For Super Admins

VenueTunes 2.0 — architecture & rollout

How the platform grows from DJ requests into a full music operating system, without fake controls.

What already exists

Hierarchy — organizations, venues, members, invites and inherited branding.
Guest experience — public venue pages, paid requests, live status, previews, QR codes, Find a Venue.
DJ tools — queue, Now Playing, declines with audit trail, genre locks, song and guest blocks.
Catalog — song search with artwork and previews, organization catalog, curated buckets.
Payments — authorize-then-capture, durable webhook processing, rate limits, refunds, subscriptions.

Three capability states

Native (built in VenueTunes): Music Studio, vibe profiles, collections, DJ setlists, zones, schedules, DJ sessions, guest vibe voting, analytics.
Provider-integrated (needs a connected licensed provider): station browsing, start/stop/switch, playback status, device health.
Requires provider approval: exact track queuing, paid priority into AutoDJ, custom stations, playlist import, volume, transitions.

Heads up

No playback button or “now playing in venue” status is shown unless the provider confirms it. Desired state and confirmed state are always stored and displayed separately.

Hierarchy

Organization → Venue → Music Zone → Playback session. Zones (Main Floor, Patio, VIP…) each get their own default vibe profile now, and schedules and player assignments later.

Music Studio (live now)

Vibe profiles: energy, variety, weighted genre mix, eras and content rules. Saved as drafts, published as numbered versions, restorable.
Collections (managers) and DJ setlists (DJs) built from the song search, reorderable, capped at 500 songs.
Setlist review: DJ sends for review → manager approves or requests changes. Approved setlists are locked for the DJ.
Every write is permission-checked on the server: managers manage, DJs edit only their own setlists, guests have no access.

Provider strategy

Playback uses a shared provider contract and a server-only adapter registry. Each music zone can save its preferred service and player ID, independently of profiles and schedules. SoundMachine and Soundtrack are pending API integrations, not connected players. No live adapters are registered yet.

Consumer Spotify cannot be used for public business playback, even with Premium. A licensed business provider and approved API access are required. Connection preferences never count as a successful connection test or confirmed audio playback.

Internal playback testing

Managers can open Internal playback test from a zone’s playback provider settings, at either venue or organization level. The isolated simulator exercises play, pause, skip, queue, volume, disconnect and command failures using synthetic track data. It plays no audio, does not connect Spotify, and never changes venue requests, payments, schedules or provider assignments. Closing the test clears its state.

Heads up

A successful simulation verifies test behavior only. Real audio, licensing, device behavior and provider compatibility still require an approved live integration.

Risks

Provider API may not expose custom stations, track ordering, volume or imports — these stay hidden until confirmed.
Skip limits (6 per hour) constrain guest-driven skips in AutoDJ mode.
Licensing: paid requests in AutoDJ mode need explicit provider approval.
Reliability: AutoDJ must survive a full business day — needs per-zone locks, idempotent commands and reconciliation.

Rollout order

1. Architecture + feature flags (done)
2. Music Studio, vibe profiles, zones, setlists (done)
3. Daypart schedules and overrides per zone
4. DJ session booking, takeover and release
5. Licensed provider connection — interchangeable framework available; live integration blocked on partner approval, credentials and API docs
6. Guest vibe voting, imports, analytics, pilot rollout