TuneTracker™ QuickTip

Understanding ProximityGuard(TM)

It's easy to confuse the roles of TuneStacker's randomization and ProximityGuard(TM) features, so here's a quick tip to help clarify their roles.

Because the wording (syntax) of randomization lines in your format clocks includes the word "Protect," it's easy to associate randomization with ProximityGuard(TM), but there isn't a direct relationship between ProximityGuard(TM) and the randomizations you do.

ProximityGuard(TM) doesn't take into consideration your various randomization patterns. Instead, it simply looks at the overall program log TuneStacker is generating and assures that cuts don't show up any more often than you have specified in your ProximityGuard(TM) settings. If you have protected by Artist within 300 adjacent events, that simply means another song by that artist will not be run within 300 adjacent events in the program log. There is no consideration of how the songs were picked using your randomization techniques.

TuneStacker works best when you limit ProximityGuard(TM) protection to a single criteria, such as protecting by Artist, or by Title. We have found situations where it can actually work against you if you stack more than one criteria. The result can sometimes be that songs get played too close together. So we advise our users to limit ProximityGuard(TM) to a single protection layer.

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