What is bland?

[vchimpanzee]

I commented about Sirius/XM The Blend on another site and someone responded that format is sometimes called "The Bland". Which makes no sense to me. I like bland, and AC is most definitely not bland the way I define it. Even Soft AC isn't bland any more as it has evolved.

So how is AC "bland" the way others define it?

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

The Blend is bland. It’s like 50 shades of beige.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The Blend is bland. It’s like 50 shades of beige.

I don't hear that at all. I hear noise.

 

[kevtronics]

You can see The Blend's recently played songs here:

https://xmplaylist.com/station/starlite

Looks like a typical AC format. If you want something less "bland", Sirius/XM has dozens and dozens of other music channels to choose from.

 

[vchimpanzee]

You can see The Blend's recently played songs here:

https://xmplaylist.com/station/starlite

Looks like a typical AC format. If you want something less "bland", Sirius/XM has dozens and dozens of other music channels to choose from.

Again, I don't know what you mean by "bland". I want more bland than The Blend.

 

[CTListener]

Again, I don't know what you mean by "bland". I want more bland than The Blend.

Try Escape, channel 69 -- soft instrumentals and vocals.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm sure there are some who find Zamfir Master of the Pan Flute to be too aggressive for their ears.

Coming at it from the music side, I don't know of any musicians who seek to create bland music. To them, that's the antithesis of what they do.

Then again, I went to Panda Express for lunch, and they warned me about a spicy entrée, and to me it was pretty bland.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Try Escape, channel 69 -- soft instrumentals and vocals.

I'm not asking what is bland or not bland. I'm trying to understand what makes The Blend bland. I'm not even asking about Sirius/XM. I'm trying to understand why anyone would call AC (as opposed to soft AC) bland, and it just so happens the person who said The Blend was bland in the first place would enjoy Escape.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I'm trying to understand what makes The Blend bland.

The same thing that makes any other playlist bland over time. Repetition. Especially given that it is jockless.

Would it be similarly incredible to you if someone offhandedly called a classic rock channel on Sirius bland?

 

[vchimpanzee]

The same thing that makes any other playlist bland over time. Repetition. Especially given that it is jockless.

Would it be similarly incredible to you if someone offhandedly called a classic rock channel on Sirius bland?

Maybe not, considering people have said classic rok hasn't sounded as good since the Sirius channel and the XM channel were both replaced with one.

So it's not about how the individual songs sound, but it's about the repetition?

 

[TheBigA]

The same thing that makes any other playlist bland over time. Repetition. Especially given that it is jockless.

The reason there's repetition is there aren't any currents. If you add currents to a music mix, that increases the variety.

Any playlist built strictly around old hits will have repetition, regardless of how big it is.

So if repetition is bland, then add a currents channel to your presets and the problem is fixed.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The reason there's repetition is there aren't any currents. If you add currents to a music mix, that increases the variety.

Any playlist built strictly around old hits will have repetition, regardless of how big it is.

So if repetition is bland, then add a currents channel to your presets and the problem is fixed.

I don't know how The Blend works but AC stations with similar music mixes have a lot of currents.

Anyway, this advice isn't for me but for those calling The Blend "bland" because I have little use for current hits. There are some good country songs that are new, and recordings of classic songs that sound like the big band era have never stopped being made, and then the occasional "Despacito" or "Thrift Shop". Other than these I only want old recordings.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

So it's not about how the individual songs sound, but it's about the repetition?

I don't intend to speak for whomever you heard this from. Maybe he/she is a fan of rap or electronica or whatever genre and thinks Katy Perry and Elton John made bland music. In this case, I wouldn't be surprised if changing an "E" to an "A" in the brand makes this fellow think he's clever.

But it is definitely possible to make good music sound bland with bad playlist construction, including too much repetition.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't intend to speak for whomever you heard this from. Maybe he/she is a fan of rap or electronica or whatever genre and thinks Katy Perry and Elton John made bland music. In this case, I wouldn't be surprised if changing an "E" to an "A" in the brand makes this fellow think he's clever.

But it is definitely possible to make good music sound bland with bad playlist construction, including too much repetition.

He is a fan of beautiful music, though he runs an online soft AC. Why I don't know.

I was commenting on how a dentist was playing The Blend when I had been in the same place and heard them play Escape, which at least one of the employees likes.