Three Important Lessons in Caring for Your MusicMaster Database

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

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

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.

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

Artist Keywords

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

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 . . .

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!