Keys are tags (key words) that you can attach to a song. For example:

1) Country

2) Formal

3) Yule

4) Slow

5) Fast

6) Latin

7) Any thing else you might want to use.

8) There is no limit to how many keys can exist.

9)…

They have multiple uses. They can be used to determine what song will be selected to

play. When used like this they change the “Personality” of the selected song mix or

Playlist. They are also used for statistics.

For the selection process there are four categories:

1) Prefer To Have;

2) Must Have;

3) Must Not Have; and

4) Prefer Not To Have

The middle two, “Must Have” and “Must Not Have”, limit what songs can be selected.

Only songs that meet these requirements can be selected.

The other two are preferences. They don’t limit what songs can be played. They are used

to increase or decrease the probability that certain songs are played.

For example, if it was the Christmas Holiday season and music was being played for a

Black Tie Dinner Dance, you might prefer songs that were “Formal” and “Yule” and not “Vocal” if available.

A preference score is assigned to each song. The default preference value is zero. If it has

a “Prefer To Have” key, one is added to the preference score. If it has a “Prefer Not To

Have” key, one is subtracted from the preference score.

The preference score can be used in two user selectable ways:

1)Always select the song with the highest preference score. If there are multiple songs

with the same high score then randomly select one of them.

2)Use the preference score for “Weighted” random selection. A song with a score of one

is twice as likely to be selected as a song with a score of zero. A song with a score of two

is three times as likely to be selected as a song with a score of zero.

Preferences are very useful and make it easy to customize the selection process on the fly.

For example if the older crowd retires early a few clicks on the preference tables can tip

the selection process in favor of songs preferred by the younger crowd. Or some people

might prefer songs sung in French, or Polish, or …