Schedule songs by day and time

[matteolop]

I also had an order from my editor to always have the same clock and categories for 24/7/365.
So the same thing also applies to Jingles/Sweepers/IDs or other things.

In the global category "Jingles" or "Sweeper" I would already put all my "Jingles" or "Sweepers" that I have in the archive, ready to use, but only if we are in that season of the year.

So, I could tell him for example: my 10 Christmas Jingles must play only and exclusively in the month of December.
And another 10 Summer Jingles only and exclusively in the month of August.

This could be done conveniently via grid to enable the months/days/times allowed for broadcasting.

All these things, (JINGLES or SWEEPER or IDs) will have a single generic TAG (to make us understand that we are not treating them as songs or commercials) applied, and will be in a single "JINGLES" category, but the real and proper "enabling" for broadcasting, must be done by me and by RadioBOSS through specific options and priorities.

At the moment there are objective limits.

And I think that here the TAGS are not really needed.
I would use the TAGS for other things, like the ones I mentioned before.

 

[matteolop]

So at first we need to determine if Tags is sufficient for this purpose and if it's not, maybe it can be improved, and only in case it's not possible, then add new feature.

For me they are not enough, sorry. I vote to improve and implement other solutions.
Let's see what other users say

 

[tomimatko]

I can explain how it works for me. Maybe I just don’t have a better idea for organizing playlists?

I also use tags to organize jingles by day and time, but to me that method seems quite complicated and hard to manage.
For example, in my Playlist Generator, I have a lot of presets that are basically the same, only differing by the jingles. This means I have an overwhelming number of presets.
So, for instance, I have a "Pop New" preset with general jingles, then the same preset with the same name but with jingles for the weekend, then the same preset with jingles for night, then the same preset with jingles for Friday, then again the same preset for Monday, and so on.
That means instead of having 20 presets, I have 120 due to the different jingles.
Of course, when I add them to the scheduler, I have to be very careful which preset I’m using because most of them are the same, only differing by the jingles.

If there was a way to assign jingles/songs by day and time, then I would only need one preset, and I could set the jingles for morning, Friday, weekend, etc., to play at the appropriate times. I could even give a higher rating so that type of jingle would appear a bit more frequently during the specified time. To me, this seems much simpler and more manageable.

On the other hand, I have some songs that, because of their hard lyrics, should only play at night, or some songs I would prefer to play only on Fridays, Mondays... for example. I don’t see a way to organize this through tags. If there is a way, I think it’s some complicated workaround, and it all comes down to easy assigning time and day to certain jingles or songs in the track tool. For example, if I don’t assign a time, it plays continuously; if I assign a time, it only plays then.

I’m not sure, but I think most radio software has the capability to specify time and day, and if it wasn’t necessary, they wouldn’t have it. And I think organizing by tags is not an equivalent substitute.

 

[tomimatko]

I'd like others to join the discussion as well so we can determine whether it's really necessary and whether the tag is an equivalent replacement.

Personally, I really miss this feature.

 

[djsoft]

I know that I could do the rotations, as you suggest, with the use of the TAGs, but already working for another local and web radio, I find it better to always use the same categories with all the songs "potentially" enabled and ready to play in that category and in that portion of Clock.
But not always, therefore, it comes to mind in August for the summer, in December for Christmas etc..
So I could already set forced limits on certain songs or jingles, in which I specify (via a grid, the months/days/times allowed for broadcasting) and stop.

This makes sense as this will work automatically using a single template. Partially, it's possible already if you use track start/end dates - the track will only be selected by Playlist Generator in those dates. This may be extended to allow more gradual control. Probably will happen in the future updates.

So, I could tell him for example: my 10 Christmas Jingles must play only and exclusively in the month of December.
And another 10 Summer Jingles only and exclusively in the month of August.

You can do it with Start Date and End Date fields - can be edited in Track Tool or Music Library.

 

[djsoft]

I also use tags to organize jingles by day and time, but to me that method seems quite complicated and hard to manage.
For example, in my Playlist Generator, I have a lot of presets that are basically the same, only differing by the jingles. This means I have an overwhelming number of presets.
So, for instance, I have a "Pop New" preset with general jingles, then the same preset with the same name but with jingles for the weekend, then the same preset with jingles for night, then the same preset with jingles for Friday, then again the same preset for Monday, and so on.
That means instead of having 20 presets, I have 120 due to the different jingles.
Of course, when I add them to the scheduler, I have to be very careful which preset I’m using because most of them are the same, only differing by the jingles.

Yes, this can be solved by either using a sort of parametric playlist templates, or adding more fields for tracks to control when they can air. I think the second approach would be easier to use and understand - probably something about this will be added in the next major update.

 

[tomimatko]

Can someone tell me how 'using a sort of parametric playlist templates' can be used to make certain songs appear at specific times of the day?
As for 'adding more fields for tracks', if I understood correctly, instead of adding a single time field, the idea is to use a combination of multiple fields?

 

[djsoft]

Can someone tell me how 'using a sort of parametric playlist templates' can be used to make certain songs appear at specific times of the day?

One way is to add parameters to the preset, like different filter sets - based on the user defined parameter. Then you run a command like generate PresetName -param1=value and based on this the template will adjust its filters.
But I think it will make things unnecessary complicated.

As for 'adding more fields for tracks', if I understood correctly, instead of adding a single time field, the idea is to use a combination of multiple fields?

Yes, with additional fields it will be easier. Still, an additional parameter will be needed for day time protection - to let the Playlist Geneator know when the playlist will run. It will be used to filter tracks based on allowed start time.

 

[matteolop]

Hi, is there any news on this topic?
are there any new updates coming?

let me know, because it is a very serious and important aspect for a radio

 

[djsoft]

If this is implemented, it'll be in a major update like RadioBOSS 7.2.

 

[NickPollock]

Here's what people are talking about. I work for a station that uses PLayit Live, this is the online web version of their track tool.
In the photo you have a full day hours grid, the green filled boxes with the Y are the hours this track can be played.
It's called Day parting or song scheduling.

 

[djsoft]

Currently you can implement this using the Tags system. In the future we'll see what can be added to RadioBOSS to make day parting easier to configure.

 

[Guillaume]

Is it possible to improve the Tag feature and assign times and days of validity to them when selecting tracks?

Suggested use of the new feature:

• The Tag allows tracks to be considered based on selected times and days of the week.
• The Tag allows only tracks with this Tag to be excluded based on unselected times and days.

Implementing this new feature:

When creating or editing the Tag, add:​

• A time grid (from 0 to 23);
• A line for the minutes;
• A line with the days of the week.

"All" and "Weekdays" would be checked by default.
The formatting is for illustrative purposes only and could be improved (see screenshot).



Example of intended use:

For music with harsh lyrics:​

I create a new "ExplicitContent" tag.​

I select the tag's validity hours: 9:30 PM to 3:30 AM.​

I select the tag's validity days: Weekdays.​

I then select the tracks to include this tag.​

In the "filters" tab of my Playlist Generator category, I add an "Include" line by selecting the "ExplicitContent" tag.​

Desired behavior for generating rotation at 8 a.m. for the "Hit_2025" category:​

The "ExplicitContent" tag allows you to exclude all tracks with this tag. The other tracks are selected according to the other usual tags.​

Desired behavior for generating rotation at 10 p.m. for the "Hit_2025" category:​

The "ExplicitContent" tag allows you to consider all tracks with this tag. The other tracks are also selected according to the other usual tags.​

For morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and weekend jingles:​

I create a tag for each time of day and add the desired tag based on the jingles.​

Desired behavior for generating rotation at 8 a.m. on Thursdays for the Jingle category:​

The tag "JingleMorning" allows all tracks with this tag to be considered.​

The other tags "JingleNoon," "JingleAfternoon," "JingleNight," and "JingleWeekend" allow jingles with these tags to be excluded.​

Other jingles that do not have any of these five tags are considered.​

This would optimize the functionality of Tags and meet some user requests.

This proposal should be considered with great caution, as it could be useful for daily playlist generation and when the playlist is played within minutes.

A problem arises when multiple playlists need to be generated in advance. How can Playlist Generator be made aware that these playlists will be played on different days and at different times of the day? Should an option be added to determine when the playlists will be played (days and times)?

 

[djsoft]

The time/day parting feature is planned for the future versions, but I think it will be implemented differently, maybe additional field(s) that determine when a track can be used.

As proposed here, it violates some UI design principles that is in the Tag List editor you also decide when a track is allowed to play, it mixes different things together.