A well-organized music schedule is essential to keep your audience hooked, strengthen your station’s brand, and enhance the listener experience. Here’s a step-by-step guide to crafting a solid structure, timing your jingles, promos, ads, and mixing different music styles for maximum impact.
1. Define Your Music Blocks π§
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Ideal duration: 20–30 minutes of uninterrupted songs, divided into 4–6 tracks per block, depending on genre.
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Goal: Create “music marathons” for loyalty, but avoid listener fatigue; higher-energy formats may use 4 songs, while laid-back styles can use up to 7.
2. Jingles and Stinger Frequency ποΈ
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Station ID jingle: Play at the top of every hour, and just before commercial breaks.
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Transition stingers: After every 3–5 songs to give listeners a moment and reinforce your brand.
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Length: 3–5 seconds; concise, catchy, and on-brand.
3. Promos and Internal Spots π£
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Program or event promos: 2–3 per hour, ideally before long music blocks.
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Teasers: “Coming up next…” spots of 10–15 seconds, placed right after a transition stinger to capture interest.
4. Advertising Slots and Optimization π°
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Ad breaks: Allocate 2–3 minutes per hour, split into two segments of 60–90 seconds.
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Placement: One around the quarter-hour mark and one just before the hour’s end to avoid dense “ad walls.”
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Pro tip: Rotate ad formats—pre-recorded spots, live mentions, sponsored shout-outs—to keep it fresh.
5. Style Mixing and Special Segments π·πΈ
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Time-based themes: Morning drive with energetic pop; afternoon mellow vibes; evening classic hits or soft tunes.
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Weekly specials: Dedicate a 15-minute block to a featured genre or artist to engage niche audiences and refresh your lineup.
6. Sample Hourly Rundown β°
| Time | Content | Approx. Length |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Opening jingle + Station ID | 5 s |
| 08:00–08:15 | Music block (4 songs) | 15 min |
| 08:15 | Stinger + Promo teaser | 10 s + 15 s |
| 08:15–08:20 | Internal promo (event/program) | 60 s |
| 08:20–08:30 | Music block (3 songs) | 10 min |
| 08:30–08:32 | Ad break (2 ads) | 2 min |
| 08:32–08:45 | Music block (4 songs) | 13 min |
| 08:45 | Transition stinger + Station ID | 10 s + 5 s |
| 08:45–09:00 | “Artist of the Week” special | 15 min |
7. Final Pro Tips β
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Monitor listener metrics and tweak frequency based on peak times.
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Maintain sonic consistency: use the same family of jingles and stingers.
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Experiment with themed “stunt days” to surprise and gauge listener engagement.