Stations outsource music for one of two reasons: they need the work done, or they need it done better. Those are different jobs. The first can be filled by anyone with a scheduler login. The second requires someone who will argue with you — politely — when the clock is working against the brand.

Before you sign, ask the questions below. The answers will tell you whether you are hiring extra hands or extra judgment.

1. Who actually builds the logs?

Ask for a name. If the reply is a department, a process, or a software platform, keep asking. Software does not hear the quarter-hour. A person who has sat in a control room does. You want the person who will own the Monday morning log on a first-name basis with your MD.

2. How do you learn our market before week one?

A serious partner will want cume and P1 data, a competitive aircheck, local music rules, imaging examples, and a frank conversation about what the GM actually wants from the station in the next two books. If the onboarding is a spreadsheet of currents, you are buying a playlist, not a program director.

3. What does a typical week look like?

Daily logs are the floor, not the product. Ask about clock reviews, category health, artist separation, imaging refresh, and how quickly a breaking story or a local music add can hit the air. Remote work is only an advantage if the cadence is tighter than the in-house version you are replacing.

4. How do you handle format conflict?

Every PD has a song they love that the research does not. A partner should have a method for that argument: gold vs. recurrent, power vs. extra, library depth vs. cume. If they always defer, you will over-research. If they never defer, you hired an ego. Look for a written philosophy, not a vibe.

5. Can you work inside our scheduler?

GSelector, MusicMaster, RCS — the tool is not the craft, but fighting the tool is a tax. A partner who already lives in your system will spend the first month on clocks and codes, not tutorials. Ask who will hold the license, who exports, and how voice-track timing is marked in the log.

6. What does success look like in 90 days?

Ratings lag. Do not wait for a book to know if the relationship is working. Agree on leading indicators: clock compliance, stopset load, imaging freshness, talent prep quality, and whether the morning show still has time to be a morning show. Put those on a one-page dashboard.

7. How do you invoice, and in which currency?

This is not a small question for groups that straddle the US and Australia. Flexible engagement and local-currency invoicing are operational details that keep finance from becoming the loudest person in the partnership. Get it in writing.

8. What happens when we disagree?

A true partner will tell you when the log is wrong — and then fix it with you before tomorrow’s show.

Ask for a recency example. Not a case study with a trophy. A week when a client pushed a power rotation that was burning, and how the partner handled it. The story you want is boring: data, a conversation, a clock change, a follow-up. Drama is a red flag.