task Manager open, check the Applications tab and see which programs are running. You may see MusicMaster running twice.

Simply close both instances using the Task Manager. If you network your data, make sure nobody else in your network is accessing the database. If need be, check the task manager of each workstation capable of opening the database. After you are certain nobody else is accessing the database, reopen MusicMaster and run Tools/Purge. If that does not clear up your errors, contact your Music Scheduling Consultant.

Scenario B:

Closing MusicMaster improperly during a scheduling session. If for some reason, you’re in the middle of a scheduling session, running the auto scheduler or editing logs and you experience a sudden power outage or your computer freezes up and you have to reboot. This can cause errors in the database. In most of these cases, you’ll need to call your Music Scheduling consultant right away or restore your most recent backup. This is why I always stress the importance of doing daily backups of the database. Tools-Backup-Create a Standard Backup. Only attempt backups when the database is being accessed by one user!

Scenario C:

Database is bloated and sluggish. There is no politically correct way to put this, but if you don’t Automatically Purge your log history, your database will grow like someone on the “All Fast Food Diet.” The larger it gets, the slower it performs. Check your default settings at Dataset-Schedule-Purge History and make sure it is set to “Automatically Purge.” By default, we set it at 90 days and 8 song histories.

It’s really up to you. As you increase the number of days (these are logs you can access via the Schedule Editor), your database will become larger. Purging log histories simply means your song histories are archived. You don’t lose your histories!

I do not recommend having less that 20 days of active logs. When running your history purge, do NOT interrupt the software. It may look like it’s not working, but be patient and allow the purge to process. Once the purge is completed the utility will disappear. At that point, run Tools-Purge to get the database down to its optimum size.

Understanding how to care for your databases, doing daily backups and taking proper care of your Windows system overall health will yield trouble-free Music scheduling. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact the Support Team at MusicMaster.

Ideal Turnovers

2011-02-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

By Drew Bennett

Let’s say you have the rare opportunity to totally overhaul your database. You’ve been thinking about new clocks and rotations and you want to get started on bringing better rotations to your station.

When it comes to scheduling music, clocks are ‘where the magic happens.’ If you have great clocks that encourage a natural rotation of your category, your rules can be there as a safety net and not as a fix. Your goal should be to achieve perfect rotation at the clock level. Many times, clocks aren’t giving you the rotation you need. Rules that prevent eye-sores, like harmonics and stacking, are there to fix a problem that really needs to be addressed in the clocks themselves (and not necessarily the Rule Tree.)

When you begin the process of building clocks that achieve these perfect rotations you are looking for, MusicMaster has a simple but very effective tool to help you create great clocks. It’s called the Turnover Calculator and you will find it in Analysis.

When you get to Analysis, look at the middle of the screen on the right and you should see a group of icons. The Turnover Calculator has been circled in the example above.

Let’s say you have a category of 27 songs and would like to come up with clocks that achieve perfect rotation for the category. How many times should you call for the category in an hour? The Turnover Calculator will help you find that out.

In the example above, we entered the number, 27, in the Slot Count field because that is the number of records we have in the category. To find out basic turnover information for that category, and to see how our songs will rotate through the day, we will enter the average number of times we plan to call for the category in a clock. In this case, we entered 2 in the Average Per Hour field. Now, we can click the Calculate button to the right of the Average Turnover field and find out what the average turnover will be for the category. MusicMaster will show a graphical representation of the rotation of the category at the bottom of the Turnover Calculator. In the example above, our 27 songs are rotating perfectly as long as we call for the category twice per hour. Those values can be changed and tweaked until perfect rotations are achieved.

Once you are armed with the number of songs you have in a category the Turnover Calculator is there for you to determine how many times you need to call for the category in a clock and throughout the day on the Assignment Grid.

When you have perfect rotations to begin with, your rules become a safety net and you can focus on creating rules that develop the spirit and the sound of your radio station as opposed to applying rules that fix imperfect rotations at the clock level.

The Turnover Calculator is a simple piece of the software but it will prove to be invaluable in your quest to rotate your songs the best way possible.

Technical Problem in MusicMaster SR-20

2011-01-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

by Joe Knapp

There was a problem in the new release of MusicMaster, Service Release 20, that involves Rule Groups that use the "Ignore Plays Outside This Time Period" option. This problem would cause un-flagged rule violations for certain rules placed inside these Rule Groups. We have already fixed this problem. We are testing this stuff again so we can release a corrected update as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, SR-20 has been removed from our servers. We'll let you all know when it's available. If you've already installed SR-20, you can easily go back to SR-19 until the new update is available. This is only necessary if you are using this feature in any of your Rule Groups. Most people do not.

We are very grateful to the people who reported this problem to us. We do a ton of testing before we release new software updates. But, despite our best efforts, this one slipped through the cracks, and we're very sorry about that.

What's New in MusicMaster 4.0 SR 20.

2011-01-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

Service release 20 has just been issued. Here's some information about a few cool toys we've added!

Artist Keywords

2011-01-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

by Paul Ziino

The question has come up, “How do I best use Artist Keywords?” Today we answer that question.

In most databases there are two artist fields: one is for the artist’s name as you’d like it to appear in your logs and reports (Artist), the other is used to test for artist separation (Artist Keywords). In many cases the Artist and the Artist Keyword fields will contain the same information: Aerosmith, Brooks and Dunn, Pink, etc. But in other situations the data in each will vary.

Many artists feature other “guest stars” on their songs. Let’s look at “Telephone” by Lady Gaga f/Beyonce. Your Artist Keywords on that song would be:

1) Lady Gaga
2) Beyonce
3) Destiny’s Child

To enter multiple keywords on a song, double-click in the Artist Keywords field in Library Maintenance (song card or grid view) to access the Keyword Entry box and enter the primary keyword in the first field, followed by the others and click Apply/OK. Your entry box will look like this:

Now any time “Telephone” is scheduled, it will follow the Artist Keyword rules for each keyword assigned to that song.

Let’s use another example of “We Are the World” which featured more than 20 soloists. If we wanted to, we could list each one as a unique Artist Keyword on that song, and MusicMaster would test the rules for every keyword assigned. In the picture below you’ll notice that only the first (primary) keyword displays in the Artist Keywords field, but that when we hover on that field with “Show Balloon Tips” enabled, we see all the keywords assigned…

You’ll also notice that we listed them all with their last names first. This is done for consistency and for sorting purposes. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how you enter the keywords so long as it is consistent. In other words…RICHIE, LIONEL and LIONEL RICHIE are two different keywords as far as MusicMaster is concerned.

Now let’s take this one step further. Let’s assume we are programming an oldies station that plays 60s and 70s music, so we’re going to play songs by the Beatles and by each of the members of the band. So how do we set up Artist Keywords in this situation? This depends on your programming philosophy. If you want to make sure that songs by the group are separated from songs by the soloists, but the soloists needn’t be separated from one another, you would use the Artist Keywords like this…

“Hey Jude” by The Beatles

“Imagine” by John Lennon

Because Lennon’s keyword is listed on the group song as well as the solo song, it will prevent them from playing too close to one another, based on your time separation rules for these keywords. And since the other keywords for McCartney, Harrison, and Starr are absent from “Imagine”, songs by those individuals will not be in violation of any artist keyword separation rules.

If you want to keep the soloists’ songs separated from one another and from songs by the group, your Artist Keyword entry would be the same for “Hey Jude”, but you would add Beatles as a second keyword on “Imagine”…

“Imagine” by John Lennon

You would also list Beatles as a second keyword on any solo songs by Paul, George, and Ringo. As a result, all the songs by the Beatles or by any of its members will be separated from one another based on the rules for those keywords. You can apply this same methodology to any group/soloist scenario: The Eagles, Van Halen, The Jackson Five, and so on.

One step further

In some formats where artists frequently make guest appearances on songs by others, it is sometimes beneficial to have two Artist Keyword fields. The first one would be for your primary artist keyword and the second for any guest performers. Take for example a song by Eminem that features Dr. Dre. Let’s assume Dr. Dre’s part on this song is pretty minimal, and he is making similar appearances on songs by Akon and by Lil Kim and let’s assume all three of these songs are in Heavy Currents…none of them will ever get aired because of Dr. Dre’s artist separation time. If we had a “Guest Keywords” field, Dr. Dre could be listed there instead of as a second Artist Keyword in that field. Your rules could be set that an Artist Keyword has to be separated from itself by 50 minutes, but a Guest Keyword only needs 10 minutes of separation. Now those three songs would be able to play because Dr. Dre’s keyword wouldn’t be holding them back.

Another step further

Want to clean up your Keywords? Go to Dataset/Library/Keywords and use the drop-down to select Artist Keywords to see a list of all the artist keywords in the entire database. Here you can edit the keywords and it will have a mass change effect on your data. Let’s use Beatles as an example. BEATLES is different from THE BEATLES which is different from BEATLES, THE. Make them all consistent to maximize effect of the artist keyword rules. We’ll discuss this in more detail in a future article, as well as dive into the Keyword Separation Wizard.

In conclusion, Artist Keywords are essential to accurate scheduling in MusicMaster. Taking the time to set them up properly and consistently will enable artist separation to be much more effective and will make log editing more efficient.

Queries

2011-01-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

by Paul Ziino

A query in MusicMaster is the equivalency of a library search. You can save queries in the database that can be used in the library as well as in the schedule editor. Today we discuss a few of the options available to you in queries.

Saved Queries

First off, let’s talk about creating a query in general. For starters, go to Dataset/Library/Query the Library/New Query. This opens the Library Query box. Here you can select which categories to include in the query, as well as your search filters and sort keys. Let’s assume we are looking for all songs with Gender F (Female), and we only want to look in our music categories, and we’d like the list sorted alphabetically by Title. Check only the Music categories. Under Search Filters, use the pull-down to select the Gender field, then the operator is “Contains Any of”, select the desired code, and click Add. Under Sort Keys, in the first box use the pull-down to select the Title field. Your Library Query box will look like this…

If we just click OK, MusicMaster will instantly pull a library search of just those items you’ve requested. But if we want to be able to run this exact query in the future, we would want to save it. To do so, click the “Save As” button, enter a New Query Name, and click “Save”.

Now you can automatically open this query in MusicMaster by going to Dataset/Library/Query the Library/Saved Query, select the desired query from the list and click Load. The query will search the selected categories each time it is run—so as your library changes, the results of your query will change, too.

When in the Schedule Editor, you can right-click on a position then select Schedule Song/Search using a Saved Query, and then select the desired query. The results of that saved query will populate your Replacement Window, and you’ll be able to select a song from the list.

Prompted Queries

Like a Saved Query, you can use a prompted query to search the library based on a set of criteria. The key here is that we can tell the query to allow you to select the parameters when you launch it. Here’s how…

To create the query, go to Dataset/Library/Query the Library/New Query. Again, let’s assume we want to include only music categories. Under Sort Keys, use the pull-down to select the Run Time field. Under Search Filters select the Run Time field, with an operator of “Greater than or equal to” and in the last box we’ll enter “@PROMPT(Run Low)”. Then click Add. Your query box will look like this…

Then add another Search filter for Runtime “Less than or equal to” and “@PROMPT(Run High)”. Add that filter, and now click Save As and label it as Runtime High/Low or something similar and Save it.

Now when you launch the Runtime High/Low query, your Query Prompts box will appear, and it will look like this…

Enter your lowest desired runtime in the Run Low field, and your highest in the Run High field, click Continue and your list of songs will be all those that fall within the desired range. For this sample, we did Run Low=3:10 and Run High=3:20. The results…

When you save prompted queries they are included with the other Saved Queries in the database, and are available in all the same places.

How and Where to Access Saved Queries

There are several ways to access your saved queries. Here is a list of them…

1. Click on Dataset/Library/Query the Library/Saved Query

2. In the Info Bar (View/Info Bar), on the music tab, Queries is one of the available panels.

3. When Library Maintenance is already open, click the New Query icon (binoculars, first icon on left) and click Load, then choose the desired saved query.

4. Also when Library Maintenance is already open, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Favorite Query icon (third icon from left) and select your favorite.

5. In Schedule Editor, right-click on a position and select Schedule Song/Search Using a Saved Query, then choose the desired query.

Using Saved Queries can speed up your editing process and save you a lot of steps in the future.

I'm Often Asked . . .

2010-12-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

by Aaron Taylor

After working with clients for a number of years here at A-Ware Software as a Music Scheduling Consultant, I’ve been able to identify a handful of questions it seems I am asked on a regular basis. Some of these you may already know the answer to. Hopefully, there at least a couple here that you’ve always “meant to ask” or perhaps maybe “thought I was supposed to know that already”.
So here (in no particular order) are the top five questions I am asked about MusicMaster.

Can I run MMWIN on my Mac? YES!

In recent years, the availability of a Pentium chipset has made running MusicMaster for Windows on a Mac a reality. While you are not able to run the application natively on your Mac (on the operating system) there are several options.

First, you might want to explore running MusicMaster in “virtualization” mode.

Virtualization is the hosting of individual applications in an environment separated from the underlying OS. The two major virtualization programs that we are aware of are:

Parallels http://www.parallels.com and VM Fusion http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.

When you purchase and install these programs, you are able to create a virtual environment to run your Windows programs under. There may be some keyboard and mouse tricks you need to learn to allow you to maximize your use of the program by this method, but we have many users doing this now as their sole method of utilizing MusicMaster.

The other route you may opt for is to create a partition on your Mac to run a Windows environment, in addition to a Mac OS. Apple has software called BootCamp:

http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp

This allows you to select from your Windows or Mac OS when you boot up your Mac. In that way, MusicMaster will operate the same way it always has on your Windows XP, Vista, or 7 machine. A caveat to this is that you also need to have in your possession a full installation version of the Windows operating system you intend to run on the partition, as this will need to be installed by the user as part of the set up.

Can I play audio from my automation system (or my iTunes) from MusicMaster? YES!

This involves setting up or pointing to a field in your MusicMaster database that matches the filenames for the audio on your automation system or other play out software. Then, you’ll go to TOOLS-OPTIONS-AUDIO FILE OPTIONS and configure the set up.

There is also a helpful utility found under Library-Audio-Verify in Library Maintenance that will allow you to check to make sure the pathing you’ve set up is correct and that the audio files can be found for each entry in the library you might wish to play.

In general, the F12 key plays the audio in MusicMaster (CTRL-F12 to stop it).

We’ve created a Webinar to walk users through this process a while back that goes into more depth on this topic. You can view it any time via the MusicMaster website (http://www.mmwin.com) here is the direct link: http://www.mmwin.com/company/webinar/webinar20090415.wmv

Also, your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant is happy to assist you in the configuration process of this functionality as well.

I want to access the MusicMaster support site, and need to get a username/password or have forgotten my username/password, can you help me? YES!

The MusicMaster website is http://www.mmwin.com. When you access the site, you should see Support listed on the left side of the screen. There are two areas in support, Tech Support and Customer Login. Tech Support has a link to access the Client Support Center, as well as the link for our internet-based training. Customer Login is where you will find downloads of the latest versions of the software, training videos, past Newsletters and more. When you open this screen, you will see the Login in window.

If you have not already done so, you must create your Account. There is an option at the bottom of the screen to Create Account. The information requested in the Create New Account window is basic. You will be asked to pick your own user name and password. Both of these fields are case sensitive. Once the registration has been approved, you will received an e-mail from support@mmwin.com indicating your registration has been approved and that your user name and password have been activated.

We are unable to look up your username/password combinations for you once you have set them, but you are able to reset your password from this screen (if you remember the username you signed up for at least). A reset message/instructions are then sent to your email address. If you still have trouble, or do not get a reply from the automated system, contact your MSC or support@mmwin.com for further assistance.

Can I print a report or music log and send it to my consultant or off site voice tracker? YES!

The simplest way to do this is to add a PDF generator to your machine as a printer option. There are a variety of options out there (you may already have one installed on your machine)…One we like to suggest to users who do not already have one is PDF 995: http://www.pdf995.com

This creates a file that can be opened by the user on the other end with a free PDF reader utility.
http://get.adobe.com/reader.

Once you’ve installed this (and verified the user on the other end has a reader app installed), your PDF generator option will show as a printer choice when you are ready to PRINT your report or music log.

If selected, you’ll have the option of where to save the .PDF on your desktop, folder etc. Once it is created, simply open your email, locate the file on your computer and attach the it to your email!

I need to make a copy of my database for testing purposes, and/or I would like to create a new MusicMaster database from “scratch”. Can I do this? YES!

Just go to the Datafile Manager, FILE-OPEN DATASET.

If you choose NEW, you will have the option to “Create a New Keep It Simple Database”. This gives you an empty, basic MusicMaster database ready to populate with you new song library, clocks, and rules.

If you choose CLONE, you will create an exact duplicate of the database that is currently highlighted in the Datafile Manager list. You should then rename the cloned database to something else to differentiate the two.

Hopefully after reading today’s article, I’ve been able to “knock off” at least a few things about MusicMaster you’ve always been curious about. As always, we are here to help with any question you have about the program, no matter how basic you think that question might be!

Overview of Packeting in MusicMaster

2010-12-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

By Aaron Taylor

Packeting can be used to group songs together, which will have the effect of slowing down the rotation of the individual songs. A great example of the use of packeting might be to group the studio, acoustic, or live versions of a particular song together in a packet so they are not rotating independently. I also like to suggest to clients that they may want to consider packeting the “one hit wonders” or very tertiary songs in a category together in packets, so that you can potentially avoid music sets clustered with a seemingly stack of these marginal songs. It is also a common desire to packet non music elements together, like jingles, liners, or sweepers.

The packeting utility in MMWin will also allow you (if desired) to “weight” a packet, so that particular cuts in the packet will play X number of times before moving onto the next song in the packet order.

You can group any number of songs (as part of the same category) into as many packets as you wish.

To access the Packet editor in MusicMaster Windows, there are several routes. You may either right-click on a song and go to Packet; select Dataset, Library, Packets which will open the Packet Editor window; or if you add the Packet field to your Library Maintenance display, you can click that field for the song you wish to create or add to a packet.

Below is a view of the Packet Editor window.

PACKET EDITOR OVERVIEW -

On the left hand side you see a list of all the packets in the program, showing their name and category they are in. The drop-down box in the upper-left lets you choose which category you look at. This information is repeated in the Description and Category boxes in the center of the screen. By clicking on any packet name, the main center box will show you the songs in that packet. Other options/information available here include:

• Description – The name given to the packet. You may change it by clicking into this box.

• Category – Indicates what category the packet is contained in. If desired, you can use the drop-down box to move the packet to a different category.

• Keep Packet Together – With this box checked, if you move a song that is within a packet, all songs in the packet will be moved. If this is not checked off and a song is moved, that song will be removed from the packet and sent to the category specified. The remaining songs will still be in the packet. It is important to remember if you decide to set this for the future, as we’ll get calls from time to time from clients wondering why seemingly “groups” of songs moved, when only one was targeted for a move. You forgot the song was packeted, and the “keep packet together” setting was selected!

• Packet Type – There are three types of packets: standard, diggable and weighted. Here is an explanation of each type:

A standard packet keeps track of the next song that should be considered. When the packet comes up, that song is tested. No other songs in the packet will be tested.
When a diggable packet comes up for consideration, songs in the packet will be tested up to the search depth that has been set to see if the song passes the tests on the category.
A weighted packet allows you to determine how many times a song in a packet plays before moving to the next song in the packet. As an example, if you have a two-song packet and you want one of the songs to play twice as much as the other, you would want to place a two in the Weight column that will be displayed when you choose this option.

CREATE A NEW PACKET –

Select Create and confirm. Name the packet in the Description field, the select ADD. This will open the standard Database Query box where you will be able to pick categories, filter and sort the list to narrow down the songs you view. When the list comes up, you can choose as many songs as you’d like. To select more than one at a time, hold down the Control key. When you have selected all the songs, click on Add. This will bring the titles into the packet creation window. When you click Close, the packeting process will complete.

Other options at the top of the screen include Delete, AutoPacket and Unpacket. While Delete and Unpacket are fairly self explanatory, the AutoPacket feature deserves a bit of explanation. This utility allows for you to select criteria that will be utilized to create a packet. You will pick the categories you want to include, the minimum number of songs there must be for the creation of a packet, the maximum number of songs in a packet, and the packet name. The standard Song Filter box is used to create the filter.

A FEW OTHER NOTES ABOUT PACKETS AND PACKETING -

As mentioned above, you can add the Packet field to you Library Maintenance view. This will allow you to see the name of the packet and any day part restrictions. If you move the cursor over the Packet field with your mouse, it will tell you the number of songs in the packet and the number of restricted hours for day parts.

To see a combined history graph showing all plays of the songs in a packet, use the drop-down arrow and select Packet. If you have the packet field showing, you can click [SHIFT F6] in the field do to this as well.

Packeting will slow down the rotation of individual songs in a category. This is reflected in Analysis-Turnover.

When using a standard packet and sorting a song list by rest, the packet history will be used to calculate the rest time for each song. The rest time will be the same for all songs in the packet.

In the Schedule Editor, this means the way the list is displayed in the replacement window may show some individual song rest times that are higher than the songs around it. Make sure to pay special attention to whether packets are in use for the category you are viewing. You should be able to spot the song from the packet that is being used to calculate the rest.

If you have any questions about how to best utilize this functionality in MusicMaster for your particular situation, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with your Music Scheduling Consultant!

Using the MusicMaster CD Ripper

2010-11-22T07:17:00.000-08:00

By Marianne Burkett

Depending on your “normal” habits of adding music to your MusicMaster library, you may not be aware of a convenient feature that is available: the CD Ripper .

Go to Tools/Import CD Audio

You’ll see this:

Toss a CD you’d like to import into your CD drive of your computer and allow it to process.

You will see then if any data is available on the CD:

In this case, the CD Data contained the Title of the Disc, year of release, Artist, Titles and Runtimes. MusicMaster uses the FreeDB database to populate this information.

Next step is setup. Click on Setup: There you’ll have the option to rip to WAV, MP3 and in the case of the example below… I’m ripping Metadata only because I don’t want to actually import the music at this time.

Had I selected mp3 in the Audio File Format selection drag down…it would actually rip the audio into my Base File Path with Artist – Title.mp3.

Then I will select Rip Tracks!

Now I’ll see this screen:

What you see on the screen is the available Metadata on the CD.

Be sure at this time to match the Target Field to the Source. “Target” is which field in MusicMaster the data will be directed to and “Source” is what information is available on the CD…which you see on the screen. After you’re done setting up the fields, simply click on “Import”

Now all the titles I just ripped will go directly into “Uncategorized Songs”

I’ll get this message before I close out:

I go to Uncategorized songs and there are my songs! All I need to do now is put them in normal categories, code them and be sure to enter my artist keywords and I’m done!

Ho Ho Ho! Get ready for Christmas!

2010-11-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

By Marianne Burkett

The holidays are approaching fast, so here’s a summary of the things you need to be thinking about as you get ready to add Christmas music to your rotations.

MusicMaster Checklist:

1. Be sure you’ve got your Christmas categories filled up.

2. Complete Coding! Sound Codes, like Contemporary, Religious, Novelty and Traditional are common. If you want to keep certain types of Christmas titles apart – code them! Create new Sound Codes in Dataset/Library/Attributes. Don’t forget about your Gender and Tempo Codes as well.

3. Likely, your normal rules will not fit your Christmas categories. Be sure you isolate coding rules for the Christmas music. You can either put the holiday coding rules directly in the Christmas categories or use Category specific “Rule Groups” in the “All Categories” area of the rule tree. Set your Normal Rule Group properties to only pay attention to your Normal categories and a Christmas Rule Group for your Christmas categories.

4. Don’t forget to double-check your Title Keywords for accuracy. You can keep like titles apart using either Title Keyword time separation rules and apply them to your Christmas Categories or Optimum Keyword Rest with your Optimum Scheduling Goals rules.

5. Run a Library Analysis in the Title field on the total number of Christmas titles. How many Silent Nights and White Christmas titles are you playing? How far apart can you keep them?

6. Christmas clocks and assignment grids. Some stations go “all Christmas” in November and some others like to “gradually” increase the number of Christmas titles from week to week until Christmas day. Regardless of how you program your Christmas music, create clocks and assignment grids that will fit your programming goals.

7. Use the Format Scheduler! Have you tried out the Format Scheduler? Dataset/Clocks – look to the lower left and click on Format Scheduler. Right click on any day in the calendar and schedule the appropriate grid for the day or week! MusicMaster will automatically switch from grid to grid, so you don’t have to set them manually.

8. Be sure to check your Schedule Properties to check on your pass order and search depth of your Christmas categories. Dataset/Schedule/Schedule Properties.

9. Check your Schedule Order and clear your Skip and Fail counter on your Christmas Categories. Dataset/Schedule/Schedule Order.

10. When Auto Scheduling, make sure your Christmas Categories are checked. Unless you “Step Schedule”, a good rule of thumb is to just have all your Categories checked during an auto scheduling sesssion. If it’s not in the clocks – it won’t schedule.

11. By all means, if you need any help with setting up your Christmas programming – feel free to contact your dedicated Music Scheduling Consultant.

Saving Daylight

2010-10-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

By Jill Sorenson and Malcolm Sinclair

This video will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about how Daylight Savings Time works with MusicMaster!

Auto Kick (and Beyond)

2010-10-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

A while back in this blog, I mentioned the AutoKick setting option in the Rule Tree, and based on some of the responses we received on the topic, we thought it might be beneficial to create an article that delves a bit more into this topic. Specifically, how to best set up and maintain your tightest rotating categories.

As a review, the Auto Kick rule property is used to prevent a song from playing at the same time on consecutive days. You can adjust the windows size, which is the amount of time around a play yesterday that you would like to protect.

Find this Rule in the Rule Tree under Available Rule Types in the “Song/History Rules” folder – “Hour Rotation Rules” sub folder.

When you drag the rule over to a category folder, the properties box will appear, allowing you to adjust the window size. There is also a property that will allow the system to ignore plays from other categories if needed. What does this mean? To clarify, this property will allow you to ignore potential failures if the song being tested was in a different category than it is now. This lets you bypass possible problems as you move songs in your database, provided you aren’t concerned about the plays when the song was in another category.

Regarding your window size choices, here are the three window sizes to choose from:

Full Hour – If the song plays anywhere in the same hour, the song will be dropped. This is in effect the same as placing a Day Offset window rule in place of 1 day, 1 hour.

Half Hour – If the song plays anywhere in the same half hour, which is defined as the first half of the hour or second half, the song will be dropped.

Quarter Hour – If the song plays anywhere in the same quarter hour, which is defined as four 15 minute segments, the song will be dropped.

For the fastest rotation categories with a search depth of one, this rule can automatically prevent same hour plays with no other advance planning.

This is a great tool for non-music categories, (such as sweepers or positioners) that might come up each day in the same hour just by virtue of the number of those that air, or how many of each you have in your library.

Remember that you can utilize this rule as part of your all category rules or on individual categories, or in a rule group that is category or time restricted.

This clearly cannot work as a rule if you have only one call for that category each day and it falls in the same position in the clock hour each day.

Here are a few other tips to keep in mind when you are setting up (or reviewing the setup of your smaller, faster rotating categories.

Check your overall Rule Tree

Beyond setting the AutoKick rule in the Rule Tree, here are some other tips to check in this area of the program.

If you’d like to make sure this category rotates as predictably as possible, verify that you have either none, (or have only the most important rules turned on for these categories). A very helpful quick check for this is to use the “view category rule list” choice by right clicking on the category in question.

Remember to utilize the ”All Category Bypass” option at the top of the Rule Tree, or Rule Groups if you need to isolate your all category rules from these.

Check your Scheduling Properties

Go to DATASET-SCHEDULE-SCHEDULE PROPERTIES

Verify your search depth and pass order. Is it in the first or first several passes? If you want to have the category schedule sequentially, make certain the search depth for the category is set to 1.

If this is a database you’ve inherited. You may also want to check the “Advanced “ tab (on the right) to make sure there aren’t several layers of pass orders/depths in play.

Check your Schedule Order

If you’ve recently changed the size of the category in question, added new titles/artists to it, or need to re-order your categories for any reason you should visit DATASET-SCHEDULE-SCHEDULE ORDER.

From here you can click on the numbered column (the grey section on the left) and drag up or down to effect the schedule order if you wish. Remember to save your changes on the way out.

Additionally, you may want to click on ARRANGE CATEGORY and do a juggle or optimize function on the categories.

Check Analysis

Go to DATASET-ANALYSIS-ANALYSIS.

Check the “hypothetical” rotation. This view (with the exception of AutoBurn) only takes into account songs and slots. If you see an issue here, you may want to circle back to the aforementioned areas of the software. You may also want to take a quick check of Format Clock Category Usage.

Check this to make sure that you don’t have any clock/category inconsistencies on your active grid.

If you have a category that still doesn’t seem to be doing what you’d like, or appears to not be following the parameters you’ve put in place, get in touch with your MusicMaster consultant so we can take a closer look at this together!

Attribute Time and Title Separation

2010-09-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

-- by Paul Ziino

When you open your Rule Tree (Dataset/Rule Tree or click the Lightning Bolt icon on your Toolbar), you open a world full of possibilities. Today we look at a couple rules found under each code within your “Attribute Field Rules”.

Time Separation

When you activate Time Separation for one of your attribute codes, you are telling MusicMaster the minimum amount of time allowed between two items with the code in question. This is set in hh:mm:ss. So if you want to keep distance between your ballads, you could use Time Separation for the Ballad code to do so. In the example below, we’re asking for a minimum of 23 minutes between Sound B – Ballad.

We’re also telling MusicMaster to test the Music and Non-Music items when calculating time…that way when we ask for 23 minutes of separation, it counts both music and non-music time as opposed to only counting time consumed by music elements. We’ve also indicated no cutoff for this rule. That means that we will count all items scheduled when calculating time between B codes, and that we will continue to count across the top of hour, sweep markers, Break elements, and so on.

Title Separation

When you activate Title Separation for one of your attribute codes, you are telling MusicMaster the minimum number of elements that must occur between plays of the same code. This is set in number of Records. In the example below we’re asking for at least 6 records to play (elements to occur) between occurrences of Sound B.

We’re also telling MusicMaster to test only the Music items when counting the records. This means we will not count items scheduled from Non-Music categories when calculating our separation count. In the example, we’re not using any rule cutoffs either.

So if time is what you’re after, use Time Separation. If you want to play X number of items between plays of a given code, use Title Separation.

Other Code Time and Title Separation

You can take this one step further and use the Other Code Time Separation or Other Code Title Separation rules which allow you to select other codes and mandate a minimum separation between them. In the following example we are requesting 15 minutes of separation between code B and code U.

Using the various attribute code rules can help you tweak your separations and enhance your rotations.

Yeah… We’ve Got a MusicMaster Report For That

2010-08-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

We get calls and emails fairly often from clients asking us how to create a specific type of report. Perhaps it’s a report that the General Manager or consultant has asked for, or maybe it’s a report you need for reporting purposes to a record label, regulatory agencies, or just internal programming department research or verification.

Our intention in this article is to give a brief “roadmap” as to where in MusicMaster you can locate many of these frequently requested reports, and a brief overview of the options available.

-Most Frequently Played Report/Specific spins by criteria

Use the History Browser to create a Most Frequently Played Report, select Database, Analysis, History Browser. Alternately, you can select the graph icon from the toolbar.

When the History Browser Options box appears, you’ll have five tabs.

Time Period – Select the one week period you would like for your first report. We’ll assume you want to include all hours in the report, so no other changes are necessary.

Categories – Make sure there is a check mark on each category you wish to include in the report. We would suggest that you uncheck any non-music categories to keep the report simple.

Filters – If you want the weekly spins for your entire library, you do not need to configure anything here. However, if your intention is to create say a report that includes only a specific artist or only a specific record label’s artists, this will be the tab you’ll want to tweak.

Display – This is where you’ll set up the report. In the Display Mode, we suggest selecting Individual Songs. You can choose to include any of the other Properties listed. We would suggest at least “Show Rank.” Notice there are also Extra Fields so you can include other fields that you may want to see, for instance record label or automation number.

Here is an example of the resulting report. Note the printer icon. It is also worth noting that this information can be copied and pasted from the screen below into a Word or Excel document if desired.

-Artist/Title Analysis

This is an excellent way to get a report of all specific plays by artist and the active titles from that artist in your database. Go to Dataset-Analysis-Special Library REPORTS and select Artist/Title Analysis.

Note the printer choice at the top of this example.

-BMI/ASCAP/(other country specific reports)

Far and away, the biggest question we get about reports is the “how to I generate the licensing report for..." While we are highlighting the BMI/ASCAP report template in this article, you will find all of the country licensing and trade report specific reports in this same location. Most important to note on these is the fact that all of the difficult work has already been done for you here with regard to formatting of the report, field specifications, etc. but you MUST configure the fields in the OPTIONS tab, most importantly the ARTIST and SONG TITLE fields, or you will be submitting a blank report to your reporting agency…and we all know how embarrassing that can be!

Go to Dataset-Analysis-Special History Reports and select the report you wish to generate. In this case as noted, we’ve selected the BMI/ASCAP report.

As shown below, remember to assign (AT LEAST) the title and artist fields before generating this report.

Once you’ve done that, go back to the REPORT SETUP tab and PRINT. If you have any questions about these reports, or find that your specific country designated report is missing, please let us know!

-Affidavit Report

Perfect if you need a report for the sales department to show how often a sales related non music element has aired over a specified time. Go to Dataset-Analysis-Special Library Reports and select the

AIRPLAY AFFIDAVIT:

You’ll get a report for each sponsored element and the dates/hours they aired in. Note a value can also be assigned in the database to each as needed. There is also a print box icon that can be selected in the upper left hand corner.

-Attribute report

Trying to find out the percentage of “pop” coded songs in your active library or a specific category, or maybe the number of “slow” coded songs? Here’s a quick way to view that (and print it, if desired)

Bring up your category or query of songs in library maintenance and select the field you want to get more details about. In the example below, we’ve chosen the sound code. Right click over the grey field header and from the menu that pops up chose LIBRARY ANALYSIS.

This will give you a report that looks similar to this:

Note the printer icon if you wish to do so.

Here are a few other reports that you might find helpful from time to time:

-Move History (of a specific title and/or an entire category)

For a specific song title, go to the song itself in library maintenance (make sure the blue “pointer” arrow on the left is pointing at the song you’d like to review) and from the menu up top, select LIBRARY-
MOVE HISTORY:

If needed, you can do a print screen of this individual titles move history. Another option would be to go the context menu of the program itself and select Dataset-Analysis-Special Library Reports and choose CATEGORY MOVE HISTORY for a list of the entire categories move history over the life of the database. Note the printer choice icon here as well.

-Format Clock Category Usage

This report is great if you want to get a quick print out of the clock calls for each category on your currently active grid. Go to Dataset-Analysis-Analysis and select the blue musical note in the lower portion of the split screen. (format clock category usage)

Note the printer box in the lower right hand corner.

-List of Log notes

Go to Dataset-Clocks-Lognote Text, here you will see a list of all the log notes that currently exist in the specific database. Note the printer icon, if you want to look at the entire list of log notes outside of the application, select this option.

-List of artist trivia notes/list of song trivia

From the menu at the top, select Dataset-Library-Trivia this takes you to the trivia editor for artist and Title. This is the global trivia editor. It allows you to look at song trivia or keyword trivia. The Lookup button will show you what songs or keywords use the line of trivia. The Tools Option contains options to show usage counts for the trivia lines, print the trivia, removed expired trivia and purge unused trivia.

-Who’s in the database right now?

Helpful if your database resides on the network and there are many instances of MusicMaster in multiple locations throughout your facility. Go to Tools-User List.

As you can imagine, we’ve just scratched the surface on this topic, and there are a multitude of ways to customize and tweak each report to your specific needs. Experiment, and have fun with this!

There is a more in depth video webinar that covers this topic available on the MusicMaster website at http://www.mmwin.com/company/webinar.php View the topic that is titled “History Browser.”

If there is a specific report that we’ve mentioned today that you have more questions about, or you have an idea about one you’d like to create in the program (or perhaps have our developers consider creating for you if it doesn’t already exist) please get In touch, we’d love to talk with you about it!

Do you know about the Library Analysis feature?

2010-08-09T16:44:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Need to get a quick overview of the number of "5" tempo songs in your active categories, or the percentage of "Pop" coded songs you have in a selected category?
Use the Library Analysis feature. Here's how to do it:.

Open Library Maintenance and click into the field you wish to analyze. Right-click on the field and select Library Analysis. A box will pop up with the Analysis. For instance, if you wanted to review the gender codes in your data, you could right-click on that field and after selecting Library Analysis, a data box will appear.

The drop-down box on the left-hand side of the display allows you to pick a different field from the one you are currently looking at. A drop-down on the right-side allows you to determine the way the information is displayed. The number of unique values for the field currently being viewed will be listed at the bottom of the box.

Depending upon what field you are in, you may not get the option for Individual Codes and Code Groups. For instance, this option is not available when analyzing the Artist field. The first option in the drop-down box is List Statistics. This can be useful to determine how many songs are included, are the songs from music or non-music categories, what is the total running time of the songs included on the list, and what is the average run time of the songs on the list.

If you would like a printed report of the analysis, you can use the toolbar option to do so or if you'd like to copy this list to a spreadsheet, select the copy option.

Why am I getting unscheduled positions after auto scheduling?

2010-08-06T16:52:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

We get calls/emails on a regular basis from clients who report they are getting more unscheduled positions than they'd like. Perhaps they've just updated the library, changed format clocks (or programming formats completely), have created the database from scratch, or (frequently) they've "inherited" the database from a PD or MD that is no longer part of the organization. Here is a checklist of sorts to help you attempt to figure out why you are getting these unscheduled positions and what you may be able to do to reduce their numbers.

1. Try to fill the unscheduled position. Make sure your replacement window is set up with the triple flag to show all available replacement songs. As you arrow down the list, you'll start to see the songs that violate your unbreakable rules in the Test Results panel. Note which rules occur most often. You'll then want to circle back to your Rule Tree to see if any of the properties in the problem areas can be loosened up or eliminated.

2. Visit your Rule Tree and selected Related, Recap Report. This will give you a summary from the last scheduling session of the rules, and how they performed in each category. You can sort by any column to review this. The full report is called THINKING.TXT and can also be reviewed. That is more comprehensive file located in the directory where your data is located (typically c:\mmwin on a stand alone machine) and named in the form of “database name_Thinking.txt”. It shows the results for the entire schedule run for all songs considered. You may want to visit with your scheduling consultant and have them help you interpret and "digest" what you are seeing here.

3. Determine if all songs from the categories in question aren’t scheduling, or just some songs. This is important. If it’s only a few, it’s more likely to be a rule issue. If it is all songs, make sure the category has a check in the Automatic Scheduler setup window. You may also want to check the scheduling properties of the category and make sure that the search depth and pass orders are set as you intend.

4. This might sound obvious, but make certain there are songs in the category. MusicMaster can’t schedule what it doesn’t have.

5. Confirm the clock position isn't a Manual position. This position type is never automatically scheduled by MusicMaster.

6. Another good option is to turn on Manual-Assist scheduling. This is available in the Automatic Schedule, Options tab. When enabled, the Scheduler will stop at any position it cannot fill so you can see what is happening as the log schedules.

If you are still having trouble figuring out why MMWIN is "doing what it's doing...", get in touch with your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant for a personal phone/on line session. We love to work on these "puzzles" with you!

Perfect for daily/nightly top 8 @ 8, etc or request positions...Use a MANUAL clock element type.

2010-08-05T16:11:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

If you run daily countdown programs or all request programming, that might span different categories daily you may want to consider building or revising your clocks with the MANUAL clock element type. This will leave the position unscheduled in the autoscheduling process, allowing the programmer to hand fill that slot after the auto scheduling process completes. It doesn't matter what category postion you put there, as you can override that designation with a wild card insertion while you are manually editing the schedule.

I sometimes like to suggest that clients create a "dummy" category designation for these positons and call that category REQUEST, so there is no confusion if another programming person (or your consultant reviews your clock structure).

Quick reminder about generating Special History Reports in MusicMaster

2010-08-04T15:05:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Remember if you are setting up to run a BMI report (or many other special history reports for that matter) for the first time, it is CRITICAL that you point the Artist Name and Song Title fields in the report template to the fields in your database that contain this data. Otherwise, you will generate a completely blank report.

To generate the report, go to Dataset - Analysis - Special History Reports and select the BMI/ASCAP report from the drop down REPORT TYPE list. Set the date range you need to report for and also the categories you want included.

Then click on the OPTIONS tab, and on the Song Fields sub section click into the blank section to the right of the Artist Name and Song Title fields. Typically, you would point these (use the drop down arrow in the corner of each field) to point to the Artist and Title fields respectively. Then go back to the Report Setup tab and select PRINT.

I've lost my "Results" and/or my "Hour Selection" bars...How do I get them back?

2010-08-03T16:26:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

From time to time, we'll get a call or email from a user who indicates they think that they've "lost" one or both of these tool bars in the schedule editor.

How do you get these to reappear? Look for the icon at the top of the schedule editor that looks like a red martini glass (we've heard it called many other things, but this is the best description I've found). This is the "Show/Hide Elements". Click on this icon, and on the Schedule Editor Options box that pops up, select the "Toolbars" tab. You will see the "Hour Selection" and "Results" bar options here. Make sure your desired options are checked. Click OK...Voila!

Print the contents of the Rule Tree

2010-08-02T10:27:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Here's a great way to "get a handle" on the content and set up of a Rule Tree in MusicMaster. Print it! Click on the printer icon in the center section of the split screen (it is right above the bold MusicMaster Rule Tree header).

You have a number of options you can select when you print your Rule Tree, including whether you would like to print only folders currently opened, folders with no rules in them, or rule tree graphics.

The resulting printed version can then be viewed offline, compared to other Rule Tree set ups if you wish (on line) or perhaps emailed to your consultant for further review and comment. Depending on the rule type that is set, you'll see either a summary of the rules set and/or a graphic that details what is in place.

If you have any questions about what you're seeing here or would like a "second set of eyes" to look over things with you, get in touch with your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant!

Have you purged lately?

2010-07-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

If you've never run the PURGE utility on your MusicMaster database, today is the day to try it out. First things, first...Verify that there are no other users in your database before running this. Also, it is a good idea to make sure you have backed up your database before running this utility the first time.

Then go to TOOLS-BACKUP. A warning screen will display reminding you to check that you are the only user in the database and that you've backed up, if so click YES.

Don't be alarmed if this process takes a minute (or perhaps longer) to complete the first time. Watch the lower left hand corner of the program sceen. You'll see the various tasks the program is completing as part of the purge. Finally, a message will appear in the center of the program screen indicating DATASET PURGE COMPLETE, and in the lower left hand corner a message will appear indicating the percentage that your database has been reduced by running this process. Click OK.

We think it is a good idea to run purge certainly after completing a database overhaul project (like when you add a bunch of new clocks, songs, or rules) but you can always run this anytime you wish (once a week is what I like to suggest) and certainly anytime you feel that perthaps the program or a Db isn't performing as you expect, or as it once did. This process can often times resolve these issues. Think of this much like a "defrag" that you might run on your computer as a whole, specifically for your MusicMaster database!

Networking your databases!

2010-07-29T06:43:00.001-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

Clients often ask if they can have access to a database or multiple databases across their at-work network. It's quite simple to set up - and here's your visual. Draw a triangle, with 2 corners being the MusicMaster workstations and the 3rd corner being a folder out there on a server. Create a folder on the server to store your MMwin databases and any definition files you may have for Library Sync, Reconciliation etc.

Then simply "point" your MMwin icons in the building to that server folder! Right click on your MMwin icon, go to Properties. If your server is called "S:\" and your folder is called "MMwindata" your Icon target would read C:\MMwin\MusicMaster.exe S:\MMwindata Be certain you have adequate network speed (the connection between each station) for optimum performance and full read-write privileges to that folder.

Once you have it set up, your Standard Backups will also live on the server.

Re Order your Category order in MusicMaster

2010-07-28T12:00:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Want to re arrange the order of your categories on the info bar? Go to DATASET-LIBRARY-CATEGORIES, or right click on the infobar itself and select CATEGORY EDITOR.

With your mouse, left click and drag and drop the grey squares (on the left hand side of the display) that correspond to each category designation up or down the order on the list. Then click the OK button. You'll note that the order is now changed. Note this does not affect the Category SCHEDULING order.

How do scheduling goals work?

2010-07-27T07:14:00.001-07:00

by Drew Bennett

Scheduling goals can work by themselves or with your existing rules to select the best song possible. Scheduling goals score your music between 0 and 100 to find the best scoring song possible to schedule. MusicMaster takes the search depth of your categories and tests them through the All Categories folder, the rules in your Category folder and finally your Scheduling Goals. The result is a scheduled song that scored the best out of the songs in your search depth.

Make Your Backup

2010-07-26T06:31:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

When's the last time you made a backup of your MusicMaster
database? If it's been a while, make today the day you start doing
so every day. Making a backup is as easy as going to Tools/Backup
and clicking Perform a Standard Backup. This creates a zip file of
your database and leaves it in the same folder as your database
(.mmd) file. You can also make custom backups that can include
additional files or be saved in alternate locations. Learn all about
making backups at http://musicmasteronline.blogspot.com/2010/02/backups.html.

Are you using AutoComplete?

2010-07-23T14:04:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

AutoComplete is a feature in MusicMaster that will finish fields as you type. This is available for Keyword and Text type fields. There is a two step process to activating this for field(s). First, you must activate this feature in the appropriate fields under the Dataset, Library, Fields screen. To do this, highlight the field and when the details box comes upon the right-hand side, adjust the AutoComplete line to say “Yes.”

Second, you need to activate the feature on the Library Maintenance toolbar. Look for the icon that says "AUTO" in a black/white box. Click that icon to activate/deactivate.When you type in a field with this feature activated, the field will complete with the first match available. The more you type in the field, the more you narrow the choices. If you backspace in the field, you will disable the feature. The feature will be re-enabled if you press [Home], [End] or after typing at least two characters.

Check out the MusicMaster Genius Webinar Series

2010-07-22T14:06:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Did you know that MusicMaster has available on our website over THIRTY HOURS of in depth instruction on many areas of the application? There is something here for every user level, and area of interest. These files are in Windows Media format and can be viewed in Windows Media Player.

Check them out anytime from this link: http://www.mmwin.com/company/webinar.php

Enjoy!

The problem with One Hit Wonders

2010-07-21T06:55:00.001-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

Today's blog focus is about dealing with One Hit Wonders scheduling more often than your core artist songs. The reason this happens is because the One Hit Wonder has no artist conflicts. It's really that simple. When you've got a really deep search depth and a lot of coding rules accompanied with a reasonable minimum rest in any given category, those one-hit wonders will schedule with more ease than an artist that has a large number of songs.

So, what to do? There are a few very effective fixes to consider. You can raise that One Hit artists "Individual Keyword Separation Time"(Dataset/Library/Artist Keywords). Another option is to add a Title Keyword to the one hit wonder song. Set the Separation time to somewhere around the average turnover of the category, and you can set the rest time right there as you create the new keyword! Remember to put some kind of Title Keyword rule in the rule tree as well. The Individual time separations override the Rule Tree settings (unless you've set the rule properties to ignore Individual Keyword settings).

Either way, the One Hit Wonder will slow down. Conversely, you may need to adjust downward, the Individual Artist Separation times on your Core Artists which will enable those titles to play more freely.

There are other types of solutions like Packeting or Auto Platooning - but the suggestions here address the issue directly.

As always, if you have any questions - contact your Music Scheduling Consultant.

+ More

2010-07-20T06:26:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

When you are in the replacement window of the schedule editor you
have three display options: Show all available songs, Hide
Unbreakable failures, and Show only perfect songs...these are noted
by the flag icons. When in "Hide Unbreakable" or "Show only perfect"
mode, by default MusicMaster will display the ten most-rested songs
that meet those criteria. If more than ten are available, you'll see
the "+ More" button which will give you an additional ten songs that
meet the criteria each time you click "+ More", until all songs are
displayed. But did you know you can change how many songs will be
displayed to start with, and how many more will be displayed with
each click of "+ More"?

Go to Tools/Options/Additional Properties. Under the Schedule
section find "MoreDigDepth". By default this is set to 10, but you
can set any number you want--up to 99. If you set it to 99 you'll
get the 99 most-rested songs that meet the criteria, and "+ More"
will give you an additional 99 each time you click it--until all
songs that meet the criteria are on display. Or you can delete the
setting and leave it blank. Now MusicMaster will display all the
songs that meet the criteria right away.

One item of note...in large databases where there could be 1000s of
songs available, setting this too high or leaving it blank could
result in a significant slow-down of the replacement window. Find
the happy medium and you're on your way!

A second item of note...when "+ More" appears, you can hold the Shift
button when clicking the icon and MusicMaster will display all songs
that meet the criteria. Again, this could take some time depending
on the rules being tested and the size of your data.

Default Values

2010-07-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

by Drew Bennett

Let's say your automation system puts all of your songs in the same category and you have to add that category name to every song you enter into your database. Did you know that you can set the default value for that field so you don't have to type in that information when you add a new song? Go to Dataset, Library, Fields. Locate the field to which you want to add the default value and click on it. In the properties column on the right, locate the Default Value field and add in the default value in the space to the right. Click OK. You're done! You'll never have to fill that field again. MusicMaster does it for you. Happy Scheduling!

Three Ways To Packet

2010-07-16T12:34:00.001-07:00

by Drew Bennett

There are three different ways to packet songs. Weighted packets allow you to schedule some songs more often than others. Diggable packets allow MusicMaster to follow a search depth applied to the packet. Standard packets simply rotate the songs within a packet and slow down the scheduling of those songs within a category. Check Dataset, Library, Packets to set them up and check Help, Search, Packeting to read more about them.

Using Category Groups to Schedule and Query

2010-07-15T06:59:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

Category groups are exactly what they sounds like; groups of categories in your database. To make a category group, go to Dataset, Library, Categories. When the Category Editor shows, choose the Groups button on the right hand side of the screen. Choose New to create a new group and give the group a name. Hit OK. Now put a check mark next to any category you want to include in this group and then choose OK again. You've successfully created a category group. Now you'll find this group at the bottom of your category list in the info bar and you can use it for other things as well. Try using groups to schedule pass orders so you don't have to check on and off categories as you schedule multiple passes. Try using it in the Query box to search through those grouped categories only. Happy scheduling!

Check out the Recap Report in MusicMaster

2010-07-14T17:24:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Here is a handy daily "report card" for your MusicMaster database.

The Recap Report is a graphic display of how the program did in relation to the rules that you have set up.

There are three types of Recap Reports you can view: Rule Stats, Goal Stats and Category Stats.

Here is a brief description of each:

-Rule Stats

This display gives you detailed information on each rule that was tested.

-Goal Stats

This report is activated when you use Optimum Goal Scheduling. You can sort by any of the column headers that you have.

When using Optimum Goals Scheduling, you’ll see one entry for each category where that Goal is used.

-Category Stats

This graph gives you information on how far into the search depth the scheduler had to go to find the songs it scheduled

There are other options to view theThinking file, Print the Recap Report, or Copy it to a clip board or Word document (as an example).

You can view this report immediately after a scheduling run via DATASET-SCHEDULE-RECAP REPORT. You can also make this report open each time following an Automatic Scheduling run by selecting RUN RECAP REPORT AFTER SCHEDULING on the OPTIONS tab of the Automatic Scheduler.

User List

2010-07-13T12:54:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Want to know who is logged into your database? Go to Tools/User
List. This will indicate every open connection to the database. You
may be surprised--sometimes people login and forget to logout, and
this will prevent you from making a successful backup!

Testing Over Multiple Databases

2010-07-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

By Drew Bennett

Let's say you work for a cluster of radio stations that focus on similar formats. For instance, you might have an oldies station and a classic rock station in the same building and those two stations might share a few songs or artists between them. MusicMaster offers a feature that allows you to test over multiple databases, ensuring that you don't play the same song or even the same artists on both stations at once. Cool! Here's how to set it up:

You will need to build a file called an INI file. INI files are basically configuration files that are simple text files with a basic structure to them. To write an INI file, open Microsoft's Notepad on your computer.

With Notepad open, you will need to type in the information the INI file needs to have for MusicMaster to test across multiple data.

The first thing you will need in this INI file is a line that reads:

[MultiStation]

That tells MusicMaster that you are going to be testing over multiple databases. Next, you will need to reference the path to the databases, the field number you want to use to match songs, e.g. 102 for the Title field, the separation you want to see between the databases and the names of the databases. When you are done filling in this information, your file might look like this:

[MultiStation]

DefaultPath=C:\MMWin

DefaultField=105

NonMusic=0

SepBack=10

SepAhead=10

SepInfo=60

Refresh=300

DB1=OldiesData

DB2=RockData

You can find more information on each of these lines of information in the MusicMaster Help Section by choosing Help, Technical Reference, INI files, Database.INI

Once you have written the INI file, you need to save it. If your database is called ROCKDATA.MMD, then your INI file needs to be named ROCKDATA.INI. Place the INI file in the same location as your database file.

Now, open MusicMaster and let's test it out! Head to the Schedule Editor and locate the Results Bar. Right click anywhere on the Results Bar and choose Customize. When the Customize Results Panel pops up, locate Multi Station Separation on the left side of the screen and, using the single arrow pointing to the right, move it over to the right side of the screen making it a part of your Results Bar in the Schedule Editor. Now hit OK and you should see the new box in your Results Bar. Now, when you highlight a song, MusicMaster will tell you if that song or artist has also been scheduled in another database allowing you to make adjustments.

If you need help setting this file up for your cluster of stations, contact your Music Scheduling Consultant at MusicMaster. We will be glad to assist you in testing songs over multiple stations. Happy scheduling!

How to create one unpredictable clock!

2010-07-12T06:51:00.001-07:00

Can you program randomly - with control, using only one clock in your assignment grid? Yes! Using MusicMaster's various clock elements - like Migrating & Proportional positions or using "Format Lists", you can control category usage and turnovers in addition to having a clock that is not predictable! Take a look at the possibilities available to you. Search the Help section, or call your Music Scheduling Consultant for guidance.

Marianne Burkett

In-software Tutorials

2010-07-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

by Drew Bennett

Did you know that MusicMaster tackles some of the most common issues and questions you might have right there in the software? What if you want to schedule an A to Z weekend or a Top 500 Countdown? How can you evaluate your own data? How do you make a Weekly Spins Report in the History Browser? These and other issues are tackled in the Help Section of the software under Contents, Tutorials. In there you can find step by step setup instructions for some of the most common questions about music scheduling.

Show Balloon Tips

2010-07-08T06:28:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

When you are in Library Maintenance, click the third icon from the
right "Show Balloon Tips". This comes in handy when looking at
coding in your library. For example, when Show Balloon Tips is
activated, you are able to hover on your sound code field for a given
song, and a balloon will appear that details what each code assigned
to that song means. For example, instead of just seeing BP in the
field, the balloon will indicate B=Ballad and P=Pop--or whatever
codes are assigned. In a multi-keyword field such as Artist
Keywords, instead of seeing only the primary/first keyword assigned,
when hovering your mouse on the field the balloon will display all
the Artist Keywords assigned to the song. For example, instead of
only seeing the primary keyword of BEATLES, the balloon will contain
all the keywords assigned to that song: LENNON, McCARTNEY, HARRISON, and STARR.

Clock Assignment Grid Tips

2010-07-07T10:09:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Here a a few quick tips on the Clock Format Assignment Grid.

To see which hours a particular clock is active, either click on one instance of the clock on your grid (remember the one with the YELLOW clock is the one that is currently active and MusicMaster is using to Schedule with...) OR use the drop list in the upper left hand corner to select a clock from the list. The hours that the clock you have selected are active will be highlighted in the lighter color on the grid.

To change a clock designation for a particular hour, you can simply type the clock code into the hour(s) space (if you know it) or again, select it from the drop down list.

You can copy/paste and highliight and add/change to multiple hous in the grid (a huge time saver if you are creating a pattern on alternate days, for example)...

The replace clock utility (see the magnifying glass with the two red arrows at the top) is a quick way to swap out all instances of a particular clock across the entire grid with another clock of your choice.

Plan Early for Holiday Programming!

2010-07-06T06:54:00.001-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

It's never too early to start planning for Fall/Winter programming. For those of you unfamiliar with the Format scheduler, I'd encourage you to investigate! Click on your clock icon and look to the lower left corner of the screen. Click on "Format Scheduler" and right click on any day you see on the calendar. There you will see your options. You can Automatically Schedule your Assignment Grids or Specific Clocks within a Grid. Save and you're all set!

4.0(SR-19)

2010-07-02T06:22:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

A quick note for users of MusicMaster 4.0...the latest service
release, SR-19, was released earlier this week. You can retrieve
this latest update by clicking on Check for Updates in the Help menu
within the program. The full installer file is also available in the
customer support center at www.mmwin.com. Please remember when
installing the program or its updates that you must have full
administrative rights on your computer. It may be wise to consult
with your IT staff if you are unsure of your privileges on your computer.

Schedule Session Styles

2010-07-01T06:39:00.001-07:00

by Drew Bennett

Next time you schedule, take a look at a section of the Automatic Scheduler that you may not have noticed. In the Options tab you will find Scheduling Session Style. Here, you can change how the scheduling session will be conducted. Schedule Entire Session schedules the category throughout the days selected. Schedule Each Day schedules each day and then moves to the next days selected to schedule. Schedule Each Level schedules the session based on the levels given in Schedule Properties. Schedule Each Hour schedules each individual hour in succession. Those four different methods can change the way your log looks when you schedule a day. Experiment with each of them to find your favorite way to schedule a log.

Gold Recycling

2010-06-30T06:23:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Gold Recycling can be used to help expand the exposure of a given
category. Use it on any category you wish, but for best results,
consider only those with a natural turnover greater than 2
days. Gold Recycling "picks up" songs that played during one time
frame and "drops them off" during another. Access it via
Dataset/Schedule/Gold Recycle. You'll set it up category by category.

Here's a training video from the client support center at
www.mmwin.com that describes how to implement Gold Recycling...
http://www.mmwin.com/videos/How%20to%20Set%20up%20Gold%20Recycle.html

Clone Your Database and Make Adjustments Safely

2010-06-29T06:37:00.001-07:00

If you're in need of a database overhaul, format adjustment or major clock adjustment - you may want to consider cloning your database! Open MusicMaster to your Datafile Manager - highlight the database you'd like to copy and click on "Clone". Give your database a new name and then make all your adjustments in the clone. When you're finished and satisfied with the end result - just start using the clone and retire the original database!

Marianne Burkett

Questions about field types in MusicMaster

2010-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

From time to time, we get calls about the fields that a client sees in their MusicMaster database. One of the great things about MusicMaster Windows is that every database can be customized when you are gettting started, and as your needs evolve. Did you know that you can rename fields to better match your descriptive needs (under DATASET-LIBRARY-FIELDS)? Your Music Scheduling Consultant can help you identify field types you can re purpose for other needs, assist you with understanding what the appropriate type of data that should be entered in each field type is, show you how to "un hide" hidden fields, even work with you to determine if fields may need to be added to your existing database. It is a straight forward process, that can be handled with an exchange of backups.

We are always happy to discuss questions or "bounce ideas back and forth" with you on how best to utilize MusicMaster Windows to its fullest extent!

Using the MusicMaster "Memo" field.

2010-06-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

If you have a "Memo" field type in your database, consider it's uses. You can import or type in an unlimited number of characters - so whether you want to import promo/psa copy or import lyrics from a notepad or asc type document, the memo field can accommodate. You can check your field map to see if a Memo field is available in your database. Dataset/Library/Fields If you've got the field, once populated it can also be added to your paper log. ~Marianne Burkett

Introduction to the Mass Changer utility in MusicMaster Windows

2010-06-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

If you haven't had the opportunity (or the need) to utilize the mass changer, here is a quick overview. The Mass Changer utility is available in Library Maintenance by right clicking on the header row in the QuickEditor or in the field column of the Song Card. If the field does not allow mass changes, the option will not appear. These fields include:

Add Date, Category, Category Plays, Dayparting, Library Plays, Non-Music, Packet, Performance, and Song ID.

The Mass Changer will default to the field you clicked on originally, but you will be able to select any available field by selecting the Target Field.

When you have selected a field to change, you can select from the available mass change Operations. The type of operations available will change depending upon whether you are in a keyword, attribute or text field.

Options available to you (again depending on field type) include:

Convert to UPPER, lower, mixed case case.
Add, remove and assign specific keyword.
Clear field contents.
Extract sub-string and delimited sub-strings.
Assign sequential values.
Search and Replace

Plus several more!

There is also a separate mass changer available for keywords.

Please remember to back up your data before you utilize this tool, and don't hesitate to contact us if we can assist in advising on the best option for your project.

Tiling Windows

2010-06-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Did you know you can open multiple screens within your database at
the same time, and then tile them vertically or horizontally? For
example, open one of your categories. Leave it open, now open the
schedule editor. Now click on Window and Tile Vertical...the two
screens are now next to one another. You can click the grey pointer
for an item in the library, then drag it across to your schedule
editor and drop the song into the log! This can come in handy when
you're scheduling a countdown show or other feature.

Timing Out

2010-06-22T07:47:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

Did you know that choosing Ctrl-C on an element and then scrolling down and choosing Ctrl-C on another element shows you the amount of time between the two? It’s a great little tool to know when you need to time out pieces of the log or segments ramping up to a specific element or event.

Time to Add Some Color

2010-06-21T11:12:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

You schedule music a lot. Otherwise, you wouldn't be using such a powerful piece of software, right? So, it stands to reason you would want to customize the software any way you can to make life easier or maybe just to brighten things up a bit and make time spent scheduling music that much more enjoyable. In the old days, you were forced to go with a predetermined color scheme or worse, no color scheme at all. With MusicMaster for Windows, you are not forced to use a set group of colors or color schemes in the software. You really can set custom colors and layouts in various sections of the software to make things more appealing to you.

Categories is a great place to start when you are building a database and setting category colors can help organize your categories better. To change the color of a category listed in the info bar, right click on the category and choose, Properties. You can also reach category properties from the main menu by choosing Dataset, Library, Categories and then double clicking a category. When you reach the category properties screen you will notice the word, "Sample," at the bottom of the screen. Double clicking that opens a color grid and this is where you can set the Foreground color (text) and the Background color of the category.

You can even change the way your songs look within your categories and within the library maintenance screen. In library maintenance, choose the "Show/Hide Fields" icon (eighth icon from the right.) The Edit Grid Layout screen appears and this is where you can change the foreground and background color of the song cards in a category. Songs in music categories can have different colors applied than songs in non-music categories. Here, you can also change the color or songs that you have marked within the database.

Editing the grid layout can also be done in the Schedule Editor. In the Schedule Editor, the Modify Editor Layout is the 5th icon from the right. When you click it, the Edit Grid Layout screen appears. On the right side of this screen you can change the colors for anything from Hour Markers in the log, to Lognotes, or even Stopsets. The color of Unscheduled Positions can also be changed here as well as how music and non-music looks within the Schedule Editor. Note: When creating or modifying layouts in either Library Maintenance or the Schedule Editor, don't forget to save your layout so you can come back to it later.

Highlight Filters in the Schedule Editor are a great way to add a little color to songs that meet a certain criteria defined by you. The 12th icon from the left in the Schedule Editor is called Highlight Filters. Here, you can set a value to a filter using the dropdown boxes in the Highlight Filters screen. You can also set a color to be displayed in the Schedule Editor when that criterion is met. Use the Modify Editor Layout icon to add these Highlight Filters to the Schedule Editor layout.

From the main menu, head to Tools, Options, Display Colors. Here, you can customize the colors of Clocks, History, Library and Schedule element types. For instance, changing the color of your weekends in the History Graph can help you to more easily identify weekend spins when you are editing a day. You might also want to change the color of element types in the pie chart tab of the Clock Editor.

You can also change the color of the Main Window Wallpaper you see when you open the software. To do that, choose Tools, Options, Dataset Identification. Find the Main Windows Wallpaper section and change the color that displays when you open the software.

Changing the colors around in various sections of the software can really be helpful when you use it as much as you do. It can be a difference maker in many cases so take the time to find your custom color settings in MusicMaster. It makes for happier scheduling and a better music log!

Custom Colors Everywhere...

2010-06-21T06:32:00.001-07:00

If you like controlling the color of your categories in MMwin, you'll really like controlling the color of various elements as well! Just go to Tools/Options and Display Colors! You can add colors to your history graph and clock elements.

Copying Clocks

2010-06-18T06:26:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

When you need to make a copy of a clock, simply go to Dataset/Clocks/Format Clocks. Highlight the clock you wish to copy, then click the Copy button on the right. Now you'll assign a new clock code and description to the copy. Don't know what code is available? Just type "??" and press Enter--MusicMaster will assign a code for you.

The trick here is to highlight the clock to be copied. The check box to the left of each clock is used for mass printing, deleting, and exporting. You'll notice that if you check one clock and then click Copy, MusicMaster will do so for whatever clock is highlighted--generally that's the first clock in your list.

QuickView

2010-06-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Dataset/Schedule/QuickView. Use this to see where you have
unscheduled positions lingering in your logs. Green means no
unscheduled items, yellow with a number indicates how many
unscheduled items occur in that hour. Double-click on it, and
MusicMaster takes you to that hour in your schedule editor so you can
edit, fill, or delete that position. There's also a shortcut for
Schedule QuickView in the Schedule Editor--it's 7 from the right
between Load Editor Layout and Vicinity Viewer.

There's Logic in There Somewhere!

2010-06-16T06:41:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

You can take a look at every decision MusicMaster made when it scheduled your last session. It’s called the Thinking Process and to turn it on, you will head to Dataset, Scheduler, Automatic Scheduler, Options and choose “Save Thinking Process to Disk.” Once you’ve scheduled your session, find the Thinking Process button in the Recap Report by choosing Dataset, Schedule, Recap Report. You can also find Thinking_Process.txt in the directory with your database file. Inside, you will see a log of every decision MusicMaster made when it scheduled the last session. It’s a great way to identify problems during the scheduling session. Maybe you have several unscheduled positions but no clue as to why they happened. The Thinking Process will show you what rules passed and failed for that position making it much easier to identify a problem. Happy scheduling!

LogNote Management

2010-06-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Need to make a change across all clocks to the text of a specific lognote? Fastest way to do this is in DATASET-CLOCKS-LOGNOTE TEXT. If you make a change to the text in this window, it will be updated once saved. Sidenote...If you instead want to make an alteration to an existing lognote in just ONE clock, edit that lognote in the clock itself. Then, once you revisit the LogNote editor, you will see that note has been added to the lognote list, along with the original.

You also have the option here to add or delete specific lognotes completely, (Copy/Paste CTRL-C, CTRL-V does work here) as well as print the entire list if you wish.

A handy "housekeeping" option here is PURGE, which will delete any lognote(s) that are not currently part of ANY clock. This cannot be reversed once you run this, so it is always a wise idea to make a backup FIRST.

Who are your Core Artists?

2010-06-14T07:58:00.001-07:00

I had a client email the question this morning: Is there a Core Artist report in MusicMaster for Windows? Depending on your perspective, there are a few ways to generate that report with a few simple clicks.

If you'd like to have the report depend on frequency of plays - use the History Browser's Artist rank and spins report (Dataset/Analysis/History Browser). If you'd like the report to depend on number of Titles each artist has - use your Library Analysis report on the artist field. Just bring up your Active Music Categories group and right click on the artist field and select "Library Analysis". This will give you an instant report from top to bottom of the Artists with the most to least songs.

Are you running the latest version of MusicMaster Windows? Let's check!

2010-06-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

If it's been awhile since you've started working with MusicMaster or installed the application on your computer, its a good idea to check from time to time and verify you are running the latest release version. The MusicMaster email newsletter will announce when a new service release is avaialable, but you can check for the latest version anytime in the application by clicking HELP-CHECK FOR UPDATE. Click through the NEXT menu in the Software Upgrade Wizard window to see if there is a new version that you can download and install. You'll need to remember to close the MusicMaster application completely after the download of the update is finished before running the update. If the program indicates you'll need to restart your machine for the changes to take effect, please do that at your earliest convenience. Also make sure to update all other machines in your facility to this version as soon as possible.

If you want to learn about what's new in the version you just updated to, check HELP-RELEASE NOTES. Past the system requirements section, you'll be able to read everything that is included in this new service release. As always if you have any questions about a feature or functionality in the update, or you encounter an issue along the way, reach out to us for help!

Search Bar

2010-06-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Here's a quick tip for an easy way to search your database. Go to View/Search Bar and make sure it is checked. Via the Search Bar you can do a "contains any of" query in the Primary and Secondary fields of the data, without having to open a new query box.

For example: type LOVE in the search bar and press Enter to receive a list of all songs with LOVE in the Primary or Secondary fields of the data (typically Title and Artist, this can be set under Dataset/Library/Fields. For more info, search for Primary Field in the online Help). You'll get titles such as "Love Walks In", "Looking for a New Love", "I Knew I Loved You", and artists including Loverboy, G. Love and Special Sauce, and Dana Glover.

Digging For Song Histories.

2010-06-08T10:37:00.001-07:00

Thank you to client Jeff Jarnigan for this blog quickie. If you pull up the history graph and don't see a complete accounting for the song histories you're looking at - use the "Shovel" icon on the top of the history graph... it will "dig up" more histories if they exist! ~ Marianne Burkett

No Repeat

2010-06-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Many radio stations offer a “No Repeat Workday”. And when they do, they rely on MusicMaster to make sure this happens without any glitches. Here’s how to set up No Repeat in MusicMaster.

First you’ll open your Rule Tree (Dataset/Rule Tree, or click the lightning bolt icon). No Repeat is a “Song/History Rule” so click the + next to that folder under Available Rule Types. No Repeat is the second option there. You can drag that rule into the appropriate Unbreakable folder on the left side of the tree. Note: You could make it breakable, but that would allow MusicMaster to violate the rule, thus not guaranteeing no song will repeat.

Once you’ve dropped the rule into position the Rule Properties box will open. This is where you establish the parameters of this rule. First, you’ll indicate a description. This is where you’ll name the rule, for example “Monday”.

The Time Restriction box is where you indicate the hours this no repeat zone applies. Note: place an X in the hours where this no repeat zone applies. Once that’s established, click the “Save as new Restriction” icon, name it accordingly and click OK. A Monday 9-5 No Repeat will look like this…

Click Apply and then OK on the No Repeat rule properties when finished.

You will want a unique No Repeat rule for each no repeat zone. So if you require a no repeat workday Monday through Friday, you’ll need to turn on the rule 5 times—once for each day—and set the time restrictions accordingly.

There are many applications for No Repeat. You could use No Repeat for a featured program such as “Get the Led Out” where at 9pm each day you play a block of songs by Led Zeppelin. You want to make sure not to repeat any song within the week, so you could set up your No Repeat Time Restriction like this…

You can open an hour into halves or quarters by right-clicking on that hour in the Time Restriction box and clicking on Hour Mode. In this example, we have a no repeat zone from 9:00-9:30pm every day of the week.

Another application might be protecting drive times so that songs that played in morning drive today will not play in afternoon drive today or tomorrow’s morning drive. If today is Monday, here is what that time restriction would look like…

Just remember you’d want to set up a different no repeat rule for each zone. So for weekday drive protection you would need to activate that rule 10 times—one for each day’s morning and another for each day’s afternoon drive.

These are just a few of the ways No Repeat can be put to work for you. Of course if you have any questions on setting up No Repeat, you can refer to the Help section of MusicMaster or contact your Music Scheduling Consultant.

Trouble Shooting via the History Browser

2010-06-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

by Marianne Burkett

From time to time, most people go to their Primary Care Doctor for a physical exam, take the car in for servicing or have their home HVAC inspected – just to be sure there isn’t a problem lurking. In the same vein, it’s also wise to take a critical look at your MusicMaster database every so often.

There are a few important features in the software that can identify issues. Today, I’m going to discuss troubleshooting via The History Browser.

(Dataset/Analysis/History Browser)

Select all of your active categories and a time period wide enough to where you believe every song should have aired at least 1x. Your display tab should be setup in Mode “Individual Songs and should also include “Include Zero Plays”.

The reason you’d want to include Zero Plays in the report, is that there may be something in your rules stopping these songs from playing.

There might be many reasons a song did not play, all based upon your rules. The trick is for you to figure out what rule was the cause. Like the late Rosanna Rosanna Danna used to say – “If it’s not one thing, it’s another…but it’s always something!”

Let’s say you have Hour Rotation rules in your database. If you have a “Play Offset Window” or “Shift Rotation” rule, do you have “Max Days” engaged? Inside each specific rule are properties – so whenever you see a “Max Days” option, it’s best to select a time frame so the rule will essentially reset after that period of time. A good example is a simple Play Offset Window. If you play Silent Night by Stevie Nicks at 12 Noon on Christmas day, a play offset rule without “Max Days” set, will stop the song from playing on Christmas day next year.

Perhaps coding in your data is an issue. You can add Extra Fields to your History Browser display so you can see the coding on each song.

Another “Zero Play” red flag is Artist Separation time for a specific artist. Let’s take an artist like “Daughtry”, who may have a song in your Hot Currents, New Current, Recurrent and Power Library categories. If you have say 5 Hot Currents – playing 1x per hour, Daughtry is going to play every 5 hours. Then if you have Daughtry in New Current, and that category is also fairly small – Daughtry needs to lay down somewhere between that 5 hour period he’s turning over in Hot Current. Then, we’re looking at the Recurrent and Library cuts for Daughtry. The time between Daughtry plays becomes less and less with each pass in the scheduler. In summation, Daughtry in the Power Library category may never have the opportunity to play because of his Artist Separation…thus giving you a Zero Play. So, if you have some artists that are getting stuck because they are in Multiple Categories, you may want to consider either manually changing their Individual Artist Keyword separation times, (Dataset/Library/Keywords) or try the Keyword Separation Wizard. (Dataset/Library/Keywords/Tools/Separation Wizard). The wizard will give you recommendations you can either accept or not. It’s up to you!

No matter why a song is consistently failing – there is always a reason. As the composition of your library changes, so should your rules. Call up your Active Library and right click on any field and call up the Library Analysis on the field:

Do the rules fit the percentages? If they don’t – you’ll likely run into spin inconsistencies. Running a few simple reports in MusicMaster for Windows can identify spin problems.

As always, if you have a problem that is nagging you, contact your personal Music Scheduling Consultant.

New Rules Rule!

2010-06-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

by Drew Bennett - Music Scheduling Consultant

Today, I want to let you in on a new addition to the MusicMaster for Windows Rule Tree. It’s called, Shift Pattern Rotation and it may change the way you schedule your bigger categories. Why? Because it’s so cool!

In your Rule Tree, look at the Available Rules folders on the right side of the screen and locate the Shift Pattern Rotation rule inside the Hour Rotation Rules folder under Song/History Rules. (Hint: It’s the second rule from the bottom.)

Let’s decide if the Shift Pattern Rotation rule is right for you by taking a look at the properties of the rule to find out what it does. To see the properties of a rule, pull it over to a Breakable or Unbreakable folder in your Rule Tree. In this case, I want to apply this rule to my B Category and I want the rule to be breakable so I am adding it to my Breakable 1 folder.

When the properties box pops up, you can see how we are able to set up the rule. The Shift Pattern Rotation rule tests songs to make sure they schedule within the shift pattern that you define within the rule. To set the pattern you want your songs to follow, click on the numbered boxes in the rule. As you click the boxes, they will move to the Shift Pattern line. The order they in which they appear are in the order that will be used to move the songs through your shifts. Basically, you are restricting the songs to only play in the shift that follows the last shift they played in within this pattern. Cool, huh!

This is how I set up my rule. I only have 8 shifts defined in my Shift Editor so I don’t need to include the 9^th box in my pattern.

Don’t forget to set your shifts in the Shift Editor. You can find the Shift Editor by choosing the Shift Editor button from within the rule properties. You can also find Shift Editor by going to Dataset, Schedule, Shift Editor or through the Related button in the Rule Tree.

See? I have 8 shifts defined in the Shift Editor and that is why I used 8 boxes in my Shift Pattern rule. Keep in mind, however, that you do not necessarily have to use all of your shifts in the rule. For instance, if you don’t want to consider Overnights when creating the pattern in the rule, leave out the shift number that corresponds with your Overnight shift. Also, any play that occurs in a blank shift will not be counted against the test as it is configured.

Now, you may be saying to yourself, ‘What about dayparted songs within the category?’ Dayparted songs are handled a bit differently when it comes to the Shift Pattern Rotation rule and it’s because of their limited ability to rotate. When MusicMaster comes to a dayparted song that must be tested for Shift Rotation, it will determine the number of shifts that song is allowed to play in. If that number is one or zero, the rule is disabled for this song, otherwise, the song would have no opportunity to play. If the number of shifts the song can play in is less than or equal to the number of plays requested in the rule properties, then the actual number of plays in other shifts required for that song will be the maximum number possible minus one.

For control on how your songs schedule through your shifts, consider using the Shift Pattern Rotation rule on your larger Gold categories. It’s a great way to space your plays evenly throughout your shifts.

Setting Up MusicMaster On A New Machine

2010-06-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

by Aaron Taylor

So, you just received some great news! Your IT manager or Engineer just emailed that you’re (finally) getting that long promised new computer for the office. It’s going to be a week or so before he has it all configured and ready to go, but among all the computer programs you are starting to make a mental note of that need to be loaded and configured on the new machine is (of course) MusicMaster for Windows.

I will outline the typical steps that we would recommend you follow when planning to migrate the software and your database(s) to a new machine. If you already know the specifications on the machine you will be getting (or if your IT person has just come to you and asked “what does your new computer need to be able to run MusicMaster Windows” here are some resources to check to verify that this shiny new machine coming your way meets (and will likely exceed) the specifications to run the application.

First, you can check the HELP-RELEASE NOTES section on your currently installed MusicMaster to find out what operating systems that the application “natively” supports, as well as the major Microsoft system components that are needed for the program to run correctly. If you do not see your OS represented or you have other questions about these basic specs, please contact your Music Scheduling Consultant (MSC) to discuss your circumstances.

On the MusicMaster website you can get the basic recommendations for the hardware specs we suggest at http://www.mmwin.com/software/technical.php.

For a more in depth rundown, visit the Support section of the MusicMaster website, you can also download (or direct your IT person to download) our ”MusicMaster IT Guide” PDF which can be found in the MusicMaster/Windows-User Guides section. Beginning on page 2 of the guide you will find minimum as well as optimal recommendations for the computer hardware itself, your internet connection, the operating system, and additional requirements.

Special note: If you’ve not visited the support section of the MusicMaster website before, you will first need to create a username and password for yourself. You can do this by going to SUPPORT-CUSTOMER LOGIN and selecting the hyperlink under the USERNAME/PASSWORD boxes.

Once you have filled out the form that appears and have submitted it, you will receive a confirmation e-mail once your application has been accepted. After that point, feel free to visit the support site whenever needed.

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. Make certain that no other users are in the database(s) you are backing before you run this process. This will additionally have the benefit of speeding up your database.

Back up your data (TOOLS-BACKUP.) Look for any .def files or special .ini files we’ve created for your specific databases. Copy the zip file (typically something in the format Call letters-FM.ZIP). 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.

If your database(s) reside on your office network (instead of the default C:\mmwin directory) you can skip this step, although it may be a good idea to verify that this is in fact the case with your IT support staff.

Download the latest version of the application from the support site once you’ve logged on to our web site (SUPPORT-CUSTOMER LOGIN.) Once you are logged on, go to MusicMaster/Windows-Downloads,

and decide where you’d like to download the file to on your computer.

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.

If your database(s) reside on your office network, the default desktop shortcut to the application will need to be modified slightly to launch the application locally then source the data from your network. If this is the way the old machine was set, you can simply copy the target line for the shortcut in the old machine to the old machine, or consult with your IT staff or your MusicMaster MSC for assistance with proper setup.

Next, uznzip/extract your database(s) onto the new machine (typically) into the C:\mmwin directory. If your data is on your network, you’ll skip this step.

After you’ve installed MusicMaster on the new machine (and restarted if so advised) we’d suggest you click on HELP-SYSTEM INFORMATION and review the major Microsoft component list. If you see a view similar to the one shown below (note the all green smiley faces)…

you should be “good to go” with MusicMaster on your new machine…Enjoy!

If you see any yellow or red faces on this list, drop a call or an email to your MSC for assistance in identifying what the next steps are to getting your machine up to spec for running the application.

If you have special circumstances surrounding this new machine upgrade (say perhaps it is a Mac, or you are still running an older version of MusicMaster) you will want to contact your Music Scheduling Consultant as soon as possible to discuss the best steps to migrating the application and your database(s) to your “spiffy” new machine.

Bells and Whistles, Part 1

2010-06-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

by Drew Bennett

There are lots of neat little bells and whistles inside MusicMaster and I want to cover one that I found to be especially handy once I set it up in my first MusicMaster for Windows database. I’ve always liked adding trivia to my songs. Call me old school, but I’ll include a birthday, a new tour or new CD information so my jocks know what’s going on. If your jocks don’t do their own show prep, MusicMaster makes it really easy to do it for them and it looks great when you show off your data to someone.

Today, I’m going to walk you through setting up your songs to display the band’s website when your cursor has the band selected in Library Maintenance and/or the Schedule Editor. It’s like having a personal assistant pull up artist information on the fly and precisely when you need it. When we’re done, it should look something like this:

The first thing you want to do is decide which field you’re going to use to hold the band’s web address. To make a choice, choose Dataset, Library, Fields.

In the example above, I’ve selected a field I called URL. It is a text field and the field length is 255. That will be plenty of space for web addresses. When choosing a field in the Database Field Editor, make sure you choose a Text field. If the length of the field is over, say, 100 characters, that should be plenty of space to hold a web address. If you find a Text field that you do not use, and the length of the field is long enough to hold your web addresses, you can rename that field to something like URL or Web Address and begin using it for the purposes of this tutorial. Once you find a field to use, hit OK. If you do not find a Text field that has a length to accommodate web addresses, consult your Music Scheduling Consultant to see about having a field added to your database.

Next, let’s set up MusicMaster to display a web browser inside the software. To do this, go to Tools, Options, External Database Links.

I use Firefox as a web browser so in the External Link Path, I typed in the path to firefox.exe, which is the executable file that Firefox uses when it launches a web browser for me. You can add any path in that links to the executable file for your favorite browser. Below that field you will see another field for Valid File Types. This field can be left alone or you can add in file types that can be played within your browser. Finally, you will use the dropdown box at the bottom of this screen to tell MusicMaster where you will be putting the web address for each artist in your database. You can see in my example that I’ve chosen URL as my Auto Link Field. Click Apply and OK.

Now, you will head to your first Song Card and bring your new web address field into your layout. You’ll type the artist’s web address into your new web address field.

Now it’s time to show it off. At the top of the software, choose View, Web Browser. If you’ve set everything up correctly, you should see your artist’s web page in MusicMaster’s browser window. Once you have web pages associated with all of the songs in your database, you can find artist information instantly when you’re maintaining the library or scheduling a day’s worth of music. Not only that, it looks really sharp when you’re showing off your data to the rest of the programming department or your consultant. All of a sudden, you have an assistant that pulls up artist information based on the web address you have in the song card. To enter that information into Trivia, click on the Trivia icon. (Hint: It looks like a folder with paperclip on top of it.) Finding and entering trivia and artist information was never easier.

Good luck with it! If you have any questions about how to set up this or anything else in MusicMaster for Windows, please don’t hesitate to call your assigned Music Scheduling Consultant. Happy Scheduling!

Schedule Editor Layout Secrets

2010-06-07T06:34:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

Inside the Modify Editor Layout icon of the Schedule Editor, you will see a section on the right hand side where the colors of elements can be changed. Double click the sample for Songs:Music here and change the Foreground Color AND the Background Color to white. Click OK again to get out of the editor. Now any song element in the Schedule Editor will be filled with the color of the category it resides in.

Tiling Windows

2010-06-04T11:54:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

If you have two or more sections of MusicMaster open, you can tile them on your screen and see them all at once. In the menu at the top of the software, choose Window, Tile Horizontal or Tile Vertical. MusicMaster will arrange the sections of the software in vertical or horizontal tiles on your screen. Explore all the drag and drop features you can perform from section to section. Happy scheduling!

Time to clean up your Keywords!

2010-06-03T06:45:00.001-07:00

If you are getting some undesirable results in artist separation and are wondering why, it could be something as simple as misspelled artist keywords! Dataset/Library/Keywords will take you to the keyword editor. Use your pulldown menu for Artist Keywords and start looking through them. Do you have a keyword that is Last Name, First and First Last, or with a missing hyphen? Any minor difference in the keywords will be looked at by the Automatic Scheduler as a different artist. Once you fix your keywords in the Keyword Editor, don't leave there yet...be sure to go to Tools and remove unused keywords. ~ Marianne Burkett

Day Offset vs Sliding Day Offset Windows

2010-06-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Often times we are asked which Hour Rotation rule to use, and many times we end up explaining the differences between “Day Offset Window” and “Sliding Day Offset Window”. Here’s the scoop…

Day Offset Window is used to protect X number of broadcast hours for Y number of days on either side of a play being tested. The most basic setting here is “Days=1/Window Size=1 Hour”. This protects a song from being played two days in a row in the same broadcast hour.

Sliding Day Offset Window with a setting of “Days=1/Window Size=1:00” would protect a song from being played two days in a row while sliding that 1:00 over the time being tested, splitting it in half so as to check +/- 30 minutes on either side of the play being tested.

Let’s assume we’re testing a play at 9:05am on Wednesday. Day Offset Window is in place with that “Days=1/Window Size=1 Hour” setting. This would look at the 9am hour on Tuesday (one day back) and Thursday (one day ahead), and if the song played anywhere within the 9am broadcast hour on either day, it fails the rule. Note: if the song played at 8:55am on Tuesday, the 9:05am Wednesday play would pass this rule as it is in a different broadcast hour.

Now if we have that same play at 9:05am on Wednesday, but this time we have a Sliding Day Offset Window in place with a setting of “Days=1/Window Size=1:00”, MusicMaster will look at Tuesday (-1 day) and Thursday (+1 day), and if that song played within 30 minutes either side of 9:05 (8:35am-9:35am) on either day, it would fail the rule. Note: if the song played at 8:55am on Tuesday, the 9:05am Wednesday play would fail this rule as it is within the +/- 30 minute window.

Let’s take it a step further. We’re still looking at that 9:05am play on Wednesday. This time our Day Offset Window is set to” Days=1/Window Size=3 Hours”. MusicMaster will look at Tuesday and Thursday in the 8am, 9am, and 10am hours (same hour plus the hour on either side for a total of 3 hours) and if the song played within those hours on either day, it would fail the rule.

But if we used a Sliding Day Offset Window set to “Days=1/Window Size=3:00”, MusicMaster will effectively slide that time frame centering it on the play being tested with an equal amount of time on either side. This would mean +/- 1:30 on either side of 9:05am, or 7:35-10:35am.

The Sliding Day Offset Window can be more precise than the Day Offset Window, because Sliding windows can be adjusted to the minute. For example, a setting of “Days=2/Window Size=1:44” will protect +/- 52 minutes on either side of the play being tested for 2 days back and ahead.

In both Day Offset and Sliding Day Offset windows you can check the “Test Past days only” box on the rule properties window to do just that. Then MusicMaster would only look at past play history and not test against future spins.

Using a combination of Hour Rotation rules including Day Offset and Sliding Day Offset Windows can help maximize a song’s day-to-day separation and exposure.

Running Purge

2010-06-02T07:11:00.001-07:00

By Drew Bennett

Purging your database will re-index the data and put everything back in order. It’s much like the defragmenter on your hard drive. It removes errant characters and puts all of your data back in order. The result is a more efficient and faster database. To purge the data in MusicMaster, choose Tools, Purge. Make sure no one else is in the data when you run purge. It needs to perform that function without multiple connections open. I tell my clients to perform this once a week or when you think about it. Happy scheduling!

How to create a working database from scratch!

2010-06-01T11:40:00.001-07:00

Step by Step guide to creating a working database from scratch

By: Marianne Burkett

Imagine your owner or General Manager walking into your office or the studio telling you “Hey, we’re starting a new format, you’re in charge and we’re launching ASAP.”

Oh boy…your stress level has just risen 150% and you’re wondering …”Where do I start?

The order in which you implement the project is important. The first 3 steps done in the order below will save you a lot of time and frustration.

The first thing you do is acquire a library of music from a reliable source. There are several companies that can provide libraries in a hurry, with a simple internet search. You need the new library ripped into your playout or automation software. When you do so, each cut is assigned an automation number – which is crucial in the early process.

Next, clone your existing MMwin database and strip the clone of its music and non-music. That way, you’re retaining important files like your export to automation design and printed log design.

The new library you’ve acquired can be pulled into MusicMaster using a Library Import utility, or you can copy/paste the new library right into MusicMaster from an Excel spreadsheet. You may need to put a call into your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant for assistance, but both the Library Import and Copy/Paste are relatively simple procedures.

I recommend the next steps be done in this order:

Create Categories
Populate the Categories
Code all the music you decide to use and make sure your Artist Keywords are in place.
Build Clocks. If you’re launching a brand new format – a few starter clocks should suffice. Remember – Rome was not built in a day.
Build the Clock assignment grid and activate it.
Install some basic rules in the Rule Tree to get you started. Click on the Rule Tree Wizard for some basic recommendations and build from there. Run the Scheduler to see the results of the rules you’ve created.
Test your export to automation to make sure the music is accepted into the playout software.

I promise if you follow these steps, the rest is easy. Checking your rotations and turnovers – tweaking the rules etc...

Of course, as with any major undertaking – consult with colleagues – or put a call into your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant with questions you may have. You can also access a world of knowledge within the MusicMaster website by accessing our webinar series or client center. www.mmwin.com

Our job is to help you be successful.

Music Scheduling Consultant - Technical Support

All Category Bypass

2010-06-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Have categories to which you do not wish to apply your All Categories
rules? Bypass them! Right-click the MusicMaster Rule Tree header of
the rule tree itself, select Rule Tree Properties, then check any
category you wish to ignore the All Categories rules.

Or you can click the Properties icon in the Rule Tree (third from
right), then check the categories to bypass.

Click OK, then save your rule tree!

Introduction to the Format Scheduler

2010-05-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

As we roll into this three day holiday weekend, I thought I would give you a brief overview of the Format Scheduler. Check it out at Dataset, Clocks, Format Scheduler.

This option gives you the ability to “override” your active assigned clocks for a pre- determined time frame for a date range, or perhaps for just one hour on a particular day. Just what you need if you would like to have different clocks in place for the holiday Monday coming up (perhaps you have a specialty weekend or count down planned, or simply will be voice tracked Monday) and need to have those clocks in place to export to your automation system.

This functionality also would be perfect if you’d like to introduce variety into your schedule in conjunction with variations in your clocks. For instance, you might have three versions of basically the same clock (positions/elements re-arranged perhaps) . By rotating/scheduling them into different hours of the grid, you could create three different grids, so a specific clock isn’t always heard at a specific time.

Grid rotation might also be used for specialty or holiday programming. You could pre-schedule in advance when these new grids will start and end, then not have to worry about remembering it. How many times have you been getting ready to schedule Christmas programming and forgotten to activate your clocks with the Christmas songs in them?

A couple of other notes on Format Scheduler:

The screen has three sections: Calendar, Grid Rotation and the clocks used on the specific day you are looking at. The active window will be highlighted as you move about the screen.

The calendar will display scheduled dates in red. If you see yellow, this means there are forced clocks somewhere in that day.

The calendar will open to today’s date by default. When you click on a day the clocks currently scheduled will appear to the right in a page format.

The Calendar context menu has several options:

· Remove all Forced Clocks from this date – This will remove any changes you might have made, returning the listing to its original form.

· Assign a Specific Grid to this date – This allows you to assign a grid from those currently available to a specific date. There will be a drop-down listing the grids available.

· Assign a Specific Grid to this week – This allows you to assign a grid from those currently available to a specific week. There will be a drop-down listing the grids available.

I would encourage you to review the entire HELP section in the MusicMaster program on this topic if you are interested in utilizing this functionality, or schedule some time with your personal Music Scheduling consultant if you have questions. Enjoy the weekend!

Check out the MusicMaster Windows Turnover Calculator

2010-05-27T17:26:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Did you know there is a calculator hidden within MusicMaster Windows? This cool utility can be found in the Turnover Analysis section of the software (to get there, click on the two circling blue arrows icon on the toolbar, or by selecting DATASET-ANALYSIS-ANALYSIS). On the lower level of the split analysis screen, you'll spot a row of icons and the calculator icon can be found there. This is the TURNOVER CALCULATOR, and it allows you to play with the number of songs in the category (Slot Count), the number of times you call for it (Avg. Per Hour) and the turnover time (Avg.).

By using the calculate buttons, you can see graphically what the turnover would like with various setting To use this, change one of the three fields shown, and then click on the calculate button you want to view. For instance, if you were setting up a new category and you knew that you wanted a turnover for the category of 29 hours (1d 5:00) and you wanted to play four songs per hour, you would fill in those two pieces of information. You would then click on the Calculate button to the right of Slot Count. MusicMaster would then determine you need 116 songs in the category.

If you are contemplating making clock/category changes, I think this is an invaluable tool to help you make decisions on "what you should do" to achieve your rotation goals.

Scheduling Pass Order...best practices

2010-05-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

You're watching a scheduling session in MMwin and wonder why it's scheduling certain categories first through last.

If you'd like to adjust the order in which your categories schedule - otherwise known as "pass order", simply right click on your "Info Bar" and click on "Schedule Properties". Or, you can go to Dataset/Schedule/Schedule Properties.

Then, put your cursor on the category you'd like to move up or down and drag the Blue Arrow to the place on the list you'd like the category to schedule. Click "OK" and you're done.

Good rule of thumb when scheduling: schedule your smallest categories first and work your way down to the largest category. That gives MusicMaster more songs to test later in the pass order to adhere to the rules you've set up in the Rule Tree.

How to set up category groups

2010-05-25T18:24:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

This is an option under DATASET-LIBRARY-CATEGORIES. You will find the rectangle on the right labeled GROUPS.

The box that appears allows you to select the categories you wish to include in the grouping and name it however you wish.

Groups – This handy feature allows you to create groups of music for quick reference in other parts of the program. We've already created three defaults: all categories, music categories and non-music categories. You might further refine this by create a group that includes only those music categories that you rotate, or by pass or scheduling order if you do certain categories on separate automatic scheduling runs. These groups will appear on the Info Bar for easy access.

Editing a Song While Editing Your Log

2010-05-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

You're editing your log in the Schedule Editor, and realize that one of your songs is mis-coded. You can quickly access the song card from the Schedule Editor by clicking the "Song Card Editor" icon (looks like an index card" or you can press Alt-F3 on your keyboard. Either will open the song card for the active song. Make the change to the song accordingly, cursor to a different field in the card to lock in your changes, and press Escape to exit back to the Schedule Editor.

Note: If you use Alt-F3, press it a second time to toggle to the grid view for that song, and again to go back to the song card.

Speciality weekend programming resources available from MusicMaster

2010-05-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Thinking about or getting ready to do special programming for this upcoming holiday weekend? You may want to check out some of the great resource available to you regarding how to do these with ease in MusicMaster.

In the HELP system of MusicMaster Windows itself, go to:

Help-Tutorials- "A to Z Special" and "Top 500 Countdown"

There is a wealth of excellent material on the MusicMaster website www.mmwin.com in the Support site, check the Windows section.

In our newsletter archive, check the September 2008 edition for an article on A to Z weekends.

In our newsletter archive. check the July 2006 edition for an article on doing a Top 230 countdown (this was created for forth of July 2006, when the U.S was 230 years old).

Also available on the front page of the MusicMaster website, check the link to our archived webinars, there is an excellent one that was recorded on April 8 2009 on the topic of setting up weekend special programming, view it here: http://www.mmwin.com/company/webinar/webinar20090408.wmv

If you still have questions about your specific set up for some upcoming special weekend programming, drop us an email or call if we can help!

Adding numbers to your Countdown list

2010-05-20T07:06:00.001-07:00

Many programmers like to do specials during the course of the summer season, like the top 300 song countdown weekends etc. Some like to print out a list and have the number of the song on the printed list. Before starting any Mass Change exercise, please take a backup. Then create your song list or open an existing song list using the song list editor. Save the list in whichever order you would see the #1 song first on the list. Click on the song list so it's now in Library Maintenance mode. Then go find a vacant Text field in your library. Dataset/Library/Fields. Typically you'll have several text fields that are not in use. Pull that available text field into your view using the Show/Hide Fields Icon. Then, right click on the field name - go to Mass Changer and your Operation is "Assign Sequential Values". Start with the number 1.. MusicMaster will populate that field with the first song number thru the last song number. Now you can print your song list songs, with the number of the song next to it!

Any questions, please call your MusicMaster Scheduling Consultant.

Marianne Burkett

Shortcut Cheat Sheet

2010-05-19T08:10:00.001-07:00

by Drew Bennett

Let’s cheat! Let’s look at the answers! Let’s pass the test with flying colors! If you prefer to use your keyboard to operate certain features of the software, you can print out a cheat sheet to use until you become familiar with the various shortcut keys you’ll use to schedule music and maintain your library. From the Help menu at the top of the software, choose Index. When the Help section pops up and displays the Index, search for Shortcut Keys in the Index search field. MusicMaster will display a list of shortcut keys in the screen on the right. You can print this out and use it for reference until you know them by heart.

Find Floating Windows

2010-05-18T11:28:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

I had a customer call recently because he couldn't find his
toolbar. He went to View, and noted that Toolbar is checked. But he
can't find it anywhere. So what did we do? Click Window - Find
Floating Windows...and that brought his toolbar to the center of his screen.

What happens if the menu of File/View/Dataset/Tools/Window/Help is
missing--how do you Find Floating Windows then? Press Alt-W, then
F. Then your floating windows will appear in the center of your screen.

Changing the order of your categories on the InfoBar

2010-05-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Perhaps you've added new music or non music categories to your library, or there are categories listed in your InfoBar panel you'd like to place in a different order.
Here are two different ways to get to the place that will allow you to do this.

You can right mouse click over the InfoBar list itself and select "Category Editor" from the list that comes up, OR from the menu at the top DATASET-LIBRARY-CATEGORIES.

In either case, left mouse drag the grey square in the left hand corner that corresponds to the category you want to move and simply drag that grey square straight up or down the list. When you have it where you want it, un click the mouse button, repeat as needed for additional categories.

Click OK in the lower right hand corner of the box, or you'll get a confirmation box at the end of this process asking you if you want to save your changes.

Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with your category scheduling order (access that at Dataset-Schedule-Schedule Properties, OR right mouse clicking on the InfoBar and selecting Scheduling Properties)...

Saving Time With the Mass Changer

2010-05-17T06:26:00.001-07:00

by Drew Bennett

Have you ever taken a new job at a radio station and walked in to find the data is a complete mess? I akin it to an

apartment or house that other people have lived in before you...but they never totally moved out and now you're

faced with the uphill battle of making it your own and cleaning up!

One thing that can seem daunting is music cleanup. The idea of changing 2000 songs to show all upper case letters

seems like a nightmare if you tackle it by hand. And if that's the only way you can do it, I would bet you'd say to

yourself, "...not worth it." Well, in MusicMaster, that is a lot easier and this week, I want to make you aware of the Mass Changer in MusicMaster because it can save you more time than you might imagine. First things first; how do you get to the Mass Changer in MusicMaster for Windows? Well, when you look at the library you should see all of the fields for a song that you currently have in your layout. If you right click at the top of the field right on the field name itself, you will see the Mass Changer in the context menu. Clicking on that brings up the

Mass Changer box.

The Mass Changer is actually very simple to use but very powerful in its ability to save time. When the Mass Changer box pops up, you will see two drop down boxes and a Properties section down at the bottom. The first drop down box simply asks what field you want to mass change. The second drop down box displays the kind of change you will make. For this example, let's decide to change all of our Artist names from Upper Case to Mixed Case. Maybe you have a lot of records that were entered into the data in all upper case and then you have several records with mixed case in the library. First, right click on the Artist field name in the data and find Mass Changer in the context menu. Click it to bring up the Mass Changer box. "Artist," will already be filled in for the Target field and you can go right to the operation drop down box. In that box, find "Convert Text To Mixed Case," and choose it. Now, in the Properties section, you can choose to change all songs or just marked songs and you can choose to confirm each change or not. When you hit OK, MusicMaster changes your songs from upper case to mixed case and makes any other adjustments it sees throughout the Artist field data that require a change.

See? What could have taken you hours or maybe days has just taken less than a minute. What a time saver! Not only that, you can peruse the list of changes you can make within the Mass Changer and you will find that the options are endless with all of the things you can do there. Maybe you want to assign a specific keyword to a large list of songs. Maybe you want to assign a specific attribute to a group of songs. You might even need to remove data from a song or clear out a field altogether. All of that can be done with the Mass Changer in MusicMaster. What options you have will change depending on the field you pick.

I encourage you to explore all of the creative ways you can modify your data using this powerfull feature. You will find more time for other things when you use it to manage your MusicMaster database. Happy scheduling!

Stress Free clock changes!

2010-05-14T04:49:00.001-07:00

Many times a client will call asking what is the best way to adjust all clocks in a database, without the fear of failure. Now of course, you could just open your assignment grids and start making your changes - clock by clock until the clocks were all corrected. However, if you have a large number of clocks, the process may take more time than you have, or you might want to tinker a bit.

We have a feature we think you'll like: Cloning your assignment grid and creating all new clock codes when doing so! This feature is available in the latest service releases of version 4 MusicMaster for Windows, and I've found it to be a simple way enable clients to take their time with clock changes and then test them before actually making the switch.

Dataset/Clocks/Assignment Grids/Clone and make sure you check the box that says "Create new copies of all assigned clocks".

What MusicMaster will do is take your original clocks, rename them and the new clocks will be set in your new, cloned assignment grid.

Remember, before making major changes to your database - please go to Tools/Backup and perform a Standard Backup.

A Backup a day keeps the nightmares away!

Marianne Burkett

Tips to find and fill those pesky unscheduled positions

2010-05-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

Here are a couple ways to check/fill unscheduled positions quickly.

First two ways to check for them...1) DATASET-SCHEDULE-QUICK VIEW. There are icons available here that will allow you to jump right to the hour you want to start "fixing".
2)DATASET-SCHEDULE-RECAP REPORT, click on the CATEGORY STATS icon to see the number of unscheduled positions you have for the last scheduling session by category.

Now to fill them quickly.

In the Schedule Editor, if you have the TOOLS-OPTIONS-SCHEDULE EDITOR OPTIONS set to: Rule Failures to search for: "Bypass all scheduled songs" and the check box CHECKED for "Stop on unscheduled positions" you can utilize the CTRL-N function in the schedule editor to jump to each unscheduled position and fill them before you begin your "general" manual editing process.

Deleting Attributes

2010-05-12T14:01:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

Have an attribute code in the database that you no longer wish to
use? You can delete it! Simply go to
Dataset/Library/Attributes. There you can use the drop-down menu to
select which attribute to edit (Sound, Tempo, Gender, etc). Then
click on the code you wish to remove and hit the Delete key on your
keyboard and it's gone!

Adjusting Depth in Schedule Properties

2010-05-11T09:53:00.001-07:00

by Paul Ziino

So you ran the Automatic Scheduler in your data and when you review
and edit the log, you see MusicMaster left a few positions
unscheduled. Now the question is, why? Ultimately, the answer is
because no song in the available depth passed all the unbreakable
rules, thus MusicMaster was unable to fill that position.

So now you go to that unscheduled position, double-click on it to
open the list of replacements, and you see a number of options that
pass the unbreakable rules. So now the question is, why didn't
MusicMaster fill this position with one of these songs?

The answer, as indicated before, no song in the available depth
passed all the unbreakable rules. What does this mean? It means
that even though some songs in the category passed those unbreakable
rules, those weren't the songs being tested at the time MusicMaster
was auto-scheduling that position.

Your depths are set in Schedule Properties (Dataset/Schedule/Schedule
Properties). The depth is the number of songs that MusicMaster can
look at when searching for a song to schedule. If you have 100
songs/slots in the category, and the depth is set at 10, this means
MusicMaster looks at the next 10 songs in the 'stack', and if none
passes the unbreakable rules, the position is left unscheduled.

If you are consistently getting unscheduled positions in the log for
a given category, but you see songs that pass the unbreakable rules
when editing those positions, it's a good idea to try increasing the
category's depth in Schedule Properties. So in that category of 100
with a depth of 10, had we increased that depth to 15, MusicMaster
would have tested 5 more songs. So if song 12 in the stack passed
the unbreakable rules it would have been auto-scheduled.

The idea here is to make sure your depths are deep enough to allow
the program to find a song to auto-schedule, but not so deep that
it's testing songs unnecessarily. A little trial and error will help
you find the right depth for each category.

Database won't open? Don't panic...troubleshooting tips to guide you through.

2010-05-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

It happens. You go to open your data, and you get a message "database may be damaged or in use on another workstation" or "database is locked". The first thing you should check is your Windows Task Manager and look at the list of applications running. If MusicMaster is running - shut down each instance, with the task manager. Try to open the database again. If it still won't open, and you network your data - check the task manager on other workstations as well. It is possible someone else has their MMwin running more than once.

If you cannot find anyone using the database and it lives out there on a server - restart the server.

If you are still unable to open the data - call your Music Scheduling Consultant for assistance.

Marianne Burkett

Changing it up for Summer! Seasonal Psychology

2010-05-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

By Marianne Burkett

Summer is coming and thoughts of warm afternoons at the park, pool or beach start circling your brain. You can’t wait. What you’re wondering right now is should you adjust your station programming to reflect the psychology of the season? Is that going to cause you hours of agonizing work in editing logs, or can you easily adjust your rules to force those summer fun songs into each hour?

If you’re interested in programming more Summer-time songs, the first thing you should do is create a Summer-time Sound Code in your database. (If you don't have a Sound Code field, use one of your own Attribute fields, or ask us. We can help you add any fields you like to your database.)

Go to Dataset/Library/Attributes and create your code!

Next: Take a backup-just in case you change your mind!

Sort your active music on the screen and go down the list and mark (F7) any songs that are Summery. Be generous! If it’s fun, or it has something to do with Heat, or Surfing or Dancing in the Streets, mark it. Once you’re done marking them all, right click on the Sound Code field, go to the Mass Changer and “Append Specific Attribute” to the Marked songs. Set it up like this:

Appending a code just adds a new code to your existing codes! So don’t worry about losing the codes you already have.

When you’re done, check to see how many of these songs you actually have using Library Analysis on your Active Music. To launch Library Analysis, put your cursor on the field you’d like to look at, right click and select “Library Analysis”. You’ll see the box below launch.

Now, do you have enough to play one, two or more an hour? In the case above, it’s safe to say you can probably get away with two or three Summertime tunes each hour.

So, next step, go to the Rule Tree and pull a few rules in:

Besides the Min-Max Quota per hour, you may also want to add a Min-Max Quota per sweep rule (if you use sweep markers in your Stopsets), plus a Title or Time Separation to keep the Summertime tunes from clumping together.

If you have the an average size library, using the Marking Tools/Mass changer, coding the library, figuring out the math and applying rules might take 30 minutes.

Summertime fun programming … made easy with a minor amount of prep.

Have a fun summer!

Let's have a backup plan

2010-05-07T14:31:00.001-07:00

By Aaron Taylor

We stress all the time in our conversations with users of MusicMaster the importance of making regular backups of your database. I personally don't feel its overkill to make a backup daily and have specific folders or zip drives for each day of the week (like we all used to do with floppies back in the day)...

Also, you certainly want to make sure that you make a verifiable backup any time you make major Rule Tree, clock, or library changes.

When you go to TOOLS-BACKUP, you'll want to decide whether you want to a standard or custom backup. The standard backup will create a .zip file of your database into the same directory where the database is located (typically c:\mmwin). This is a great option if you just want to try out some database tweaks, schedule, and then perhaps easily reverse the changes you've made (just hit TOOLS-RESTORE)

The custom backup profile is perfect if you do want to send your backups each day to a different network location, zip drive, or folder. This option will also enable you to make as part of the backup any traffic, library or reconciliation definition files we may have created for you.

Whichever you decide to select as part of your routine, make certain you are checking the correct long rectangular box icon for your backup choice.

If you have any questions about MusicMaster backups, restoring them, transporting from location to location or machine to machine, don't hesitate to get in touch!

Customizing Your Welcome Screen

2010-05-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

By Drew Bennett

Customizing your database with its’ own name and logo and color background is easy. Go to Tools, Options, Database Identification. Here, you can modify the name of your database in the, “Station Name,” field. You can also set the path to an audio file that plays when you open this MusicMaster database and you can also set a path to a logo file you have on your system. That will display your logo when you open this MusicMaster database. Below the Graphic Logo File field, you can also set the color you want for your background. You can choose a solid color, choose a duo of gradient colors and you can choose to display your logo in the center, tile your logo throughout the background or stretch the logo file across the screen. Once you’re done with changing your settings, choose, “Apply,” and, “OK.” Tip: If you’ve made your changes and you have other sections of the software open, choose, “Windows,” then “Close All,” to close any open windows you have and see your changes.

Mix Up Your Sound with Proportional Elements

2010-05-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

By Paul Ziino

Looking for some “unpredictability” in your clocks? Just trying to keep things sounding fresh? Here’s an idea…try using Proportional clock elements.

Let’s assume you have three categories: A, B, and C. Half the time you’d like an A, and half the time you’d like a B or C. Use a Proportional element to get just that ratio.

In the pull-down menu in the Element field in your clock, select Proportional. Then set the ratio among the categories of your choosing.

In this example we’re using a 2:1:1 ratio of A:B:C. Now, this doesn’t mean that you’ll always hear two A’s in this position, then a B and then a C. Rather, over the course of time, you’ll have a 2:1:1 ratio of A:B:C in that position. You could get five A’s before a B or C comes into that clock position. But, over time, that requested ratio would be realized.

Here’s another idea: Use a Proportional element to vary your gold library categories. Just as in the example above, you can pick the categories and proportions—you’ll still get a gold, but which category will vary rather than being the same category in the same position every time.

There are lots of ways to add a layer of unpredictability to your clocks, and Proportional elements are just one of those ways.

Data on the Network?

2010-05-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

by Paul Ziino

So you have multiple workstations all accessing one central copy of your data. How can you get MusicMaster to open up the data every time without having to click Path and then hunt for the data directory? It's easy!

Right-click on your MusicMaster shortcut
Select Properties
Go to the Shortcut tab
adjust your Target line so there is a space after MusicMaster.exe, then follow it with the path to your data directory. Like this: C:\MMWin\MusicMaster.exe X:\DataDirectory\.
Note: if any part of the path contains a space, like Music[space]Master, you need to put that part in quotes. Like this: C:\MMWin\MusicMaster.exe "X:\Data Directory\"
Once you've set the target line, click Apply and OK.
Now when you launch MusicMaster, it will open the program locally, then look to that second path for your database.