PlayoutONE AutoImport and FileCopy: Automating Your Library and File Management

by

A 24/7 automated radio station needs more than automated playback — it needs an automated intake system. Without one, every new track, every commercial spot, every syndicated show requires you to manually import it into PlayoutONE before it can go to air. At scale, manual file management becomes a full-time job.

AutoImport and FileCopy solve this. AutoImport watches folders on your hard drive and automatically processes any audio files it finds — importing them, assigning categories, checking for duplicates, and queuing them for immediate use. FileCopy handles the movement and synchronisation of files from external sources, production machines, and delivery services. Together, they create a hands-off intake pipeline.

This guide is part of the Complete Guide to Building a 24/7 Internet Radio Station with PlayoutONE.

What AutoImport Does

AutoImport is a folder watcher. You point it at one or more directories on your system, and it continuously monitors those locations for new audio files. When a new file appears, AutoImport:

  1. Detects the new file
  2. Reads the file’s metadata (artist, title, duration, embedded tags)
  3. Assigns it to a category based on your rules (a music file goes to Music; a sweeper goes to Imaging)
  4. Runs any configured processing (cue detection, normalisation, duplicate checking)
  5. Imports the file into your PlayoutONE library, ready for scheduling

From the moment a file lands in the watch folder to being available in your library can take just a few seconds. For a running station, this means new content can go to air within minutes of being delivered — without you touching anything.

Setting Up Your Incoming Folder

Create a dedicated folder that AutoImport will watch. Keep this separate from your organised audio library — it is a staging area, not a permanent home.

C:RadioIncoming

You can create sub-folders within Incoming to separate different types of content before import:

C:RadioIncomingMusic
C:RadioIncomingImaging
C:RadioIncomingCommercials
C:RadioIncomingShows

This structure makes it easy to configure category rules — anything dropped into the Imaging sub-folder automatically gets assigned to the Imaging category without any additional configuration per file.

Configuring AutoImport Watch Folders

Open AutoImport and navigate to the watch folder configuration. For each folder you want to monitor:

  1. Add the folder path
  2. Assign a target category — the PlayoutONE category where imported files should go
  3. Set the action after import — typically move to archive folder or delete the source file once it has been successfully imported

Move vs Delete after import: Moving processed files to an archive folder (e.g. C:RadioIncomingProcessed) gives you a safety net — if an import goes wrong, you can find the original file and re-import it. Deleting after import saves disk space. Choose based on how much storage you have and how risk-averse you are.

Configuring Import Rules

AutoImport’s rule system is where you define how different files get handled. Rules match on folder path, file name patterns, or file type, and then apply actions.

Example rules for a basic music station:

  • Files in C:RadioIncomingMusic → assign to Music category → move to archive after import
  • Files in C:RadioIncomingImaging → assign to Imaging category → move to archive
  • Files in C:RadioIncomingCommercials → assign to Commercials category → archive
  • Files matching *_SHOW_*.mp3 → assign to Shows category → archive

The rule system means you never need to manually specify the category for incoming files — the folder they arrive in or the filename pattern tells AutoImport everything it needs to know.

Enabling Auto-Cue Detection

Cue points mark where a track’s audio actually begins and ends — stripping silence from the head and tail of a file. Without cue detection, a song with five seconds of silence before the first note will cause an awkward gap between tracks on air.

If your version of AutoImport supports auto-cue detection, enable it. It analyses each imported file and sets the intro cue (where audio starts) and outro cue (where the next song can start fading in) automatically. This is one of the most valuable automation features for audio quality — it makes your station sound tighter and more professional without any manual effort per track.

Enabling Audio Normalisation

Normalisation adjusts the volume level of each imported file to a consistent target. Without normalisation, a track mastered at a high commercial level will sound dramatically louder than an older, quieter recording — creating jarring level jumps on air.

AutoImport’s normalisation analyses the integrated loudness of each file and applies a gain adjustment to bring it in line with your target level. The result is a library where every track plays at a consistent volume, reducing the amount of work your downstream audio processing needs to do.

Target level: -14 LUFS integrated is the standard target for internet streaming. This is the same target used by most streaming music services and results in a consistent, professional listening level without over-compression.

Duplicate Prevention

Without duplicate checking, the same song can appear in your library multiple times — from different sources, re-downloads, or duplicate deliveries. Duplicates pollute your rotation, distort your separation calculations, and confuse your scheduling logic.

Enable AutoImport’s duplicate detection if available. It compares incoming files against your existing library using metadata, file hashes, or acoustic fingerprinting (depending on the version) and rejects files that already exist.

What FileCopy Does

FileCopy handles the movement and synchronisation of audio files according to a schedule or trigger. Where AutoImport brings files in from a static location, FileCopy is designed to pull or push files between systems, directories, and delivery sources.

Common use cases for FileCopy:

  • Syncing from a production machine: You produce and edit audio on a separate PC, and FileCopy automatically copies finished files to your broadcast machine on a schedule.
  • Commercial delivery: Ad agencies or clients deliver commercial spots to an FTP folder or shared drive. FileCopy monitors that location and moves incoming spots into your PlayoutONE incoming folder — where AutoImport then processes them.
  • Syndicated programming: A syndicated show is delivered to a specific location at a specific time. FileCopy moves it into the right folder before AutoImport picks it up and schedules it.
  • Network station duplication: If you run multiple stations, FileCopy can synchronise content libraries between machines on a schedule.

Configuring FileCopy

FileCopy works with source-destination rules combined with schedules or triggers. For each file movement task:

  1. Define the source — where FileCopy looks for files (a folder path, an FTP location, a network share)
  2. Define the destination — where the files go (typically your AutoImport incoming folder)
  3. Set the schedule — when FileCopy checks for new files (hourly, daily, at a specific time)
  4. Set the action — copy (leave the original), move (remove from source), or sync (keep both locations in sync)

Once configured, FileCopy runs on its schedule without intervention. Combined with AutoImport, it creates a complete end-to-end intake pipeline: files arrive from any source, FileCopy moves them to the incoming folder, and AutoImport processes them into the library.

The Complete Automated Intake Pipeline

Here is how the full system works together for a station receiving commercial spots from a client:

  1. Client uploads the commercial spot to a shared FTP folder
  2. FileCopy checks the FTP folder on its hourly schedule and copies the new file to C:RadioIncomingCommercials
  3. AutoImport detects the new file, reads its metadata, assigns it to the Commercials category, and imports it into the PlayoutONE library
  4. The commercial is available in PlayoutONE within minutes of the client’s upload — no manual steps required

Multiply this across music deliveries, show packages, imaging updates, and promotional content, and you have an intake system that handles significant volume with zero manual effort.

What Comes Next