Music Director Notes 9-25-12: Playlists Part 2

Howdy, all!

Okay, just a couple of examples of "how NOT to fill out a playlist", and then I promise to move on to the New Releases.

PLAYLIST REPORTS PART TWO

Not-So-Good Data Entry, Continued: 

(I just found out that you can click on these pictures, and they get nice and big so that you can see them. Try it!)

Example No. 5

Okay, there's still some misunderstanding around Tracking Numbers vs. track numbers.  Just to be clear, the "Tracking Number" means the 5-digit number on the upper right of the white label, not the track number on the back of the CD.  CMJ doesn't care WHICH song is played from a CD, or that PART of a song has been played; it just cares that a song has been played.

Also, this is a great example to illustrate that a New Release ALWAYS has a Tracking Number (unless I forget to write it on--duh.)  If a CD has a Tracking Number, it's a New Release.  If you're entering a Tracking Number, you should be toggling "New" in Spinitron. If you're toggling "New", you should be entering a Tracking Number.

I realize that toggling "New" is kind of a repetition of effort, but again, every little bit helps me do the reporting, and it also tells the listeners who log in to the website to see your playlist that what you played is a new release.

Okay, now it's your turn.  What's wrong with the following playlists?

Test 1

Test 2

Test 3

Test 4

Test 5

(Actually, there's nothing wrong with the last two.  I was just seeing if you were paying attention.)

Okay, that's it.  Next time, CD weeding:

• Why we ask you to write track numbers and dates on the white labels, and 
• Why those annoying sticky notes are on front of the New Release CDs

And now, on to...

NEW RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS:

Rockers: If you're a fan of Mumford and Sons, check out The Dunwells.  I also recommend Kate Miller-Heidke (pop), Ben Folds Five (rock-pop), Alt-J (indie-pop) and, of course, the Dave Matthews Band.  Metalheads, check out Before the Dawn and Knell; both albums are (I think) FCC clean, or at least mostly clean.

Jazz: I'm not a huge fan of Kurt Elling, but the band in 1619 Broadway is so good, I have to recommend this album.  Also, for Swingtime hosts, check out the Preservation Hall Jazz Band; ya can't get any more New Orleans than this (although they snuck some bluegrass in there, too).  Dave Douglas, of course, always puts out great music, so check out his album, "Be Still"; it's not. Still, that is. Finally, don't let the name "4thward Afro Klezmer Orchestra" put you off; this album is seriously smokin'!

World: If you haven't already, check out The Olllam, kind of on the quieter side of rock/pop/Celtic crossover.  Very nice.  I also liked the Soul Jazz Orchestra, which incorporates the elements of its name, plus Afrobeat and other cool stuff.  Enjoy!

Thanks, all, and until next time...

Music Director Notes, 9-12-12: Playlists Part One

Howdy, all!

So I thought I would start a little "what is wrong with this playlist" series, as a way to educate and reinforce what you, being the brilliant and savvy DJs you are, already know about playlists.  This is probably a classic case of "preachin' to the choir", since, if you have been reading this blog, you already know how to use Spinitron as well as I do...but perhaps if you run into a fellow DJ, you can tell them about all of the great  information here and encourage them to visit and get the latest scoop.  Deal?

PLAYLIST REPORTS PART ONE

Introduction:

Your playlist is one of the most important--and yes, time-consuming--parts of your job as a KRZA DJ.  So, why all of the fuss about playlists?  Well, there are four reasons:

1. KRZA is legally required to report everything that goes out over the air, including music.
2. Reporting the music that gets aired enables the artists to get paid for airplay.
3. Playlists are now published online, and this enables your fans to see what songs you played for them, any day, any time of day.  Nice, huh?
4. Most important to me, selfish being that I am, is that I use your playlists to report new release airtime to CMJ--the College Music Journal.  Artists and music distributors read the reports generated by CMJ and based on these reports, send us (mostly) appropriate new music to play.  Free.  We like free.  So when you play new releases on your show, it keeps KRZA's sound sound fresh and unique, and encourages artists to keep creating new music for us to enjoy.  It's a win-win situation all the way around. We all like that!

The Spinitron Report:

By now you are quite familiar with the input screen of Spinitron.  You know how to data-enter the artist, album, label, time, and most of you know what the Tracking Number is and where it goes, and what the "New" toggle is for.

So, what happens after you've submitted your playlist after your show?  Well, here's where I step in.  I log into Spinitron as an Administrator and generate a report that looks like this (I blacked out the DJ and show names):

                                                               Spinitron Playlist Report

I take this report and count up the number of times a song from a new release CD is played.  For instance, I see from the above screen shot that three songs from Loreena McKennitt's "Troubadours on the Rhine", tracking number 13315, was aired on this particular date.  So I take this number--3, for three songs--enter it next to the Music Database entry for "Troubadours on the Rhine", compile it, and send that data to CMJ:

                                                                 KRZA's Music Database

The playlist report from Spinitron (the first screenshot above) represents seven day's worth of playlists.  This particular one was 22 pages long.  That's a lot of music to keep track of, which is why I'm always hounding you to do good data entry.  If you feed me too much, too little, or incorrect information, it really slows me down on the reporting, and then I don't get to do my other job duties, like maintaining the library so that you can find the CDs you want...or writing articles for this blog.

Good Data Entry:

So, let's take a look at three examples of correct data entry:

Example 1: 

This DJ clicked "New" in Spinitron and entered the correct Tracking Number under "Song Notes", and these values are present in the final two columns to the right.  Great job!

Here's another example of good data entry :

Example 2:

Wups, the goofy Music Director forgot to write the Tracking Number on the label on front of the CD.  Yeah, I'm afraid this happens a lot; sorry.  The above example illustrates a great way to let me know.  Below is another way that works just fine:

Example 3:

Notice that "New" is still toggled in both cases.  This is crucial.  Here's why:

Not-So-Good Data Entry:

Example 4:

This snippet has one New Release song in it.  Can you tell, at a glance, which one it is?

Next time, we'll have another installment on the playlist stuff.  For now, on to the New Releases:

NEW RELEASES

Bluegrass: Ricky Skaggs!  'Nuff said.

Rock: Judas Priest, their 30th Anniversary, two-CD collection!  Oh, my, oh, my...wait, did I say 30 years?  Ouch, that hurts...

Jazz: Diana Krall has a new album coming out on Verve, and we have a single preview, "Just Like A Butterfly"!  Play it lots so we get the whole thing!  (Sigh...I have such a crush on Diana Krall.  Not only is she blond and gorgeous with legs a mile long, but she has more talent in her little finger than ten Brittany Spears'.  Too bad Elvis got to her first...but oh, what a marriage!)

World: Fatoumata Diawara is an actress-turned-singer from Mali.  Good career move, there.

Latin: If you like the new generation of electronic Latin music, have a listen to Bang Data.  Be careful for profanity in the lyrics, though; the little bit of English I listened to was okay, but I'm not bilingual.

Blues: Greg gave Magic Slim and the Teardrops a big thumbs-up, and I have to agree.  Enjoy!

Some Of Each: Tizer is a jazz-rock-world fusion band, and they're really good and really popular in Europe.  I put them in Jazz, but it was a tough call.  Yes, they're going to stick out of a jazz program a bit.  But then, they're going to stick out in World and Rock, too.  So, if you'd like a little pizzazz in your jazz show, give them a listen.

Until next time...

Music Director Notes 8-29-12: Picks of the Week

Howdy, all!

Don't really have much else to say this week, so here's some of the New Releases: 

WORLD MUSIC: Continuing our fabulous haul from ARC: 

• Valentina Ponomareva: Gypsy Romances from Russia
• Osvaldo Chacon y su Timba: Salsa Afro Cubana
• Vivienne Dogan-Corringham and George Hadjineophytou: Popular Turkish folk songs
• American Indian Powwow: Music of the Navajo Indians
• Saor Patrol (Pronounced "Shore Patrol"): 
• Duncarron 
• Two Headed Dog. (Basically the same tunes as Duncarron...but they add distorted rock and roll rhythm guitar to the pipes and drums, and it sounds fabulous!)

CLASSICAL: 

• The Modern Mandolin Quartet: Americana features a quartet of mandolins performing famous works by Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, and other American composers.  Fun!  
• Celine Ricci and Daniel Lockert: Le Bestiaire. Songs for soprano and piano--all about animals.

JAZZ:

• Concord has released their Summer 2012 sampler, featuring remasters of some of the greats. Always good.
• Lou Pallo of Les Paul's Trio: Thank You, Les.  You're not going to hear guitar playing this good for a looooong time--enjoy!

ROCK:

• Girlyman: Performed at the last ALMA Sundays at Six concert, and they're pretty darn fabulous. 

BLUEGRASS: 

• Michael Connolly and Miller McNay dish up a tasty serving of both original and traditional tunes.  Great stuff!

Until next time...

A Couple of Quick Spinitron Things: 8/21/12

Hey, all ~

Just a couple of quick Spinitron things before I dive in to work for the day:

1. If you're using your own laptop to access Spinitron, point your browser to  www.spinitron.com/member/logon.php

2. If Spinitron gives you the "Cookies" error--it goes something like "It looks like cookies aren't enabled in your browser, etc. etc."--just close and reopen Internet Explorer.  You should be all set.

Okay, that's it.  See ya later...

Music Director Notes 8-16-12: New Blog Widget

Wow, it's been over two weeks since I talked to y'all!  My, how time gallops...

BLOG UPDATE

New widget allows you to receive notification about new blog posts

So, just in case you didn't see yesterday's  post, please notice that there is a new gadget on the top of the colored strip to the right of this web page that will allow you to sign up for email notifications when there is a new blog post.  It's easy as pie to sign up for, so don't miss out!  Be smart! Stay informed about new stuff in the studio and the best of the new releases!

NEW RELEASES

World: Oh, man, what a haul this week!  I got in touch with ARC about a month ago, and we're now on their distribution list, so "stay tuned" for more great releases from this label!  In the meantime, enjoy:

• Black Umfolosi's "Summertime", echoes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but from Zimbabwe instead of South Africa
• The Persian Azeri Project's "From Shiraz to Baku", a Middle Eastern trio of tar/setar, kamancha, and percussion, performing original as well as traditional compositions
• Las Chicas Del Tango: A trio of women performing a fusion of tango from both Argentina and Finland
• The New Queens of Fado: Female singer-songwriters from Portugal with fabulous voices
• ARC Music Sampler: Great stuff from all around the globe (Maury, I know you'll play this a lot! ;-)
• (Not from ARC): The latest album from Staff Benda Bilili, "Bouger le Monde".  These guys, as you know from their last release, play largely on homemade instruments, several members are survivors of polio, and the band does a lot of awareness raising of human rights violations in the Congo.  Fantastic!

Rockers:
If you have a real "party show" (I'm thinking about Jim, Greg, and Roman--hi, guys!), you've GOTTA check out the Texas Hippy Coalition. If you like good, hard rock with a blues bent, these are your guys!

Also, I don't think we have too many DJs airing heavy metal right now, but just in case one of you gets the urge....I'll be the first to admit that I don't know too much about metal, but I was impressed by Wretched and God Forbid.  There's some seriously sophisticated musical stuff going on with these bands, and ya can't beat the lyrics.  Not music for the small of brain!

Sing It Sisters: Dianne La Havas has a voice to die for.  I put her in Soul, but she was really tough to categorize.  I LOVED the first track, with its a cappella harmony vocals.

Jazzers:
Check out the Hot Club of Detroit; they have a sound I would describe as "modern gypsy jazz", all originals.  Love the singer's voice!  Also, Steve Williams and the Jazz Nation had the wisdom to invite Eddie Daniels to make a recording with them--good move!  If you haven't heard Eddie's tenor sax playing, he's gonna blow you away.  Finally, I'm not a big fan of swing jazz, but I really liked the Mark Master's Ensemble's "Ellington Saxophone Encounters".  Great big ensemble playing!

Blues: Alligator Records seldom gets it wrong, and Michael "Iron Man" Burks is no exception.  He may swing a wee bit in the rock direction on a few tracks on this album, but I would venture to guess it's still within the comfort range of true blues aficionados :-)

Enjoy, and until next time...

Music Director Notes, 7-27-12: World Music

Howdy, all!

WORLD MUSIC:

I'm ecstatic to announce that ARC will soon be sending us some more World music!  Here's a link to their newsletter, if you'd like to see what's coming up:

http://www.arcmusic.co.uk/downloads/arcmusicmedianewsletterjuly2012.pdf

Also, I'm slowly making progress on the World Music section.  I'm adding the country of origin of the artist to the white label on the front of each CD, and will eventually organize the World music into regions (Americas, North Africa, West Africa, Balkans, Jewish/Klezmer, etc.), with anthologies toward the left of each region, and alphabetical artists to the right.  If I couldn't figure out the country of origin, or there were several musical influences, I put it in "International", so if you don't find your favorite artist in the country that you think they're from, try the "International" section (for instance, Zap Mama is in "International" because her music incorporates a variety of styles.)

I realize that this organizational system has limitations--for instance, if you aren't sure from what country a favorite artist is, you're going to have a little more trouble finding their music.  On the other hand, if you feel like just playing some music from the Himalayas, you can go to that section and pick something out...and perhaps discover a new favorite artist you didn't know about before.

So, let's give this a try and see how it goes, and if you think that an artist has been miscategorized, by all means let me know, and let's see what we can figure out.

Now, for the New Releases: 

HIP-HOP
Our very own Gerald Rodriguez is a top-notch hip-hop artist, and we are now thrilled to have an FCC-clean copy of his CD, "Dirty Stylez".  Have fun!

WORLD
We have a promo copy of Dead Can Dance's new album "Anastasis.  (Actually, they sound more like ambient electronica to me, but there are a few world-y sounds in there.)

SINGER-SONGWRITER
Robin & Linda Williams are a Virginia couple who have been on Prairie Home Companion.  "These Old Dark Hills" is very nice.

JAZZ
If you're fond of really great bass riffs, look no further than Marcus Miller's Renaissance.  

Thanks for your patience, and until next time...

Music Director Notes, 7-24-12: Picks

Music Director Picks:

Two albums by Brian Bromberg:

1. "In the Spirit of Jobim" -- as it implies, Brazilian jazz
2. "Bromberg Plays Jimi Hendrix" -- rock, true Jimi Hendrix, guitar solos played on different types of bass. Awesome!

World: 
1. Robbie Gordon, an avid KRZA listener, was so inspired by a Ballads and Bluegrass show that he recorded and sent us a home-grown CD of pretty decent mandolin music, which includes some Russian tunes.  Very sweet of him--please give him some airplay.

2. Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang: En Yay Sah