Music for the End of the World adds a fully functional music radio system to the game! It enables all radios in-game to play music when tuned to the correct frequency.

This system introduces scripted, multiplayer-compatible radio stations. Many will be familiar with True Music Radio, which is a superficially similar system, but is very different in practice. Instead of players defining the playlists in-game, our system provides a framework for scripting preset radio stations.

Through a system like the original True Music, anyone can make their own radio station with a preset track-list outside of the game. These stations can be disseminated through workshop items for public consumption, like True Music packs, or can be hosted completely serverside, no workshop upload needed.

One of the biggest advantages to the preset nature of the mod is the introduction of dialogue. You can write dialogue that can be used to transition songs and even play segments, like a real radio host would.

The following forms of dialogue make up a radio station:
- Short: these are quick 2-4 sentence intermissions for transitioning songs.
- Composite: same as above, but instead composes unique transitions out of generic parts.
- Global: advertisements and similar, short-form intermissions that can play on any station that has them enabled.
- Medium: small, infrequent longer intermissions, 4-7 sentences or so.
- Segment: planned, long dialogues that occur at a specific time and date in the year. These can be specifically disabled in Sandbox settings, alongside the option to disable all dialogue.

Some of the system's other features:

- Easy to set up track announcements for hosts.
- Ability to set the odds for individual songs or dialogues playing.
- Repeat protection for both songs and dialogue.
- Ability to have dialogues or songs lead into each other, for instance to have the host comment on a song or play a relevant song after a segment.
- Ability to play dialogues on specific dates in-game, for instance to have the host comment on the holiday.
- Separate, month-by-month pools for intermissions and advertisements, enabling seasonal changes!
- Sandbox settings supporting the changing of station frequencies, disabling of specific stations, removal of particular songs from rotation, etc.
- Random frequencies for hidden stations.

Whether you're an average player looking to tailor a radio station to your tastes, a True Music pack author who wants to turn your pack into a dedicated radio station, or a server owner putting together a custom news station for your server, the system should be simple enough for anyone to use!

All of that said, because our systems are so different, we actually highly recommend
running True Music Radio alongside our mod, especially on servers with lots of players. They are designed in such a way that they actually compliment each other. Running them both will allow your players to have access to both consistent, unchangeable and more curated stations, and user-generated stations with more freedom and variability—meaning more fun all around!

Music for the End of the World adds eight standard stations, one Silent Hill station, and one easter egg station. The expansion Encore adds one more through the Home Labelled branch and adds many more songs to each station.

Some of the following descriptions may reference things that are only in Segments, which are currently not finished or implemented. Segments are longer dialogues where hosts will stop the music for a couple of minutes to talk, typically once per in-game month. An example is that Damien is mentioned to interview other survivors, which he only does in Segments.

The listed frequencies are defaults that can be changed in the sandbox settings.

100.2 Dancing with the Dead is a pop station hosted by the sweet and nervous Addy Denton. An awkward Australian virologist marooned in Knox County after the outbreak, Addy is hardly a natural showperson, but they're trying their best to tune out the horrors of the endtimes with the tunes!

Addy track listing

90.2 Death's Door Rock is the ultimate station for dudes (et al.) that love guitars and big hair and sh*t like that. Or at least, that's how its energetic host, Chris Benfer, would probably describe it. Unflappably optimistic, he believes that if the virus isn't going to reanimate rock (seems unlikely), then somebody has to!

Chris track listing

96.8 Spite by Night is best described as the 'music your older brother likes' station, loaded with punk, nu metal, and alternative rock. True to its name, the hot-headed Jasmine 'Jas' Knight frequently lapses into frustrated ranting and caustic snark as they observe the remains of humanity.

Jas track listing

106.6 Rap & Hip-Hop with Miri is an appropriately austere name for an austere station. Blatantly uninterested in engaging in typical radio theatrics, hard-nosed and level-headed ex-Guardsman Miriam Ostrander divulges deadpan survival tips and relays her experiences picking over the shambling corpse of Knox.

Miri track listing

105.2 The Beat Goes On is a station devoted to funk, soul and disco classics. Its host, a gentle and charming young woman named Clara, muses on life in the age of undeath and her family's struggle for survival in a deeply isolated, heavily protected farmhouse.

Clara track list

104.4 The New Wave is a station for electronic, indie and experimental music. Its relaxed presenter Damien almost seems as if he hasn't noticed the apocalypse yet, maintaining a cool air as he recounts stories from and interviews other survivors.

Damien track listing

105.2 Knox Country & Classics is hosted by the venerable Wayne Hanlon, a Knox native who has been running the same station for the past fifteen years. Undeterred by the apocalypse, the pensive Wayne still offers up country, old rock and blues with a deep drawl like he always has.

Wayne track listing

103.8 Ronny Roy's Pile o' Music is, well, exactly what the title would lead you to believe. Eccentric old lumberjack Ronny Roy merrily recounts wacky stories and anecdotes from his band of survivors while serving up a truly motley array of music. His station can play any song that has radio support.

Ronny Roy track listing

In addition to the above, an easter egg station is available.This station appears on a random frequency. Musically, the station is something of a personal one—instead of a specific genre or theme, it simply plays the music that I like the most. The host, who does not name themselves, is a strange, anxious and somber presence and speaks very little.

Lea track listing

84.4 Ram's Jams is hosted by the eponymous Ramya, a loud n' proud enthusiast of music that's as strange and rare as she is. If you have Music for the End: Encore enabled and have the Home Labelled branch active, this station hosts its content by default. You can disable Home Labelled appearing on the radio entirely, or disable Ram's Jam's specifically, which allows the Home Labelled content to appear sorted into the existing stations.

Ram track listing

Obviously, as this mod introduces radio hosts who talk about their lives, the radio implies certain things about the lore and state of the world. These things may not align with your vision of PZ's world or, more importantly, your server's lore. Mostly, lore-specific details are kept to Segments (which are currently unimplemented), so that any server can safely keep the other transitions on.

Generally speaking, hosts stick pretty close to vanilla Project Zomboid lore, including:
- You are in Knox Country, Kentucky, in 1993.
- The infection was very recent, of unclear origin, and has no cure or vaccine.
- Hosts only talk about infection through bites, but leave blood transmission ambiguous.
- At least one of them loves Spiffo.

The following things are worth noting:
- Hosts generally try to be as agnostic as possible about sandbox settings. They will not discuss things such as the power/water, transmission methods outside of bites, the speed/strength of zombies, the scarcity of loot, or similar topics.
- Hosts imply that there are many survivors, both in small groups and as lone-wolves, some acting as bandits.
- Hosts imply that no clear, defined military or government force of any kind remains.
- The general tone of the hosts tends to imply that survivors are pretty capable, even if life is still hard. If you're playing in a setting where zombies are extremely dangerous and open combat is an enormous risk, they may seem a little odd.