PlayIt Live

Tracks

Tracks represent audio files that can be imported into PlayIt Live. With each track, additional information is stored to assist playback and announcing on air. This information includes:

  • Type - The type of the track, which can be used for track group filtering, e.g. Song or Station ID. By default this is set to Inferred, which means the type is determined automatically from the tags, artist, title, and duration. See Inferred Type rules below.
  • Artist - The performer of the track, typically read from the file tags when the track is imported.
  • Title - The title of the track, typically read from the file tags when the track is imported.
  • Duration - The total length of the audio file.
  • Cue In - The position in the track where a player should start playing. This is typically where the silence ends at the start of the track and the audible audio begins.
  • Intro - The intro point of the track. This can be used by the segue editor to overlap the intro with the previous track.
  • Cue Out - The position in the track where it is considered to be finished. If a track is fading out, this should be shortly before the end of the fade. When the cue out point is reached in Live-Assist mode, this will cause the track to segue into the next.
  • Out Cue - The style at which the track ends (e.g. fade out, sustain).
  • Genre - The genre of the track.
  • Year - The year the track was released.
  • Album - The album the track belongs to.
  • Tags - Semicolon-separated tags for categorising the track.
  • Comments - Free-text notes about the track. This is displayed on the playout log when clicking an item.
  • ISRC - The International Standard Recording Code for the track.
  • Record Label - The record label of the track.
  • Track ID - A unique identifier for the track, which can be used for external system integration.

Track types

The following track types are available:

  • Song - A music track.
  • Station ID - A short station identification jingle.
  • Promo - A promotional item.
  • Commercial - A commercial or advertisement.
  • News - A news bulletin or item.
  • Bed - A music bed, typically used as background audio.
  • Station ID + Bed - A combined station identification and music bed.

The track type can be set manually on the Edit Track window, or left as Inferred to be determined automatically.

Inferred Type rules

When a track's type is set to Inferred, PlayIt Live determines the type automatically using the following rules, in order:

  1. If any of the track's tags match a track type name, that type is used.
  2. Otherwise, if the artist or title field matches a track type name, that type is used.
  3. If the track's duration is less than 30 seconds, the type is set to Station ID.
  4. Otherwise, the type defaults to Song.

All comparisons are case-insensitive.

Additional properties

Tracks also have the following properties that affect playback:

  • Sweeper - Indicates whether the track is a sweeper. A sweeper is a track that can be played over the intro of the next song (before the Intro point); or over the end of the previous song (after the Early Out point). It is typically dry (no background music) so it does not clash with the track it is playing over.
  • No Fade - Prevents the track from being faded out when the Cue Out point is reached. This is typically used for tracks that have a natural ending, such as a song with a long fade out.
  • Disabled - Prevents the track from being scheduled.
  • Valid From / Expires - Date range during which the track is available for scheduling. Valid From and Expires are measured from midnight at the start of the specified date, so a range from 1st June 2026 to 2nd June 2026 would make the track available for scheduling from 1st June 2026 00:00 until 2nd June 2026 00:00 (i.e. for the whole day of 1st June).
  • Hook Start / Hook End - Defines the hook section of the track, used for hook sequences in clocks. A hook is a short, distinctive section of a track that can be used for quick identification, such as the chorus of a song.
  • Dayparting - Restricts the track to specific days and hours for scheduling. This is typically used for tracks that are only suitable for certain times of day, such as a breakfast show jingle that should only be played in the morning.
  • Gain - Adjusts the playback volume of the track.
  • Tempo Adjust - Adjusts the playback speed of the track. Tempo can be adjusted from -10% to +10%, without changing the pitch.

Managing tracks

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