Music Director Notes 4-3-12: iTunes and Spinitron

Howdy, all ~

Due to the Fund Drive and Sound Exchange reporting, I'm way backed up on previewing new releases, so nothing new on that front yet.

In the meantime, here's some Spinitron stuff:

There are at least 32 shows per week that feature live music. For the week of March 26 to April 2, I only received 16 playlists!  

Folks, I REALLY need your playlists--Spinitron or paper-- before you leave the building at the end of your show.  Late (or nonexistent!) playlists are absolutely useless to me.

If you're having trouble with Spinitron, PLEASE either

• Call the on-call phone number or 
• Submit a paper playlist.  

I don't mean to sound alarmist, but the FCC can fine KRZA if we don't report all of the music that airs.  Those annoying playlists are one of the most important parts of your job here (aside from your showing up with your lovely voice and music).

Now, that said, here is some Spinitron stuff that has come up:

1. There is no need to keep track of your talking breaks to make the timing of your show exactly one hour long.  All the FCC is interested in is:

• the approximate time the song aired (between 11 AM and 12 PM, for instance), 
• the length of the song, 
• the name of the song, 
• the artist, 
• the album, 
• and the label. 

     Don't sweat the timing too much, or you'll drive yourself crazy.  And not turn in your playlist.

2. If you are using your computer, iPod, or other mp3 player and can't locate label information:

• GREAT place to look up label information: www.allmusic.com. 
• If you can't find the label, you can always type in "label unknown"

3. iTunes users: you can upload your playlist!  Instructions are here: http://www.spinitron.com/member/help_pop.php?hf=import_itunes.html.  Just be careful about your file headings; make sure they match the Spinitron headings.  Again, if you have any trouble, either call the on-call phone or submit a paper playlist.

Thanks everybody for your patience with this new system.  I know it seems persnickety and cumbersome right now, but in the long run, once we get everybody up to speed, it will allow you to make your playlist available to our listeners on the web...and make my job a heck of a lot easier (yeah, I'm selfish! :-)

Thanks, all!  You rock!