The Tech Team Music page provides a schedule-ordered playback interface for running music at your event.
Accessing the Page
- From the Event Dashboard, open the Tech Team Music page in the sidebar
- This page is only available when music upload is enabled for the competition
- If music upload is not enabled, you will see a message directing you to the event settings3. If music upload is not enabled, you will see a message directing you to the event settings
- Your tech team does not need your login: invite them under Event Staff Access and tick Music Player (and Music Files if they also manage tracks). The old public Music Player link works with a banner until 25 Nov 2026, then needs a signed-in account with that screen
Layout
Music is organised by schedule sections, matching the order performances will run:
- Multi-day events show tabs for each day
- The currently LIVE section is expanded by default; all other sections start collapsed
- Click any section header to expand or collapse it. Your choice is remembered and does not change when the live section advances
- For each entry you can see:
- Entry number and routine name
- Studio name
- Performer names
- Music file name and duration
- An embedded audio player
- Status badge (LIVE, COMPLETED)
Playing Music
- Click the play button on any entry's audio player to start playback
- Use the built-in controls to pause, scrub, and adjust volume
- Audio players load lazily. They only load when scrolled into view, keeping the page fast
- You can cue the next section's music early: expand an upcoming section and start playing. When the live schedule advances onto that section, the section stays expanded and the music keeps playing. There is no mid-song interruption.
Uninterrupted playback guarantees
Once a track is playing, the page actively protects it:
- The display stays awake while this page is open (on browsers that support screen wake lock: Chrome, Edge, and recent Safari). You do not need to touch the keyboard to keep the screen on. This does not override a manual lid-close or the OS going to sleep from a hardware power action. Keep the laptop plugged in with the lid open.
- Background checks never cut playback. The page periodically verifies that music files are still reachable and that the live schedule is current. If one of these checks would normally flag a track as missing, it is held back while that track is actively playing. The check runs again after playback ends.
- Transient network blips on an already-buffered stream are ignored. If the file is genuinely gone, the player will stop at the end of the buffered audio, not mid-note.
Pre-Caching for Offline Use
For reliable event-day playback, you can download all music files to the browser in advance:
- Click the Pre-cache All Music button at the top of the page
- A progress bar shows how many tracks have been downloaded
- Once complete, all music plays from the local cache. No internet required
This is strongly recommended for events in venues with unreliable Wi-Fi.
Offline Mode
- If internet connection is lost during the event, the page continues to work with cached music
- An offline banner appears to warn you that the connection is down
- Schedule position may not update, but playback continues uninterrupted
- The last known schedule state is stored locally as a fallback
Missing Music
The page shows an alert if any entries are missing music uploads. Follow up with studios or dancers who have not yet uploaded their tracks before the event starts.
Tips
- Pre-cache the night before: do not wait until event day
- Test audio output through your sound system before the first performance
- Keep the page open in a dedicated browser tab for the duration of the event. Leave the laptop plugged in with the lid open so the OS cannot sleep.
- Cue ahead: if the next section's music is ready, expand it while the current section is still live. Starting that track early will not be disrupted when the live schedule moves on.
- If a track will not play, check that the file was uploaded correctly in the entry form