Takeover Separation Goals
With Takeover, your station can work with Futuri VIP Support to set a series of separation goals that guide the request show to make sure it still sounds good on the air.
Remember, Takeover's main selling point is that users can pick the songs that play, and what really sets it apart is when it DOESN'T sound the same as the rest of your programming. For this reason, we recommend keeping your Takeover goals fairly loose.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Takeover is a Different Animal from your Music Scheduler
- Available Takeover Separation Goals
- How Separation Goals are Applied
Takeover is a Different Animal from your Music Scheduler
Coming into Takeover with a Program Director's perspective, the biggest adjustment is that songs aren't arranged with the same logic, so the goals have to be a little different for it to work.
Let's say you're a Top 40 or Country PD. When your music scheduler schedules a day, it starts by plugging in all the Power songs that will play that day. Then, the Secondary songs are plugged in around those Power songs, taking the Power songs' artist separation and other sound code rules/goals into consideration when doing so. That continues until you get to your least important (and probably most significant) category, which fills in the cracks around the more important categories.
With Takeover, we begin with the songs already scheduled in your log. Within the Takeover hour(s), the songs are determined one at a time, sequentially, based on user votes and the goals you have in place. For this reason, the goals need to be a little looser (i.e. "let's play between 4 and 6 currents this hour" instead of "let's play 2 A's, 2 B's, and 1 C").
It's important not to let your Takeover separation goals be too tight, for three reasons:
- If the separation goals lock everything in, listeners won't be able to get legitimate requests played, will become frustrated, and will be less likely to come back and use the platform again.
- If the separation goals are so tight that EVERYTHING is breaking a goal, there are no "unscheduled positions" that you can fill manually (like you would if your music scheduler ran into that problem). Instead, the system will play songs based purely on votes, as it will break the goal regardless of its actions. We call this "over-separation" and we like to avoid it.
- If the separation goals are set up so that they exactly mimic your regular rotation, the hour won't sound very convincing, and your imaging and/or jocks will have to work much harder to sell the concept that users are picking the songs that play.
To help lower the potential for over-separation, Futuri VIP Support will work with you to manage your Takeover goals.
Available Takeover Separation Goals
With the above caveats in mind, here are the separation goals that are available in Takeover:
┌──────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ Goal Name │ Definition │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Artist │ Separates the │ │ Separation │ same artist │ │ │ from playing │ │ │ again within a │ │ │ range of │ │ │ minutes │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Song │ Prevents the │ │ Separation │ same │ │ │ artist/title │ │ │ combination │ │ │ from playing │ │ │ again within a │ │ │ specified range │ │ │ of minutes. │ │ │ This is │ │ │ essentially a │ │ │ song's "rest." │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Title │ Separates the │ │ Separation │ same title from │ │ │ playing again │ │ │ within a range │ │ │ of minutes, │ │ │ suitable for │ │ │ stations that │ │ │ play cover │ │ │ songs or │ │ │ Christmas │ │ │ music. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Day │ Keeps a song │ │ Separation │ from playing │ │ │ during Takeover │ │ │ within a │ │ │ specified range │ │ │ of days, │ │ │ considering │ │ │ only time │ │ │ periods when │ │ │ Takeover was │ │ │ turned on. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Same Hour │ Prevents a song │ │ Separation │ from playing in │ │ │ the same hour │ │ │ it did during │ │ │ the previous │ │ │ Takeover │ │ │ session. The │ │ │ default is a │ │ │ 60-minute │ │ │ window on │ │ │ either side, │ │ │ but it can be │ │ │ configured down │ │ │ to a range of │ │ │ minutes. For │ │ │ example, if │ │ │ it's set to 10, │ │ │ and a song │ │ │ plays at 5:30, │ │ │ it will not │ │ │ play the next │ │ │ day between │ │ │ 5:20 - 5:40. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Same Hour │ Prevents a song │ │ Separation │ from playing in │ │ DAYS │ the same hour │ │ │ it did during │ │ │ the previous X │ │ │ Takeover │ │ │ sessions │ │ │ (requires Same │ │ │ Hour Separation │ │ │ (above) to be │ │ │ set). │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Forward │ Tells Takeover │ │ Separation │ to also │ │ │ consider songs │ │ │ scheduled in │ │ │ the future when │ │ │ determining │ │ │ which songs are │ │ │ allowed to │ │ │ play. NOTE: We │ │ │ must have a │ │ │ copy of the │ │ │ day's music log │ │ │ from your │ │ │ station for │ │ │ Forward Sep to │ │ │ function │ │ │ properly. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Jock │ The period of │ │ Separation │ time that a │ │ │ song is │ │ │ restricted │ │ │ after a │ │ │ presenter │ │ │ clicks "Jock │ │ │ Sep" on the │ │ │ Jock Page │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Code │ Enables goals │ │ Separation │ based on │ │ │ specific │ │ │ attributes from │ │ │ your music │ │ │ scheduler, like │ │ │ Category, Sound │ │ │ Code, Era, │ │ │ Vocalist, and │ │ │ Tempo. The │ │ │ goals in bold │ │ │ below can be │ │ │ applied │ │ │ specifically to │ │ │ each of these │ │ │ codes. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Minimum per │ The minimum │ │ hour (Code │ number of songs │ │ Sep) │ with this code │ │ │ that Takeover │ │ │ will try to │ │ │ force per hour. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Maximum per │ The maximum │ │ hour (Code │ number of songs │ │ Sep) │ with this code │ │ │ that Takeover │ │ │ will allow to │ │ │ play per hour. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Maximum in a │ Number of songs │ │ row (Code │ with this code │ │ Sep) │ that can be │ │ │ played │ │ │ consecutively │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Max / Time │ The number of │ │ (Code Sep) │ songs with this │ │ │ code that can │ │ │ play within a │ │ │ given amount of │ │ │ time (similar │ │ │ to max/hour, │ │ │ but changes the │ │ │ "hour" window │ │ │ to a range of │ │ │ minutes). │ │ │ achieveNOTE: We │ │ │ cannot set a │ │ │ "Max 1 per 3 │ │ │ songs" goal, │ │ │ but we could │ │ │ acheive a │ │ │ similar effect │ │ │ with a "Max 1 │ │ │ per 15 minutes" │ │ │ goal instead. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Specific │ The number of │ │ Song │ minutes that │ │ Separation │ must pass │ │ (Code Sep) │ before another │ │ │ song with this │ │ │ code plays. │ │ │ This is helpful │ │ │ when you want │ │ │ to rest Gold │ │ │ songs longer │ │ │ than Current │ │ │ songs, for │ │ │ example. NOTE: │ │ │ This will │ │ │ override │ │ │ regular "Song │ │ │ Separation" if │ │ │ it's higher. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Separation │ The highest │ │ Position │ position in the │ │ (Code Sep) │ queue that a │ │ │ song with this │ │ │ code can reach │ │ │ if it has goals │ │ │ against it. The │ │ │ default is │ │ │ roughly 3. │ ├──────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ Cross-Code │ Combines │ │ Separation │ multiple │ │ (Code Sep) │ categories or │ │ │ codes into one │ │ │ and applies │ │ │ goals to that │ │ │ grouping of │ │ │ codes. For │ │ │ example, if you │ │ │ have two gold │ │ │ categories, G │ │ │ and H, you may │ │ │ want to prevent │ │ │ combinations │ │ │ such as G/G, │ │ │ H/H, or G/H. │ └──────────────┴─────────────────┘
How Separation Goals are Applied
The complete algorithm that determines the Takeover queue placement is proprietary Futuri technology, but it essentially works like this:
- The queue is first sorted by votes. If all votes are equal, songs that have played less recently will win tiebreakers.
- Once the queue has been sorted by votes, separation goals are applied, and songs without goals against them will win tiebreakers.
- As long as there are enough songs available without goals against them, the top 3 songs or so will be cleared for on-air play (and the #1 song will be sent to your automation system).
The queue can then be adjusted as users vote (keeping separation goals in mind), and it will often sort itself again when a new song starts to play.