Playlist Generator Pro : Advanced Category Variations Directly in the Rotation Window

[JeanXeb]

Hello Dmitry, RadioBOSS team,

Several years ago, I had suggested two improvements for the Playlist Generator. One of them "the globalized categories" was implemented, and I want to sincerely thank you for that. It has made daily work much easier.

Today, I would like to bring back the second part of that original suggestion, because with more experience using RadioBOSS, I’m convinced it would be a major improvement.

Category Variations Directly Inside the Rotation Window​

Currently, when we want different variations of the same category (for example: different tempo levels, male/female alternation, language balance, tag boosts, etc.), we must duplicate the same category many times, even when using globalized categories.In some cases, this means creating 10, 15, or even 20 copies of the same category just to adjust small parameters.

This becomes difficult to maintain and makes the Categories screen heavier than necessary.

Proposed Improvement​

Inside the Rotation window, under each category entry, we could have the ability to:

• Include or exclude specific tags
• Increase or decrease tag weight
• Adjust tempo or energy level
• Fine‑tune alternation rules (Male/Female, languages, etc.)
• Boost or reduce specific attributes (e.g., +10 weight for “Boost” tag)

All of this without having to create multiple category duplicates.

Example​

Instead of creating:

• Reggaeton 1 (high energy, female)
• Reggaeton 2 (high energy, male)
• Reggaeton 3 (lower energy, boost tag +10)
• Reggaeton 4 …
• Reggaeton 5 …
• etc.

We would have one single “Reggaeton” category, and inside the Rotation window we could define:

• Reggaeton > Rotation 1 → very dynamic, female
• Reggaeton > Rotation 2 → very dynamic, male
• Reggaeton > Rotation 3 → less dynamic, +10 weight for “Boost” tag
• Reggaeton > Rotation 4 → different alternation
• etc.

This would give us much more precise control over the hourly rotation while keeping the category list clean and simple.

• No more dozens of duplicated categories
• Faster rotation design
• More flexibility for programmers
• More accurate and dynamic scheduling
• Perfect for stations with many formats or sub‑genres

Thank you again for your continued work on RadioBOSS — this feature would be a powerful addition for many users.

 

[djsoft]

Thank you for the suggestion, but I'm not sure it'll work.

This is a source of many conflicts and complications. Each category has its own set of settings (as it is now), and then some of them can be overridden in the rotation. For instance, you edit a category and change some filters - you expect this change to work. But you forget/don't know that this filter is overridden somewhere in the rotation (and maybe in a different template, if you edit a global category), so the change doesn't have an expected effect. Things will get out of control quickly, and would be hard to manage also - now that there's no single "source of truth" for a category.

 

[JeanXeb]

Generally, there are only a very few adjustments: a "Boost" tag that promotes tracks with that tag, or a specific restriction to ensure that the schedule moves a bit during the hour and doesn't get stuck. Or, an "uptempo" or "downtempo" tag so that the program has an evolving structure throughout the evening with shifts in tempo.

Right now, it’s actually already complicated because we've had to duplicate categories sometimes up to 10 times to achieve this result.
Indeed, if I change the tags or other information in the example given for Reggaeton, I would have to change it across all 10 subcategories that were created.

I understand your point of view.

 

[djsoft]

Generally, there are only a very few adjustments: a "Boost" tag that promotes tracks with that tag

In your case, maybe, but it can be used very differently by others. And still it means global categories are no so global anymore, as templates can override filters. I honestly think this feature will bring more problems that it would solve. Imaging how many "bug reports" we'll receive about "playlist generator ignores filters" because of this

 

[JeanXeb]

Hello Djsoft,

I completely understand your concerns regarding the potential for confusion and the importance of keeping a "single source of truth." It makes perfect sense from a support and development perspective.

However, we are still facing some real-world broadcasting constraints, and I would love to hear your recommended approach on how to handle them efficiently with the current system. For instance:

• Broadcasting regulations: How can we easily meet strict national quotas, such as ensuring exactly 20% of Spanish music across an entire day's programming?
• Vocal alternation: How can we properly alternate between a male voice, a female voice, and a band/group within the same hour?
• Energy flow: How can we smoothly increase or decrease the tempo throughout a playlist to create an evolving structure?

Currently, these are scenarios for which we don't really have a viable answer without endlessly duplicating categories.

What would be your best practice or solution to achieve this without cluttering the category list?

Thank you again for your time and guidance!

 

[djsoft]

Broadcasting regulations: How can we easily meet strict national quotas, such as ensuring exactly 20% of Spanish music across an entire day's programming?

You can use different categoriesin a rotation, e.g.:
1. Spanish category
2..5. Some other category
This way, the playlist will contain 20% (1/5) Spanish tracks.
This is a general idea, you can have a different setup (like 2 Spanish, 8 others) and mix in station ids and other items.

Vocal alternation: How can we properly alternate between a male voice, a female voice, and a band/group within the same hour?

This can also be achieved by using the categories and proper filters. The number of categories will increase of course, so you'll have Spanish-Male, Spanish-Female, etc.

Energy flow: How can we smoothly increase or decrease the tempo throughout a playlist to create an evolving structure?

If it doesn't have to happen within one hour, you can create different rotations for different parts of the day.

 

[JeanXeb]

Without trying to catch you out, it is quite clear here that a significant number of categories needs to be created, and there seems to be no other solution to achieve the results requested by our most demanding clients. This is by no means a criticism; I am simply trying to understand and be constructive because, in some cases for example, we have very strict broadcasting constraints.

For instance, wouldn't it be possible to define this in the Tracks tab > Select tracks by Category (as shown in screenshot 1).
This would apply the initial filtering for the base 'Music' category, and then allow us to add sub-filters, as shown in screenshot 2. If, in screenshot 2, we can once again apply a filter such as 'Language', for example then it becomes easy to create 'Spanish Music' and manage all the music from the initial base music category, and so on indefinitely.

The result would be that Screenshots 3 and 4 are displayed as shown here in the same window to create a subcategory.