Blog

Notes from the programming chair.

How to schedule music, stories from the programming chair and what’s new in MusicOne, from the team behind it, with Steve Warren’s six decades in radio at its heart.

Everything, newest first.

A music director on a step ladder slides one record into a long row on a station library shelf.

How to Schedule

The Even/Odd Rule

The Even/Odd Rule

Why an even number of songs in an even number of hourly slots locks your heaviest songs into the same times every day, and the one-song fix.

Why an even number of songs in an even number of hourly slots locks your heaviest songs into the same times every day, and the one-song fix.

4 min read

A program director in headphones leans back, listening, as a colleague slides a marked sheet across the desk.

Radio Stories

Why I still trust my gut

The call-out numbers said pull it, so why did Steve keep playing the song? Why research should be a check on your ear, not a verdict.

3 min read

A man seen from behind on a station's back steps at dusk, holding a tablet in both hands with its back toward us, a parked car and a low sky band behind him.

Product News

First look: MusicOne Cloud on iPad and iPhone

MusicOne Cloud is coming to iPad and iPhone, with Android after. A first look at a schedule on the iPad and editing on the iPhone.

3 min read

Morning in a high office: a man in his sixties and a woman in her thirties seen from behind stand at a large window, he points out at one big soft cloud floating in a lit morning sky band, she holds a closed laptop under her arm; background is the window frame and the sky; props: the laptop, the window; full-figure wide shot.

Product News

TrafficOne Beta & MusicOne Cloud Tour

An eight-minute tour of MusicOne Cloud: categories, clocks, rules and scheduling. Plus a call for TrafficOne 9 beta testers.

1 min read

A handshake over a desk in a quiet office in the afternoon, seen as two forearms and hands only, two coffee cups on the desk.

Product News

Music 1 and PlayoutOne/Aiir Ending Shared Billing Arrangement

Music 1 and Aiir end their shared billing at the end of the year. What changes for customers: who sends the bill. PlayoutOne integration stays.

4 min read

A close-up of two hands at a desk in the afternoon clipping a small jingle cartridge to a record sleeve with a paper clip.

Product News

MusicOne Cloud: Linked Tracks

Link any production item to any song, before it, after it or both. How Linked Tracks work in MusicOne Cloud.

1 min read

A woman sings along to the car radio on her morning commute, a low sun in the window.

Radio Stories

Programmer burnout vs. listener burnout

You hear a song fifty times before your listener hears it four. How to keep your own fatigue from pulling hits before they've run their course.

3 min read

Noon in a 1968 office: a young woman in profile silhouette sits at her desk on her lunch break, a sandwich in one hand, writing with a pen in a small open booklet with the other, a small transistor radio standing on the desk in front of her; background is a dark wall and one window with a band of midday light; props: the booklet, the radio, the sandwich; medium shot.

Radio Drops

Radio Drops #27: The Idea of Quarter Hour Maintenance

Arbitron's listening diaries made the quarter hour radio's sales tool. Why keeping listeners into the next quarter hour still matters.

7 min watch · 5 min read

Close-up across a desk in the afternoon: a mechanical robot hand built from simple flat metal segments enters from the left and offers a vinyl record in a plain sleeve, while a human hand enters from the right, fingertips just touching the record, weighing whether to take it; a single pair of headphones lies on the desk; background is the desk surface and a dark wall; close-up.

Radio Drops

Radio Drops #26: Thinking About Adding A.I. Music

If you're a music director, it's time to start considering the work of some master creators of A.I. music. Steve explains why.

7 min watch · 6 min read

A woman seen from behind at a studio desk in the morning, carrying a laptop in from a doorway toward a desk where an old beige desktop computer sits switched off.

Product News

MusicOne Windows Database to MusicOne Cloud

Your MusicOne Windows tracks, categories and clocks move straight into MusicOne Cloud. A two-and-a-half-minute video shows how.

1 min read

Close-up in a 1980s production room at night: a man's hand holds up a round stopwatch beside a large studio microphone, thumb pressing its crown, the stopwatch face blank with no numerals or hands; a blank sheet of copy lies on the desk below; background is a dark wall and the desk surface; close-up.

Radio Drops

Radio Drops #25: Talk Quickly

Around 1980 the Lexicon time compressor made a 35-second spot fit in 30. Does fast talk communicate better?

3 min watch · 3 min read

Morning in a station record room: a young man kneeling on the floor in profile silhouette fills one open record carrying case with records taken from three plain crates in a row in front of him, the left crate bright and fresh, the middle crate medium, the right crate warm and glowing; background is a dark wall and the floor plane; full-figure wide shot.

Radio Drops

Radio Drops #24: Constructing the Music Mix

Currents, recurrents and oldies: how to categorise and mix the three main types of songs most stations play.

5 min watch · 4 min read

Still life on a dark kitchen counter at night: a small portable record player with a record spinning, and one hand entering from the top of the frame sprinkling a pinch of salt from its fingertips onto the record, like seasoning a dish; beside the player a pepper mill and a small salt bowl; background is the counter and a dark wall; close-up.

Radio Drops

Radio Drops #23: PsychoSeasoned Oldies

When the station across town plays much the same oldies, it's the little things that make yours special.

5 min watch · 4 min read

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