Professional broadcast playout systems all use a short Cart Number to find and play audio files. That cart number is automatically linked to the audio file, no matter where on your drive the file may be saved. But most of the inexpensive internet radio automation/playout systems use the direct drive\path\filename to find and play songs. Unless you change the default location, when you rip new audio into your computer, Windows is going to save the file into a folder within a folder within a folder within a folder. For personal, private listening, it is no problem. But for internet radio operators, having long and varied paths to the station library files can be cumbersome, confusing and can create unnecessary problems when the playout system and audio files are transferred to a new computer.
If you create a single “master” folder to contain all of your radio station content files and then place that master folder directly under a primary drive letter, working with your files becomes much more efficient. And, internet radio operators remember this: Folders are not Categories. The folder where the audio file resides bears no relation to where, when and how often M1 schedules the song.
