The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Who Is Frequent Radio Guest Eric Alper & Is He Really A Music Expert?

RadioActive · January 4, 2023 11:38 am

I heard Eric Alper on the air - again - discussing music on AM640 Wednesday. (This time, it was about the Rolling Stone Top 200 Singers List.)

I'm hardly an expert on the music industry - I know what I like, but that's as far as it goes - so when I kept hearing Alper turn up on every radio station whenever an artist dies or a controversy emerges, I had to wonder: who is this guy and can he really claim to be an expert in the field - or is he just labelling himself as such and making a fabricated reputation become a reality by sheer force of number of appearances?

Turns out, he does have some real bona fides which he outlines in very long detail on his bio page. (His list of associates and clients is very long and very impressive.) But it's also clear from the page that he's something of a media-hound, looking for every opportunity to appear on radio and TV. (He even gives his phone number out on his site.) Not, as they used to say on Seinfeld, that there's anything wrong with that.

So excuse my initial ignorance and I suppose I'm feeding the beast with this post! But if you've ever wondered about Alper and his claim to being an expert when he appears on radio and TV all over the city, you can find out all you need to know about him here.

RadioActive · January 4, 2023 12:03 pm

I suspect his very availability and willingness to appear almost anywhere at any time (I recently woke up early at 4 AM and heard him on AM 640's network show "The Shift," although it may have been pre-recorded) makes him a prime candidate as a frequent guest.

I once produced two separate talk shows on the same station. We usually got the guests we wanted, but sometimes they simply weren't interested or weren't around when we needed them. I can tell you from experience that having someone with knowledge of a specific subject who's willing to drop everything to appear when you need them is hard to turn down.

But you're right - I do think he's in danger of becoming a tad overexposed.

Johnny B · January 4, 2023 1:19 pm

He has quite a large social media following and presence and I believe he still has a program on SiriusXM?...I have no problem with him making appearances and promoting his 'brand'...he has legitimate knowledge of the music industry and its history which makes him a viable 'go to' for general or interesting music topic conversations...

AspectRatio · January 4, 2023 2:00 pm

As RadioActive notes, I tend to think of Alper and Alan Cross as the two most common "go-to" guys for commentary/expertise/punditry in the media whenever there's some significant piece of music news (an artist death, sale of an artist's catalog, label merger, new audio technology, etc.). I actually tend to enjoy Cross a bit more because he's more low-key and less self-promotional - Alper is way over the top with "This Day In" and various Twitter-bait stuff that he often repurposes year over year. But, in this day and age self-promotion is a desired and enviable skill for many.

newsguy1 · January 4, 2023 2:56 pm

These guys are sort of the music version of retired U of T prof Nelson Wiseman.
He is a political science pundit and for a while he was everywhere.
He would comment on practically anything.
Haven't heard from him lately but he is still around.

Walter · January 4, 2023 6:28 pm

Alper is tiresome. Cross is more so. Don't get me started on Dan McTeague.

djwildbill · January 4, 2023 7:42 pm

I personally like all three of these gents. Why? If there’s a big music story, you can count on certain radio or tv stations to have either Eric or Alan interviewed. If it’s a story about the rise or fall of gas prices then Dan’s our man. As much as these guys get on-air, we know to count on them for a comment.

betaylored · January 4, 2023 9:05 pm

Eric Alper, at least on Twitter, is Coles Notes and for the general music enthusiast who has a good knowledge and love of music.

Alan Cross is the whole book and for the general music lover, and especially for radio folks and rabid music fans who love the smallest details. Need show prep, read Alan Cross.

Both guys have their place.

It would be interesting to get the two together with someone like Jeff Woods on-air once every week and have the rock and roll version of 1010's morning roundtable to discuss various topics like what is everyone currently listening to, new and old, did autotune ruin the music biz, upcoming live concerts, how listening to music improves your mood and mental health, how to pick up playing a music instrument like the guitar as an adult.

Last edited by betaylored (January 4, 2023 9:07 pm)

SpinningWheel · January 5, 2023 12:14 pm

I followed Eric Alper on Facebook for a day and had to unfollow because he posts about once an hour, which can become very annoying when you look at your feed and it's all Eric Alper all day.

He's very well informed but needs to consider the golden rule of social media to not post so frequently else lose your audience.

Edit:
I underestimated his posting frequency. I just checked and as of 11:25 today he's put up 22 posts in the last 8 hours. I can't keep up with that.

Last edited by SpinningWheel (January 5, 2023 12:25 pm)

Andy Burns · January 5, 2023 12:43 pm

Eric and Alan are really the only voices of music, especially classic rock or heritage music, familiar on a national level at this point, Alan via the Ongoing History and Eric via his SXM show and his massive Twitter following. It absolutely makes sense for them to be the go-to's whenever major music stories occur. If there were more familiar personalities out there doing what they do on their scale, I'd guess we'd see those faces as well.

It would be nice if there were younger faces out there doing the same thing, contextualizing music the way Eric and Alan do; maybe there are, and us older fans don't know about them.

Mr.Aldred · January 5, 2023 1:55 pm

We used Larry LeBlanc on a regular basis and found him to be both informative and entertaining. Haven't heard from him in ages though.

AspectRatio · January 5, 2023 3:35 pm

Mr.Aldred wrote:
We used Larry LeBlanc on a regular basis and found him to be both informative and entertaining. Haven't heard from him in ages though.

There's a name I haven't thought of for a while - and agreed on your descriptors for him.

Another name to add: When George Michael passed away on Christmas Day 2016, I remembered one of the folks called for their commentary on radio (Boxing Day shows that were live) was former MuchMusic VJ Michael Williams. Nice to hear Williams reflect on George's career especially as he watched it unfold in the 80s heyday. Williams is still around but not as high profile these days.

RadioActive · January 5, 2023 5:09 pm

rje1 wrote:
SpinningWheel wrote:
I followed Eric Alper on Facebook for a day and had to unfollow because he posts about once an hour, which can become very annoying when you look at your feed and it's all Eric Alper all day.

He's very well informed but needs to consider the golden rule of social media to not post so frequently else lose your audience.

Edit:
I underestimated his posting frequency. I just checked and as of 11:25 today he's put up 22 posts in the last 8 hours. I can't keep up with that.
"I'll be on CityNews in Ottawa at 11:50amET today to talk about the Greatest Singers Of All Time list published by Rolling Stone Magazine."

"I'll be on 680 AM CJOB in Winnipeg at NoonET today to talk about Rolling Stone's list of the 200 Greatest Singers Of All Time."

"I'll be on CJBQ 800 AM in Belleville at 10:00amET today to talk about Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Singers Of All Time."

And he just turned up on AM640 with Oakley to talk about the anniversary of Hip Hop. Amazing how he can fit it all in.

cash · January 5, 2023 8:33 pm

is alper paid for these hits?

RadioActive · January 13, 2023 11:13 am

Alper has certainly been busy these past 48 hours. He was on CFRB three times Wednesday and Thursday (about the Jeff Beck passing) and AM 640 twice (once for Beck on Thursday and again Friday morning for Lisa Marie Presley.) And those are just the ones I managed to hear.

I'm not sure if he's getting anything other than publicity for his constant appearances, but if he is, this week has been a goldmine.

I get that he's become the go-to guy for dead musician tributes, but five appearances in less than two days seems a bit excessive and you run the risk of wearing out your welcome.

ThatEricAlper · January 17, 2023 12:38 am

rje1 wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
wearing out your welcome.
He already did.

He must be getting paid. I don't understand exactly what else he currently does. He appears to be an influencer.

I’m fine with other people’s opinion of myself and anyone else, but I have to speak up when it’s outrageous. I have never, ever, been offered or took any payment for any radio or TV spots I have done. I have never heard in my 30 years of being in the music business anyone being offered money for being a guest on segments. I do the segments because I like to say yes to doing fun things - and I get asked, never pitch myself. I’m a music publicist by day and night that keep me just as busy. I was a publicist before being asked to speak about music news, and will be one long after.
Your ignorance is showing as a simple Google search will tell you what I do. But instead, you decide to go snark and insulting. That says more about you than it does for me, and at least I use my real name on here. Best, Eric

Last edited by ThatEricAlper (January 17, 2023 12:40 am)

RadioActive · January 17, 2023 1:01 am

I welcome you to SOWNY, Mr. Alper and I'm glad you were able to have your say. I would point out that I did, in fact, head to your site and if you check out the very first post in this thread, you'll see that I issued a kind of mea culpa about my ignorance of your past and the list of people you've worked with. It is, indeed, quite impressive.

I think what many posters here wondered about was the frequency of your appearances in the last few weeks. You were on not only CFRB and AM640 several times in just a few days, but likely went on other stations as well. Congrats on your success and I'm actually glad to hear you're doing this for the love of music and not any monetary gains.

But I'm sure you can see why there were so many questioning that, given the number of times stations had you on repeatedly, sometimes on different shows on the same station on the same day - which is something those stations did, not you.

As for the pseudonyms, that's not required here, of course, but many posters work for radio and TV stations in the city and don't feel free to express their true opinions on issues about those media that could potentially get them in trouble - or even fired. So many of them use an alternate name to allow for that freedom of expression. It may not always seem fair, but with the precarious job market, it's certainly understandable.

All that said, I hope this will not be your last appearance on the SOWNY Board and I welcome any comments you may have. I appreciate the fact you wanted to reply to both the brickbats and the bouquets (and I hope you noticed there were some of those, as well) and I'm happy you took that opportunity. Like all of our valued posters, you are welcome here anytime.