

The files are similar to Internet shortcut files in appearance and internal structure, except used by media players rather than web browsers.) (In that case, the playlist file is typically downloaded from the station's live streaming web page, if offered. In the case of radio stations it can also link many audio players directly to the station's live streaming audio, bypassing any need for a web browser. Several computer playlist formats for multimedia players, such as PLS, can pass a playlist or URL to the player. Playlists' uses include allowing a particular desired musical atmosphere to be created and maintained without constant user interaction or allowing a variety of different styles of music to be played, again without maintenance. Such playlists may be defined, stored, and selected to run either in sequence or if a random playlist function is selected, in a random order.

The prerecorded clips are usually run from a playlist.Īs music storage and playback using personal computers became common, the term "playlist" was adopted by various media player software programs intended to organize and control music on a PC. News channel broadcasting is a combination of live and pre-recorded programming.

A given news story might initially be shown live and then placed into a playlist to be shown over and over again at a later time. Playlists are often adjusted based on time of day, known as dayparting.Ĭable TV and broadcast TV news channels often use video playlists to rerun prerecorded news stories.

Additionally, the term was used to refer to an ordered list of songs played during a given time period. The term would go on to refer to the entire catalog of songs that a given radio station (of any format) would draw from. The term originally came about in the early days of Top 40 radio formats when stations would devise (and, eventually, publish) a limited list of songs to be played. On the Internet, a playlist can be a list of chapters in a movie serial for example, Flash Gordon in the Planet Mongo is available on YouTube as a playlist of thirteen consecutive video chapters. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of television broadcasting, radio broadcasting and personal computers.Ī playlist can also be a list of recorded titles on a digital video disk. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order.
