SA – Radio Playlist Generator

Version 1.0.0 · Station Admin

Turn your music folders into professional, rotation-smart radio playlists in minutes. Built for broadcasters, community radio, and anyone who needs variety, control, and export-ready playlists without wrestling with spreadsheets or manual scheduling.

What it does

SA Radio Playlist Generator scans your music library, applies intelligent repeat and artist rules, optionally mixes in voiceovers, and exports playlists in the formats your playout software already understands. Preview the result with built-in analytics before you export—so you know your hour sounds right before it goes to air.

Highlights:

  • Scan multiple music folders — MP3, FLAC, M4A, WAV, and more.
  • Smart rotation — song, album, and artist repeat rules; featured artists (feat./featuring) count as the same main artist.
  • By duration or song count — build the hour you need.
  • Analytics preview — check balance before you export.
  • Voiceover support — optional insertion from your own files.
  • Export ready — CSV, JSON, M3U, M3U8, XML for playout software.
  • No Python install — run Radio-Playlist-Generator.exe from the zip.

Quick start

  1. Launch SA Radio Playlist Generator.
  2. Under Music folders, click Add Folder and choose one or more folders that contain your music.
  3. Click 1. Scan Music Folders and wait for the status line to show how many songs were found.
  4. Choose how to build the playlist ( By Duration (min) is the default):
  • By Duration (min) — enter target length in minutes (for example 60).
  • By Song Count — enter how many songs you want (for example 20).
  1. Click Show Analytics to generate a preview and review artist, genre, and decade balance—or click Export Playlist to generate and save files directly.
  2. Open Settings to set your export folder and file formats if you have not already.

Tip: If you use Show Analytics first, a second click on Export Playlist re-uses that playlist without regenerating it—handy when you are happy with the preview.

Main window overview

Music folders

  • Add Folder — include another music directory (multiple folders are supported).
  • Remove Folder — remove the selected folder from the list.
  • Clear All — empty the folder list.
  • 1. Scan Music Folders — read tags from your audio files and build the library. Scanning runs in the background so the window stays responsive.

Your folder list is remembered between sessions.

Supported audio formats: MP3, FLAC, M4A, WAV, OGG, WMA.

Playlist length

  • By Duration (min) — build toward a target runtime in minutes (the app estimates song count from your library’s average length). This is the default mode.
  • By Song Count — build a playlist with a fixed number of songs.

Click the mode button you want; the active mode is highlighted in green.

Voiceover

  • Enable Voiceover — turn voiceover insertion on or off.
  • Select Voiceover Folders — choose one or more folders; the app finds audio files inside them (including subfolders).

How often voiceovers appear is set in Settings (see below).

Actions

  • Show Analytics — scans (if needed), generates a playlist, and shows a summary: totals, duration, top artists, genres, and decades.
  • Export Playlist — generates a playlist (or uses the one from Show Analytics) and writes files to your export folder.

Settings and About

  • Settings — playlist rules, export formats, and export folder.
  • About — version number and a link to this documentation on stationadmin.com.

Settings reference

Open Settings from the main window.

Playlist rules

| Setting | What it does | Default |

|——–|—————-|———|

| Song repeat (minutes) | Minimum time before the same song title can play again | 60 |

| Album repeat (minutes) | Minimum time before another track from the same album (same artist) | 30 |

| Artist repeat (minutes) | Minimum time before the same artist can play again | 15 |

| Max songs per artist | Cap how many songs one artist can have in a single playlist | 3 |

| Voiceover every (songs) | Insert a voiceover after every N music tracks (when voiceover is enabled) | 10 |

These rules work together to keep your playlist sounding fresh and appropriately spaced for radio.

Export formats

Choose any combination of:

| Format | Typical use |

|——–|————-|

| CSV | Spreadsheets, custom tools, reporting |

| JSON | Scripts, APIs, automation |

| M3U | Classic playlist files for many players |

| M3U8 | UTF-8 playlists for modern players |

| XML | Structured data for advanced workflows |

Use Select all or Deselect all for quick changes. At least one format must stay enabled.

Export folder

Set the folder where playlist files are saved. Use Browse for folder… to pick a location. If no folder is set, you will be prompted when you export.

Exported files are named with a timestamp (for example playlist_20260516_170748.csv). After a successful export, the app can open the export folder for you.

Smart artist handling

Radio Playlist Generator reads the Artist tag from each file and builds a normalized artist name for rotation rules. That means collabs are handled sensibly:

  • Tags like Artist feat. Guest, Artist featuring Guest, or Artist (feat. Guest) are treated as the main artist for repeat limits and spacing—so rotation rules stay fair and predictable.
  • Established duos such as Simon & Garfunkel are not split apart; only clear featured-artist wording is trimmed.

This helps Max songs per artist and Artist repeat reflect how listeners hear the music, not how every tag variant is spelled.

Analytics preview

Show Analytics gives you a clear snapshot before you commit:

  • Total items and approximate duration
  • Average track length
  • Top artists in the playlist
  • Genre mix
  • Decade spread (from year tags when available)

Use it to spot a playlist that is too heavy on one artist or genre, then adjust rules in Settings and generate again.

Typical workflows

“I want to hear it before I export”

  1. Add folders → Scan Music Folders
  2. Set song count or duration
  3. Show Analytics → review the summary
  4. Export Playlist → files are written using the same playlist

“I know my rules—just export”

  1. Add folders (scan runs automatically if the library is empty)
  2. Export Playlist → scan, generate, and export in one flow

“Voiceover every few songs”

  1. Select Voiceover Folders
  2. Enable Voiceover
  3. In Settings, set Voiceover every (songs)
  4. Generate via Show Analytics or Export Playlist

Performance and reliability

  • Background scanning and generation — the interface stays usable while large libraries are processed.
  • Library cache — rescans are faster when your folders have not changed; the cache refreshes when folder contents change.
  • Sensible limits — if rules are too strict for your library size, the app stops gracefully and suggests relaxing repeat settings or adding more music.

Tips for great playlists

  • Scan all folders you want in rotation before generating.
  • Start with default rules, then tighten Artist repeat or lower Max songs per artist if analytics show clustering.
  • For small libraries, use looser repeat times or shorter playlists so the generator has enough variety.
  • Keep voiceover folders organized; only supported audio types are picked up.
  • Enable the export formats your playout or automation tools actually need—you do not have to export every type every time.

Requirements

  • Windows PC
  • Music files with readable tags (title, artist, album recommended)
  • Disk space for exported playlist files

Install and license details are provided with your Station Admin download (Easy Digital Downloads).

Support

  • Product: Radio Playlist Generator — Station Admin
  • Version: 1.0.0
  • Help: open About in the app for documentation, or visit stationadmin.com
  • Purchases and downloads: your Station Admin account on stationadmin.com

Radio Playlist Generator is part of the Station Admin family of tools for broadcasters and media creators.