Difference between revisions of "How To Handle Digital New Releases"

Revision as of 22:06, 7 January 2015

Digital Releases

Digital releases are processed by KDHX via:

• music department email through Desk.com
• a radio promoter or label download page
• Forwarded email from the Music Director

• If the e-mail contains a full album(s), check to see if we already have the release by looking it up in the Physical Music Library In the database, you must search search by last name, band name or album title)
• If the download is a single, or would shatter our station’s reputation, resolve the case in Desk.com.
• If the email contains passwords, directions or other info, be sure they are updated in the Digital Download Logins document.

• If we have all of the albums contained in the email, resolve the email.

• If not, click on the download link, and log in with the password. (Check Google Doc or with Nick if unknown.)
• If possible, take a quick listen to two or three tracks for the “embarrassment factor.”
• If it sounds good enought to air, download the album to the digital downloads folder on the desktop.
• Create a new playlist in iTunes with the artist’s name, album title and (label). ex. Lydia Loveless - Indestructible Machine (Bloodshot)
• Drag the tracks into the playlist, then add the label info into the comments section (Apple-A, then Apple-I). Get rid of any ampersands or other evil characters.

Getting Album Artwork

If album artwork does not appear:

• Search for ithe album art in Google Images
• Click the Settings icon and select advanced search.
• Under Image Size, narrow your search to "Larger than 640x480" and click the Advanced Search button.
• Click the correct album from your results to make it larger.
• Right-click and select "Save Image As", name it and save it to the desktop.
• Right-click any song from the playlist and select "Get Info" and click the artwork tab, if there is one.
• Drop the image into the empty "artwork" box and the image should appear. If there is an "Add" button, click it.

Printing Album Artwork for CD Case

• With your playlist selected and open and tracks in the appropriate track order, go to itunes>file>print.
• Setting should be set to:
• Print: CD Jewel Case Insert
• Theme: Mosaic
• It should look like this example in the print preview.

• Print 2 copies.

• Burn the playlist onto a CD. Blank CD-Rs and empty jewel cases are kept in the top drawer of the black metal cabinet.
• Write the artist's name, album title, label, year and "KDHX" on the CD itself with a Sharpie.
• Assemble it into a case by cutting the cover art so the cover is in front and tracklist is in back behind the tray.

Create a spine label from the second copy by cutting it to fit the spine. Using tape is a-ok! We want the programmers to be able to find the CD, without having to pull it out from the shelf to read the necessary information.

• All digital releases MUST contain the following information once on the shelf.
  • artist name
  • album title
  • record label
  • track listing
    
    
• Add to the appropriate genre pile on the Ready for Library shelf.
• You just created a disc, congrats!

Go to the Digital Releases Shared Google Doc and check for releases that need to be downloaded. Most of these are designated (Digital Only) on the promoter's site.

Entering New Releases and CDs into Access Database

Pull the CDs to enter from the bottom shelf of the black shelving unit.

Open the KDHX Music Library Access database from the volunteer (V:) drive.

• Click on the Enter / View Music Entries button on the Switchboard.
• Click the new record button, on the bottom row, far right (‘>*').

Enter information into the following fields, using the tab key to move between them:

• ArtistFirst - Only if it is an individual artist, not a band.
• Last/Band Name - Leave off articles such as ‘A’, ‘An’, ‘The’, etc. Compilations should be entered as “Various / with a couple of key words from the title.”
• File Under - This is the first letter of the band name or the artist's last name - use "#" for compilations.
• Title - Album title
• Record Co. - Enter both the record label name and promoter, if known, and separate with a slash.
• CD or LP - Select "CD" from the drop down menu.
• Category - Select the appropriate genre from drop down menu.
• SubCategory - Select the appropriate SubCategory from the drop down menu.

You must enter information into all of the fields except ArtistFirst, or the labels will not print correctly.

• Click the new record button, on the bottom row, far right (‘>*').

When all of the CDs are entered, close the Enter / View Music Entries window and return to the Main Switchboard.

• Click on the Print CD Labels button on the Switchboard.
• Enter todays date (using the format mm/dd/yyyy) into the pop-up box, and click Enter.
• Print the list to the Radio Color Laser printer. Don’t forget to load the labels facing in the correct direction.
  
  
• Place the labels on the appropriate CDs with the letter on the spine.
• Write KDHX on the face of the CD and inside of the case with a black sharpie
• Shelve the CDs in alphabetical order within each genre on the new release shelf