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Is radio going thru a generational shift?

G

Groove1670

Guest
For example:
Radio in the 60's shifted from MOR to rock
70's from singer songwriters to 80's MTV

(don't critique the timeline. I'm using this as general examples).

Are we shifting from big music mega stars to social media influencers where it is not about the music, but the influence. A performer can be here today and gone tomorrow?

It seems that radio is reluctant to add a lot of trending music influenced by social media. For the most part, the charts have stalled (yes I know it is the holidays).

Discuss.
 
Groove1670 said:
Are we shifting from big music mega stars to social media influencers where it is not about the music, but the influence. A performer can be here today and gone tomorrow?
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I think so. In country, I think radio missed a huge hit by not playing Old Town Road. I get that it's divisive, and some listeners felt it was insulting to country music. But if Florida Georgia Line had released it, it would have been played. It's a huge hit among young country fans even though it received no country radio airplay. The style of music is getting airplay, just not that particular song.

Having said that, I see some country stations are playing the new Priscilla Block song. She fits that category of singers who have built a career on social media. We'll see what happens.
 
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Groove1670 said:
For example:
Radio in the 60's shifted from MOR to rock
70's from singer songwriters to 80's MTV

(don't critique the timeline. I'm using this as general examples).

Are we shifting from big music mega stars to social media influencers where it is not about the music, but the influence. A performer can be here today and gone tomorrow?

It seems that radio is reluctant to add a lot of trending music influenced by social media. For the most part, the charts have stalled (yes I know it is the holidays).

Discuss.
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I have to say we are shifting to influence on Social Media. But those more recent big music stars are going to be on YouTube or Tik Tok this time around. With Radio maybe LPFM, Community radio if these social media influencers were to get airtime?
 
TheBigA said:
I think so. In country, I think radio missed a huge hit by not playing Old Town Road. I get that it's divisive, and some listeners felt it was insulting to country music. But if Florida Georgia Line had released it, it would have been played. It's a huge hit among young country fans even though it received no country radio airplay. The style of music is getting airplay, just not that particular song.
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Agreed. We were at one of the FGL concerts with Nelly and the crowd, which was a typical country show with all ages, reacted the most with the songs they did with Nelly, and even the older fans were on their feet moving!

Granted, San Bernardino, CA is not a typical country market but the reaction was most surprising.
 
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The key thing for radio stations to remember as they look at social media is radio needs to respond to its demo, not to social media as a whole. What this may help identify is sub-demos within a fan base. That may lead to new radio formats if the sub-demo becomes big enough. But just because someone has a fan base in social media doesn't mean it will translate to sales once it meets up with the larger P1. We see that with artists who win the reality TV shows. They come in with a fan base, but it may not mean anything to the station's P1. That's why we see so many of these winners not go anywhere after the show finale.
 
TheBigA said:
The key thing for radio stations to remember as they look at social media is radio needs to respond to its demo, not to social media as a whole. What this may help identify is sub-demos within a fan base. That may lead to new radio formats if the sub-demo becomes big enough. But just because someone has a fan base in social media doesn't mean it will translate to sales once it meets up with the larger P1. We see that with artists who win the reality TV shows. They come in with a fan base, but it may not mean anything to the station's P1. That's why we see so many of these winners not go anywhere after the show finale.
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If your CHR or HAC station didn't add Old Town Road at the peak you missed the boat.

FGL (group) and Nelly (artist) have created their own unique style and sound and have mass crossover appeal. Combine both and you have a winner.

The problem now is building radio hits because adds are base on social media views which doesn't necessarily translate to songs that listeners are going to stick around for in my opinion. Very difficult now, and current formats are suffering. This week has been the stongest for adds in a long time for HAC.. Beiber, Sheeran, Dua Lipa (which was a late add for us, it was remixed this week with as a non rap version).
 
Groove1670 said:
The problem now is building radio hits because adds are base on social media views which doesn't necessarily translate to songs that listeners are going to stick around for in my opinion.
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What we're seeing is stations will add a song for a short time until the research kicks in, and then they decide if they'll stick with it. I've seen that in a bunch of songs that die in the teens because the research didn't support the preliminary data. Adding a song isn't a binding contract. If something changes in the history of the song, or if the artist does something negative that goes viral, stations are free to drop the song.
 
TheBigA said:
What we're seeing is stations will add a song for a short time until the research kicks in, and then they decide if they'll stick with it. I've seen that in a bunch of songs that die in the teens because the research didn't support the preliminary data. Adding a song isn't a binding contract. If something changes in the history of the song, or if the artist does something negative that goes viral, stations are free to drop the song.
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I'm adding fewer songs and dropping songs more frequently. Yes more songs now are peaking mid charts and no more.
 
Social media hits are definitely being picked up by radio and sxm. The paradigm has definitely changed. The question is whether these “flash” artists will last. However, when you think about it that is the way it has always been with popular music. The difference today is the middle man (record companies and their reps) are almost unnecessary. Obviously you still have to have talent but the road can be more direct today via social media.
 
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seatownmedia said:
The difference today is the middle man (record companies and their reps) are almost unnecessary. You still have to have talent but the road can be more direct today via social media.
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It can be, but there are a lot of artists to sort through on the web, and the labels and reps fight to bring attention to their music. They're not in it just for the one and done. They're looking to help build careers.

What I notice is the labels are also watching social media, and if they see a talent they can build, they'll run out and sign them. That's what happened to Justin Bieber. I mentioned Priscilla Block. She just got signed to UMG. So there must be some value in labels, or these new kids wouldn't sign the contracts.
 
TheBigA said:
And that's great. That's the way it should be. May the best song win. If that means some artists get two songs in the chart, so be it.
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That may be great for radio now, but is it great for the industry long-term? We've had several threads over the past couple years reflecting on the lack of big singing stars dragging down CHR and a few other formats. Once everything goes flash in the pan, is that really good for radio?
 
Groove1670 said:
It has always been that way. The problem is the product is weak right now.
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In your estimation, what is the reason for that? Is it laziness by the recording companies, in their not developing talent? Or a different issue instead? Product is product. But I know from reading enough bios on stars from the past that producers also had a hand in guiding the raw product to make it 'great', i.e. good for radio. I wonder how much of that is happening now.
 
It may be a great plan, as a lot of Bieber fans who are millennial adults now idolized him in their teens. But could it turn out to be overkill? i.e., overexposure? I suppose we'll find out.
 
boombox4 said:
It may be a great plan, as a lot of Bieber fans who are millennial adults now idolized him in their teens. But could it turn out to be overkill? i.e., overexposure? I suppose we'll find out.
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What we see is that fans of particular artists do not get tired of more new music from their favorite artists.

The question is how do radio stations deal with it. In this case, they're putting a time limit on it, to prevent overkill.
 
TheBigA said:
What we see is that fans of particular artists do not get tired of more new music from their favorite artists.

The question is how do radio stations deal with it. In this case, they're putting a time limit on it, to prevent overkill.
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Bieber songs are peaking and are dropping off playlists. Not many will gain recurrent status. The same thing is happening with Swift.
 
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