Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
by Curtis Machek
Table of Contents
Page1Foreword Page2PositionWithintheMarket Page2TheOldRotationSystem Page3TheNewRotationSystem Page4RotationExplanations Page5AllAboutClocks Page6Imaging Page7SeparationRules Page7Conclusion
Foreword
TheKickRadioNetworkwasanonlineradionetworkoftworadiostations(RadioKick.comand CenterSoundRadio.com).Iwasthepartialownerofbothstations,andwasresponsibleforprogrammingoneof them.Therewereplanstooperateathirdstation,butastheprojectwasoperatedasahobbyandnota business,thefocusofbothmyselfandmypartnerchangedpriortolaunch. RadioKick(willbereferredtoasRKfromnowon)wasaHotACformatstation,andCenterSoundRadio(CSR) hadaCHRformat.ThethirdstationwastobecalledI9.FM(I9)andwastobeaNewCountryformat. Themethodsdescribedinthisdocumentareveryrepresentativeofthesemodernformats.Thesemethods maynotbeappropriateforotherformatswhererotationislessfrequent.Thisdocumentismeantfor informationalandeducationalpurposesonly. Musicrotationandclockdevelopmenttookplaceoverthecourseofamonth,andwasbasedonresearch conductedbymyselfonline,andfromconsultationsdonewithindustryprofessionalsworkinginamajormarket terrestrialradio.Forthepurposeofprivacy,thispersonhasaskedtoremainanonymous. Whilethemusicspecificpartsoftheclocksaretransferablebetweendifferenttypesofradio(terrestrial,online, orsatellite),theimagingconceptsdescribedareveryspecifictomyownfindingswithinternetonlyradio. Ihopeyoufindthisdocumentuseful.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,Iamalwayshappytohelpfeelfreetoemail meatanytime. Cheers, CurtisMachek curtis@machek.ca 1
ThePowerHitscategorycontainedapproximately12songswhichplayed3timeseveryhour.Thisgaveusan effectiverotationof4hourspersong. NewMusicandRecurrentsplayed4timeseveryhourrecurrentshadmoresongs,sotheyrotatedslightlyless thannewmusic. Goldfilleduptherestofthehour(approx46songsanhour). Whatswrongwiththis? Firstandforemost,itwasntworking.AsIwouldfind,thenewsystemattractedlistenerswhowouldstick around.Withalownumberofcategories,controlwaslostforexactrotationofsongs. Aswell,powerhitshadevennumberswhichrotatedperfectlyintoa24hourclockwhilethescheduling softwareseparatedmysongsdaytoday,thisisntideal,asitwontworkperfectlyeverytime. 2
Similartothegoldsongs,thehoursfornonpeakalternatetheNewMusiccategories.Forsomehours,2xN1 songsareplayedwithjust1xN2.Otherhours,thereare2xN2songsandonly1xN1.
Imaging
Whiletherestofthisguidecouldbetransferredtootherradiomediums,thissectionisspecificto InternetOnlinestreamingradio. Sinceallinternetradiotunershavethestationnamedisplayed,aswellasthefactthatmostinternetstreams areprimarilyamusicservice,itisarguedsometimesthatimagingcanbekepttoalowernumber.WhileI partiallyagreewiththis,ourstationsatintheinterestingAsectionofiTunes.Becauseofthenumberof shorttermlisteners,itwasincrediblyimportanttostampanaudiobrand. OurstationwaslistedasActiveAConRadioKick.com,soitwasarulethatallimagingwouldhavethat phraseinit.ManystationIDswereveryshortwithjustthatsinglephrase,butitwasimportanttohavethem thereforthebranding. Ihadtwoseparateimaginglayoutsonewasamorefrequentfornonworkdays.Thiswas:SONG,IMAGING, SONGSONG,IMAGING,repeated. Duringtheworkday,Ilightenedupalittlebit,alwaysplayingtwosongsbetweeneverypieceofimaging. Picturedbelowaretwoofmyclocks,completewithsongcategoriesandimaging.ThefirstistheNonWorkday (OffPeak)Hour1,andthesecondisWorkday(Peak)Hour2.
Separation Rules
Whilethissystemisideallyperfectforrotationandseparationofsongs,theresnostationthatdoesnthave multiplesongsbyasingleartistintheirplaylist.ForRadioKick,weplayedalotofTaylorSwift,andtherefore wouldhaveherinmultiplecategories. Thisiswhythesoftwarehasartistseparationrules,aswellasdaypartseparationrules. ForRadioKick,Ineverusedanymood,tempo,energy,genre,orotheradvancedseparationrulesjustthe basicartist,song,anddaypart(nextday). Totheright,youllseeascreenshotofmyglobalseparation rulesinStationPlaylist.Theserulesworkedwellforthe schedulertoworkoutanyproblemswiththerotation.The schedulerautomaticallychoosesthebestsongtoinsert giventhecircumstances,anditdidanalrightjob. Exceptions Therearetwoexceptionstotheserules.Twocategories whichwealwayswanttorotateevenlyareourCurrent categories(A1andA2).Regardlessofseparationrules, thesecategoriesarethehothitswhich,iftheydontrotate properly,willoverplayandplaytoooften. Tosolvethisproblem,wemustoverridetheglobalsettingsonacategorylevel.Thefollowingshowsmy separationrulesforboththeA1andA2categories.
Conclusion
AndthatsaboutitfortheKickRadioMusicRotationsystem.Itsacomplicatedsystem,butIfound,inpractice,it workedreallywell.Idlovetohearyourcommentsonittooletmeknowwhatyouthink.curtis@machek.ca. 7