Where do radio stations get their music libraries from?

Question

Are they already on hard drives and does anyone make software that catalogs and plays music direct from the drive.

It would be cool to have the top 100 songs of each year on a drive and have the capability to search and play specific groupings by rank or performer or genre' etc. etc.

Answer 1

New releases are sent to the stations by the major record labels. The stations then make decisions on which songs to add to their playlists based on the song itself and how the song is doing elsewhere. There are various trade magazines that help them judge how a song is doing in other cities. The stations also perform their own research by testing songs on panels taken from volunteer listeners (called "focus groups") and by the opinions of their own staff.

You've probably noticed that the websites of many stations now encourage bands to upload their material directly to the stations. These submissions are then evaluated by station staffers and the paneI mentioned above. It's unlikely, but some of that music does get played.

Stations have been collecting music for years, so their libraries are very complete and varied. A newer station can get an older song that has been remastered and digitized from a number of sources. Same for an established station that wants to add an older record that is not in its library for some reason.

Though other programs are available, most stations use software called "Selector" distributed and maintained by RCS (Radio Computing Services). In fact most help-wanted ads for Program Directors and Music Directors include: "Selector experience necessary."

This software allows just what you've envisioned. They can sort by all sorts of categories including year released, genre, tempo, intensity, male, female, band, etc. Then the software puts sample music logs together from the data that's input by the Music Director under the Program Director's supervision.

Those two station management people then fine-tune the sample log, make any necessary changes and Selector then outputs the final log containing, music, promotional announcements, contests, commercials, tags (the live addition to an ad you hear sometimes like: "Be sure to visit DJ & Maggie today from 10 'til Noon at the big new superstore on highway 40."

Then the DJ on duty can follow the log that is now stored in the station server for that day's programming and concentrate on what he/she is going to say rather than the old-fashioned cueing-up of records or carts. The software plays the right commercials at the right time and keeps track of that rotation so the advertiser can get an accurate report of when their ads ran.

There is also software that monitors all stations in bigger cities to determine what songs are being played by which stations. This information is then made available to subscribers (other stations, trade magazines, record labels, etc.) who use the data for competitive purposes.

Yours is a good question (a star for U!) and my answer barely skims the surface of what goes on, but it gives you a good idea of the mechanics. Of course you can do the same thing by designing your own playlist with many of the online radio services, iTunes, WMP etc. Last.fm let's you devise your own station by asking you about songs you like then suggesting others based on a formula they use.

Good luck and good listening

Answer 2

Music Libraries For Radio Stations

Answer 3

For Radio Stations, Music is stored on there server, where they can upload from the cds or however they get there music. ( most of the time ). They have special software where they can search by artist, song, category and all that, the software searches there server for the music.

Answer 4

CHWO in Toronto has the largest big band library in North America. .