Futuri Media FAQs

This article will cover: How to add content from POST to the "Featured Shows" section of your website homepage. Create and grant an RSS feed from POST Planner. How to request a new show on the iHeart radio platform, and Import shows from iHeart radio into the "Featured Show" section on your homepage. Step 1 - Create an RSS feed for the show you intend to create a Podcast, then click the "POST Planner" tab located at the top of the POST screen. Click "Edit Defaults" or select show from the calendar and click edit to get to the POST "Options" screen. Step 2 - From the POST options screen, you can create an RSS feed for the show. Click "Edit RSS" feed. Step 3 - Enter all the relevant information for the RSS feed, and click the "Save" button to create the feed. Step 4 - Your new RSS feed will now show up in the list of feeds, you now have ability to choose one of the feeds from the list. Select "Get URL" link next to the feed you want to post. Https://post.futurimedia.com/wphm/playlist/rss/4.xml Step 5 - Right click and copy the URL of the RSS feed. Step 6 - Next you will submit the new Podcast on the iHeart radio channel using this online form. Step 7 - Complete all the required fields making sure to paste in the URL for the RSS feed. iHeart will notify you when they have completed setting up the show at iHeart. If you do not hear from them within a week, you may want to check the iHeart radio site to see if it is ready. Step 8 - Once the show has been created by iHeart, you can import it into the "Featured Shows" section of your website. Step 9 - And finally import the show by logging into your website's admin screen. Click the "Spark List", Select the "Scheduler, and "Home Page" Then from the Home Page... Click the "Featured Shows", and Select "New Item" and enter the name of the iHeart radio show that you want to show in the "Featured Shows" section of your homepage. You can also search for any show that has been created at iHeart, and click "Save".

Futuri Mobile's Alarm Clock provides the opportunity for your station's app to win the first listening occasion of the day, and its functionality is highly customizable. General Alarm Clock functionality Customizing the way the alarm feature is displayed in the app Setting up alarm clock audio Alarm Clock example audio NOTE: This article refers to the alarm feature in Futuri Mobile's radio apps. For information on Futuri Mobile's TV Alarm Clock App, click here. General Alarm Clock functionality When a user taps the Alarm Clock button in your app's main menu, he/she will be able to set the alarm's time and frequency and will be able to opt in to additional audio options, such as the day's weather forecast and other custom audio that you've uploaded, such as artist wake-up greetings, daily trivia, or "song of the day" contesting. When the alarm goes off, a push notification will appear in the user's notification bar and a default "ring" sound will play until the user acknowledges it. Once the user taps the push notification, the app will open and the user can either snooze or dismiss. The pre-roll alarm audio will start to play, and the app will display the day's weather and other custom audio, if the user has opted in to see/hear that info. After the pre-roll alarm audio has finished, the station's stream will start to play. Customizing the way the alarm feature is displayed in the app The title and optional subtitle of the Alarm Clock button in your app's main menu can be customized in the Futuri Control Room under Mobile App > Main Menu. You can also display a header graphic at the top of the Alarm page when the alarm goes off. This can be uploaded as a .jpeg or .png file in the Futuri Control Room under Mobile App > Logos & Images. Your header image should be a horizontal rectangular image with a width of at least 500px, and it will stretch (or shrink) to the width of the user's device. Setting up alarm clock audio Alarm Clock audio workparts will play back in the following order: System Alarm Sound (before the app is loaded) Opening Audio Weather Open (if the user has opted in to weather) Weather Text-to-Speech Forecast (if the user has opted in to weather) Custom Alarm Audio (if provided and opted into) Closing Audio Station Stream NOTE: If you do not upload ALL of the Alarm Clock workparts in bold above, a generic workpart will be played instead. We would strongly encourage you to replace each of these generic workparts with a piece of audio that accurately represents your station's brand. The default System Alarm Sound is a typical ringing sound that plays when the Alarm Clock first goes off, before the user acknowledges the alarm. Because it has to be able to play even when the app is closed, the System Alarm Sound is built directly into the app, so it cannot be changed on the fly in the Futuri Control Room. However, if you would prefer to use a different System Alarm Sound when the Alarm Clock first goes off, you can provide an mp3 to Futuri VIP Support and we can release an update to your app with this new sound. The Opening Audio, Weather Open, Custom Alarm Audio and Closing Audio can be configured in the Futuri Control Room under Mobile App > Alarm Clock Audio. These files should be mp3s with a bitrate of at least 128kbps. When adding Custom Alarm Audio, you will be able to give it a name to display within the app and decide whether it is checked by default. Users can still un-check those boxes, so if you have specific audio that your users must hear, we would recommend placing that in the Opening Audio or Closing Audio. If you would prefer to replace the text-to-speech forecast with an uploaded mp3 forecast from your own weather team, please contact Futuri VIP Support to configure this for you. Once we disable the text-to-speech forecast, you can then place the entire forecast (with or without an intro) in the Weather Open position in the Futuri Control Room. Alarm Clock example audio To hear some examples of Alarm Clock audio, use the Soundcloud player below, or click here.

To set up Google Actions: 1. Log Into Control Room. 2. Select Alexa Skills, then Asset Collection. 3. Add your streaming URL to the Google Stream URL field. 4. Click SAVE. 5. In order for a Google Action to be approved, the administrator of your website must be available to verify the ownership of the station website. NOTE - Without the verification, a Google Action will not be approved by Google. 6. Once the property has been verified, return to Control Room & “Submit to Futuri”. 7. The Futuri team will start the build and submission of your Google Action. NOTE - Approval can take up to 10 business days. 9. You will be contacted once the Google Action has been approved.

1. How to get the most out of Real-Time Category Trends. Use Real Time Category Trends for PROSPECTING - Scroll through to see what is trending in pop culture and in business. There could be opportunities to start a conversation with prospects you’ve been pursuing or as a mechanism to reach out and nurture leads that have gone cold. Use Real Time Category Trends to BUILD CREDIBILITY - let your customers know that you are always looking for information that could help them grow their business. They will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to share valuable information. 2. What’s the difference between TopLine Insights and Infographics/Presentations? Insights: The ideal choice for communicating consumer research quickly and at-a-glance. This option is most appreciated by time-starved Media Buyers and Marketing Directors that are looking for information to help them make good decisions based on qualitative data. These are delivered to you as PPT and PDF so you can easily edit and quickly share with your customers. Infographics: Use this option when you want to reinforce the compatibility of your listeners and your prospects’ and customers’ consumers. These quality pieces are fully designed by professional graphic artists and are intended to tell the story of how your listeners are the perfect match to build your customer's’ business. Infographics are delivered as PDF’s for quick and easy sharing, and they look terrific when printed. Presentations: You invest considerable time uncovering and understanding specific needs and marketing problems; TopLine presentations are fully designed by professional graphic artists to artfully communicate the solutions you are presenting. These multi-page presentations are prepared on your station/cluster templates and include all the qualitative research to help you drive home the benefits an advertiser reaps when engaging your listeners. You simply add the marketing plan and schedule, everything else is ready to present. 3. How to request a strong positioning piece through TopLine for Managers. Category One-Sheets: Are intended to reflect expertise and business acumen within specific business categories by highlighting key stats and trends that are driving business. Signature Events: Use one-sheets to quickly communicate the highlights of station/cluster events. Demographic Strengths: If your stations/cluster deliver a specific demographic or ethnic population better than your competition, One-Sheets will provide very specific information to reinforce your ability to deliver these segments. It’s as easy as 1,2,3, 4. You fill in four fields, we’ll do the rest. Title Objective Position you want to communicate Stations to include Your sellers will quickly and masterfully position your most valuable assets.

This article will answer several frequently asked questions about the science behind TopicPulse. If you have additional questions or curiosity, feel free to reach out to Futuri VIP Support. How does TopicPulse decide when a topic should be categorized as Hot, Trending, Flat or Stop? How does TopicPulse merge sources into a common "topic"? How does TopicPulse get demographic information? How does TopicPulse determine what appears in local market pulses? How does TopicPulse decide when a topic should be categorized as Hot, Trending, Flat or Stop? Our development team worked with the brightest minds at Edison Research to define when a topic should be categorized as Hot, Trending, Flat, or Stop. Edison Research is the firm that manages exit poll research for all of the major networks at every election season. That means they are specialists in managing large amounts of data in real-time. We've put together an entire article (with charts, because we love charts) to answer this question. Click here for more information. How does TopicPulse merge sources into a common "topic"? TopicPulse uses latent semantic analysis to determine which posts and articles belong to a particular topic. Semantic analysis programmatically looks at words for patterns and common context. In addition, we have human moderators constantly reviewing TopicPulse for quality assurance. How does TopicPulse get demographic information? We use data from Facebook sharing and profiles, as well as Twitter data (when available). Plus, we look at the profile of people who are reading any news sources via Quantcast, which is like Scarborough for digital publishers, and Alexa, a qualitative research company owned by Amazon. We combine all of that available data into one easy-to-read graph. The "core" demo in TopicPulse is determined by who is MOST engaged in a topic vs. the general audience. As an example, if 25-49 year olds are engaged, but the most active and engaged members of the social chatter are specifically 30-35 years old, we highlight the 30-35 part of the cell as the "core." How does TopicPulse determine what appears in local market pulses? Your local pulse is populated with geo-targeted content based on your specific area, content shared from media sources within that target area, and engagement generated from the area.

Futuri POST uses mic closure logic (the same logic you would use to feed your "On Air" sign above your studio door) to trim talk breaks as accurately as possible, to make them easier to share online. If your station will be using Futuri POST, you should have received a serial-to-GPIO adapter in the same box as your streaming transmitter. If not, please contact Futuri VIP Support. To set up your mic closures, first connect the serial-to-GPIO adapter to the serial port on the back of the streaming transmitter. Then, connect your mic relay logic to pins 1 and 5. If your station uses either Axia Livewire or Wheatstone Wheatnet-IP, Futuri can receive your mic closures over those networks as well. You'll need to send the following information to Futuri VIP Support so that we can configure AOIP integration for you: Whether you're using Livewire or Wheatnet-IP The static IP address and subnet on your AOIP network that we should assign to Eth2 The channel that we should listen to for audio The IP address of your console (so we can listen for mic/fader activity) and the channel numbers of your microphones. We can support up to 4 microphone channels, and you should let us know the priority order of those mics. If you'd like to start using Futuri POST right now but aren't ready to use an AOIP network yet, you can start with analog audio and mic closures, and then switch to AOIP later.

Streaming Best Practices Listen to your stream. Make it a point, every day, to have someone on the staff tune into the stream. Is it on? How is the user experience? How is the quality? How do your commercial breaks sound (too many PSAs?, tight re-join)? Promote your stream on the air, on your website, on social media, mobile app (if you have one). Sell the benefits. (No signal issues or transmitter power issues.) Make it easy for a potential audience to find and listen to you, wherever they are. Stream-only promos. Create promos that are exclusive to your stream. Reference at work listening. Promote your website, social media, podcasts and station app. These listeners are already online. Use the opportunity to drive them to your other digital assets. Don’t be afraid of stream-only contesting. Produce a call-to-action and give those who are listening online an exclusive chance to win. Online listeners should be able to enter via email, text, mobile app or social media Branded Player Best Practices Customize your Futuri Streaming player by adding a station logo and a background image - this is an easy way to enhance your brand. Related Links Streaming Player Customizations Custom Streaming Player Tabs Digital Revenue Best Practices You can have a video commercial or an audio commercial automatically play when a listener plays your stream. The ad can also be hyper-linked to your sponsor’s website. Manage the pre-roll content with a free Google DFP account, or directly from the Futuri Control Room. Branded naming rights for your stream offers a great option for a client. Inclusion on streaming player (and mobile app), as well as in on-air promos, can help sales maximize the opportunity. Banner ads are also an easy way to monetize your Futuri streaming player. Related Links Futuri Streaming Banner, Video, and Audio Ads

Quick Filters TopicPulse now has three very useful filter toggles at the top of the Pulse screen: New - Can be used to filter down to only the stories that have appeared in TopicPulse in the last few hours. This filter is on by default. About to go viral - Use this filter to stay ahead of your competition on social media. Using advanced predictive modeling, these are stories that are predicting to go viral in the next few hours. Low news coverage - Use this when you want to find stories that are showing momentum in social coverage but have low news coverage (radio, TV, print). Advanced Filters ("Highlight Topics") TopicPulse can filter/highlight topics based on custom criteria, and you can save those filters to come back to later. This tool is found by clicking "Highlight Topics" on left side o of the TopicPulse screen. The following criteria can be set when filtering/highlighting topics: By Audience Gender By Growth in the last hour By Comment (i.e. topics that someone from your station staff has commented on) By Virality (i.e. predicted to go viral based on the engagement trends we're seeing with it so far). By Visibility (to view topics you've previously hidden) By Audience Age By Freshness in the system By Keyword By Source URLs that you choose to INCLUDE or EXCLUDE (so you can see which topics your competition is covering, or more importantly, may NOT have covered yet). By Low News Coverage (The topic has high engagement on social, but not many media outlets (tv, radio, newspapers) have covered it yet) Once you've specified your criteria, you can click "Do Highlight" to add a yellow background behind the topics that meet the criteria you specified. You can also click "Only Show Highlighted Topics" to hide all topics that do NOT meet your criteria. Saving Filters Highlighted criteria can also be saved as Filters, so you can easily re-visit those criteria in the future. Saved Filters are found at the top of the Pulse screen.

With your user account you get the power of TopicPulse in your hand, when and where you need it. Here’s how it works: Go to iTunes or Google Play and search “TopicPulse” or click on this link on your phone: http://app.topicpulse.com/mobile After downloading, type in the same username and password you use on the desktop into the login screen: Once you login in, you’ll see: Idea Starters screen with stories for your format (Radio Only)

This article is part of a series on Audiovault. Overview Installation Interactive Programming Troubleshooting There are several types of voting features that you can execute with Audiovault: "UPick" voting sessions - A few songs (typically 3) are pre-scheduled and listeners vote for the one that plays. At the end of the session, the losing songs are automatically deleted from NexGen. Learn more about "UPick" voting sessions here. This same functionality also works for Stylized Voting Sessions. Top Song - A larger list of songs (typically 15-25) are available for voting online, and the song with the most votes is automatically inserted into NexGen. Learn more about Top Song here. Takeover - Your music library is available online, and listeners pick every song that plays for an hour, a daypart, or a special weekend (within the parameters defined by your program director). The winning songs are automatically inserted into NexGen. Learn more about Takeover here. This same functionality also works for Takeover Countdown. FaceOff - Pit two songs against each other, and also let listeners choose which two songs will face off next. Winners will be automatically inserted into NexGen. Learn more about FaceOff here. This article will outline the Audiovault-specific details for these features. We'd recommend that you consult with Futuri VIP Support before running any of these features for the first time, so that we can answer any questions about your station's specific programming plan. Breaknote syntax for music schedulers In case you want to set up all of the possible breaknotes/commands at once, below is a handy cheat-sheet on each available breaknote: Breaknote info Music scheduler How to create UPickStart- Activates the next pre-scheduled UPick-style voting session. Related links: UPick Overview Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "UPickStart." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "UPickStart." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. LDR Vote Options Start- Goes before the first vote option of a UPick session. Related links: UPick Overview Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) You'll create a Link called "LDR Vote Options Start" that will NOT need to have any audio associated with it. It's essentially a lognote to mark where the vote options start. MusicMaster You'll create a Lognote directly on the clock called "LDR Vote Options Start" LDR Vote Options End- Goes after the last vote option of a UPick session. Related links: UPick Overview Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) You'll create a Link called "LDR Vote Options End" that will NOT need to have any audio associated with it. It's essentially a lognote to mark where the vote options end. MusicMaster You'll create a Lognote directly on the clock called "LDR Vote Options End" Begin Top Song- Activates a Top Song session. Related links: Top Song Overview Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin Top Song." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin Top Song." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. End Top Song- Ends a Top Song session. Related links: Top Song Overview Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "End Top Song." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "End Top Song." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. Begin Song Replacement- Begins a Takeover or Countdown session. Related links: Takeover Overview Countdown Overview Takeover Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin Song Replacement." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin Song Replacement." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. End Song Replacement- Ends a Takeover or Countdown session. Related links: Takeover Overview Countdown Overview Takeover Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "End Song Replacement." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "End Song Replacement." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. Begin FaceOff- Begins a FaceOff session. Related links: FaceOff Overview FaceOff Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin FaceOff." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin FaceOff." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. End FaceOff Next- Disables the bottom portion ("who should face off next") section of FaceOff (but does not entirely turn it off). Related links: FaceOff Overview FaceOff Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "End FaceOff Next." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "End FaceOff Next." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. Empty Song Slot- Denotes a position for Takeover, Top Song, Countdown, or FaceOff to insert a winning song. Related links: Takeover Overview Countdown Overview Top Song Overview FaceOff Overview Takeover Clock Setup Top Song Clock Setup FaceOff Clock Setup Selector V12 (DOS), MusicMaster Create a link (in Selector) or a lognote (in MusicMaster) called Empty Song Slot. The ID number does not matter. The Empty Song Slot link will be replaced by placeholder carts when you export your log, and Echo will insert winning songs into those placeholder carts. Begin Facebook Live- Used to trigger a pre-scheduled Facebook Live video from the #engage Studio mobile app. Related links: #engage Studio Overview #engage Studio Automation Integration Selector V12 (DOS) Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin Facebook Live." Add that element (either as a song or a link) in Selector so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. MusicMaster Create an audio cart in Audiovault called "Begin Facebook Live." Add that element in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check Audiovault for the cart number / cut ID. Note its MusicMaster file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. "UPick" voting sessions NOTE: In order to execute a "UPick" voting session, the session must be pre-scheduled in your music scheduler so that Futuri has the vote options on file. For a "UPick" voting session, the vote options are pre-scheduled in your music scheduler, and when you export a music log, the individual vote options will be replaced by a placeholder called {ccSlot}. Most stations wrap these voting sessions around a commercial break to drive Time Spent Listening and AQH. Click here for more general information about voting sessions. The vote options are bookended in Audiovault by lognotes called LDR Vote Options Start and LDR Vote Options End. The only elements between these two lognotes should be the songs you want listeners to vote for (not imaging positioners, for example). Several minutes before these elements in the log, you'll have a piece of audio called UPickStart. This element will also need to be pre-scheduled in your music scheduler. In Audiovault, its title MUST be "UPickStart" and it must be at least 1 second long before it segues into the next element. When the UPickStart plays in Audiovault, it will be exported to Futuri, and we will trigger the next scheduled voting session from our copy of your music log. For this reason, voting sessions must be scheduled in advance in your music scheduler. Echo will then "check in" with Futuri once every 30 seconds to see which song is winning at that moment, and copy that song's audio into the next sequential placeholder for that hour, as well as the first placeholder for the next hour, in case you're intending to play the winner after the top of the hour. The voting session on your station's website will then close when the winning song actually plays. Click here for instructions on setting up voting session clocks in your music scheduler. Top Song With Top Song, listeners view a list of songs on your #engage voting window and vote them up and down in a queue. The song with the most votes each hour (taking basic artist/title separation into account) is that hour's "top song" and is automatically copied into a placeholder in Audiovault. Click here for more general information about Top Song. Most stations run Top Song for an entire daypart (i.e. 7p-12a) or as a workday feature (10a-5p). When doing this, it's only necessary to turn Top Song "on" at the beginning of the daypart, turn it "off" at the end of the daypart, and then to insert placeholder carts in each hour where you want a winner to be placed. To turn Top Song "on," you'll play a piece of audio called Begin Top Song. This element is typically scheduled in your daily music log. When this elements plays, Top Song will appear in your station's voting window online, and Echo will begin to "check in" with Futuri every 30 seconds to find out what song is currently being voted #1, and copy that song's audio into the {ccSlot} placeholder. When you're about to play your last Top Song winner, you can turn Top Song "off" with another audio command called End Top Song. It's recommended that you play this command right BEFORE you play the last winner. That way, users aren't voting after the last winner has already started to play. It's safe to disable the feature right before the last winner, because the winner will have already been copied by that time. We'd recommend that you enable reconciliation between Audiovault and your music scheduler, so that at the end of each day, the songs that won during Top Song are inserted into that day's log in your music scheduler. BE Support can help you to set up reconciliation if you aren't already using it. Takeover With Takeover, listeners view your music library online and vote their requests up in a queue. The song with the most votes when it's time for the next song to play (taking your separation goals into account) is automatically copied into a placeholder in Audiovault. For more information about Takeover goals, click here. For more information about Takeover clock setup, click here. To turn Takeover "on," you'll insert an audio command called Begin Song Replacement. When this element plays, Takeover will appear on your site, and Echo will begin to "check in" with Futuri every 30 seconds to find out what song is currently being voted #1, and copy that song's audio into the {ccSlot} placeholder. When your log is first exported from your music scheduler, Echo will automatically insert the placeholders needed for Takeover (as long as you have lognotes called "Empty Song Slot" in the original version of the log). At the end of your Takeover show, you'll want to turn it "off" with another audio command called End Song Replacement. It's recommended that you place this command at the top of the NEXT hour (so it doesn't inadvertently get synced out at the end of the show). We'd recommend that you enable reconciliation between Audiovault and your music scheduler, so that at the end of each day, the songs that won during Takeover are inserted into that day's log in your music scheduler. BE Support can help you to set up reconciliation if you aren't already using it. FaceOff With FaceOff, your station can pit two songs against each other, and also let listeners choose which two songs will face off next. Winning songs are automatically copied into a placeholder in Audiovault. For more information about FaceOff, click here. For more information about FaceOff clock setup, click here. To turn FaceOff "on," you'll insert an audio command called Begin FaceOff. When this element plays, FaceOff will appear on your site, and Echo will begin to "check in" with Futuri every 30 seconds to find out what song is winning, and copy that song's audio into the {ccSlot} placeholder. When your log is first exported from your music scheduler, Echo will automatically insert the placeholders needed for FaceOff (as long as you have lognotes called "Empty Song Slot" in the original version of the log). Right before your second-to-last Empty Song Slot, play an audio command called End FaceOff Next. This is done because there is no payoff for the “which songs should face off next” at this point in the hour (because after the next head-to-head, the feature will be done for the day). At the end of your FaceOff show, you'll want to turn it "off" with another audio command called End Song Replacement. It's recommended that you place this command in a position where it will NOT be synced out (i.e. by padding the end of the hour with pre-scheduled songs). We'd recommend that you enable reconciliation between Audiovault and your music scheduler, so that at the end of each day, the songs that won during FaceOff are inserted into that day's log in your music scheduler. BE Support can help you to set up reconciliation if you aren't already using it.

To create and publish new shows: Step 1 - From the SHOWS page, you have two options when it comes to creating a new episode. Hover your mouse pointer over your show and then click the "+ New Episode" button. Or, click on your show, and from inside the show page, click the "+ NEW EPISODE" button. Step 2 - Then, you can upload a pre-produced episode by clicking the BROWSE button and selecting the audio file, or skip to step 3 to build your episode from your broadcast audio in POST. Step 3 - To create an episode from your broadcast audio, click the BUILD YOUR AUDIO FILE NOW button to go to the audio builder. Select the date and the time frame from which you want to choose your audio. You may also search audio by title, or filter audio by audio type. Filter by MUSIC, TALK BREAK, IMAGING, or COMMERCIAL. Step 4 - To build your audio file, you can click the arrow on the audio file to add it to the playlist, or you can click and drag the audio file to the playlist. You can also download the audio from here if you choose. Step 5 - Once you move an audio file to the playlist, you can use the pencil icon to open the POST editor to edit your audio. Step 6 - When you're finished building your episode, click the SAVE AND CONTINUE button. Step 7 - From here, you can preview the episode in a player, or simply skip to the next step. Step 8 - Next, add a title and a description for your new episode and click NEXT STEP. Step 9 - To add an image to your episode, click the CHANGE button under the default image and upload an image, or select a licensed image. If you do not upload or select a licensed image, the default image will appear in your podcast. An image is required to move to the next step. Step 10 - Finally, select where you wish to export your podcast. Choose your station website, RSS feeds or Social Media. You can also choose to create a video file of your podcast. Then, you can immediately publish the episode, schedule the episode to be published at a later date and time or save the episode as a draft. Once you publish an episode, you can review, un-publish, or edit from the show page. This is also where you can download your video when it's ready.

This article will walk you through the Export of Now Playing data from RadioBOSS to your Futuri Streaming Transmitter. Before beginning, you will need to assign your Static IP address. Click here for instructions on how to set up a static IP address for your transmitter. Step Action 1 Select "Settings>Preferences" from the menu to enter the configuration dialog. 2 Click the section labeled "Log files" (Reports). 3 Make sure that "Created Reports" field has a check mark. 4 From the area labeled "Format" confirm the XML is selected. 5 Confirm that the "Store track number in the report" is not checked. 6 From the FTP section: Confirm the "Copy to FTP" has a check mark. Set the "Server" field to the IP address you reserved for the streaming transmitter on your router. Set the "Port" field to 12345 (If you have a firewall, confirm the TCP port 12345 is open). Set the "User" field to username and Password field to password. Confirm, the "Passive Mode" has a check mark. 7 Click the "OK" button at the bottom of the page. 8 Restart RadioBOSS.

This article will walk through how to set up a clock in your music scheduler for FaceOff. An #engage Pro license is required to make FaceOff actually function in your automation system. Elements needed Clock structure Automation notes Futuri VIP Support will typically set up your initial clocks with you when you first come on board with FaceOff, but this article is intended more for reference after that. Elements needed You'll set up the following elements (see the table under each element for details on your automation system): Begin FaceOff Begin Song Replacement (NexGen and Zetta only) End FaceOff Next End Song Replacement Empty Song Slot In most cases, you'll want to create these elements before building your clocks. If you're using WideOrbit with MusicMaster, it'll be easier to create the elements directly on the clocks themselves. If you use GSelector, your commands can be created either as Breaknotes (under Clocks) or as Links (under Linker). If you see fields configured under Interface > Export > Schedule > Breaknote, then you can use Breaknotes for your #engage commands. Otherwise, you must use Linker. If you don't see your automation system or music scheduler listed, Futuri VIP Support can help you to determine how to add these elements. Begin FaceOff The Begin FaceOff command turns on FaceOff, generating a head-to-head voting session and activating the "which songs should face off next" feature. Automation System Music Scheduler How to create NexGen GSelector Can either be set up as a Breaknote (under "Clocks") or as a Link (under "Linker"). The text Begin FaceOff goes in the title field, and the Media field should be 20. All other fields can be blank. Selector V12 (DOS) Set up in Linker with the title text Begin FaceOff and the Media field 20. Note the Link's ID number so you can add it to the clock later. MusicMaster Set up as a Lognote with the following syntax: ^20^^Begin FaceOff SS32, Audiovault, Maestro Selector V12 (DOS) During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "Begin FaceOff." You'll need to create that audio cart in Selector as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. This can be added either as a song or a link in Selector. MusicMaster During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "Begin FaceOff." You'll need to create that audio cart in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. Once you have created the item in MusicMaster, you'll need to note its file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. Stratus During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "Begin FaceOff." You'll need to create a breaknote in Stratus as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. The syntax (for the breaknote's "notes" field) is ,,607,DA9600,"Begin FaceOff",,00:10,,,, (using your own category / cut ID). Zetta GSelector After Zetta has been configured and you have synced your Macros with GSelector, the Control element called Macro (Begin FaceOff) should automatically exist. WideOrbit Selector V12 (DOS), MusicMaster Create a link (in Selector) or a lognote (in MusicMaster) with the following syntax: ,,,..,"Begin FaceOff",,,,,, Powergold In the Automation Command Editor (under Edit > Commands | Automation), create an element with the title Begin FaceOff, and put two periods (..) in the Source field (to identify the element as a memo). OpX Stratus Create a song element with the title Begin Faceoff and the cut ID FUT12. Begin Song Replacement The Begin Song Replacement is the command that turns on the native "check-in" functionality for NexGen and Zetta. It is not necessary to play for FaceOff for other automation systems. Automation System Music Scheduler How to create NexGen GSelector Can either be set up as a Breaknote (under "Clocks") or as a Link (under "Linker"). The text Begin Song Replacement goes in the title field, and the Media field should be 20. All other fields can be blank. Selector V12 (DOS) Set up in Linker with the title text Begin Song Replacement and the Media field 20. Note the Link's ID number so you can add it to the clock later. MusicMaster Set up as a Lognote with the following syntax: ^20^^Begin Song Replacement Zetta GSelector After Zetta has been configured and you have synced your Macros with GSelector, the Control element called Macro (Begin Song Replacement) should automatically exist. End FaceOff Next The End FaceOff Next command will not fully disable FaceOff, but rather will simply turn off the "which songs will face off next" portion of FaceOff. It will be placed before the second-to-last winning position and will play right before that second-to-last winning position (which will be fine because the second-to-last position will have already been filled by your automation system). This is because there is no payoff for the “which songs should face off next” at this point in the hour (because after the next head-to-head, the feature will be done for the day). Automation System Music Scheduler How to create NexGen GSelector Can either be set up as a Breaknote (under "Clocks") or as a Link (under "Linker"). The text End FaceOff Next goes in the title field, and the Media field should be 20. All other fields can be blank. Selector V12 (DOS) Set up in Linker with the title text End FaceOff Next and the Media field 20. Note the Link's ID number so you can add it to the clock later. MusicMaster Set up as a Lognote with the following syntax: ^20^^End FaceOff Next SS32, Audiovault, Maestro Selector V12 (DOS) During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "End FaceOff Next." You'll need to create that audio cart in Selector as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. This can be added either as a song or a link in Selector. MusicMaster During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "End FaceOff Next." You'll need to create that audio cart in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. Once you have created the item in MusicMaster, you'll need to note its file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. Stratus During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "End FaceOff Next." You'll need to create a breaknote in Stratus as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. The syntax (for the breaknote's "notes" field) is ,,607,DA9600,"End Song Replacement",,00:10,,,, (using your own category / cut ID). Zetta GSelector After Zetta has been configured and you have synced your Macros with GSelector, the Control element called Macro (End FaceOff Next) should automatically exist. WideOrbit Selector V12 (DOS), MusicMaster Create a link (in Selector) or a lognote (in MusicMaster) with the following syntax: ,,,..,"End FaceOff Next",,,,,, Powergold In the Automation Command Editor (under Edit > Commands | Automation), create an element with the title End FaceOff Next, and put two periods (..) in the Source field (to identify the element as a memo). OpX Stratus Create a song element with the title End FaceOff Next and the cut ID FUT13. End Song Replacement The End Song Replacement is the command that fully turns off FaceOff. Automation System Music Scheduler How to create NexGen GSelector Can either be set up as a Breaknote (under "Clocks") or as a Link (under "Linker"). The text End Song Replacement goes in the title field, and the Media field should be 20. All other fields can be blank. Selector V12 (DOS) Set up in Linker with the title text End Song Replacement and the Media field 20. Note the Link's ID number so you can add it to the clock later. MusicMaster Set up as a Lognote with the following syntax: ^20^^End Song Replacement SS32, Audiovault, Maestro Selector V12 (DOS) During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "End Song Replacement." You'll need to create that audio cart in Selector as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. This can be added either as a song or a link in Selector. MusicMaster During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "End Song Replacement." You'll need to create that audio cart in MusicMaster as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. Once you have created the item in MusicMaster, you'll need to note its file number so that you can schedule it as a "Forced" element in your clock. Stratus During your initial setup, you should have created an audio cart in your automation system called "End Song Replacement." You'll need to create a breaknote in Stratus as well so that you can schedule it in a clock. Check your automation system for the cart number / cut ID. The syntax (for the breaknote's "notes" field) is ,,607,DA9600,"End Song Replacement",,00:10,,,, (using your own category / cut ID). Zetta GSelector After Zetta has been configured and you have synced your Macros with GSelector, the Control element called Macro (End Song Replacement) should automatically exist. WideOrbit Selector V12 (DOS), MusicMaster Create a link (in Selector) or a lognote (in MusicMaster) with the following syntax: ,,,..,"End Song Replacement",,,,,, Powergold In the Automation Command Editor (under Edit > Commands | Automation), create an element with the title End Song Replacement, and put two periods (..) in the Source field (to identify the element as a memo). OpX Stratus Create a song element with the title End Song Replacement and the cut ID FUT05. Empty Song Slot Empty Song Slots are placed in the log where you want FaceOff to insert songs. Automation System Music Scheduler How to create NexGen GSelector Can either be set up as a Breaknote (under "Clocks") or as a Link (under "Linker"). The text Empty Song Slot goes in the title field, and the Media field should be 81. All other fields can be blank. Selector V12 (DOS) Set up in Linker with the title text Empty Song Slot and the Media field 81. Note the Link's ID number so you can add it to the clock later. MusicMaster Set up as a Lognote with the following syntax: ^81^^Empty Song Slot SS32, Audiovault, Maestro Selector V12 (DOS), MusicMaster Create a link (in Selector) or a lognote (in MusicMaster) called Empty Song Slot. The ID number does not matter. The Empty Song Slot link will be replaced by placeholder carts when you export your log, and Echo will insert winning songs into those placeholder carts. Stratus You'll create a breaknote in Stratus using the following syntax (for the breaknote's "notes" field): ,,LDR,DA9998,"EMPTY SONG SLOT",,03:30,,,, The Empty Song Slot element will be replaced by placeholder carts when you export your log, and Echo will insert winning songs into those placeholder carts. Zetta GSelector Under Goals, create a song category group and a subordinate song category, which contains no songs. This is used to create Unscheduled Song positions in your clock. WideOrbit Selector V12 (DOS), MusicMaster Create a link (in Selector) or a lognote (in MusicMaster) with the following syntax: ,,.,..,"Empty Song Slot",,,,,, and specify a duration of 3:30 on that element. Powergold In the Automation Command Editor (under Edit > Commands | Automation), create an element with the title Empty Song Slot, give it a duration of 3:30, put a period (.) in the Time Synch field, and put two periods (..) in the Source field (to identify the element as a memo). OpX Stratus Create a song element with the title Empty Song Slot and the cut ID FUT03. Clock structure When building #engage clocks, we recommend making copies of existing clocks first (from the same position in your assignment grid), and then modifying those copies. You'll likely have three different clocks for FaceOff: The hour before FaceOff starts The FaceOff hour(s) The hour after FaceOff ends The hour before FaceOff starts To build a FaceOff clock, you'll place your Begin FaceOff in the clock wherever you want users to start voting. This must be at least a few minutes before the first song you want to insert, so most stations place this command near the last stopset of the previous hour (and pair it with imaging to promote FaceOff starting at the top of the next hour). If your station uses NexGen, Zetta, or OpX, you will place your Begin Song Replacement command right next to your Begin FaceOff command. If you don't use NexGen, Zetta, or OpX, you don't need that command for FaceOff. The FaceOff hour(s) NOTE: Many NexGen stations choose to schedule their FaceOff hours directly in NexGen, rather than in GSelector, because NexGen will typically delete Empty Song Slots after a music import. For more information on executing FaceOff entirely through NexGen, click here. Everywhere you want FaceOff to insert a song, you'll place your Empty Song Slot (or, for Zetta stations, you'll schedule the empty category you created in the steps above). The rest of the hour is built like a normal clock, with imaging, voicetracks, and stopsets wherever they would normally go. Because we have to be able to identify the “last” and “second-to-last” winners in order to know when to deactivate the “what should faceoff next” part of the feature, you will not be able to just stack extra Empty Song Slots at the end of the hour and let the extras sync out, like you might for a normal Takeover. Instead, any positions that could potentially sync out should instead be filled with pre-scheduled songs (ideally songs that are not also in a FaceOff session). If a FaceOff feature will spread over several hours, it is not necessary to put pre-scheduled songs at the end of each hour (only at the end of the last hour). It's also possible to place scheduled songs in a FaceOff hour. We'd recommend against doing this more than once or twice per hour, since it sort of defeats the purpose of FaceOff and can confuse users when the next one to play is not one of the vote options, but here are some good reasons stations sometimes pre-schedule songs during FaceOff: To serve as a buffer between turning FaceOff on with the Begin Song Replacement, and attempting to fill the first Empty Song Slot To serve as a buffer after a sync, since some automation systems may not be able to react fast enough after syncing to plug in a winning song right away To give voicetrackers a pre-scheduled song to talk into or out of Right before your second-to-last Empty Song Slot, place the End FaceOff Next command. This command will hide the two queues of songs and display ONLY the current head-to-head session. This is done because there is no payoff for the “which songs should face off next” at this point in the hour (because after the next head-to-head, the feature will be done for the day). When you want to turn FaceOff off, place the End Song Replacement command in your clock. It should be placed BEFORE your last Empty Song Slot, not after it. If the End Song Replacement is synced out, FaceOff will stay in the "on" position on your website and will be misleading to users, so it's helpful to pad the end of the hour with pre-scheduled songs that can be synced if needed. Automation notes See the following articles for specific notes on executing FaceOff in these automation systems: NexGen Voting Session / Takeover Execution WideOrbit Voting Session / Takeover Execution Zetta Voting Session / Takeover Execution Audiovault Voting Session / Takeover Execution SS32 Voting Session / Takeover Execution You may also want to check out our article on playlist exports for more information on those setup steps.

With Takeover's Countdown Mode, your listeners will have the power to vote in a real-time, live countdown feature - and keep voting all the way until the #1 song plays! Songs that have already played in the countdown are locked in position at the top of the page, so users can see what has already played, and what they're still voting for. On the Jock Page, presenters will see the lowest-voted song first (in the “Next” position). How is a Takeover Countdown set up? You'll want to provide a Takeover Countdown playlist that is at least a few songs larger than your countdown. For example, if you're playing a Top 6 countdown, we would recommend a playlist of at least 10 songs (so that there's still some suspense when they're battling it out for #1). You can manage playlists in the Futuri Control Room under Takeover > Playlists and Songs. If you need assistance creating Takeover playlists or scheduling them to switch in advance, click here. You'll also need to place the Countdown into a clock in your music scheduler. The #engage Countdown feature uses the same clock setup as a normal Takeover clock, and information on that can be found here. Next, Futuri VIP Support will work with you to configure separation goalsfw properly for a countdown. Futuri VIP Support will need to know the following: When will your voting start? When will your Countdown winners start to play back? Any songs played at that time will be counted in the #engage voting window as Countdown winners, whether they were inserted by Futuri or inserted by hand. How many songs will be in your countdown? How long will it take for your winning songs to play back? This will be the value we set for "song separation," to make sure the same song does not play twice in the countdown. Do you need an artist separation goal during your countdown? If so, we'd recommend that we set it fairly low (i.e. 3-5 minutes) to prevent multiple songs from the same artist from clumping together toward the end of the countdown. Other more complex Takeover goals (if you have them) will automatically be ignored while Countdown mode is enabled. It will not be necessary to manually lower/disable each of these goals, if they are used during traditional Takeover shows on the station. If you would like to set up a Takeover Countdown for your station, please contact Futuri VIP Support. Promoting Takeover Countdown Below is an aircheck and a video that Power 95.3 in Orlando made when they launched Takeover Countdown. 8pm! Aladdin brings you the hottest countdown in the City - Orlando's Most Wanted @ 8! The hottest songs picked by YOU! Download the POWER 95.3 app now and join in @ 8pm! #POWER953Posted by POWER 95.3 on Monday, December 7, 2015

FaceOff is a feature of #engage that allows users to vote on two lists of songs at once, and the songs at the top of each list will "face off" against each other in a head-to-head voting session to see which one plays next on air. This feature is designed to drive Time Spent Listening and time spent on your station's website. With FaceOff, your station will need to provide two playlists to be used. These playlists will function similarly to Takeover. Learn more about FaceOff FaceOff Clock Setup Playlist Exports FaceOff with NexGen FaceOff with WideOrbit FaceOff with SS32 FaceOff with Audiovault FaceOff with Zetta

Keep the conversation going online and communicate directly with your listeners in real-time via the #engage platform with Discussions. With Discussions, station personalities start conversation threads for listeners to chat directly with the station and other listeners. Personalities and listeners can post new comments and reply to existing comments in the thread. Users are asked to log-in with Facebook or Twitter to show their name and profile picture for a personalized Discussions experience, and anonymous posting can be enabled in the Futuri Control Room. If your #engage station also has a Futuri Mobile app, Discussions can be enabled in your app as well. Contact Futuri VIP Support if you'd like to do this. Configuring the Discussions feature Using the Discussions feature Configuring the Discussions feature The Discussions feature is enabled for all #engage stations by default, but will not display to users unless you have a Discussion thread active. Overall Configuration Creating Station Personalities Overall Configuration In the Futuri Control Room under Discussions > Configuration, you can customize your station’s Discussions look & feel. For example, you can give your Discussions a custom name, ex. “Zapptivity Center” and name the button for listeners to start engaging with discussions, ex. “Join the Conversation!” You can also check the Anonymous Replies box if you'd like to allow users to post anonymously (i.e. without signing in to Facebook or Twitter first). When doing this, you can create an “Anonymous” first and last name for all non-logged in users for added customization. If you add multiple names, #engage will randomly shuffle those names when anonymous users post to Discussions. Creating Station Personalities In the Control Room under Discussions > Personalities, you can create profiles for your station personalities. Try a general station personality, a morning show personality, or create individual personalities for each jock. Select “New Personality” and add a name, profile photo, then select save. You're now on your way to posting threads in Discussions! Using the Discussions feature Manage your live conversations as they happen in the Futuri Control Room under Discussions > Discussion Topics. Here, you'll see a real time table of all conversation threads, manage user-posted comments, and see user-entered contact details for engaging with users outside of discussions. Creating new topics Replying to topics Moderating content Using Discussions for contesting Creating New Topics To start a new topic, select “New Conversation” and enter the topic or question you would like your listeners to discuss. Managing existing conversations can be done via the red, active conversation box to the right of the real-time user comments. You can navigate to the conversation you want to monitor and engage with via this list. Station personalities can also: Comment on the active topic Pause an active topic, turning off visibility to the topic for users. A great use case would be for a morning show thread that is started/stopped daily for the show. Pausing a conversation keeps the existing thread and picks it back up when the station makes it live again each day at show time. Delete a topic to remove it completely. Deleted topics are not able to be seen again in the Control Room or on the front end of #engage. Replying to topics Listeners comments are all visible in the Futuri Control Room. Station personalities can quickly reply to a listener comment via the ‘“Reply” button Moderating content Station personalities have the ability to moderate all content. If a comment is deemed unsatisfactory, use the “delete” button to remove it. An additional station moderation tool is blocking unsavory users. All non-anonymous users are able to be blocked from engaging with the Discussions feature. Select the “block” button next to the user’s comment. Blocked users will still seem to be able to post from their experience, but posts will not be shown to other users. SUGGESTION: If you want to have the ability to block users who post inappropriate content, you may want to disable anonymous replies (by un-checking that box under Discussions > Configuration), because anonymous users cannot be blocked. Using Discussions for contesting The first time a user logs-in via Facebook or Twitter to the Discussions feature, they are prompted to enter their contact information (email/phone number) for the station to be able to contact them outside of Discussions. This allows you, the radio station, to drive contesting with the Discussions feature. All collected contact information is visible next to users' comments in the discussion thread in the Futuri Control Room.

As a system administrator you can create logins for users at your station(s). Log into your new POST account Navigate to 1) Settings 2) User Management 3) Add User Enter in FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, EMAIL, select access level, and station the user should have access to. Once user is added logout and log back in to test Finally send them an email with their username and password. Sample: Username: Bob_Smith Password: Password123 Also view this video on how to add new user to POST: If you have any questions, please contact VIP Support, go to https://futurimedia.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new

This article will cover the configuration of POST categories and how the audio elements are displayed. In order for audio elements to be displayed in the correct location from within POST, your different automation "categories/types" will need to be defined on the Categories page. Futuri's installation team will typically place some common categories in the right positions for you, however, you may want to revisit this information periodically to confirm the accuracy and completeness. The Categories page displays which automation types are assigned to which categories, allowing you to drag unassigned types to the correct location. Note:There are numerous configuration options available when editing a category however, most of the options should only be changed with the guidance of Futuri VIP Support. However, you are free to adjust the screen color to your liking, or create categories using the "Create New" button at the top right corner of the screen.

The POST Web Widget, allows you to have multiple pages of content inside of the widget. You have the ability to make large amounts of content available to your listeners without slowing down the load time of your website. In addition, POST gives you the option of having your content play right inside the web widget, or play in a separate pop-up player. To setup the widget for multiple pages and the embedded player: Go to POST Planner and grab the embed code for the webpage. Select: Light or Dark Theme Do you want a pop-up player? (default is now the embedded player) How many total episodes do you want to show on multiple pages? How many episodes do you want on each page of the widget? Select the "Copy to Clipboard" button, then past it into your website and click "Done".

This article will walk you through the Export of Now Playing data from Rivendell to your Futuri Streaming Transmitter. Before beginning, you will need to assign your Static IP address. Click here for instructions on how to setup a Static IP address for your transmitter. Step 1 - Logon to RDAdmin and Select "Manage Hosts". Step 2 - Select "Host" you wish to modify, and click Edit. Step 3 - Click the "RDAirPlay" button. Step 4 - Select the "Configure Now & Next Parameters" button. Step 5- Enter the IP address for your Streaming transmitter and the port 12345. In the UDP String field, enter the following: %n|%g|%t|%a|%l|%h|%N|%G|%A|%L%R (for clarification, the delimiting character above is the pipe ( | )) Variable Stands For %n cart number %g group name %t title %a artist %l (lowercase L) album %h song length %N next playing cart number %G next playing group %T next playing title %A next playing artist %L next album %R line feed character Step 6 - Click "OK" on the next three screens until you have returned to the "Rivendell Workstation List" screen, and click "Close". Step 7 - Select "Manage Groups. Step 8 - Select each group that plays on air, select "Edit". Note: Futuri's server filters out non-music groups, however, they require these groups for proper timing of the data. You should bypass macros and other command groups that are not played on air. Step 9 - Place a "X" in the Transmit Now & Next data field and click "OK". (This should be completed for each group that is played on the air.) Step 10 - Click "Close" to complete the process and close RDAdmin.

This article is part of a series on SS32. To work through this installation process for the first time, contact Futuri VIP support to schedule a 30-60 minute virtual implementation session. Now Playing Setup: DSM32 is recommended for Now Playing data from SS32 to your Futuri Transmitter. If this your first time using DSM32, you will need to indicate if you are using SS32 or Maestro. (Refer to the SS32/Maestro tab.) Setup SS32 to send "Format D" to DSM32 on port 5500 or set DSM32 to connect to "Maestro on port 11108". All users will then need to create a new "Pass Through" account as a host, using "Format XML". The IP address is the IP of your Futuri Transmitter. If you are using a Single Station Transmitter, set DSM32 to port 12345. If you are using a Multi Stream Transmitter, you should use port(s) 900X where X is (the station number of the transmitter). Select the "Send Only First" (Playing) Line.

Futuri offers several types of reporting tools to help your station put together your required streaming royalty reporting. Different stations are required to report different types of streaming data, based on which country they're located in, how big they are, and whether they have commercial or non-commercial licenses. If you're not sure how you should be reporting streaming royalties, check with your station's legal counsel. Futuri may also be able to help point you in the right direction. This article will outline the three most common types of royalty reporting required for our partner stations: Total Listening Hours SoundExchange Reporting NPR / CPB Reporting Total Listening Hours Smaller stations may only need to report a Total Listening Hours (TLH) figure for a month or quarter. You can find this number in ARM, broken down by month, and you can pull your station's TLH for a custom date range using ARM. If you need a login for ARM, please contact Futuri VIP Support. SoundExchange Reporting Most commercial stations in the United States must report per-spin streaming plays to SoundExchange. Futuri provides a reporting tool for this, which can be found in your ARM dashboard. NOTE: In order for the SoundExchange reporting tool to function, your station must be sending Now Playing metadata to Futuri with your stream. Once you're logged in to ARM, click the SoundExchange link in the left hand column. Then click Generate. Then at the top right, simply choose a date range to generate the per-song stats for that date range. Once you've reviewed the report for accuracy, simply click Export to CSV to generate a CSV version of the report that you can share with SoundExchange. NPR / CPB Reporting If your station reports royalties to NPR / CPB, you should be able to simply provide raw listening logs from a two-week period of your choosing. However, you should confirm this with a rep from NPR or CPB. Futuri VIP Support can pull this report for you. Simply contact Futuri VIP Support with the date range you need reports for, and our team will generate a .tsv file with the raw data that NPR / CPB requires for that date range.

If your NexGen station’s #engage breaknotes all have the (wrong) media code in the left column of your music log export, your voting sessions won’t trigger in NexGen. Here’s how to fix that issue. Make sure your #engage breaknotes are configured as "Breaknotes" Check under Clocks > Breaknotes to make sure that your #engage breaknotes exist there. Your breaknotes should have media codes as listed below (but your station may not have all of these breaknotes, if you don’t use all of these features). #engage Breaknote element Features using this element Media Code UPickStart UPick voting sessions, Stylized voting sessions 20 Begin Song Replacement Takeover, Countdown, Top Song, FaceOff End Song Replacement Takeover, Countdown, Top Song, FaceOff Begin Top Song Top Song End Top Song Top Song Begin FaceOff FaceOff End FaceOff Next FaceOff LDR Vote Options Start UPick Voting Sessions, Stylized Voting Sessions 09 LDR Vote Options End UPick Voting Sessions, Stylized Voting Sessions Empty Song Slot Takeover, Countdown, Top Song, FaceOff 81 Each breaknote that you use should have a checkmark next to it, indicating that it is in an active clock. You'll also want to make sure there are no OTHER (non-#engage) breaknotes in this list...or that if there are, each of those breaknotes also should have a media code established (in the far-right column). If your #engage breaknotes are NOT under Clocks > Breaknotes, they would be in Linker. If this is the case, you’ll need to create Breaknote versions of each, and then replace the Linker breaknotes in each active clock(s) with the Breaknote version. Configure your export to include the correct media codes Now that you've ensured that your breaknotes have the right media codes, you'll need to configure GSelector to export those media codes to NexGen. Under Interface > Export > Schedule: There is a tab called Automation Type (in the left column). In that tab, the Breaknote value should be blank (it’s probably 04 right now). In the right column under Format > Breaknotes, there may be an Automation Type value, but that can be removed, and then you can add a field (with the green plus sign) called Media that is in Column 1 and has Length 2. Once those changes are made, save this page (top left) and export a test log to make sure the breaknotes have the right media codes. If your Format > Breaknotes section is not configured, set it up to match the pattern used under Format > Songs. If you're not sure how to do this, contact RCS Support. Correct the incorrectly formatted elements in today's NexGen log (if needed) If you need to modify NexGen for today (or another already-scheduled day), you can use the "Add Other Events" menu in NexGen to insert the correctly formatted elements. The media codes you specified in GSelector correspond to the following NexGen element types: GSelector Media Code NexGen Element 20 Export Comment 09 Comment 81 Empty Song Slot

#engage offers several voting features where users can be presented with a list of songs that they vote up or down in order to determine what will play on the air (including Takeover, Top Song, and FaceOff). The available songs are determined by you, and there are two ways to populate one of these playlists: CSV Upload - You can provide a spreadsheet (as a .CSV file) of your active library with any attributes you'd like to use for separation (i.e. category, sound code, era, vocalist), which is generated from your music scheduler and uploaded to the Futuri Control Room each time you update your rotation. "Autopop" - The top X songs played over the last Y days (with X and Y determined by you) are made available for voting. Because this type of playlist is based on your Now Playing feed, complicated separation goals such as category, sound code, and era are not possible. However, basic artist and title separation is still possible. You may find that an "autopop" list is easier to manage, especially if your station doesn't schedule music locally. Click here for more information on "autopop" playlists. NOTE: These same instructions can be used to generate playlists for Top Song, Takeover Countdown, and FaceOff, though we advise against complex sound-code-related goals for those features. Jump to: Configuring the export for the first time Running the export Uploading the export to the Futuri Control Room Configuring the export for the first time In your MusicMaster Windows directory, there is a program called MMExportDesigner.exe (or possibly MMExportDesignEditor.exe). When launched, you will be prompted to pick the dataset to use. If you don't know where your MusicMaster database lives, check with your engineer. When you pick your dataset, a second box will pop up that will allow you to choose the Design Type (either a Schedule Export or a Library Export). For #engage playlist exports, you'll choose Library Export and then click New. Give the design a name (something generic like "Takeover" or "Top Song") and choose Fixed-Length ASCII Text. Then, click "OK". Start with your Artist field, and then add a "Fixed Text" field afterward, with a comma in the "Text" box (on the right side of the screen) as shown in the screenshot below. NOTE: Make sure that the "Length" of your Artist field is a reasonable value. Sometimes it may default to 255 characters, but you should make it shorter (in the neighborhood of 30 characters) in order to prevent your songs from taking up multiple rows in your CSV file. Add the rest of the fields that you need, with a "Fixed Text" comma in between each one. The minimum required fields are Artist, Title, ID, and (for WideOrbit and SS32 stations), the Media field (or wherever your automation category is saved). If you want to add Takeover separation goals for other fields, like Category, Sound Code, Tempo, Era, or Role, those fields should also be included. NOTE: If you need to change an export's field order after configuring (i.e. if you forget to add commas in between each field and need to add them at the end), you can re-order your fields by clicking on the grey pointer column and moving the line up or down to the new location. When you're done configuring your export, click File > Save so that you can then use it in MusicMaster. Running the export To run a playlist export from MusicMaster, simply navigate to Dataset > Library > Export as shown below. Then, select the categories you want to include, choose the Output Design that you created in the setup process, determine where you want to save the file, and give it a filename as shown in the screenshot below. The filename must end in ".csv". Once you've generated your playlist, you'll upload the list to the Futuri Control Room (see below). Managing playlists in Control Room After generating your playlist, log in to the Futuri Control Room. If you need credentials, please email Futuri VIP Support. Once you’re logged in, perform the quick steps below: 1. Click Takeover Playlists from the #engage Playlists menu on the left. 2. Give the playlist a name. 3. Choose the file to upload. 4. Click the Upload button. 5. Change the Active status of your lists (if you want the new list to go live right now, Activate it and Deactivate any lists that shouldn’t be live right now). You can have multiple playlists active at a time, and you can also Delete old lists from here. 6. If you’re going to use different playlists at different times, select Playlist Scheduling from the menu on the left. 7. Set up “activation times” as needed, and/or swap out the list you need to replace so that the scheduling will do what it needs to do when the time comes. 8. Click Save Playlist Changes at the bottom of the page.

Facebook Authorizing a Facebook Account In your Futuri Control Room account, navigate to the "Facebook Integration" under "#WHATSHOULDPLAYNEXT" in the menu. At the top, it will say that no Facebook page is configured. Click the "Choose a page" link. Next, click the link to "Login to Facebook". Enter the Facebook credentials for your station's page administrator and login. Once authorized, you will be returned to the Control Room view where you can select the Facebook page that you would like to link to your account. Deleting Facebook Account Authorization NOTE: In the event that the Facebook administrator who set up the link loses access to the station page, Futuri will also lose access and the integration will need to be established again. To manually remove the link between the station's Facebook page and Futuri, navigate to the Apps section of your account settings in Facebook and remove Futuri from there. Twitter Authorizing a Twitter Account In your Futuri Control Room account, navigate to the "Twitter Authorization" under "#WHATSHOULDPLAYNEXT" in the menu. Next, click on the "Authorize with Twitter" link. Enter your Twitter credentials and click "Sign In". The authorization request will be processed and you will be returned to Control Room where you will see text confirming that your Twitter account is now authorized. Deleting Twitter Account Authorization To manually remove the link between the station's Twitter account and Futuri, navigate to Twitter "Settings and privacy". Then, go to "Apps and devices" and "Revoke access" to Listener Driven Radio. If you have any questions, please contact Futuri VIP Support or call 877-221-7171 x 1.

Open the Google Play Console Click on Settings, then the Developer Account dropdown and select API Access from the list that appears. Scroll down until you find the Service Accounts section and click Create Service Account button. In the popup, click on the Google API Console link, which opens a new tab/window. In the new tab/window, click the CREATE SERVICE ACCOUNT button at the top of the Google Developers Console. In Service account name, enter Futuri Mobile Builds and click the CREATE button

This article is an overview of the features of Futuri Mobile's TV Alarm Clock App. These features are only available for stations with the TV Alarm Clock App. For information on the Alarm Clock feature in Futuri Mobile radio apps, click here. Jump to: Art assets and colors Home buttons Alarm feature Push Notifications Ads Art assets and colors Before your app is first built, Futuri VIP Support will provide you with a link to an Initial App Setup form, which will allow you to fill out the various art assets (background graphics, homescreen icons, splash screens, station logos, etc) for your TV Alarm Clock App. For more information on the Initial App Setup process, click here. Art assets (such as homescreen icons, splash screens, and background images) are built into your TV Alarm Clock App and are downloaded onto the user's device when the app is installed so they can be accessed with or without an internet connection. Because of this, a change to native assets will require a rebuild of your app and are not designed to be changed temporarily for contesting or short-term promotions. Remember, after we rebuild your app and submit it to Apple, there is a 7-10 day review process before those changes go live.

If your station carries professional sports or other programming that you're not licensed to stream, you can "black out" your Futuri stream for a specific time frame. There are 2 ways to facilitate blackout audio: Use an audio switcher locally and have it switch the audio input going into the Streaming Appliance at pre-scheduled times. We recommend this method, as it gives the most flexibility (for example, you could configure it to use separate "filler" programming during blackout times). This capability is part of Arctic Palm's CSRDS program, for example. Futuri VIP Support can schedule a blackout for you during specified times. Simply email Futuri VIP Support with the dates/times you will need your stream to be blacked out. You can send these times as far in advance as you'd like, and our team can implement a last-minute blackout with 12 hours' notice.

This article is part of a series on SS32. Overview Installation Interactive Programming Troubleshooting #engage and Futuri Mobile integrate with several automation systems, including SS32 (Scott Studios). This series of articles is generally geared toward your station's IT/engineering staff, but it's a good idea for program directors to be familiar at a higher level with this information too. There are three basic pieces to integrating SS32 with Futuri: Now Playing information - Song elements and some song cart "commands" will be configured to export from SS32 to Futuri. Voting session integration - We'll install a piece of software called Echo to copy winning songs into "placeholder" carts, so that the winning song can play wherever those placeholder carts are placed in the log. Music Logs- Echo will also be configured to watch the folder where your station's music logs are saved. These music logs are used for two primary purposes: Voting Sessions - Depending on the voting feature your station uses, music logs help to tell Futuri what the vote options should be (or to see what songs should be used for separation purposes), and Echo will modify your log files to insert each voting session's corresponding placeholder cart. Instant Alerts - Users can sign up to receive alerts when their requests are about to play on your station. Futuri's system compares what your station is playing now with what's scheduled in the near future, so that we can send these alerts ahead of when the request actually plays (so there's time for the user to turn on the radio). For more information on Futuri's SS32 integration, see these related articles: Installing Futuri's SS32 integration Executing voting sessions with SS32 Troubleshooting SS32 issues

Interactive Song Ratings is a feature that allows users to enter some basic demographic information (age range and gender) the first time they participate with #engage. That age and gender information is then associated with any votes the user makes within #engage, and once they've given that info once, their preferences are saved on their computer, so they'll apply to any #engage station whose site the user visits. This feature is designed to be an unobtrusive, "set-it-and-forget-it" way to collect informal music research from your audience. This feature can be enabled in the Futuri Control Room under #engage Look & Feel > Playlist Options, and results can be viewed under Instant Request Songs > Interactive Song Ratings. We use the industry-standard "pop score" to determine a research result for each song, as follows: Action: Pop Score: Like +1 Love (Alert Sign-Up) +1.5 Dislike -0.5 You can easily filter results by age or gender, and you can choose whether to include ALL votes (i.e. voting sessions and requestable votes), or just simple "like" / "dislike" interactions.

NOTE: There is currently a bug in Stratus that prevents this export from working properly for SS32 stations. If you are using SS32 with Stratus, you'll want to log in to Stratus using http://musicdev.cumulus.com instead of your regular Stratus URL to pull this report. #engage offers several voting features where users can be presented with a list of songs that they vote up or down in order to determine what will play on the air (including Takeover, Top Song, and FaceOff). The available songs are determined by you, and there are two ways to populate one of these playlists: CSV Upload - You can provide a spreadsheet (as a .CSV file) of your active library with any attributes you'd like to use for separation (i.e. category, sound code, era, vocalist), which is generated from your music scheduler and uploaded to the Futuri Control Room each time you update your rotation. "Autopop" - The top X songs played over the last Y days (with X and Y determined by you) are made available for voting. Because this type of playlist is based on your Now Playing feed, complicated separation goals such as category, sound code, and era are not possible. However, basic artist and title separation is still possible. You may find that an "autopop" list is easier to manage, especially if your station doesn't schedule music locally. Click here for more information on "autopop" playlists. NOTE: These same instructions can be used to generate playlists for Top Song, Takeover Countdown, and FaceOff, though we advise against complex sound-code-related goals for those features. To generate an #engage playlist in Stratus, navigate to Reports and choose Library Report. Choose the .xls version, and click Set Parameters. Once you download the report, you'll need to open it in Microsoft Excel (or another similar program) and remove the categories you don't want to have in #engage. We'd recommend right-clicking on the rows themselves and choosing Delete Row, rather than just deleting the contents of those rows. Save the playlist as a Comma Delimited (CSV) file. Once you've generated your playlist, you'll upload the list to the Futuri Control Room (see below). Managing playlists in Control Room After generating your playlist, log in to the Futuri Control Room. If you need credentials, please email Futuri VIP Support. Once you’re logged in, perform the quick steps below: 1. Click Takeover Playlists from the #engage Playlists menu on the left. 2. Give the playlist a name. 3. Choose the file to upload. 4. Click the Upload button. 5. Change the Active status of your lists (if you want the new list to go live right now, Activate it and Deactivate any lists that shouldn’t be live right now). You can have multiple playlists active at a time, and you can also Delete old lists from here. 6. If you’re going to use different playlists at different times, select Playlist Scheduling from the menu on the left. 7. Set up “activation times” as needed, and/or swap out the list you need to replace so that the scheduling will do what it needs to do when the time comes. 8. Click Save Playlist Changes at the bottom of the page.

Futuri Mobile allows users to earn Badges by engaging with the station's app. There are a number of default Badges in place for each station, and you can create new ones as well. Incorporating a sponsor into Badges is easy to do. Badges are enabled by default for most Futuri Mobile apps, but if you'd like to disable the feature, you can contact Futuri VIP Support. NOTE: In order to earn Badges, app users must be signed in to the app using Facebook. Badge Fields Badge Icons Badge Types Unlock Codes Enter-to-Win Contesting Through Badges Geolocation-based Badges Badge Fields New Badges are created in the Futuri Control Room under Mobile App > Create New Badge . Below is a description of each field in this form: Field: Description: Icon The image associated with the Badge. See below for details on creating Badge Icons. Name The name of the Badge as seen by users. Type The category under which the Badge falls. See below for information on each Badge Type. Action Requirement How many actions/shares/votes are required to get the Badge. Description A description of the Badge that users will see before they have acquired the Badge Post-Aquisition Description A description of that Badge that will show AFTER they have the Badge. This is typically a good place to link to coupons or official contest entry forms. Facebook Share The description attached to Facebook post when a user shares this Badge. Twitter Share The default text suggested to the user for sharing this Badge on Twitter (keep in mind the 140-character limit). Unlock Codes Comma-separated list of values that can be entered on the Badge page to unlock this Badge instead of completing the Action Requirement (above). See below for more information on Unlock Codes. Earnable Status A checkbox denoting whether the Badge will be displayed and earnable in the app right now. Priority Badges with priority 1 are shown before priority 2, etc. Badges without a priority are shown last. Badge Icons If you need to upload a new Icon that has not been used by your station before, navigate to Mobile App > Upload Badge Icon in the Futuri Control Room. You will need a small version (53x53) and a large version (184x184), and both should be .PNG files. We have provided a .PSD template that you can use if you'd like, and it can be downloaded by clicking here: [small | large] Badge Types Below are the Badge Types available and how each is earned. Badge Type: How Type is Earned: Generic Song Votes* User casts [Action Requirement] votes for or against songs in the app. Positive Artist Votes* User casts [Action Requirement] positive votes for songs by the same artist in the app. Negative Artist Votes* User casts [Action Requirement] negative votes against songs by the same artist in the app. Multi-Artist Positive Votes User casts [Action Requirement] positive votes for a group of pre-determined artists. This is ideal for concert promotion. Consecutive Voting Days User casts at least one vote each day for [Action Requirement] straight days. Early Morning Votes User casts [Action Requirement] votes between 4am and 6am station time. Happy Hour Votes User casts [Action Requirement] votes between 4pm and 7pm station time. Late Night Votes User casts [Action Requirement] votes between 12am and 3am station time. Weekend Votes User casts [Action Requirement] votes on Saturdays or Sundays. Open Mic Submissions User submits [Action Requirement] Open Mics within the app. Twitter Shares / Facebook Shares User shares on Facebook or Twitter [Action Requirement] times. Song Code Votes User votes [Action Requirement] times for or against songs sharing a certain sound code (Takeover stations only). Geolocation Sponsor User enters a location [Action Requirement] times. See below for more information about geolocation-based Badges. Geolocation Group Sponsor User enters one of several locations [Action Requirement] times. A practical example of this would be a restaurant sponsor with several locations in town, where the user can visit one location to earn the badge. See below for more information about geolocation-based Badges. App Usage / Login - Daypart Users open the app at a specific time of day, as determined by you * - These Badge Types can be broken down into Global (all songs), Playlist Only (songs in the "Vote" tab), or Voting Session/Takeover Only (for stations with #engage Pro). Unlock Codes Each Badge can be given an Unlock Code that allows the user to earn the Badge without completing the Action Requirement. This can be used for VIP listeners, staff who need to test a link in the Post-Aquisition Description, or for other creative contesting. At this time, it is not possible to have an Unlock-Only Badge, but stations have accomplished this by setting a Badge's Type to Generic Song Votes with an Action Requirement that is unrealistic, such as 1 million. This way, users will not be able to earn the Badge the traditional way and will only earn it by entering the Badge's Unlock Code. Unlock Codes are typically given out in person at events or through VIP email newsletters, surveys, or Instant Alert templates. Enter-to-Win Contesting Through Badges There are several ways to use Badges as an entry vehicle for larger contests. Because users are signed in to Facebook when they earn Badges, Futuri VIP Support can pull a list of Badge earners for you, and you can use that data to pull a winner for a contest. Alternately, you can put a link in the Post-Aquisition Description that goes to a contest form on your station's web backend. We would recommend keeping this entry form brief, since the user has already gone through several steps to earn the Badge. It may be necessary to wrap your contest URL in HTML. If you need help doing this, please contact Futuri VIP Support. We would recommend giving your Badge an Unlock Code so that you can earn it yourself and test the link. Geolocation-based Badges Location-based Badges are earned when a user is within 100 meters of a pre-defined address. In order to earn location-based Badges, users must have allowed your app to access their location. Geolocation-based Badges are not currently compatible with any Futuri platform outside of the Futuri Mobile app. Local Deal Categories Before creating a Location-based Badge, you will need to add the location to our system. Locations are referred to in the Futuri Control Room as "Local Deals," and each Local Deal is part of a "Local Deal Category." Before creating your first Local Deal, you'll need to have a Local Deal Category for it. You can organize the categories however you like. To create a Local Deal Category in the Futuri Control Room, navigate to Mobile App > Local Deals / Partner Directory and click New Category at the bottom of that page. The Category will need a name, and you can optionally upload an Icon (to be used in future geolocation features). Once you've added your category, you're ready to add your Local Deal. Local Deal / Sponsor Groups If you want to create a Badge that can be earned by visiting one of several locations, you can create Sponsor Groups (separate from Local Deal Categories). While Local Deal Categories are designed for similar categories (i.e. Restaurant, Retail, Auto Dealer), Sponsor Groups are designed for a sponsor that has multiple locations. A practical example of this would be a restaurant sponsor that has multiple locations in the listening area, and users can visit any one of the area locations to earn the same Badge. To create a Sponsor Group, navigate to Mobile App > Local Deals / Sponsor Group and create a new Sponsor Group. Once a Sponsor Group has been created, you can add individual Local Deals to it (using the steps below), and you can create a Badge based around this Sponsor Group by choosing Geolocation Group Sponsor under Type when creating a Badge. Local Deals To create Local Deals in the Futuri Control Room, navigate to Mobile App > Local Deals and click New Sponsor at the bottom of the page. Give the sponsor a Name and Address. Once the address is set, Futuri will automatically populate the actual Latitude/Longitude. Add the Local Deal to at least one Local Deal Category. You can also optionally upload icons (to be used in future geolocation features). If you are using Sponsor Groups (for multiple locations for the same sponsor), you can add your Local Deal to that Sponsor Group when creating the Local Deal. If you are not using Sponsor Groups, you can keep this field blank. Once you've saved your location, you can create a Badge associated with that location.

Click to view one of our TopLine training videos: Dashboard and Research Dashboard and APR Dashboard Templates and Positioning Creating Positioning Pieces (for Managers) Dashboard and Research Learn the benefits of the TopLine Dashboard and also how to make a client-specific research request for an Insight, Infographic, or Presentation. Dashboard and APR Learn the benefits of the TopLine Dashboard and also how to request Appointment Prep Reports including Personality Prep and Digital Prep. Dashboard Templates and Positioning Learn the benefits of the TopLine Dashboard and also where to find Presentation Templates, Positioning Pieces, Station Snapshots, and Consumer based research pieces. Creating Positioning Pieces (for Managers) Learn about the new Instant Positioning section in TopLine and how to request custom positioning pieces for your team.

The purpose of this article is to walk Futuri Streaming customers through the common troubleshooting steps for a streaming outage. Internet Outage Device Reboot Advanced Diagnostics Internet Outages The most common reason for a streaming outage is a lack of internet connectivity. If you have multiple stations in your building that are experiencing outages, this is likely the cause. It's possible that your internet connection would be fast enough to browse to basic websites, but not fast enough to support your stream since browsing to a website like Google doesn't use much network data compared to streaming audio. If you're able to pull up websites, you may want to run a speed test on the network using one of the following sites: http://www.speedtest.net/ http://www.pingtest.net/ If your streaming transmitters are on a separate network from the other computers in your building, try connecting another computer to that network and seeing whether you're able to browse to external websites (and get a good result from a speed test). If you are using a device with wifi, please shut it off to ensure you are testing the correct network. If the internet is not functioning or is not fast enough to support your stream, you'll want to reset your router or contact your ISP. Device Reboot If you've determined that internet connectivity is not the source of the problem, your next step would be to reboot the streaming transmitter by disconnecting power, waiting 5 seconds, and then re-connecting. After rebooting the streaming transmitter, the LCD screen should light up within 60 seconds, and the light on the power brick should be glowing. If not, there may be an issue with the hardware and you should contact Futuri VIP Support for assistance. Advanced Diagnostics If the internet connection is working and the device appears to be lit appropriately, the next step is to plug in a keyboard and monitor to the back of the streaming transmitter for some advanced diagnostics. If you're using a PS/2 keyboard, you may need to reboot the device again after connecting the keyboard. If you're using a USB keyboard (for newer transmitters), a second reboot shouldn't be necessary. If your streaming transmitter has multiple USB ports, we recommend using the black USB port when connecting a keyboard. Connecting a mouse should not be necessary. Once your keyboard and monitor are connected, press the shift key to clear the splash screen and see this screen: Then, press enter on Line 1 and see the following screen: There are a few important things to check at this stage: Is the interface "UP"? Is the IP address reasonable? If it's 0.0.0.0, that generally means the DHCP connection was not successful. Is the ping of the default gateway "OK"? If everything looks correct on that screen, go back to the main menu, and hit Option 4 (to ping the StreamOn server by hostname). If this step works, Futuri VIP Support can remote in and investigate further if there is still a problem.

This article is part of a series related to POST Planner. (holding spot for videos,) During your station's initial setup for POST, Futuri will work with you to setup the various export options (represented by "Toggles") which allows you to send your posts, using the POST Planner tool. For additional information on setting up new shows and managing other defaults (title, description, photos) in POST Planner click here. The following specifically covers the setting up, export options, and assumes you are familiar with the rest of the POST Planner tool. To manage the options in POST Planner: (Do we need images??) Default options - Select "Edit Defaults", then click "Next" until the "Post Options" screen is displayed. Show-specific options - Select a show, then click "Edit", and "Next" until the "Post Options" screen is displayed. Four types of export options are available: Facebook (links need fixed) Twitter RSS Webpages FACEBOOK: You have the ability to add any Facebook fan page for which you have Admin access. Step 1 - Select "Edit Facebook" (Do we need images for step 2 & 3 ?) Step 2 - Select "Authorize Facebook Account" sign into Facebook and walk through the prompts. Step 3 - From the POST Planner, select "Get Facebook Pages", this will pull a complete list of Facebook pages for which you are an Admin, Select the page you would like to link to POST. If your station is owned by iHeartMedia, choose the iHeartRadio channel you would like your Facebook to post the link. Futuri and iHeartMedia would have already set this up during your station's pre-setup process. Step 4 - Click "Add" to save your Facebook connection. (In addition, you will have the option to change the display name by clicking "Edit" next to an existing connection.) (Can we get a screen shot??) Step 5 - Upon completion, switch the toggle to the "ON" position, this makes available the export(s) that you would like to be made available to your team, and save the page. (Can we get a screen shot??) Note: it is not possible to link a personal Facebook page directly to POST. If you would like to manually share POST audio with your personal Facebook page, you can get a POST direct link from the Management page. If your station was setup with POST in 2016, your Facebook page was authorized using a Futuri Facebook account. You can delete that Facebook option, then authorize your own Facebook login in its place. (this will not delete any Facebook posts) Once complete, you can remove the Futuri Facebook accounts from your pages' list of Admins. TWITTER: To integrate a Twitter account with POST: Step 1 - Select Edit Twitter Step 2 - Select "Authorize Twitter Account", then sign into Twitter and walk through the prompts. Step 3 - From the POST Planner, if your station is owned by iHeartMedia, choose the iHeartRadio channel you would like your Twitter posts to link. Futuri and iHeartMedia would have already set this up during your station's pre-setup process. Step 4 - Click "Add" to save your Twitter connection, you can then click "Edit" next to an existing connection to change its display name. Step 5 - Upon completion, switch the toggle to the "ON" position, this makes available the export(s) that you would like to be made available to your team, and save the page. RSS FEED: RSS feed exports are flexible, for each feed you will have the ability to generate a specific URL that can be use in the following manner: Integrating your POST system with your Futuri Mobil application Displaying your POST items in your Futuri Streaming player List a podcast on iTunes, iHeartRadio, or other podcast services Build your own custom audio player on your website To create an RSS feed in POST: Step 1 - Select "Edit RSS" and complete the form, the "Explicit" setting is required when listing a podcast on iTunes or other podcast services. Step 2 - After creating an RSS feed, simply click "Get URL" next to that feed to generate its URL. When finished, switch the toggle to the "ON" position, your chosen exports will be made available to your team, and save the page. WEBPAGES: By default, your station will have a catch-all player widget where you can display all of your station's audio content. However, some stations lie to have different widgets for different sections of their site (i.e. a sports page, a news page, or your morning show page. Note: It is worth keeping in mind that, due to the nature of web design, you can only have one POST widget embedded on a single web page at the same time. To create different widgets for different pages of your site: Select "Edit Webpages" Assign your widget a display name, (this will be displayed from within POST, not on your actual website) List the URL in the location you will plan to embed this version of your widget (optional) Once your widget has been added, click the "Get Embed Code" to generate that widget's embed code to place on your website. You will have the ability to select the widget theme (light, dark) and/or the number of recent post that will be displayed. (Seven is the default for the newest posts) When finished, switch the toggle to the "ON" position, your chosen exports will be made available to your team, and save the page. BUMPERS: In addition to configuring your export options, you can also configure Pre-roll, Post-roll bumper audio to be used with posts, which is a great opportunity for sponsor integration. These can then be toggled when your staff posts audio from the POST or Browser screens. Audio files can be uploaded in either MP3 or WAV formats. Once a post is published with a Pre-roll or Post-roll bumpers. Note: Bumpers are permanently embedded into the post. However, you can always come to POST Planner to change the bumper audio used for future posts.

This article is part of a series on NexGen. Overview Installation Interactive Programming Troubleshooting NexGen did not delete the losing songs in my "UPick"-style voting session. I received an email from Futuri VIP Support about a "NexGen Communication Alert" but everything looks fine here. NexGen is not inserting winning songs in my Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff sessions. I received an email from Futuri VIP Support saying "No Logs Received." I'm about to replace my utility machine. What do I need to do to make sure #engage keeps working? When I import my music log, there are no Empty Song Slots left, even though I have them scheduled in my log. NexGen did not delete the losing songs in my "UPick"-style voting session. There are several possible causes for this: NexGen not running on the utility/overnight machine (which is the PC that requests winners from Futuri) Voicetracks are bordering the LDR Vote Options Start or LDR Vote Options End (NexGen doesn’t modify content around voicetracks). If there are more than 64 elements between the UPickStart and LDR Vote Options End (including those two break notes), the voting session will fail. According to RCS, "elements" include songs, liners, spots, imaging, voice tracks, and break notes. If there are 64 or more elements during that timespan, you'll want to move the UPickStart closer to the winning song position (15 minutes or less is a good rule of thumb). Extra elements, like imaging, were inserted into the voting session. If you have updated the PC running the overnight processes for that station, you'll want to make sure the LDR and SRPlus credentials from the old PC's wizard.ini file have been added to your new PC's wizard.ini file. I received an email from Futuri VIP Support about a "NexGen Communication Alert" but everything looks fine here. These email alerts are sent when you're running a voting session, but NexGen is not requesting a winner for that voting session. Everything else may seem to be functioning as expected (and it'll look OK on your website), but if NexGen isn't requesting a winner, it won't delete the losers and the station will run behind schedule. The most common cause for this is that there are too many elements in between the UPickStart and the LDR Vote Options End. See above for more reasons that NexGen might not "check in" and thereby not delete the losing songs. NexGen is not inserting winning songs in my Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff sessions. There are two possible causes for NexGen to not insert winning songs into your Empty Song Slot(s): NexGen is not checking in with Futuri for a winning song: Make sure NexGen and Echo are both running on the utility machine, and that the PC is connected to the internet. Try to play another Begin Song Replacement (the command that tells NexGen to start requesting winning songs). The song NexGen is receiving from Futuri is invalid: Check with Futuri VIP Support to see what song(s) are being returned when NexGen checks in with us. If these cut IDs are no longer valid in NexGen for some reason, you'll want to either correct that in NexGen or remove them from your Takeover or Top Song playlist. I received an email from Futuri VIP Support saying "No Logs Received." NOTE: - As of February 2017, there is a new version of Echo that will correct this issue. If your station is having frequent problems with this, please contact Futuri VIP Support to schedule an appointment to upgrade Echo. If Futuri has not received your log for the date specified, it means that we will not be able to activate "UPick"-style voting sessions for that day until we receive a log. It may be worth noting that NexGen will still delete "losing" songs to keep you running on time, but users will not be able to participate in the session. If you use Top Song or Takeover, your music logs are also used for forward separation (to make sure we don't insert a song into NexGen that is already pre-scheduled). For all stations, music logs also help us to send listener alerts BEFORE users' requests play on air (so they have time to turn on the radio). If you receive a "No Logs Received" email from Futuri VIP Support, here are some suggestions to fix the problem: Confirm that Echo is running. Find the folder that the log push utility watches and confirm that the missing log is there. This folder is usually R:NexGenMusic, but you can confirm it by navigating to C:Echo, finding the folder for the correct station, and then looking at the station.xml folder for the input path. Remove the missing log from the watch folder and then put it back in. The log push utility should detect a change and send the new file to Futuri. If you aren’t sure what to do, reply to the email and attach the missing log file. Futuri VIP Support will then troubleshoot with you to make sure the problem does not happen again. I'm about to replace my utility machine. What do I need to do to make sure #engage keeps working? Many NexGen stations are currently in the process of upgrading old Windows XP computers, specifically their utility machines. To make sure your #engage functionality continues to work, you'll want to do the following: Instead of using NexGen's default wizard.ini file on the new computer, back up the current wizard.ini file on your old PC, and re-use that file. Back up the Echo folder on the C: drive and place it on the new PC's C: drive. It's worth noting that Echo creates its own log files each day, so we'd recommend deleting the old log files (from more than 7 days ago) before transferring Echo (for a faster transfer). Once you have Echo on the new PC, you'll want to run Echo.exe and then navigate to File > Start on Boot to add the program to your startup tasks. NOTE: If you have already set up your new PC and didn't back up these settings (or if your new utility machine has a new IP address), please contact Futuri VIP Support for a quick remote session to re-install. Some stations have an older utility called Music Load (with a green and purple logo) installed on their older utility machines. Music Load is an RCS program that pre-dates Echo. If you have Echo, you don't also need Music Load to send information to Futuri, and it does not have to move over to the new machine. When I import my music log, there are no Empty Song Slots left, even though I have them scheduled in my log. Most stations have NexGen configured to delete all Empty Song Slots when a music log is imported. You can configure NexGen to not do this (by un-checking the box under Config > Station > Music > Modify/View > Delete Empty Song Slots), and if you do, NexGen will instead ASK you every time you import a music log whether you want to delete Empty Song Slots. To set up each day's Takeover (or Top Song or FaceOff) sessions so that it will include Empty Song Slots, there are two options: Option 1 - Import every hour EXCEPT the Takeover hour(s), telling NexGen it's ok to delete the Empty Song Slots in those hours, and then do a second import for the Takeover hour(s), telling NexGen NOT to delete the Empty Song Slots in those hours. This option is typically chosen by stations that want to put their Takeover imaging in their music scheduler, or pre-schedule a couple songs during their Takeover hour(s). Option 2 - Import every hour EXCEPT the Takeover hour(s), telling NexGen it's ok to delete the Empty Song Slots in those hours, and then place any imaging or extra elements for the Takeover hours directly in NexGen. In these cases, the music scheduler just doesn't schedule anything for the Takeover hours, and everything for those hours is managed directly in NexGen.

This article will walk through the banner ads available with #engage. Banner ad overview Flighting banner ads through the Futuri Control Room Flighting banner ads through Google DFP (recommended) While it is possible to upload basic banner ads in the Futuri Control Room, we strongly recommend using Google Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP) for flighting ads to your Futuri products and other digital properties. Google DFP allows you to control how many impressions each banner receives, rotate multiple pieces of creative in the same slot, and get instant access to impression and engagement numbers. If you're looking for banner ad metrics and your station does not use Google DFP to flight your banner ads, you can still obtain those metrics by contacting Futuri VIP Support. Banner ad overview #engage offers a 320x50 banner ad, which can either appear between every 7 song rows or fixed to the bottom. If your voting window is wider than 320px, you may want to provide a banner ad that is larger to prevent upscaling. If you would like to change the threshold of song rows that it takes for a banner ad to appear (or if you'd rather just fix the ad to the bottom of the voting window), please contact Futuri VIP Support. Flighting banner ads through the Futuri Control Room If your station chooses not to use Google DFP, banner ads can be uploaded in the Futuri Control Room under #engage Look & Feel > Manage Ads. If you need ads to be dayparted or to have a start/end date, Futuri VIP Support can set this up for you, but for full control over advanced ad flighting, we would recommend using Google DFP. Flighting banner ads through Google DFP (recommended) For more information on flighting ads through Google DFP, click here.

If your station uses #engage "UPick"-style voting sessions and your music log text file does not contain an artist field, Futuri's system will match your vote options with the artists we have on file for those songs, to ensure that the song displays correctly in your #engage voting window. However, if you haven't played a song before, it may not be in Futuri's system. When this happens, the artist field in your #engage voting window may be blank for these new songs. The most foolproof way to make sure that your vote options ALWAYS contain the correct artist, we would recommend adding an artist field to your music log exports. NOTE: These instructions are designed for GSelector stations. If you use a different music scheduler and need to add an artist field to your log export, please contact your music scheduler's support team for assistance. In GSelector, navigate to Interface > Export > Schedule then click Song > Format. Click the + symbol to select Artist. The Artist field will be added to your Song Format card and automatically added as the last element. In the screenshot below it’s Offset as column 54 with a character length of 25, but your GSelector should automatically generate whatever Offset/Length you need. You can increase the Offset of the Artist field by 1 or 2 characters to make it easier to read on the output file, but you don’t have to. If you use the Log Format Assignment Grid, rinse and repeat these steps for each different log format you use. Be sure to SAVE your changes (GSelector should ask). It shouldn't be necessary to make any changes to the IMPORT process in NexGen after adding this field. NexGen will just ignore the field. Once you have exported a log with this new format, please contact Futuri VIP Support so that we can make sure our system is set up to read that new artist field.

This article is part of a series on Zetta. Overview Installation Interactive Programming Troubleshooting Zetta did not delete the losing songs in my "UPick"-style voting session. Zetta is inserting songs in my Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff sessions that are not part of my active playlist. Zetta is not inserting winning songs in my Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff sessions at all. I received an email from Futuri VIP Support saying "No Logs Received." Zetta did not delete the losing songs in my "UPick"-style voting session. There are several possible causes for this: Zetta Crowd Interface not running Voicetracks are bordering the LDR Vote Options Start or LDR Vote Options End (as Zetta may not modify content around voicetracks). Extra elements, like imaging, were inserted into the voting session. The UPickStart is more than 2 hours before the end of the voting session. Zetta will only execute voting sessions if they are shorter than 2 hours. Zetta is inserting songs in my Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff sessions that are not part of my active playlist. It is likely that the song being fed back to Zetta from Futuri was invalid in Zetta for some reason, so Zetta inserted a song from its Fill Category instead (see the next paragraph). The song Futuri was feeding Zetta may have been deleted, given a new cut ID somehow, or be out of date. Futuri VIP Support can tell you what song we WERE sending, and then RCS Support can help you to pinpoint why that song is considered "invalid" by Zetta. Zetta's GS Fill Category Group is used with Takeover processing and is managed in the Zetta Crowd Interface's Station Config tab. With this option, you can select a GSelector Category Group to use to fill in case of emergency such as a loss of internet connectivity (or an invalid song being returned by Futuri). Choosing a GSelector Category will allow the system to select a song to fill, from GSelector, in case of an emergency so that a log does not go unfilled. You will want to make sure the Category or Category Group contains suitable backup songs. Zetta is not inserting winning songs in my Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff sessions at all. Because Zetta has Fill Category functionality, it should always fill SOMETHING as long as you have the Fill Category configured and have valid songs in that Category, even in the case of internet connectivity. If the Fill Category is configured and Zetta is still not inserting winning songs, it is likely that the Zetta Crowd Interface is not running. If the Zetta Crowd Interface IS running, and it still isn't inserting songs, please contact RCS Support for further assistance. I received an email from Futuri VIP Support saying "No Logs Received." If Futuri has not received your log for the date specified, it means that we will not be able to activate "UPick"-style voting sessions for that day until we receive a log. It may be worth noting that Zetta should still delete "losing" songs to keep you running on time, but users will not be able to participate in the session. If you use Top Song, Takeover, or FaceOff, your music logs are also used for forward separation (to make sure we don't insert a song into Zetta that is already pre-scheduled). For all stations, music logs also help us to send listener alerts BEFORE users' requests play on air (so they have time to turn on the radio). If you receive a "No Logs Received" email from Futuri VIP Support, you can open the Station Config tab in the Zetta Crowd Interface and click Repush Music to re-send the log to Futuri. Futuri VIP Support can then confirm whether we've received the log file. It is also worth noting that Zetta will re-send the day's log once an hour, so if it is not successful when it first sends (at 10pm local time), it will try again each hour overnight, so by the time you investigate the next morning, Zetta may have already successfully transferred a copy of the day's log to Futuri.

In New POST, you can easily delete a single episode or an entire show. To delete an episode: 1. Go to the shows page in POST. 2. Select the show. 3. Find the episode that you wish to delete. 4. Click the ellipses to the right of the show you wish to delete, and then click "delete" to delete the episode. To delete an entire show: 1. Click on the show that you wish to delete. 2. Click the edit icon in the upper right, next to the show name. 3. Click the red delete button and confirm that you wish to delete the show.

POST's Browser has several useful applications, including the ability for a Program Director or Traffic Manager to aircheck what has been broadcast on the air. This article will cover the aircheck options. Aircheck: Step 1 - Select the date you want to aircheck (within the last 30 days), choose only Talk Breaks from the Filter by Type drop-down at the top of the page. Step 2 - Use the slider to narrow your talk breaks to a specific time frame. Step 3 - You can either preview or add multiple clips to the playlist. To review a clip, hover your mouse over the clip you would like to view and click play. To add one or more clips to a playlist, select the Add All button, this will add all the talk breaks above the playlist in order. Step 4 - Once you are satisfied with your playlist, you can either download it, play it back in the browser, or save the project (allowing you to share the link).

This article will cover the steps used in posting to iTunes. Apple is the 800-pound gorilla in on-demand and podcast audio consumption. With POST, it is easy to get your content on their platforms. A few minutes of setting up the RSS feeds in POST Planner can save you countless hours in the future, allowing you to reach new audiences for your content. Step 1 - Go to the POST Planner screen and select "Edit Defaults" Step 2 - Navigate to POST Options (option 4) Step 3 - Click "Edit RSS Feeds" and enter and save your information. Step 4 - Once saved, toggle to the new iTunes RSS feed to the on position. Step 5 - Click "Get URL" and copy the URL then submit it via iTunes Connect, you will need to sign in to Podcasts Connect on iTunes Connect to validate, submit, and manage your podcasts on the iTunes Store. Click Here for more information related to the iTunes Connect and your Podcast.

POST allows you to transcribe live and recorded audio, making your live breaks searchable. If you are interested in adding transcription to your POST agreement, contact Sales at (877) 221-7979 for additional information. Transcription allows you to easily search for live audio clips by keyboard. Live search allows you to... Search live audio. Create air checks of live commercial reads to clients. Provide "Scripts" of live reads to clients. Transcribe programs for listeners. Quickly find live. By default POST will transcribe all live talk breaks, recorded commercials, station promos and imaging. POST does not transcribe songs. To search live content by keyword, select the date, audio type, such as live or commercial and key word that you want to use for your search. In addition, you have the ability to narrow the time frame of the search. POST will pull all the audio clips that include the key word you searched for into the POST timeline. From here you can edit and/or download your audio, to view the text transcription of the selected audio, click the "View Talk Track" link on the audio segment. This displays the audio text, and allows you to copy/paste the text into a word document for your clients and/or listeners.

In some cases, NexGen stations don't generate flat text files of their logs from GSelector. In those cases, any change made in GSelector or NexGen is automatically communicated to the other program. In these cases, there is not a flat text file of the day's log for Futuri's Echo program to monitor. Without this log file, certain #engage features may not be able to work (because we're unable to see what's "coming up" in your system. If this applies to your station, there is an easy workaround to ensure that your music log makes it to Futuri. Setting up the export You'll want to navigate in GSelector to Interface > Export > Schedule and create a new Schedule format. From there, specify the path where the logs should be saved. This will match the folder configured in Echo. Under Style, choose Fixed Offset, check the 60+ Minutes Per Hour box, use ANSI encoding, and be sure that the Date Range is set for a full day's log. On the right under Song > Format, set the fields as shown in the screenshot below. You will want to do the same for your Link and/or Breaknote elements, depending on where you have saved your #engage breaknotes during your clock setup with Futuri's Partner Success team. Running the export In order for Futuri to receive your log, you'll need to push it from GSelector after scheduling each day. This should only take about 30 seconds each day. To push the log from GSelector to Futuri after scheduling your log, simply navigate back to Interface > Export > Schedule and make sure the correct date(s) are selected. Then, click Export Schedule, and you're done!

Action Keystroke Play/Pause Space bar Zoom in 1 Zoom out 2 Delete Selection Delete or D Jump to Beginning Home or Left Arrow Jump to End End or Right Arrow Select from cursor to beginning Shift + Home or Shift + Left Arrow Select from cursor end Shift + End or Shift + Right Arrow Mark "in" at the current location i Mark "out" at the current location o Futuri Audio Editor Control Description Keyboard Shortcut Jump to the beginning of audio. Home Play audio Space Bar Pause audio Space Bar Jump to end of audio End Indicates whether pressing play will play to the end of the selected audio and stop. Clicking the icon will change it to the other function. Indicates whether pressing play will play to the end of the audio and repeat. Clicking the icon will change it to the other function. The cropping tool allows you to delete all of the audio that is not selected. Ctrl-K (Apple K on Mac) Creates the left portion of blocked audio at the current cursor location. | Completes the blocking process by highlighting the audio from the left mark to the current cursor location. O Undo the previous edit. Ctrl-Z (Apple-Z on Mac) Redo the previous undo. Ctrl-Y (Apple-Y on Mac) Zoom-in to the bottom waveform. Mouse function (scroll up) Zoom-out to the bottom waveform. Mouse function (scroll down) Normalize the selected portion of the waveform. Fade in the selected audio. Adds the selected length of audio to the beginning of the waveform. Adds the selected length of audio to the end of the waveform. Deletes selected audio. Delete Selects audio from the beginning of the waveform up to the cursor. Ctrl-left arrow (Apple-left arrow on Mac) Selects audio from the cursor to the end of the wave form. Ctrl-right arrow (Apple-right arrow on Mac)

Adding your Podcast to Google Podcast: (This process will require a team member to have access to your website to complete the "Submission") Step 1 - Create the RSS: From POST planner, click "Edit Defaults" at the top right of the page. Then navigate to option 4, "POST Options". Select "Edit RSS Feeds". Create the RSS feed for Google Podcasts. Copy the URL for the RSS feed. You can find the URL by clicking "get url" next to the feed. In the URL, Change "RSS" to "Googleplay". Important: Forward the URL for the podcast web page in an email to [email protected], be sure to include your stations call letters, and make note that the email relates to a Google Podcast RSS feed. Note: This is the RSS that you use to submit Google Podcasts, before you submit the RSS to Google, you must have at least one episode in the feed. Step 2 - Submit to Google Podcast you will require assistance from a member of your team who has "Admin" access to your website. In order to submit to Google Podcasts, you will need to add two lines of code in addition to the RSS feed mentioned earlier. Link from your RSS feed to your website: the first link needs to go on your homepage, this will link from your homepage to your podcast's RSS feed. Insert this code and update the "Title and href". Link from your website to your RSS feed: you will now need to add a line of code that will link your RSS feed back to your website. (this validates both your site and the podcasts) Insert this code at the top of your RSS feed with your sites URL: https://www.examplepodcast.com When the Podcast gets Listed The only thing left to do is wait. There’s no official submission method, so making sure Google can pick up and recognize your podcast easily is the best way to get it on the app. Sometimes this can take a few days, sometimes a few weeks, it just depends on how long it takes for Google’s bot to find your podcast. To speed things up a bit, you could manually submit the page to Google as well by going here. Tips: To drive more traffic to your podcast from your site, Google recommends adding a button to your site with the Google Podcasts application logo that opens directly to your podcast in the application. You have the ability to generate a direct link to crate the link URL by clicking here. For a link to traffic FAQ from Podnews click here. In addition, Podnews has a video explaining how Google Podcast works from your listener's perspective, click here.

What is a skill? Amazon's voice service is called Alexa. Much like your phone has an "app", your Amazon devices (Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Tap, Echo Show, etc) have skills. Users interact with their Alexa enabled device via skills. Skills can be "default" - meaning they come pre-enabled on your Alexa device, or they can be "custom". Custom skills are searchable in the Alexa Skills Store and offer a more robust feature set. Futuri builds custom Alexa skills for stations. Are Futuri custom Alexa skills free for Alexa users? Yes, Futuri custom Alexa skills are free for users to enable and interact with on their Alexa -enabled devices. How do I enable a Futuri custom Alexa skill? To enable, you have three options: Search Amazon.com/skill for the skill name & enable Open the Alexa companion app on your mobile device, search for the skill name & enable Say "Alexa, enable [skill name]" Once my skill is enabled, how do I use it? Using a wake word, Alexa begins listening for your commands Alexa… Skills have invocation names. When intending to interact with a specific skill, use a phrase to invoke the skill by its name. Alexa… + Play WGR Skills have sets of features/abilities that you can access simply by asking. Until you are familiar with a skill's abilities, use Help or Options voice commands to hear what a skill can do. When you know what features are available, ask for your specific course of action. Alexa… + Open 96-5 The Buzz + play today's Church of Lazlo Prevalence of Voice Technology What's possible today? A personal assistant anywhere in your home... In the kitchen: Alexa, how many tablespoons are in a cup? During your morning routine: Alexa, what is my flash briefing? Entertainment anywhere... Alexa, open 96.5 The Buzz and listen live Alexa, Play WGR 550 Fast, personalized shopping... Alexa, order paper towels Why is early adoption important? Amazon Voice Services team is growing the Alexa software everyday, focusing on conversational-type dialogues that are natural for listeners to achieve their desired end results Having branded and sponsored station content available anywhere in the home increases tune in occasions and grows your brand visibility Source: Amazon Source: Amazon Source: Amazon

This article is part of a series on Song Alerts. About Editing Templates Opting In And Unsubscribing Most countries have laws in place that require SMS marketing messages to be opted-into, and each message must contain a clear way to unsubscribe. Similar requirements are in place for email marketing in most places. Because Futuri's Song Alerts can be considered marketing messages, our system makes every attempt to meet these requirements with email and SMS Song Alerts. Opting In to Song Alerts We have a double-opt-in for SMS alerts, which addresses anti-spam regulation for both the US and Canada. The first time a user signs up for an Song Alert via email or SMS, an opt-in message will be sent to that contact email/phone number telling him/her that someone has attempted to sign up for alerts using that contact info. That message will have an opt-in link that must be clicked, and if the link is not clicked, no further messages will be sent to that account. We have found that some users sign up for alerts and then discard the opt-in message, not realizing that they have to click it in order to receive future alerts. Because of this, each Futuri product's Manage Alerts tool will display a "Re-send Confirmation" link if the user has not opted in after 24 hours. If you need to have a confirmation message re-sent to a contact sooner than 24 hours after the last attempt, Futuri VIP Support can assist. Unsubscribing from Song Alerts At the end of each email and SMS Song Alert, an unsubscribe link will be shown. Even if you've modified your alert templates in the Futuri Control Room and have removed the unsubscribe link, our system will perform a check before sending the message and will add the unsubscribe link to the end of the message before sending. Both email and SMS subscribers can click this link in each alert, and it will take them to a page where they can un-check individual alerts they no longer wish to receive, or unsubscribe from all alerts for that contact. SMS users can also reply to SMS messages with STOP to unsubscribe from all messages from Futuri. Twitter opt-ins and unsubscribing At this time, Twitter users do not have to opt in to Song Alerts. Twitter alerts are @-replies, but they are still public tweets, so opt-in links would theoretically be clickable by any user. As a result, opt-in links are not sent, and Twitter users are automatically opted in. Twitter users can unsubscribe from alerts using the "Manage Alerts" button in your station's Futuri product(s). If you find that users are routinely taking advantage of this system, we can set a Twitter blacklist of users who are not allowed to be sent Twitter alerts. Please contact Futuri VIP Support with questions about this. Privacy Policy Each Futuri product contains a link to our privacy policy, but you can also find it here if needed.

Grow brand affinity and revenue with your Futuri Voice Alexa Skill! Why have Alexa greet your listeners when you can? With your Futuri Voice Alexa Skill, you can add a 10-second welcome message that your listeners hear every time they launch your station skill (you can add a 3-second exit message, too). Note: If you update any of your Alexa assets, you must request to have your collection form unlocked first. Log in to Control Room. Go to Alexa Skills>Asset Collection in the side menu. Upload your audio where you would like to add or replace for the Welcome Message and/or the Goodbye Message. Example of on air talent welcome message Example of a branded welcome message Click Play buttons to preview your selected audio When finished click Save If you have any questions, call us 877-221-7979 x1 or email at [email protected] today. We’re happy to help!

Spotify is the third-largest platform for Podcasts, and you can have your podcasts published on Spotify with POST. Step 1 - Create the RSS: From POST planner, click "Edit Defaults" at the top right of the page. Then navigate to option 4, "POST Options". Select "Edit RSS Feeds". Create the RSS feed for Spotify. Copy the URL for the RSS feed. You can find the URL by clicking "get url" next to the feed. In the URL, change "RSS" to "Googleplay". Note: This is the RSS that you use to submit Google Podcasts, before you submit the RSS to Google, you must have at least one episode in the feed. Step 2 - Submit to Spotify: To get started, use the link https://podcasters.spotify.com to go to the Spotify for Podcasters portal, and click the "Get Started" button to create your account. Then to add a podcast to Spotify, submit the RSS feed from step one. Next, you complete a questionnaire about your podcast. Complete all fields and click "Next". You will be given an additional opportunity to review and confirm the information. Once you "Submit" the information you will no longer have the ability to change this information. (So check carefully!) Spotify will review your Podcast and make it available to your fans. (This may take a few hours.) Once you have submitted your RSS feed, any content that you publish to that feed will automatically be submitted to Spotify. You can track your podcast by clicking the "Track Podcast" button. In addition, you will have the ability to view your Spotify stats, and/or add additional podcasts.