Advanced ClockWheel Programming : Live365 Support

We know radio industry people look at ClockWheels to manage an hour on their radio stations in order to ensure specific content airs at certain times within that hour of programming. However, the ClockWheels provided by Live365 can be used to accomplish other powerful programming options.

What follows are two examples of ClockWheels that are currently in use by one of our member-owned stations: Rock on Neon. One is fairly straightforward: Spotlight on Indies, while the other one complex: What If New Wave Never Ended. For each ClockWheel example, we provide the ClockWheels themselves, a log line and a detailed explanation of the category codes so that you can follow along on your own station.

Spotlight on Indies show

This show alternates a song between featuring songs from an indie/small label artist and a song from an established artist. The goal is to introduce music lovers to new songs and artists in a format that also contains songs from artists most people know. Items including category codes used in this ClockWheel:

Type or Category	Selection Algorithm	Description and Notes
ID	Random	Station IDs. Here's a creative suggestion on making the metadata of ID tracks more useful: You can use the name of the station ID in the "album" field, the name of the station in the "artist" field, and a message to your listeners in the "song title" field – this lets you take control of what listeners see when the ID plays).
Advert	120 sec	Live365 ads.
PRIS50	Random	This is a promo that comes after all ads and says “Now back to Spotlight on Indies, the show that alternates a song from an indie/small label artist with a song from a more established artist.” You can also control the metadata here substituting the name of the show for the message to your listeners and Promo for ID.
HA	Random	Highlighted artists – these are known (by most) artists to provide familiar music in between songs by indie/small label artists.
I1	Random	These are tier one indie/small label artist songs.
I2	Random	These are secondary indie/small label artist songs.

The ClockWheel has 27 entries, of those 18 are songs (3 cycles of 6 songs). 50% are HA, 39% are I1 (78% of the indie/small label artist songs) and 11% are I2 (22% of the indie/small label artist songs)
There are 3 cycles to reduce the percent of I2 songs played during the show
This ClockWheel is currently scheduled for 23:59 on Saturdays
There are currently 1,432 songs with HA
There are currently 642 songs with I1 and 533 songs with I2
There are currently 4,913 songs on the station's server (and growing)

Note: We have noticed that when you have artists and albums with songs with different categories that Random track select works best to ensure that only songs with the desired category code are selected.

Note: All indie/small label artist songs on this station are songs deserving of airplay. The I2 category (low rotation) has a second benefit. It is used to build relationships with indie artists, small record labels, and music promoters who submit music to the station. All can have a measure of success getting music on the station. This, along with the fact that I get back to everyone who submits music to the station (allows labels/promoters to communicate success to their clients), has resulted in the station getting lots and lots of music submissions.

What If New Wave Never Ended show

This show plays new wave classics, forgotten new wave songs, album cuts from new wave artists, and songs post-new wave that fit the genre. The goal is to capture the full new wave experience which includes finding new favorite songs and artists in addition to listening to familiar and favorite music.

Type or Category	Selection Algorithm	Description and Notes
ID	4 Random 3 Oldest Track	Station IDs. Here's a creative suggestion on making the metadata of ID tracks more useful: You can use the name of the station ID in the "album" field, the name of the station in the "artist" field, and a message to your listeners in the "song title" field – this lets you take control of what listeners see when the ID plays).
Advert	120 sec	Live365 ads.
PRNW	Random	This is a promo that comes after ads and says “Now back to What If New Wave Never Ended.” You can also control the metadata here by substituting the name of the show for the message to your listeners and Promo for ID
NW	Random	All new wave songs including ones played in the U.S. and overseas plus album cuts from new wave artists released during new wave era (1994 or earlier) and some songs released prior to new wave by new wave artists (e.g. early David Bowie).
CNW	Random	Classic new wave; these are popular new wave songs. All songs in this category are also in NW so this puts these songs in a higher rotation than other songs since they can be selected in two categories in the ClockWheel.
FNW	Random	Forgotten new wave; these are songs that were popular during new wave but I rarely (if ever) hear them on current new wave stations. All songs in this category are also in NW so this puts these songs in a higher rotation than other songs since they can be selected in two categories in the ClockWheel.
CSNWA	Random	Current song, new wave artist; these are songs from 1995 to the current year from new wave artists. These songs are not part of the category code NW.
CANW	Random	Current artist, new wave – these are artists who started between 1995 and the current year whose music fits new wave. These songs are not part of the category code NW.
IFS	Random	Indie/small label featured song; these are songs that fit new wave genre. These songs are not part of the category code NW
NWCOVER	Random	These are covers of new wave songs. Only covers released prior to 1995 are part of the category code NW.

NWFRIEND	Random	These are some of my favorite non-new-wave artists. These songs are not part of the category code NW.
SHOUTOUT	Random	This is for Rock on Neon Radio's current “Shoutout of the Week” as voted on by my listeners. Only one song at a time has this category code. “Shoutout of the Week” comes from 5 songs I nominate from the following categories – CSNWA, CANW, IFS, and NWCOVER (1995 or later only). While it is “Shoutout” the other category code is temporarily deleted. After its reign is over, the “Shoutout” category code is deleted and the original category code is put back (along with the code that follows- WDRE).
WDRE	Random	These are songs that were screamers/shrieks of the week on the new wave station I listened to WLIR/WDRE (as voted on by their listeners). All of these also have the NW category code. Some also have the CNW category code and some also have the FNW category code. So all are in elevated rotations, some have 2 categories; some have 3 categories. In addition, former Rock on Neon Radio Shoutouts of the Week also get this code after their reign and therefore, have two categories, this and their original category code (these are not part of NW).
ENDTO	Random	A recycled category code since I have many. This is a special promo announcing the upcoming 6 song set that includes the current “Shoutout of the Week” in general terms (no song names or artists). The 6 song set is NWFRIEND, 4 WDREs, and the current SHOUTOUT.
ENDTOSTART	Random	A recycled category code since I have many. This is a special promo intro for the current SHOUTOUT of the WEEK (announcing that the next song is the current “Shoutout of the Week” and then a woman shouting “yes”).

The ClockWheel has 72 entries, of those 48 are songs (8 cycles of 6 songs – estimate of 4 total hours of music).
This ClockWheel is currently scheduled for 23:59 Mondays thru Fridays.
The “Shoutout of the Week” determined the number of cycles.
I wanted the 'Shoutout of the Week” to play approximately 6 times a day and I estimate about 12 songs an hour.
Structuring the ClockWheel this way keeps it within DMCA rules the majority of the time.
If it fails, I find starting the day with 1 or 2 one hour blocks of the show allows the rest of the day to meet
DMCA standards with a 22:59 or 21:59 programming block.

The station has other rotating ClockWheel shows on Sundays that play new wave and non-new wave songs (both

established and indie/small label artists). The total number of songs on the station is 4,913. Every song on the

server is eligible to be randomly selected for at least one 23:59 ClockWheel each month.

Keep in mind that some songs have more than one category code increasing their probability of being selected.

For example, all CNW and FNW also have the NW category code so these classic new wave songs have a 3.4%

chance of being selected each round (0.5% + 2.9%) and these forgotten new wave songs have a 2.8% chance of

being selected each round (0.5% + 2.3%). If any of them also have WDRE, then add another 1.2% to those

numbers. In addition, this also allows for more varied mixes since these songs can end up in different spots in

the repeating ClockWheel based on the category code randomly selecting songs with multiple category codes.

Note: We have found that when you have artists and albums with songs with different codes, that random works best to ensure that only songs with desired category codes are selected. This is especially important for this show where an artist can have songs in 3 or more categories.