Play MPE® Player 5
Play MPE® Player 5 Manual
1
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................. 5
What is the Play MPE® Player? . ........................................................................ 5
Who this manual is for.......................................................................................... 5
Getting an account................................................................................................. 5
Downloading and installing the Play MPE® Player............................. 7
Upgrading from previous versions...................................................................... 7
Installing Play MPE® for the first time............................................................... 7
Using Direct-to-Web............................................................................................... 8
Reduced functionality for Direct-to-Web.......................................................... 8
Using the Play MPE® Player 5................................................................... 9
The Play MPE® Player 5 Layout............................................................................ 9
Rights and Releases............................................................................................... 9
Browsing Releases in Available Tracks................................................. 10
Narrowing down tracks by Label or Label Container.................................. 11
Sorting, Searching for releases in Gallery View............................................. 11
List Mode...................................................................................................................... 12
Searching releases..................................................................................................... 12
Getting more information on releases............................................................ 12
Track list........................................................................................................................ 13
Expanding Track List.................................................................................................. 13
Attachments................................................................................................................ 13
Feedback...................................................................................................................... 13
Printing or Exporting information......................................................................... 13
Format........................................................................................................................... 13
Closing Release Info window................................................................................ 14
Playing Releases in Available Tracks................................................................ 14
Playing from Gallery View....................................................................................... 14
Playing from Release Info window...................................................................... 14
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Playing from the Mini-player.................................................................................. 15
Building a Playlist................................................................................................. 15
Viewing the Playlist................................................................................................... 15
Adding to the Playlist............................................................................................... 15
Removing from the Playlist.................................................................................... 16
Clearing the Playlist.................................................................................................. 16
Flagging releases................................................................................................... 17
Viewing the Flagged list........................................................................................... 17
Adding a note to a Flagged release..................................................................... 18
Using My Library*...................................................................................... 19
Adding a release to My Library.............................................................................. 19
Adding releases from a disk................................................................................... 19
Watching download status with Download Manager*................................ 20
Cancelling a download / cancelling all the downloads................................ 20
Clearing the Current Download queue.............................................................. 20
Finding files you have downloaded..................................................................... 20
Clearing Download History..................................................................................... 21
Sorting with column tabs........................................................................................ 21
Searching My Library................................................................................................ 21
Expanding the My Library view............................................................................. 22
Burning and Exporting......................................................................................... 22
Adding to the Burn / Export list............................................................................ 22
Removing from Burn / Export List....................................................................... 23
Printing Burn / Export List...................................................................................... 23
Burning a CD............................................................................................................... 23
Exporting to a different file format....................................................................... 23
Change audio file format........................................................................................ 24
Export File formats ................................................................................................. 24
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Bit Rates....................................................................................................................... 24
Choosing Output Folder.......................................................................................... 24
Adding exported files to iTunes............................................................................. 25
Exporting Track Information................................................................................... 25
Removing releases from My Library................................................................. 25
Options, Account Settings....................................................................... 26
Add to Library Format............................................................................................... 26
Release email notifications..................................................................................... 26
Play MPE® System messages................................................................................. 26
Changing the color scheme of the Play MPE® Player 5............................... 27
For more help............................................................................................. 28
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Introduction
The Play MPE® Secure Media Delivery System is a secure, fast and cost effective method of digitally
delivering music and music videos to radio, reviewers, media, music supervisors, industry VIPs or
internal staff. The system provides ease of use while maintaining a high level of security. Registered
industry professionals are able to receive promotional or pre-released singles, music videos or albums
directly from the content owner as broadcast-quality digital audio and video files. The Play MPE®
System currently supports Windows, MacOS and iOS. It’s also available as a Direct-to-Web service
accessible from any major web browser on any system. It is the only digital delivery service that
provides its customers with a choice of audio file export options including .wav, .mp3, .mp2, .wma
and the AAC file formats.
What is the Play MPE® Player?
The Play MPE® Player provides a convenient way to stream and download promotional music then
burn CDs and export full quality, broadcast-ready files directly into your station’s playback system. This
is a complimentary, invitation only service and there is absolutely no cost to you.
Who this manual is for
This manual is for registered users of the Play MPE® digital music distribution system. The Play MPE®
system is open to members of the recording industry, radio industry, and media and publicity. Only
approved members have access to the Play MPE® online system and the Play MPE® Player
Getting an account
Accounts are given free to members of members of the recording industry, radio industry, and media
and publicity. To get an account, you must request an account from the Play MPE® website:
https://plaympe.com/request_access.html
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then click the Request Access! icon:
In the next page select the Account Type. A request form will appear tailored specifically to the role
you have chosen. Fill it out completely and as accurately as possible so that Play MPE® staff can verify
your information. You will receive further instructions in an email.
You may already have an account that was created for you by a member of the music industry.
Please check your email to see if you have already previously received an invite.
This is how you get more music too! By applying through the above form you are also
applying to get on other Play MPE® managed lists, not just those authorized by a label that
signed you up. So you may be getting more music than from a single label.
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Downloading and installing the Play MPE® Player
If you have not already downloaded the installer, you can upgrade by signing in to Play MPE® with
your previous version.
Upgrading from previous versions
Launch Play MPE® Player. After signing in you will see a prompt informing you that a newer version is
ready to be installed. Follow the instructions to download the installer. (If you already have the Player
running you can also check for upgrades through the Help -> Check for Upgrades menu choice.)
-or-
Installing Play MPE® for the first time
If you are installing Play MPE® Player 5 for the first time, please refer to the Play MPE® Player 5 Quick
Start Guide for your appropriate system.
Quick Start guides can be found at:
https://plaympe.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/201641648-Manuals-and-Documentation
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Using Direct-to-Web
If you are not able to install the Play MPE® Player 5 application you can access your Play MPE® account
using any major web browser. This is called Direct-to-Web.
To access it, go to:
http://goplay.plaympe.com
and sign in using your account. Once you sign in, you will see a web version of the player layout that
is discussed later in the manual.
Reduced functionality for Direct-to-Web
Most of the functionality from the application is also available in Direct-to-Web, however, there are
differences between the two.
•
There is no Library in Direct-to-Web as everything is streamed from the web. If you require the
Library, burning and exporting functions (as well as exporting directly to iTunes), you need to
install the Play MPE® Player 5 application.
•
There is no Download Manager in Direct-to-Web. This function is handled by your browser.
The rest of the functionality is the same for both versions.
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Using the Play MPE® Player 5
The Play MPE® Player 5 Layout
When you initially view the system you will see the Available Tracks mode that includes a gallery of
recent releases with album graphics. There are three main modes in the Play MPE® Player 5: My
Library, Available Tracks and the Download Manager.
My Library contains music releases and their associated graphics or information that you have
chosen to download to your computer.
TIP: My Library is not available in Direct-to-Web. It is only available in the application.
Available Tracks lists assets available to you on the system network that you can preview and
browse before choosing to download.
The Download Manager is a utility that shows you assets that you are currently downloading,
download progress and download history.
Access each mode by clicking the titles at the top of the Player or by selecting from the View menu
at the very top.
TIP: All Player sections can be accessed by the menus at the very top.
You will likely spend most of your time in Available Tracks mode.
Rights and Releases
Each release has been assigned rights by their content owners that restrict or allow your access
to them. The most restrictive is Stream, which allows you to only preview the track in streaming
quality on the system. A release with Add to Library may allow you to add it to your library in your
computer but may or may not allow you to burn it to CD. A track with Download rights allows you
to download it directly from Available Tracks without adding it to your Library.
Rights
Preview play
from Available
Tracks
Export to
different
format
Add to
Library
Stream





Add to library

/ 

/ 
/ 
Download





Burn CD





Play MPE® Player 5 Manual
My D o w n l o a d Burn CD
directly
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Browsing Releases in Available Tracks
If you have been invited to the Play MPE® system you will already be assigned access to a variety of
releases by Labels. By email, you will also be informed of releases the moment they appear on the
system. You can browse for any release you have access to by going to the Available Tracks mode.
How Available Tracks is organized
On the left sidebar of Available Tracks mode the window is separated into Labels at the top-left
and Recent Activity on the bottom-left. In the window on the right you will see all of the tracks and
album or release graphics in the Gallery View.
Labels sidebar - narrow down what releases show on the right by clicking each individual label.
Recent Activity - below the Labels sidebar you can view your most recent actions in the player.
You can choose to hide this section by clicking the the Close arrow button above the Recent
Activity title. Unhide it by clicking the Show arrow button.
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Gallery View - the large window to the right is where you will see the actual tracks and album
graphics. You can use the scroll bar on the far right to view tracks that display past the bottom of
your screen. You can also click the page numbers at the top of the Gallery View to see past the
most recent tracks.
If you wish to hide the left sidebar, click on the left arrow button in the border between the sidebar
and the right window. Click the arrow button again to reveal the sidebar.
Narrowing down tracks by Label or Label Container
By default Show All Releases will display all of the available tracks to you but you can narrow down
what tracks show by clicking each individual Label.
Some Labels are Containers or groups that contain a collection of Labels. If you do not find the
specific label listed by default it may be located under one of these containers.
Sorting, Searching for releases in Gallery View
Releases normally show in the right Gallery View by most recent Available Date. You can change
the way it is sorted by right-clicking anywhere in the right window and, choosing one of the other
options under SORT BY:
Sort by Available Date - default. By most recent release
Sort by Artist - will arrange the releases in alphabetical order of the artist
Sort by Title - will arrange the releases in alphabetical order by title of the release
Sort by Time - will arrange the releases by shortest track time to longest
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TIP: Sorting by genre You can sort by genre by clicking on a release, then clicking on any
of the formats. ex. CHR Pop, Top 40. Genres are determined by the label and are not always
categorized.
List Mode
Instead of viewing releases with album graphics you can switch to titles only by clicking the List
Mode button in the top right hand corner. To go back to to seeing graphics click the button beside
it for Gallery Mode.
Searching releases
You can Search for an individual track name, artist name or label name by typing the search
phrase in the box with the magnifying glass icon in the top right hand corner of the Gallery View.
To view all releases after you have finished your search, click the Show All button.
You can also use Advanced Search by clicking on the Advanced Search button.
Getting more information on releases
You can get more information on a release by clicking on it in Gallery View.
To open a release, click on the album graphic or the release title. The Release Info window will
open with the release information displayed including showing all tracks in the release package,
total time, rights, release label, format information, additional text information such as lyrics, website
link and printable material.
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Track list
A release may include a list of tracks that are different versions of the same song, ex. radio edit,
album edit.From the Track List you can play, download, add to playlist, flag or add to your library.
Expanding Track List
You can show just the tracks by clicking on the up arrow above the track view. The track view
will expand to fill the entire window. To roll it back down, click the down arrow at the top of the
expanded track view.
Attachments
Some releases may contain downloadable attachments in the Attachments: section. Click on the
file icon in that section to download it.
Feedback
If you would like to comment or if there is a problem with a particular release you can contact
the content owner by clicking the megaphone icon.
Other contact information could be contained in the Overview, Additional Info or Contact Info
tabs at the bottom of the Info window.
Printing or Exporting information
You can print or export text information in this window by selecting Overview and then clicking
on the Print or Export button at the bottom of the window.
Format
Each release will have formats suggested by the content owner. You can see what other releases
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are in the same format by clicking on the format title. Doing so will close the current release info
window and display a new list of releases in that genre in the Gallery View.
Closing Release Info window
To close the Release Info window, click the red X button in the top right hand corner of the
window.
Playing Releases in Available Tracks
When you play releases from the Player you are streaming the track from the system online. Do this
to preview a release. If you wish to play music locally or copy it to a mobile device you have to add it
to your Library or by Downloading it.
Playing from Gallery View
In the Gallery View, hover your mouse cursor over any cover art. A set of controls will appear in
the bottom portion of the image. Click on the green play arrow to play it.
You can also play by right-clicking (ctrl+click on the Mac) on a selected track name or album
graphic and selecting Play on the menu that appears.
Playing from Release Info window
In the Release Info window hover your mouse over an individual track at the bottom of that
window. Again, a green play arrow will appear beside the track name. Click on it to play it.
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Playing from the Mini-player
When you play any track, it begins playing from the mini-player interface at the top. The miniplayer has standard stop, pause, step forward and backward controls. As it plays, the track can be
skimmed by clicking anywhere on the seek bar. The seek bar handle will appear when you hover
over the bar and you can move to any point in the song by dragging it.
If the Mini-player is taking too much space on the screen you can minimize it by clicking the button in the top right of the black area.
Building a Playlist
A playlist is a sequence of tracks that you arrange that will play from the network. You can use it to
assemble a mix or to set aside for reviewing later.
Viewing the Playlist
You can go to the Playlist by clicking the Playlist tab below the Mini-player.
Adding to the Playlist
You can add a select of tracks to a sequence of songs that you arrange easily using a variety of
methods. Throughout the Player you will see an icon that looks like a musical note with a +
beside it.
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Click on that icon and the track you have selected will be added to the playlist.
In the regular Gallery View that icon will appear when you hover over the album graphic. You can
also add it by right-clicking (ctrl+click on the Mac) on a selected track name or album graphic
and selecting Add to Playlist on the menu that appears.
Removing from the Playlist
To remove a track from the Playlist, right-click (ctrl+click on the Mac) on the track and select
Remove in the menu.
Clearing the Playlist
To clear the entire list, right-click (ctrl+click on the Mac) anywhere in the Playlist and choose
Remove All.
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Flagging releases
Flagging a release is a quick way for you to remember to view a release later and gives you the
ability to write notes to yourself about that release. To flag a release, right-click (ctrl+click on the
Mac) on the track and select Flag in the menu or click the red flag icon wherever you see it in the
Player.
Viewing the Flagged list
Review the list of flagged releases by clicking the Flagged tab below the Mini-player. The Flagged
list will appear.
In the Flagged list you can listen to them, add them to your Playlist or Library, or add private notes
to them.
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Adding a note to a Flagged release
To add a note, type in the Notes field in the far right of the row containing the release.
Removing a Flagged release
In the Flagged list, hover over a release with your mouse cursor. Among the list of common
buttons is a red X button. Click it to remove the release from your Flagged list.
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Using My Library*
My Library is your personal collection of releases that you have downloaded from the Play MPE®
System onto your computer. From your Library you can then export the releases to other formats, copy
them to mobile devices or ready them for broadcast depending upon what rights are associated with
the release by the content owner. Depending upon your personal settings, the downloaded audio
quality will be higher than the streaming preview quality of releases you have played in Available
Tracks.
*My Library is not available in Direct-to-Web
Adding a release to My Library
You can add a release to My Library anywhere in the Available Tracks mode by clicking the +file
icon beside any release.
in the Releases > Gallery View the icon will appear if you hover over an image with your mouse.
The icon will also appear if you hover over the track name in your Playlist or Flagged list.
Adding releases from a disk
You can add releases that you have on a disk or from a previous computer by going to the File
menu at the top of the player and choosing Add Music to Library.
As with all releases, you only can work with releases that you have been given rights to. But this
function is useful if you have changed computers.
Importing other file formats: As of this version you cannot import other file formats to the
Library. However, you can export to other file formats if the Label has assigned those rights. Only
.epm formats generated by the Play MPE® system are allowed.
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Watching download status with Download Manager*
When you add a release to your Library you can follow the download progress of the file in the
Download Manager. If you have added multiple files to your Library at the same time they will all
download in order and it will be displayed in a queue.
*There is no Download Manager in Direct-to-Web. Downloads are handled by your browser.
To view the Download Manager click the Download Manager tab at the top of the Player.
Cancelling a download / cancelling all the downloads
To cancel a download, click the Cancel button beside the release being downloaded. To cancel
all the pending downloads, right-click (ctrl+click on the Mac) on the release being downloaded
and choose Cancel All. All files queued to download will be.
Clearing the Current Download queue
You can clean up the queue by right-clicking (ctrl+click on the Mac) anwhere in the Current
Download view and choosing Clear All. Choosing Clear when right-clicking on an individual
download will clear only that download.
Finding files you have downloaded
You can find the location on your computer where you have downloaded the files by rightclicking (ctrl+click on the Mac) on the release in the Current Download queue and choosing
Open Folder. It will open the folder in your computer. You can do the same in My Library.
Defining Download Folder - you can change the default local folder for your downloads
by going to the Options menu at the top of the Player, choosing Player Settings and clicking
Choose Folder next to the Download Folder field.
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EPM files: Releases show up as .epm files, proprietary audio files generated by the Play MPE®
System.
Clearing Download History
At the bottom of the Download Manager its recent history is displayed. You can clear this history
by right-clicking (ctrl+click in the Mac) and choosing one of the Clear History options.
Hiding Download History
You can minimize the Download History section by dragging its top border with your mouse.
Sorting with column tabs
All of your downloaded releases appear in the My Library list in the bottom half of the My Library
view. You can change the way they are displayed by clicking the column tabs to sort them. For
example, clicking the Artist tab will sort all of the releases in alphabetical order by the artist
name.
Searching My Library
You can search releases by typing a search phrase in the field with the magnifying glass icon at
the top right of the My Library view.
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Expanding the My Library view
You can expand or contract the bottom half of the screen by dragging the top border of the My
Library view up or down.
Burning and Exporting
There are a variety of ways to Burn or Export releases from your Library (providing the Label has
assigned those releases those rights).
Adding to the Burn / Export list
In the My Library lower view, shift-click each release you wish to add to the Burn / Export list in
the top half of the library. You can also drag-select releases. Once they are highlighted, click-anddrag the highlighted releases into the top view and release.
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Removing from Burn / Export List
Right-click (ctrl+click on the Mac) on a release and choose Remove to remove it from the Burn
/ Export list.
Printing Burn / Export List
Click the print icon in the right side of the Burn / Export list view.
Burning a CD
Click the burn CD icon and all releases in the Burn / Export list will be assembled for burning
using your operating system’s burning driver.
If some releases do not have Burn rights you will be prompted to remove them.
Exporting to a different file format
In order to play the releases on certain devices you may have to export the releases to different
file formats.
To export, click the Export button on the right side of the Burn / Export list view.
-orRight-click (ctrl-click on the Mac) on any release (or selection of releases) in your Library and
choose Export from the right-click menu. You do not necessarily have to put releases to be
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exported in the Burn / Export list.
The Export Track window will pop up.
Change audio file format
Select the audio file format by clicking on the drop down list under “Export Audio File”.
Export File formats
File Formats
Description
AAC (*m4a)
High quality compressed files for iPod or iPhone
PCM Wave files
(.wav)
Highest, lossless audio quality for a variety of uses
Windows .wma
compressed format for Windows Media Player
MPEG-2
lossy compressed format that is higher quality
than MPEG-3 (.mp3)
MPEG-3
.mp3s are the lowest quality compressed format
Bit Rates
The higher bitrate, the better quality the audio. In general you will just leave this option at the
highest. You may wish to adjust the bitrate lower to save file space or because the audible quality
of the release is not noticeable to the human ear.
Choosing Output Folder
Change the output folder by clicking the Choose Folder button. (You can also change this in
Options > Player Settings).
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Adding exported files to iTunes
Choose this option if you use iTunes for your personal music playing and arranging.
Exporting Track Information
Check this if you use radio automation systems that require track metadata.
Removing releases from My Library
Right-click (ctrl+click in the Mac) on the release in the My Library view and choose either Remove
from Library or Delete from Disk.
Removing from Library will just break the link between the Player interface and the file on your
computer. Deleting from Disk means erasing it completely from your computer; it will be sent to your
trash or recycling bin. If you want it again later you must redownload it from the Play MPE® system.
Deleting files from outside the Player: If you happen to delete the file from your computer
in your operating system, the Player will not know how to find the file. Instead, use the Delete
from Disk to erase it.
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Options, Account Settings
To change preferences and options in the Player go to Available Tracks view and then click on the
My Account tab to the far right of the interface underneath the Play MPE® logo.
Player and Download Settings
If a release has download rights you can set what the default download quality is in this section as
well as the default Download bitrate.
In this section you can also set the Default Start Page to display what you want to see after you log
out and log back into the Player 5.
Add to Library Format
Add to Library Format sets the quality of the audio file when you add it to your library. This is not
the same as the download format. Play MPE® HD: Essentially a loss-less file and the highest
quality you can play, rebroadcast on-air or digitally rebroadcast. Standard: This is the default.
A high quality 512k variable bitrate file. Near-CD quality suitable for personal listening.
Release email notifications
You can set the frequency of how many emails you get in this section. Choose Weekly for a digest
of all notifications you would have received at the end of the week. Per-Release means you will
be notified immediately ‘as it happens’.
Play MPE® System messages
From time-to-time Play MPE® will send emails highlighting a new feature on the system. Click this
dropdown to decide which messages, if any, you want to receive.
Email & Redirect Notifications
You may have used several different emails when using the Play MPE® System. Use this section to
manage which emails the system should use for your account. To remove an email, click the REMOVE
button beside that email.
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You can continue using all of the emails but redirect notifications to a single email by checking the
Redirect To: checkbox.
To add an additional email, click the ADD button.
Click Save to save your changes.
Contact Information
Fill in or edit the details in the contact information section to ensure that our information is correct
for you and your position. These details are used internally and are not for publication and will not be
divulged to other parties.
Changing the color scheme of the Play MPE® Player 5
Play MPE® Player 5 is available in multiple color schemes. To change the color scheme, go to Options
> Skins and select the one you want.
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For more help
For more help, visit the Play MPE® website or contact the support team.
By email:
[email protected]
-orhttp://plaympe.com/contact-support.php
By phone:
Our phone support is available toll free, 24/7, and can be reached at 1-866-992-9670 from North
America or (00) 800 4752 9673 globally. In Australia call: 0011 800 4752 9673
By fax:
604-609-0611
Or by mail:
​1110 - 885 W Georgia St
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6C 3E8
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