Spring Music Tune-Up

As you enter the Spring Book, use this checklist to review all aspects of your music:

• Each quarter-hour should reflect the essence of the station format musically. Check tempo parameters; similar sounding songs and artists should be properly separated. Check scheduling instructions for proper balance in tempo, gender, genre, and mood.
• Crosscheck your scheduled log against the air log from your digital automation system. Are substitutions being made without your knowledge, and are these talent decisions changing the sound of the station?
• Run "most-played titles" report. Be sure the right songs are in the right categories, coded correctly and rotating properly. Discuss music enhancements weekly.
• Run computer rotation history report. Analyze turnover ratios for all songs. Be sure they match projected figures and rotate through dayparts horizontally with no vertical pattern problems. Analyze exposure levels of each category.
• If you're recycling daytime music into overnights, do dayparted songs get proper exposure?
• Review format clocks for accuracy of music and programming components. Reconcile logs to compare actual plays against scheduled plays to insure all library songs are played.
• Prepare hourly linear music flow or pie charts. Share this information with your consultant for further input. Include all music formatting in your studio notebook (for talents) and your State of the Station report.
• Review morning clocks to insure that only the strongest testing songs are aired. Review summary reports daily. Hand-edit music logs every day.
• Schedule special music features and programs. How do they affect rotation patterns? Evaluate your system for "platooning" titles. Certainly, the strongest songs should be on-air during the book.
• E-mail software back-up to your consultant every month for evaluation and fine-tuning.
• Track requests as a good local source for music research. Update callout research to include three perceptual questions on a weekly basis.
• Create a double-check system to guarantee music balance. Be sure tempo and music style matches listener moods by daypart.