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KRTH now playing rap music.
- Thread starter 34james
- Start date
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Would’ve been a surprise for me 5ish years ago. Now, not so much. The audience they’re going after grew up on Coolio and Pac (myself included), so it’s only fitting.
That's cool. So you grew up during the 90's? I did too
If I was KRTH listener and heard rap, I'd probably turn it off and never listen again. I had to play "Rapper's Delight" when it first came out and my first thought was "Boy, I hope this crap never catches on." Nowadays, I can tolerate that compared to the other stuff that came long after "Rapper's Delight"
Not only do they play 90’s, but they also play some 2000’s, which is shocking when you first hear it, but when you consider that the music is 20 years old now, it’s not all that surprising. Specifically, I have heard Maroon 5 and Outkast “Hey Ya” on KRTH in the past. Only a matter of time before some 2010’s make the cut!
They want younger listeners, since they are more appealing to advertisers. My guess is that the one 90s tune per hour is designed to keep younger people (in their 30s and 40s) tuned in.
I thought I never see a day when rap would be played on K-Earth
I disagree with playing rap. It is polarizing for folks in their 40s and 50s, a big part of the KRTH base. I wouldn't play boy bands on K-Earth either. The station is now just dipping its toes into 90s and 2000s songs. That means you don't have to play EVERYTHING from those decades, just the songs that fit with the 80s and late 70s you already play.
So go ahead and play Maroon 5, Enrique Iglesias, Mariah Carey, Train and Ricky Martin. But nobody is listening to K-Earth for Coolio or 2Pac.
So go ahead and play Maroon 5, Enrique Iglesias, Mariah Carey, Train and Ricky Martin. But nobody is listening to K-Earth for Coolio or 2Pac.
If KRTH is playing it, you can bet it was tested and it tested very well.
Demographic reality check. Today's 45 year old:
Was born in 1978.
Graduated high school in 1996.
Graduated college in 2000.
Los Angeles is 27% non-hispanic white.
The people who thought KRTH should be a reincarnation of KHJ freaked out when it morphed into a reincarnation of KIIS ten years ago.
Welcome to the Power 106 years, guys.
KRTH isn't the only Classic Hits station dipping their toes into rap. I've also heard some rap on San Diego's Sunny 98.1.
Also, some ACs like WMGF in Orlando are playing Gangsta's Paradise and a few rap songs alongside standard 80s/90s Soft AC fare. (And boy bands have been played in classic hits stations like WEAT and perhaps WCBS-FM.)
I really don't know what is unusual of playing Gangsta's Paradise, considering it was #1 everywhere. Adult doesn't mean more Kelly Clarkson and John Mayer; the euphemistic slogan of "Today's Best Hits Without the Rap" just doesn't resonate anymore.
With that said, KOLA is a classic hits station, yet they play Katy Perry more often than Backstreet Boys, Savage Garden, Britney Spears, and the Spice Girls. Although stations play whatever tests well, such a musical programming decision may be at odds with Gen X listeners (or even early Millennial ones). Then again, the Inland Empire is a very young (although somewhat conservative) market, so turning off Gen X listeners may not be as big of a deal. (Yes, I know the Inland Empire is a different world from LA/OC. But one can argue that KOLA is KRTH 5-10 years later, give or take a few songs.)
Let us also not forget that Tupac and Coolio have local ties. Both were from LA, and influenced the West Coast scene (Tupac more so). These are also two songs that went very mainstream onto Top 40 when they came out, so they appeal to a broad demographic that KRTH is targeting. Makes sense to me.
KRTH's assistant PD is KXSN's PD.
It's pop culture for today's adults. This aired 21 years ago:
I think the real surprise isn’t necessarily the content, it’s the inevitable evolution of “oldies”, er- “classic hits”. About five years ago I heard WOGL in Philly playing Green Day’s “When I Come Around” and I nearly drove off the road. They’ve since started to play Weezer and Nirvana! I imagine the feeling of hearing 90’s grunge and 90’s hip-hip on stations known for Donna Summer or The Beatles is the real mind-blower, but time marches on…
Welcome to the start of the decline for k earth. Playing hip hop isn’t widely accepted by the masses. You’ll see fragmented audiences like many say we see in alternative/rock formats
What does that mean for power 106?
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