you can re-scan the full folder if you want. M1 will not re-import data, it won’t make a new/duplicate song card. so, if you scan and select all of the audio files in a folder, after the import of an entire folder that was previously imported, the screen will show something like: Tracks in Folder 1200: Tracks imported: 5. it won’t over-write what it already has. it will, however, change the drive\path\filename in the M1 CART and FILE fields, if you have moved the file from one folder to another since your last import.

alternately…after M1 has scanned the folder and you see all the song title in the right-panel…you can manually select just the new files that you want to import and import only the new ones.

You can have pre-recorded Artist “drops” that are to be scheduled before and/or after songs by the artists.

There are several steps to the set-up.  Watch the tutorial videos here.

Below are some screen-shots with additional things to know about track linking.

You do not necessarily HAVE to enter a Category on the Format Clock Items screen. If, for example, you have three tracks linked to “Rocket Man” by Elton John, one of them in your “Artist Drops” category, another in your “Song Trivia” category, another in your “Fun Facts” category, then you DO NOT enter anything in the Category field. M1 will schedule all three of the drops equally.  The first time “Rocket Man” schedules next to a Linked Track item on a Clock, M1 will schedule the first track next to it. The next time the song schedules, it will schedule the second track, and then the third.

Now maybe you have all of your linked tracks in one single category.  But, if you select the Category on the Item Properties screen, then M1 will ALWAYS schedule something from the Category next to every song that schedules next to the item….even if a song schedule there is not linked to any track.  Worst case:  You could get a track about Elton scheduled next to a song by Paul McCartney.  To prevent that from happening, you must create and use “Link Types”

Short course:
1) You may have Linked Tracks in multiple Non-Music categories. If you do not select a Category on the Clock Item Properties screen, then M1 will rotate all the tracks that are linked to any song, it will pull from all of the tracks linked to the song, no matter what Category(s) the tracks are in.

2) If you select a Category on the Clock Item Properties screen, M1 will ALWAYS schedule a track in the slot from that Category next to EVERY song that schedules next to it…even if you have not “linked” a track to a song.

3) If you have Linked Tracks in different categories, but you want M1 to only select tracks from one specific category, then you must use Track Types to make it schedule only tracks that are linked to specific songs in the slot.

4) With Track Types, you can have all of your “Artist Intros” in one category, you can select that Category on the Clock Item Properties, you can select the Track Type for the unit and then M1 will schedule only Elton intros next to his songs and only McCartney intros next to his songs. And if a Sting song is scheduled and there is no track for him, M1 will not schedule anything in the Linked slot.

M1 itself doesn’t necessarily have to have any connection to the location of the audio files.  that is something your playout system will always need, of course. it is always good to have the music (the audio files) available to M1, so you can click-and-hear as you work with it. and it is nice to have M1 on the same machine or network as the playout system that your use. then it can automatically put the new playlists into the folder that the playout system looks into. but you could just as well have M1 on a stand-alone computer and do all of your scheduling there…then transfer the little playlist files, the music schedules to the computer that has your playout system.

the super-important thing is the contents of the CART field on the M1 ‘cards’.  that is the drive\path\filename that it then gives to the playout system in its playlist.  M1 imports this data when the songs and other audio files are first added to the M1 database. but if you should later move any of the audio files from one of your folders to another…M1 does not know that it has been done.   it will continue to put the ‘old’ drive\path\filename into the playlist files until you correct it.

SMART MOVE: if you’re using a playout system that relies on drive\path\filename to find-and-play audio, then put all of the audio files that you’ll use for your broadcast in one folder, directly under the C drive so there will be a very short (and easily moveable) path. example:  name the folder Library and the path should then be:  c:\library\….    you can have sub-folders within that master Library folder.

this is good because all of the audio files have a short drive\path.  and it is especially good for backing up and for moving your playout system to another computer. you have only to copy one (big) folder and then drop it onto the new machine directly under that one’s c-drive.

…and here’s another way to get your library and logs out of a zipped archive and into the Music 1 folder on your computer.