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April 8, 2017 9:13 am  #1


Radio and Its Artificial Formats in the 21st Century

I was thinkin' 'bout stations which have created nonsensical music formats.  Those 'signals' beaming in from outer space probably deserve some, if not most, of the blame.

60s ONLY?!?!?  Who came up with that pile of foolishness?  70s?  80s...etc.  And...the dumbest of them all?  The 50s format.  What a great 1/2 a decade THAT was.  [unless you really know your stuff...and 'numbers readers' sure as shit
don't.]  Charts aren't really worth the cost of the paper they're printed on.  Why?  In ever-so-many ways they were merely bought and paid for.  Those charts are lies etched in stone.

Classic Rock ends with the birth of the Police in the late 70s?  What?!?!?!?  Then it becomes what?  Who decided to do that and why do
they still hold sway?  THAT's not how people remember their music.  Not everyone was born at the :00 mark of each passing decade.  Those with older brothers and sisters had an earlier introduction to hit music.  Those who went further in school...in terms of their 'higher' education were exposed to more music for a longer length of time if they were at all sociable.  And music lovers in general?  Well...they know an even larger array of 'tuneage'.  So?  Restrict them?  They won't be around for long.

Music stations spend about 80% of their broadcast day playing music.  More if they don't run news.  So?  At least 80% of your focus should be on researching music.  THAT is not something you do exclusively with your eyes.  A chart MIGHT give you a pointer or a suggestion but listening to and actually hearing and appreciating a song is how it's done.  Many so-called 'hits' had and have a short shelf life.  They don't and haven't stood the test of time and don't mix in well with your over-all rotation.  MOST folks who bought 45s...and lps for that matter...through the 60s and into the mid to late 80s before music videos totally ruined it for hit music...know the flip sides and the great album tracks.  Heck even 'hit' AM stations through the late 70s and well into the 80s were playing 3 or 4 tracks apiece from the top l.p.s.  Listen to those songs.  Your audience did.

These artificial music formats are way too narrow.  The
key music to any individual covers closer to a 20 year time span than it does 10.  With really ignorant programming those decade specific formats can burn RIGHT out in months rather than years.  They may make it look like there are loads of choices to tune in to but as one tires of them...there are actually fewer options.

Oh...and you guys who are programming country music....country fans like their oldies A LOT.

Enough artificial radio already.  Get to work.  Radio is dying...and
YOU'RE speeding up the process.
 

Last edited by Old Codger (April 8, 2017 9:28 am)

 

April 8, 2017 10:39 am  #2


Re: Radio and Its Artificial Formats in the 21st Century

SiriusXM has "decades" channels but do not strictly play songs from those decades. The '50s on 5 is really 1955 to 1963. The '60s on 6 is mostly 1964 to early 1970. The '70s channel is all '70s, but they lean toward the latter part of the decade. I've been bugging them to start a "Bottom 40" channel, only playing songs that peaked no higher than #11. Kind of a Deep Tracks for Top 40.

Last edited by Dale Patterson (April 8, 2017 12:26 pm)


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

April 8, 2017 11:07 am  #3


Re: Radio and Its Artificial Formats in the 21st Century

Old Codger wrote:

I was thinkin' 'bout stations which have created nonsensical music formats.  Those 'signals' beaming in from outer space probably deserve some, if not most, of the blame.

60s ONLY?!?!?  Who came up with that pile of foolishness?  70s?  80s...etc.  And...the dumbest of them all?  The 50s format.  What a great 1/2 a decade THAT was.  [unless you really know your stuff...and 'numbers readers' sure as shit
don't.]  Charts aren't really worth the cost of the paper they're printed on.  Why?  In ever-so-many ways they were merely bought and paid for.  Those charts are lies etched in stone.

Classic Rock ends with the birth of the Police in the late 70s?  What?!?!?!?  Then it becomes what?  Who decided to do that and why do
they still hold sway?  THAT's not how people remember their music.  Not everyone was born at the :00 mark of each passing decade.  Those with older brothers and sisters had an earlier introduction to hit music.  Those who went further in school...in terms of their 'higher' education were exposed to more music for a longer length of time if they were at all sociable.  And music lovers in general?  Well...they know an even larger array of 'tuneage'.  So?  Restrict them?  They won't be around for long.

Music stations spend about 80% of their broadcast day playing music.  More if they don't run news.  So?  At least 80% of your focus should be on researching music.  THAT is not something you do exclusively with your eyes.  A chart MIGHT give you a pointer or a suggestion but listening to and actually hearing and appreciating a song is how it's done.  Many so-called 'hits' had and have a short shelf life.  They don't and haven't stood the test of time and don't mix in well with your over-all rotation.  MOST folks who bought 45s...and lps for that matter...through the 60s and into the mid to late 80s before music videos totally ruined it for hit music...know the flip sides and the great album tracks.  Heck even 'hit' AM stations through the late 70s and well into the 80s were playing 3 or 4 tracks apiece from the top l.p.s.  Listen to those songs.  Your audience did.

These artificial music formats are way too narrow.  The
key music to any individual covers closer to a 20 year time span than it does 10.  With really ignorant programming those decade specific formats can burn RIGHT out in months rather than years.  They may make it look like there are loads of choices to tune in to but as one tires of them...there are actually fewer options.

Oh...and you guys who are programming country music....country fans like their oldies A LOT.

Enough artificial radio already.  Get to work.  Radio is dying...and
YOU'RE speeding up the process.
 

I agree in principal but unfortunately numbers, however they're derived, rule the decisions. That includes the Numeris numbers which of course are the ruler of all. What the number crunchers habitually discover is a pattern indicating that stations with smaller playlists generally outperform stations with larger ones. This must be a reflection of the shorter listening times so stations want to ensure that when someone does bother to tune in they're hearing a strong record. Now, my big question is - how do they determine which songs get tested in the first place? There are way too many for every song that was a hit to be included. Someone way back must have had their own criteria for compiling these lists which more or less got recycled year after year. This may be an oversimplified explanation but the fact remains there are probably lots of songs out there people would love to hear again but those songs don't make it to the testing "lab" to begin with. 

 

April 8, 2017 1:11 pm  #4


Re: Radio and Its Artificial Formats in the 21st Century

Songs should be tested by the music department...if they're qualified.  To test snippets of songs as stand alone entities unto themselves doesn't work.  It doesn't tell the true story or give the station an honest indicator of whether or not the specific song will fly or if it has any real shelf life.

What played before it?  What comes after it?  Does it fit within the confining parameters of the format?  My research by the way is directed at the core audience...and how to make THAT grow.  The 15 minute fly-by-nighters are not the path to long term loyalty and success and any radio station that depends on living song t song is doomed to eventually fail

     Thread Starter
 

April 8, 2017 3:36 pm  #5


Re: Radio and Its Artificial Formats in the 21st Century

I for one would love to hear more non-specific prerecorded 'spontaneous' banter by the talent in-between the carefully-curated music. That would help fuck the pain away.