Music scheduling systems are employed to sequence music at
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
s. Although these systems were originally implemented by manual
index card
An index card (or record card in British English and system cards in Australian English) consists of card stock (heavy paper) cut to a standard size, used for recording and storing small amounts of discrete data. A collection of such cards e ...
methods, since the late 1970s they have exploited the efficiency and speed of
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
s. They are essential tools for
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
by music radio stations.
These systems are
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
s of the songs in active rotation at a radio station, plus an ample set of rules for sequencing them in accordance with specific policies. For example, there may be restrictions on how much time must pass between two songs by the same artist, or whether a song played during noontime today may be heard at noontime tomorrow (or not). There are also rules for what kinds of songs may succeed another according to
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
s or other characteristics.
Many people believe that
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
s at radio stations are responsible for choosing the music which is heard on their shows. In reality, playlists for each hour of the day have usually been generated in advance by a radio station's program director using a music scheduling system. This ensures that the station programming is optimal and adheres to the policies and objectives of the station's management. These policies and objectives are usually designed to please the greatest number of people inside the radio station's demographic target, and garner the best ratings possible for the
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
. However, there are some radio stations, for example those of BBC, which do allow most (but not all) disc jockeys to choose the music themselves without obligations, as these stations cover an eclectic range of genres. In addition, shows from resident/guest disc jockeys (particularly on mainstream stations) also do not need the program director's opinion for their playlists.
Music scheduling is simply the function of generating a playlist. Other systems are responsible for actually reproducing the music.
The first widely used commercial music scheduler for radio is Selector, originally written by Dr. Andrew Economos of
Radio Computing Services, Inc, in 1979. A-ware
MusicMaster (called Musicscan at the time) followed in 1983. The third most commonly used music scheduler, Powergold, was released in 1988. Today, Selector, MusicMaster and PowerGold are the three most widely used music scheduling applications in broadcasting.
Scheduling, in the general radio broadcasting sense, is the placement of content against a linear timeline for transmission on a broadcast station. This content may include not only music, but also commercial advertisements, station identifiers and promotional jingles. Commercial advertisements, called spots in radio lingo, are scheduled by their own separate scheduling system, called a 'traffic system' which keeps track of monetary considerations. The music schedule, non-music schedule (jingles, promos) and the commercial schedule are later merged into a single schedule (called the ''log'') to guide what must be played on the station on a minute-by-minute basis.
When considering the internet as a new broadcast medium, the definition of scheduling could be broadened "to
curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
or arrange a linear playlist of video/audio content for live transmission or on-demand distribution." This would apply to both internet distribution and traditional broadcasting.
See also
*
Broadcast scheduling
External links and references
Selector web siteMusicMaster web sitePowergold web site
Radio technology