Welcome, Stations and Producers

A short primer on getting the most out of PRX

Welcome to the Public Radio Exchange!

If you haven't yet, the first thing you'll want to do is sign up: go to www.prx.org/membership. You can get started on PRX immediately with a free starter account for your station, giving you six hours of programming and two hours of upload space.

Or maybe you have questions. What is PRX? How does it work?

What is PRX?

The Public Radio Exchange is an online marketplace for public radio pieces. Producers - station-based or independent - upload their work to the site, and station programmers browse, download, and license these pieces for air.

As a station member, you can use PRX to find great material for your station. Check out our "plan ahead" section on the prx.org home page for date-pegged material, browse by listener ratings, or use our advanced search to fine-tune to locate what you're looking for. Listen and review other pieces. And share: upload your station-produced work.

Sign up

Just go to www.prx.org/membership and choose "station staff member" or "station producer" as your membership type. You can use our group finder to select your station and join its group, and you'll receive a confirmation email after registering. Once you click on the link in the email you'll be all set to log in (and once your station administrator verifies you, you'll be a member of that station).

If your station doesn't have a membership yet (or if you're not sure) email membership@prx.org to request one.

Look Around

Not sure what to listen to? The home page is a good place to start. Recently licensed pieces, new reviews and recently uploaded pieces show up on the left column.

Under the Pieces tab, you can browse by length, formats (essay, limited series) and topics (art, children, travel). Under the Reviews or Members tabs you can see what specific producers, stations and reviewers are working on and listening to.

Search

You can do a general search in the search bar at the top of every page. Just enter the text you're looking for, hit "search" and you'll be given every result possible on the PRX site.

If you have a more specific idea in mind, try our refined search. Click the "all search options" link next to the search bar to get to specifications. You can search pieces, reviews, and members with a variety of restrictions.

Listen

In the middle of every piece or series listing, you'll see the words "Listen: [name of piece (length)." Click on the play button to begin streaming the file. If this link shows gray, you need to log in.

We stream MP3s with a flash player. Anyone -- reviewers, producers, stations making a programming decision -- can listen to the full length of any piece. (Note: only stations can download MP3s of programs.)

If you're having any trouble playing a file, contact help(at)prx(dot)org.

License

Find something that you would like to air on your station? Click the "License/Download" link. You'll see the piece's license terms and price, and if you agree to these terms, you can click the "License this piece" button.

The points will be automatically deducted from your station's account, and you'll be able to download the broadcast-quality MP2 to air.

Review

We encourage all PRX members to write reviews of pieces: click on "Review this piece" on the piece listing.

You can write a text review, add private notes to the producer, choose "tones" that for you characterize the piece, and pick a rating: one to five stars. Five stars means the piece is excellent.

Uploading Your Audio

First, you'll want to download the PRX Member Tools. This is a single download, and will give you two applications: the PRX Encoder, and the PRX Uploader.

Once you've installed these programs, find your WAV or AIFF audio file, and drag it directly on top of the PRX Encoder icon: it will take a few minutes, and will create an MP2 of your file. Next, you can either upload your file through your browser or with the PRX Uploader.

To use the browser, simply proceed to the "describe your audio" steps, and select your file for upload by clicking the "browse" button on that page.

To use the Uploader, drag your MP2 directly on top of the PRX Uploader icon. The first time you upload, you may need to enter your PRX username and password into the Uploader's preferences.

Once the upload is complete, you should be able to see your MP2 under your "loading dock" within My PRX.

Describe Your Audio

Now you'll create your "piece listing" for your audio - a page where listeners can read about your piece and stream your file. If you haven't uploaded your file yet, you can do so here. Otherwise you'll select your audio file(s) from those you've already uploaded to attach them to your piece.

From the tab "My PRX," click "Add a new piece." You will be guided through four short sections, where we ask you for some basic information about your audio file. Be accurate. Use an image. Write something intriguing. Lure them in, like so many fishes.

In License and Pricing, you will select the price you'd like to charge for your piece and its license terms: then select "save and preview." Make sure all your information is displaying the way you'd like it to -- and that your audio file is playing correctly -- then click "make it public" to make your listing live on PRX!

Help!

Have questions? Problems streaming, logging in, finding the right piece? We're here for you.


Online guide and FAQ: http://help.prx.org
Email: help@prx.org
Phone: (617) 576-5355

© 2006, The Public Radio Exchange