Aisland Records
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How It Works

A guide to the curation system, rating signals, and playlist algorithm.

Rating System

Every recording can be rated using the heart button. Ratings are the core signal for curation and playlist generation.

No Heart — Unrated

Default state. Recording has not been reviewed. Goes into the Curate queue.

Red Heart — Liked

You like this version. It's a good take but not your absolute favourite. Included in playlists with standard weight.

Black Heart — Candidate / Double-Liked

This is a standout recording — a strong candidate for the final cut. Gets double weight in playlist generation. Also queued for stem extraction.

Recording States

Recordings move through lifecycle states that control their visibility and eligibility.

Active

Normal state. Visible in Library, eligible for playlists. All non-deleted recordings.

Kept

Explicitly marked as "keep" during curation review. Signifies a finalized, approved recording. Eligible for the Library playlist pool.

Trashed

Soft-deleted. Hidden from normal views but recoverable. Not included in playlists by default — use the Trash filter to include them.

Playlist Generation Algorithm

The playlist is built one track per song. For each song, the algorithm selects the best recording based on the active filters and pool.

Step 1 — Build the Eligible Pool

The filter toggles control which recordings enter the pool for each song. If no filter is active, all active (non-trashed) recordings are eligible.

Trash

Include deleted recordings in the pool.

Library

Include only Kept recordings.

Liked ❤️

Include recordings with at least one red heart.

Candidate 🖤

Include only black heart (double-liked) recordings.

Multiple filters = OR logic. A recording qualifies if it matches any active filter.

Step 2 — Select One Recording Per Song

Within the eligible pool for each song, selection follows this priority:

  1. 1Collection recordings take priority — if any eligible recording is in your Collection, one is chosen at random from those.
  2. 2If none are in Collection, a weighted random selection runs: black hearts appear twice (2×), red hearts once (1×). This biases toward stronger recordings.
  3. 3If no liked recordings exist, any recording in the pool is chosen at random.

Step 3 — Shuffle

The final list of selected tracks is shuffled using the Fisher-Yates algorithm for a truly random playback order.

Genre Filter

Clicking a genre in the Genres tab jumps to the Playlist tab with that genre pre-selected. Only recordings tagged with that genre are eligible for the pool.

You can star genres as favourites — this powers the Analysis tab in the admin Track Queue, which suggests songs that haven't yet been generated in your favourite genres.

Curation Flow

The recommended workflow for reviewing new recordings:

  1. 1Go to Library → Curate. This shows all unrated, un-kept, non-deleted recordings in chronological order.
  2. 2Listen, then: Keep (approve), Like (red heart = good), Trash (discard), or double-like for standouts.
  3. 3Auto-advance plays the next curate track when you take action — so you can review quickly without clicking.
  4. 4Black heart recordings are flagged in the Stems admin tab for stem extraction.
  5. 5The Track Queue → Analysis tab uses your ratings to suggest what to generate next.