Music Scheduling

Setting Up an Automated Music Hour

An Automation music hour uses a saved clock to define the order of songs, IDs, sweepers, commercials, and other local audio. Song Category positions are replaced with actual Type M music carts, and the completed Play Schedule runs automatically from the station’s local audio library.

1. Prepare the Music Library

Before building the clock, make sure the music is correctly configured:

Open the Audio Library.
Select each music cart.
Confirm that its audio type is M – Music.
Assign one or more of the Category 1–21 checkboxes.
Verify the title, artist, runtime, EOM, start date, and kill date.
Click Apply Changes.

The Category checkboxes are what the music scheduler uses. Fields such as Genre, Tempo, Mood, and Texture provide additional music information but do not replace the Category assignments.

Each category should contain enough music to provide a reasonable rotation. A category with only a few songs will naturally produce more song or artist repeats.

2. Create the Music Clock

Open the Schedule Manager.
Select an hour to use while designing the clock.
Clear the Clock column if necessary.
Add a Song Category event at the first desired music position.
Select the category number the position should draw from.
Set its approximate starting time. The displayed length is based on the average runtime of songs in that category.
Continue adding Song Category events in the desired rotation order.

For example:

Category 1

Category 2

Station ID

Category 1

Category 3

Promo

Category 2

Category 1

You may also add fixed carts from the Audio Library, such as:

Station IDs
Jingles
Sweepers
Promos
Recorded features
Fixed songs
News or other scheduled audio

A fixed cart always calls for that particular cart. A Song Category position allows the AAE to choose an appropriate song from that category.

Use Auto-Segue to arrange the clock items sequentially and remove unnecessary gaps. Auto-Segue uses each file’s runtime and EOM information when determining the next starting position.

When the clock is complete:

Click Save Clock.
Enter a descriptive clock name, such as Weekday Music, Overnight Music, or Classic Hits.
Click Save Clock in the save window.

3. Assign the Automation Air Schedule

For a recurring weekly schedule:

Click Assign Clocks.
Select the saved music clock from the list.
Select Automation Mode.
Click each day-and-hour cell that should use the clock.
Confirm that the cell displays the correct clock name.
Automation hours are displayed in green.
Click Save and Close.

Automation Mode does not require a Bridge source channel or Jock Folder. The AAE plays the scheduled files directly from the station’s local audio library.

A date-specific Automation Mode entry can also be placed in the Air Schedule when one date must override the normal weekly assignment.

4. Populate the Play Schedule

After assigning the clock, select the desired date and hour.

Apply Clock (Hour)

Apply Clock (Hour) copies the assigned clock into the selected hour’s Play Schedule. For an Automation hour, the AAE then:

Replaces Song Category positions with actual music carts.
Validates that the selected audio is available.
Arranges the generated events.
Adds additional available music when necessary to carry the schedule through the top of the next hour.

Apply Clock (Day)

Apply Clock (Day) performs the same operation for all assigned hours on the selected date. Only Automation hours receive the automatic music population and top-up behavior; other Air Schedule modes retain their normal clock structure.

Populate Hour (Song)

Use Populate Hour (Song) when the Play Schedule already contains unresolved Song Category positions. It replaces those positions with actual music carts, adjusts the event lengths, runs Auto-Segue, and saves the hour.

Populate Day (Song)

This performs the category-population process across the selected day.

Normally, applying an assigned clock to an Automation hour already populates its categories. The separate Populate buttons are most useful after manually adding or editing Song Category positions.

If the Play Schedule is still empty when the hour is pulled into the On-Air Playlist, the AAE automatically applies the assigned clock. If any Song Category positions remain unresolved, they are automatically populated before the hour goes to air.

5. How Songs Are Selected

For every Song Category position, the AAE searches that station’s library for an active Type M cart assigned to the requested category.

The scheduler prefers:

Approximately seven days between plays of the same song.
Approximately three hours between plays by the same artist.
Songs and artists not already selected for nearby positions.

It considers existing schedules from approximately 14 days before through seven days after the target time. These separation settings are preferences rather than absolute restrictions. If the category does not contain enough material, the AAE selects the best available song and Schedule Check may report a separation warning.

Consistent artist spelling is important. For example, The Beatles and Beatles may be treated as different artists.

6. Adding Traffic

For a clock-generated music schedule, the recommended order is:

Assign the music clock.
Apply the clock to the hour or day.
Confirm that the music positions populated.
Click Load Traffic and import the traffic file.
Review how the commercials were merged with the music.
Use Auto-Segue if adjustments are needed.
Save any manual changes.
Run Schedule Check.

Traffic events are given priority around their intended times, and surrounding music may be repositioned to accommodate commercial clusters.

Important: Applying the clock again replaces the existing Play Schedule for the affected hour or day. If traffic has already been imported, reapplying the clock can remove it, and the traffic file will need to be loaded again.

7. Using an External Music Schedule

The Load Music button is an alternative to internally generated Song Category scheduling. It imports and merges a supported external music schedule containing specific music carts.

A typical external-file workflow is:

Assign the appropriate clock and Automation Air Schedule.
Load the traffic file.
Click Load Music and select the music schedule file.
Allow the AAE to merge the music around the traffic and clock elements.
Review the resulting Play Schedule.
Run Auto-Segue if needed.
Save the schedule and run Schedule Check.

Do not use Load Music merely to populate normal Song Category positions; Apply Clock or Populate Hour is designed for that purpose.

8. Reviewing the Completed Hour

Before the hour airs, verify that:

The Air Schedule says Automation Mode.
The correct clock is assigned.
No Song Category placeholders remain unless they are intentionally being left for automatic on-air population.
Every event displays a valid cart, title, runtime, and start time.
Traffic appears at the expected positions.
The sequence does not contain unexplained gaps or overlaps.
Fixed carts are valid for the scheduled date.
The schedule contains enough playable audio to reach the next hour.

An automatically generated Automation hour may extend slightly beyond 60 minutes. This provides enough material to prevent dead air while the AAE manages the transition into the next scheduled hour.

Click Schedule Check to inspect the upcoming seven days for problems such as missing audio, unavailable carts, unresolved categories, and song or artist separation warnings.

9. How the Hour Operates On Air

When the hour reaches the On-Air Playlist:

Automation begins with the first eligible Play Schedule event.
Each cart plays from the station’s local Audio Library.
EOM settings determine when the next item begins.
The playlist automatically advances through songs, IDs, sweepers, spots, and other scheduled audio.
At the next hour, the AAE loads and follows that hour’s assigned schedule.

The operator may still use the normal On-Air controls, including Next, Fade, Pause, Loop, and Stop Automation, but manual intervention changes the automatic sequence.

Basic Troubleshooting

A Song Category does not populate

Confirm that the category contains Type M carts.
Check the appropriate Category checkbox in the Audio Library.
Make sure the files exist in the station’s Audio Library.
Verify that the carts are not deleted, expired, or scheduled before their start dates.

The same songs repeat too frequently

Add more songs to the category.
Assign songs to additional appropriate categories.
Check for inconsistent artist spellings.
Remember that separation is preferred but may be relaxed when the category pool is small.

The Play Schedule is empty

Confirm that the correct clock is assigned to that day and hour.
Confirm that the Air Schedule is set to Automation Mode.
Click Apply Clock (Hour).
Verify that the clock itself contains events.

Traffic disappeared

The clock may have been reapplied after the traffic import.
Apply the clock first, then reload the traffic file.

The schedule contains gaps

Run Auto-Segue.
Check the runtime and EOM settings of the surrounding files.
Confirm that missing or expired carts were not removed from the schedule.

The hour is too short

Add more Song Category positions to the clock.
Make sure the categories contain playable music.
Reapply the clock so Automation can populate and top up the hour.

The hour extends beyond the top of the next hour

A small amount of overscheduling is normal for an Automation hour.
Review excessive overruns, particularly fixed events, long-form programs, or incorrect file runtimes.

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