About Playlist Duration Calculator
Time arithmetic is notoriously frustrating because it isn't decimal. You cannot simply add "3.45" and "4.50" on a calculator to get expected minutes and seconds. The base-60 system of time requires a specialized tool. The Playlist Duration Calculator is designed for DJs, Radio Hosts, and Album Mastering Engineers who need to sum up multiple track lengths into a precise total runtime.
Who Needs This?
- Radio Broadcasting: A slotted show is exactly 58 minutes and 30 seconds (allowing for news). The host needs to know if their playlist runs over or falls short, to the second.
- Vinyl Mastering: A 12-inch vinyl record can only hold about 20-22 minutes of music per side before audio quality degrades (dynamic range loss). Engineers must calculate side splits perfectly.
- CD Production: The Red Book standard for CDs limits audio to 74 or 80 minutes. A project that is 80:05 will fail to burn.
- Podcast Editing: Stacking multiple segments, intros, and ads to estimate the final episode length.
How to Use
Simply type in your track times in the standard MM:SS format (e.g., "03:45"). Press enter to add the next one. The tool parses each entry, converting minutes to seconds, summing the total seconds, and then intelligently formatting it back into Hours, Minutes, and Seconds. It handles the "rollover" math automatically, so you never have to worry about carrying the 1.