Editing Voice-tracking (section)

==Background==
'''Voice-tracking''' refers to the process of a disc jockey prerecording their on-air "patter". It is then combined with songs, commercials, and other elements in order to produce a product sounding like a live air shift. Voice-tracking has become common on many music radio stations, particularly during evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday time periods. Most radio station owners consider it an economical alternative to employing live disc jockeys around the clock.<ref name="Coleman2009">{{cite book|author=Mark Coleman|title=Playback: From the Victrola to MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xe0hjGqZ6YC&pg=PA90|date=16 June 2009|publisher=Hachette Books|isbn=978-0-7867-4840-2|pages=90–}}</ref>

[[Image:WWJQAutomation.jpg|right|thumb|An old-fashioned automation system capable of voice-tracking. Contemporary systems are entirely computer-based.]]

The process goes back decades and was very common on FM stations in the 1970s. At that time, elements were recorded on [[reel-to-reel]] [[magnetic tape]]s and [[broadcast cartridge]]s and played by specialized [[professional audio]] equipment. It has become more controversial recently as computer technology permits the process to be more flexible and less expensive, allowing for fewer station employees and an effective illusion of live, [[local program]]ming.<ref name="Sterling2003">{{cite book|author=Christopher H. Sterling|title=Encyclopedia of Radio 3-Volume Set|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UeveLMilioC&pg=PA2429|date=2 December 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-45649-8|pages=2429–}}</ref> With the repeal of the FCC's Main Studio Rule in 2017, these studios have begun to be shut down, and a station can be [[centralcasting|centralcast]] from a radio group's headquarters thousands of miles away with the only localization occurring with weather forecasts, local news (if even broadcast) and local advertising.

Most contemporary [[broadcast automation]] systems at music stations effectively function as high-tech [[jukebox]]es. Pieces of audio footage are digitized as [[computer file]]s and saved on one or more [[hard drives]]. Station personnel create "program logs" which list exactly what is supposed to be on the air and in what order. The computer follows the instructions set out in the [[playlist]].<ref name="ReeseGross2006" />