Who's Doing Good Radio In Boston?

[TheBigA]

I can't think of a better public service than that."

CBS founder Bill Paley said "The public interest is what the public is interested in."

 

[Retro]

Which song was it? Was it a hit song? I researched the chart, and it wasn't Peter Gabriel.

When The Beatles were hot, their music was getting played everywhere. And there were fewer radio stations at the time. When Michael Jackson was hot, his music was getting played on pop, urban, and even rock stations. I remember Whitney Houston was getting played on several formats at once. That has nothing to do with consolidation. That has to do with cross-over music. Record labels decide how their music will be promoted at radio. If they have a cross-format song, they market it to multiple formats. Dan & Shay had a song like that few years ago, that began as a country hit, then they took it pop. Once again, it's not a radio problem, it's a music problem. if you want to discuss consolidation, look at the record labels. Only 3 record labels control 85% of the music world wide.

I was not talking about 'hits", I was talking about Gold instead!

 

[Deleted User]

Carrie Schuster did more to break new acts in the last 20 years of WAAF's existence than WBCN did in their last 20 years

Remember when the Big Mattress song of the week was truly a local band, or unnoticed band that couldn't get airplay and for a week WBCN gave them exposure that got them a chance... then they brought in some new consultant and the song of the week was just some established bands new single.

I listen to enough interviews with bands, and it is amazing how many will credit Mistress Carrie for breaking them.


Ya BCN back FIFTY EFFN YEARS AGO was influential in breaking some bands, but then again so wasn't WRKO and WMEX in their heyday.

In the last 20 years of WBCN's existence they did IMHO NOTHING to break new bands, they were the exact thing the early WBCN railed against, corporate shill radio

 

[TheBigA]

I was not talking about 'hits", I was talking about Gold instead!

Once again, which song was it? And which radio stations? iHeart isn't going to play a gold pop song on their CHR or Country station. I think this is a made-up controversy.

You mentioned Flashdance, and that was a pre-consolidation (1983) cross-over hit that charted in pop, AC, urban, and dance. A lot of its success was helped by the movie and a very sexy video. So when it comes to playing it as a gold song, who gets to play it? It was a cross-over hit. The record label created and marketed multiple mixes of the song to get played on different format stations.

 

[Retro]

Once again, which song was it? And which radio stations? iHeart isn't going to play a gold pop song on their CHR or Country station. I think this is a made-up controversy.

You mentioned Flashdance, and that was a pre-consolidation (1983) cross-over hit that charted in pop, AC, urban, and dance. A lot of its success was helped by the movie and a very sexy video. So when it comes to playing it as a gold song, who gets to play it? It was a cross-over hit. The record label created and marketed multiple mixes of the song to get played on different format stations.

You know, you are really thinking way too much about this! First of all, The Flashdance song was used in a spoof about how homogenized playlists were during that time in history!

And because you have seemed to have missed it, I will mention it for a third time now. It was:

In Your Eyes-Peter Gabriel

 

[Retro]

Once again, which song was it? And which radio stations? iHeart isn't going to play a gold pop song on their CHR or Country station. I think this is a made-up controversy.

You mentioned Flashdance, and that was a pre-consolidation (1983) cross-over hit that charted in pop, AC, urban, and dance. A lot of its success was helped by the movie and a very sexy video. So when it comes to playing it as a gold song, who gets to play it? It was a cross-over hit. The record label created and marketed multiple mixes of the song to get played on different format stations.

Which radio station "In Your Eyes"? WMJX, WBMX, WXKS, WBOS, WZLX. OK, there are 5 right off the cuff!

 

[Retro]

I'm sorry, but WXRV has one of the most boring music mixes Ive heard for a station that reports as a AAA.
With the demise of WBCN and WFNX, They had and still have an opportunity to pick up disenfrachised listeners, by dropping that boring singer songwriter barf inducing crap. and add some alternative, blues and OBSCURE classic rock.
I can think of 100 artists they can add.
Independent radio? True only in the fact that they arent owned by the large companies that have a cookie cutter approach to.programming, they are an independent radio station that has a cookie cutter approach.

While it might sound drab to you, there are enough people with PPM'S in this market proving otherwise.

 

[TheBigA]

In Your Eyes-Peter Gabriel

I addressed that in an earlier post. In Your Eyes was only #1 in rock. It charted #22 pop. It got a lot of airplay on MTV because of a very innovative video. But it didn't get played on five formats. Gabriel had bigger pop hits.

Radio is as homogenized as the general musical taste. Right now there's a discussion about how rhythmic country music has become. That's not a radio problem, it's a music problem.

 

[Retro]

I addressed that in an earlier post. In Your Eyes was only #1 in rock. It charted #22 pop. It got a lot of airplay on MTV because of a very innovative video. But it didn't get played on five formats. Gabriel had bigger pop hits.

Radio is as homogenized as the general musical taste. Right now there's a discussion about how rhythmic country music has become. That's not a radio problem, it's a music problem

I addressed that in an earlier post. In Your Eyes was only #1 in rock. It charted #22 pop. It got a lot of airplay on MTV because of a very innovative video. But it didn't get played on five formats. Gabriel had bigger pop hits.

Radio is as homogenized as the general musical taste. Right now there's a discussion about how rhythmic country music has become. That's not a radio problem, it's a music problem.

Now, do I really have to say WOW?

 

[TheBigA]

Which radio station "In Your Eyes"? WMJX, WBMX, WXKS, WBOS, WZLX. OK, there are 5 right off the cuff!

Owned by different companies. Your point was about consolidation. But there you have radio stations owned by Beasley, Audacy, and iHeart. You expect competing companies to co-ordinate their playlists?

Now, do I really have to say WOW?

You have to explain yourself better. Explain how this has anything to do with radio consolidation.

A song tests well with audiences in different formats. So it gets played. What's the problem? Do you think people are listening to different formats?

 

[Retro]

Owned by different companies. Your point was about consolidation. But there you have radio stations owned by Beasley, Audacy, and iHeart. You expect competing companies to co-ordinate their playlists?

That was not my point.

 

[TheBigA]

That was not my point.

Maybe you need to figure out what your point is. You began talking about consolidation. In case you forgot, here's your post:

Yes, I know that this is not 1998, or whatever anymore, however, do you remember when the mass consolidation first began, and the same one stale record played on at least 5 different formated stations? Someone even did a production parody of that, with using the song Flashdance as a standard universal classic! It was historical!

Then you said:

My point was that the same song was on everything from AC to Rock, and anything that fit in between! I mean, did we really, really need 5 radio stations playing "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel? This was what was really happening at the time!

I have addressed your point, and now you say "That was not my point." Which is it?

 

[Radio 1992]

Maybe you need to figure out what your point is. You began talking about consolidation. In case you forgot, here's your post:



Then you said:



I have addressed your point, and now you say "That was not my point." Which is it?

"In Your Eyes" is a great song and sounds great on the airwaves, and people know it....Sounds like that's all the reason a station would need to make the decision

 

[Retro]

Maybe you need to figure out what your point is. You began talking about consolidation. In case you forgot, here's your post:



Then you said:



I have addressed your point, and now you say "That was not my point." Which is it?

Tying the consolidation and 5 stations playing the same song together. When consolidation happened, it seemed like the new collglomorates seemed all pick one centralized playlist of songs, which more or less fell into every format.

With radio now being national, as opposed to previously being pseudo local, for at least during a brief period of time, quite a few songs fell into this homogenization.

The problem is actually quite a bit better now, ironically!
In any case, that was the point I was trying to make.

 

[Retro]

"In Your Eyes" is a great song and sounds great on the airwaves, and people know it....Sounds like that's all the reason a station would need to make the decision

I do not at all deny, that it is a great record! My question was do you want to hear it played every 15 minutes, spanning all over the radio dial? How that that, along with at least a 1/2 dozen other songs fallen into just about every category also?

 

[TheBigA]

Tying the consolidation and 5 stations playing the same song together. When consolidation happened, it seemed like the new collglomorates seemed all pick one centralized playlist of songs, which more or less fell into every format.

It didn't happen. Radio stations play hits. If a song is a hit, they play it. It doesn't matter how many stations play it. If competing stations from different companies play the same song, that's competition. Listeners will make their decision based on the station, not the songs. Radio doesn't own the music.

With radio now being national, as opposed to previously being pseudo local, for at least during a brief period of time, quite a few songs fell into this homogenization.

Record labels and trade charts have an influence on radio station playlists. If one company is playing the same songs in the same rotation on all of it's stations nationwide, the stations don't get counted individually as chart reporters. If a local station isn't a chart reporter, it won't get any of the perks from record labels, such as artist visits or concert sponsorships. Station playlists are posted, and you can compare them. If they're playing the same songs, that's because record labels have identified those songs as the "radio singles." Record labels are looking for national impact, for charts and other national marketing. So this is a record label thing, not a radio station thing.

My question was do you want to hear it played every 15 minutes, spanning all over the radio dial? How that that, along with at least a 1/2 dozen other songs fallen into just about every category also?

People don't listen to stations "all over the dial." They listen to their favorites. The audience doesn't know the same songs are playing on the stations they don't listen to. Record labels and artists want cross-format hits in order to make more money and become bigger stars. Classic stations don't play the same songs every 15 minutes. They use music scheduling software that checks for things like that.

 

[Radio 1992]

I do not at all deny, that it is a great record! My question was do you want to hear it played every 15 minutes, spanning all over the radio dial? How that that, along with at least a 1/2 dozen other songs fallen into just about every category also?

Not at all....you are absolutely right about that perspective. Nothing should be close to that repetitious in a classic type format

 

[JBraddock]

"In Your Eyes" charted twice on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

The original version of the song peaked at number 26 in 1986 (and eventually went 'Digital Gold' which is half a million downloads).

A shorter version used in the movie "Say Anything" peaked at number 41 in 1989.

Add the influence of the video. The song was truly ubiquitous in the late 80s and early 90s.

 

[Radio 1992]

"In Your Eyes" charted twice on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

The original version of the song peaked at number 26 in 1986 (and eventually went 'Digital Gold' which is half a million downloads).

A shorter version used in the movie "Say Anything" peaked at number 41 in 1989.

Add the influence of the video. The song was truly ubiquitous in the late 80s and early 90s.

Agreed......Out of these three stations, who do you think has the most spins this week? Magic 106.7, WROR, or Easy 99.1?

 

[Retro]

Not at all....you are absolutely right about that perspective. Nothing should be close to that repetitious in a classic type format

Thanks!