Would this idea work?

[TheBigA]

What are you going to put in: Eminem? The Beatles? Kenny G? Reba McEntire? BTS?

I just remember how furious the Coldplay fans were when they did a duet with BTS. Or how angry country fans got when Garth Brooks recorded a song by KISS.

 

[tall_guy1]

Years ago, when "We Play Anything" stations burst onto the scene, I thought this could be a good idea. But I'm less enthusiastic now.

Here's the reason: I'm not sure you can tailor it for a large enough group of people.

So imagine you're a standard classic hits ("mostly 80s") station today and corporate says you should sprinkle in songs from other genres. What are you going to put in: Eminem? The Beatles? Kenny G? Reba McEntire? BTS?

Only one of those five additions appeals to me, individually. But I would foresee others having different opinions.

I would probably say it depends on the station. Probably classic country would mesh well with classic hits, and it would probably just depend on something that has some crossover appeal. For example, fans of current pop (CHR) are probably okay with Prince and Madonna (even younger generations if they are familiar), and you'd probably just use bigger hits.

 

[TheBigA]

I would probably say it depends on the station. Probably classic country would mesh well with classic hits, and it would probably just depend on something that has some crossover appeal. For example, fans of current pop (CHR) are probably okay with Prince and Madonna (even younger generations if they are familiar), and you'd probably just use bigger hits.

Keep in mind there's a reason why classic hits stations stopped playing 60s and 70s music, and that was it was aging their demographics to the point where it was unsellable. So what you're doing is taking CHR, which aims at 18-34, and playing music that appeals to 35 to 65. That will kill the usefulness of having a station in that format. Why bother having a young format if you're going to play old music?

We're seeing this now in alternative. Stations are playing a lot of older alt because it's familiar. It alienates the current fans who want only currents, and the current music alienates the older fans who think it's all noise. There's a reason why stations do what they do. You're making these decisions based on music, and stations make these decisions based on sales.

The next thing you have to do is consider the effect this has on other co-owned stations in the cluster. If you're playing classic hits on the CHR, it cannibalizes the other stations. Not very good strategically for groups that own clusters.

 

[vchimpanzee]

In an age where playlists are becoming increasingly about time-tested songs and brands become less important, would importing songs from different genres (that test well and appeal to certain listeners) help a station? For example, a chr could sometimes play songs like listen to the music by Doobie brothers or don't stop believing by journey in-between new songs, or a classic hits station could play maybe kings and queens by ava max in-between songs since it's become increasingly about playing songs that are well-known and resonate. Your thoughts?

It's being done. It's called "Jack" or "Bob".

 

[davideduardo]

It's being done. It's called "Jack" or "Bob".

Those are predominantly 25+ targeted stations with a very secondary 25-34 component. They do not play currents or even recurrente.

A current based station is going to be very careful with anything more than 10 to 12 years old. That goes for Urban, country, CHR, regional Mexican, reggaetón and other current-core formats.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Those are predominantly 25+ targeted stations with a very secondary 25-34 component. They do not play currents or even recurrente.

A current based station is going to be very careful with anything more than 10 to 12 years old. That goes for Urban, country, CHR, regional Mexican, reggaetón and other current-core formats.

Oh, right. The songs that sound new are actually somewhat old.