Tether - Generating a "Ranked" playlist in Selector V12 (DOS)

Tether offers several voting features that allow listeners to engage with a list of songs 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 Tether dashboard 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 are 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.

This article will focus on generating the playlist export needed to supply your playlist via CSV Upload.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Configuring the Export for the First Time
• Running the export
• Uploading the Export to the Tether Dashboard

Configuring the Export for the First Time

From the Selector home screen, choose 8 - Reports

Scroll down to the first blank line in the list of report formats.

Click F4 to edit the report format, then hit 1 - Format, and this screen will open:

Set up the format as follows:

• Artist: Line 1, Column 1, Length 28, Font P
• Title: Line 1, Column 30, Length 40, Font P
• Song ID: Line 1, Column 72, Length 7, Font P (if your Song IDs are more or less than 7 characters, adjust the length accordingly)
• If your automation system is WideOrbit or SS32, configure a field for your automation category (i.e. MU1)
• For any other field you want to have separation goals for (i.e. Category, Category Level, Sound Code, Era, Vocalist, Tempo), configure those fields with the logic detailed below.
  • For the additional fields, each one should be on Line 1 with Font P. The rest of the positioning should be based on the field before it. It's usually helpful to write out the columns on paper as you go, so you can keep track.
  • For example, with the Artist / Title / Song ID fields listed above, you'll see that the Artist field's Column and Length equal 28, and the Title then starts at Column 30 (leaving Column 29 open for some punctuation that we'll get to later).
  • Then, the Title's Column plus Length equals 70, and the Song ID starts at 72 (leaving Column 71 for punctuation).
  • Since the Song ID's Column plus Length equals 79, you'd start the next field (i.e. Category) at Column 81, and its Length would be the length of that field (usually 1 or 2 for a Category).

Once you've filled out the fields, you'll need to add the punctuation that goes in between the fields. Hit F7 (Punctuation) to get to that screen, and add commas at the Columns needed based on your fields. Remember in the previous step, you left Columns 29, 71, and 80 open, so in this step, you'll add commas in those Columns (on Line 1, Length 1, Font P). See the screenshot below.

You'll also need to add commas between every other field that you've specified. When you're done adding your punctuation, hit F2 to Save, hit Escape, and then hit 5 - Parameters/Name, and give the Format a name (i.e. Tether Export). If this page gives you an option to remove the header, choose that too. Then, hit F2 to Save.

Next, you'll need to select the categories you want to include in your Tether playlist. First, create a Browse List with all the songs you would like to export. Start by selecting 1 - Library Management.

Then, select 4 - Browse/Conditional Changer:

Then, search for the categories or other characteristics to create a list of all the songs you want in your Tether playlist (separated by semicolon).

Once you have designated the categories you want, hit F2 - Start Browse.

Then, hit ALT-S to save the Browse List, give it a name (i.e. "Tether Categories") and hit F2 to save the list.

Running the export

When you export your playlist, you'll go to 8 - Reports from the main screen.

Scroll down to your Tether Export and hit F5. Then, select "Saved Browse List" (Alt G), choose your browse list, and hit Enter.

Hit F9 to export your list, then option 2 - Send to File. Next, hit F9 again, and hit option 6 - Jump to Print File Manager.

From the Print File Manager, hit F4 to copy, and then your cursor will be in a position to type the name of the playlist. The easiest thing to do would be C:\[filename].csv, i.e. C:\120115.csv. You could also create a folder on the C:\ drive for Tether exports if you wanted to. In that case, you would put C:\[foldername]\[filename].csv in Selector instead.

Once you have generated your playlist, upload it to the Tether dashboard (see below).

Uploading the Export to the Tether Dashboard

For instructions on uploading and managing your playlists in the Tether dashboard, please click here.