That's how radio formats are constructed. The programmer inserts the songs into the program, assigns values to the songs as to how often they get played, and you end up with a format. It's not like things are done haphazardly. It's all planned and follows a format. It's not some guy sitting there and thinking, it's raining outside, so let's play some songs about rain. That doesn't happen. It's not exactly like shuffle, because the songs have values assigned to them. So it's likely the mix will change every cycle.
Because you listen to classic formats, there are no currents or recurrents. The PDs of currents channels add new songs every week, and make adjustments accordingly. The PDs get input from record labels, who're promoting certain songs. But an 80s format is what it is. They look at past history, how the songs test, the ones that get the strongest reactions, and those are the songs they play.
Like Sirius, Music Choice offers plans for businesses. It's a subscription plan where they pay all the music royalties required:
Elevate your customer experience with fully licensed music for business. Expertly curated playlists to match your brand's energy and environment.
www.musicchoice.com
Music Choice is also available as an app, outside of cable TV. They know that cable subscriptions are down, so they're seeking to attract listeners who are looking for a curated music service.
Appreciate the detailed reply. Actually, I think some of what you're saying can be tied into what I wanted to talk about next so I'll post it here.
At this point, let's put aside positioning of songs because it's "familiarity" with some of the music that is of issue with me but this is not an isolated case.
Truth be known, I never cared much for Casey Kasem's AT40 when it originally aired and in all the replays except maybe when they got to the biggest hits.
In both the Metro NYC market and eventually in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale market, I found there were way too many songs I didn't know, especially for the bottom 20 songs unless it was a former huge hit moving down the survey. It's human nature to want to hear music you know and love like many sweepers say.
When I moved to Florida in late 1979, I was immediately drawn to CHR Y-100 (WHYI). It was a departure from much of the music I knew. But because I listened quite attentively and frequently, I got into the groove so to speak. From 1980-1982, that station departed in a huge way from what virtually every CHR was doing. Ironically, they carried Casey Kasem's show and it was like the music presented there was from another planet.
There have been way many posts about differences between say L.A. and New York when it has come to hit music both new and when it was of golden oldie age.
The music didn't always correspond between the East and West Coasts. Even the Top 40 jocks had different on-air presence and style. The WABC listener and KHJ listener had different views of both how radio sounded, and the music it played, not entirely, but it was there.
I'm assuming Music Choice programming doesn't differentiate by location. What I hear on The Treasure Coast, someone in Chicago hears the same exact music? There are cases where a song can become a hit on the Top 40 chart but it was a region that created that scenario, not the entire country.
Anyway, among my favorite songs of the 1980s occurred in that 1980-1982 period. As much as I'd like to hear Junior's "Mama Used to Say" or
Shalamar's "A Night to Remember" or Frankie Smith's "Double Dutch Bus" to name a few, I know I'm not going to hear any of those songs on my local Classic Hits Station or the aforementioned Detroit's WLLZ HD-2 iHeart80s. But I can hear them and more in my own little world.
As far as the music testing goes that you mentioned that Music Choice does, all I can say is I can only assume it's done properly and the results are not fudged in any way like we know what happened with those Top 40 surveys. But really without making this too complicated. A listener like me and certainly others don't have to like a song just because it tests well.
I know for a fact Music Choice plays "Disco Duck" on their 70s channel. A big hit yes - even that was amazing -but if they test that song and the results are positive, there's that volume control or change of channel on our remote control for some of us. Nothing new there. People do that all the time for songs that are tested to death.
Sometimes a song can be unfamiliar and a person will love it the moment they hear it. That's happened to me many times as well. Perhaps more human nature when a song hits you in a special way. A little factoid: WABC never played Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock And Roll." Whenever I first heard the song, I loved it. Perhaps a reason why it earned a lot of spins over the years. As we know, sometimes there's so many other songs charting very well that some get no wiggle room.
By the mid 80s, WMXJ Magic 102.7 and the oldies format came to South Florida. I was hooked from Day One. Even when I eventually moved to Jacksonville in 1997 I streamed that station like it was a local every day. And so for the latter half of the 80s, the 80s songs I got to know would have been on AC which I would listen to on occasion. Eventually I had a lot of catching up to do. The Classic Hits format, when 80s were added, helped with my education.
Lastly, I talked about this many times. I never heard the song "Sweet Home Alabama" until I had moved to Jacksonville because of my job in 1997. I hated that song the first time I heard it and I still don't like it today. Of course, Music Choice 70s plays it and I'm confident it tests well as that's all I hear about that song. WABC never played that song....it just didn't fit the sound of the station. I did extensive research way back when and also found the major FM competitor WXLO (99X) never played it either. Here's another case where songs that were shunned in the past resurface in a big way.
Song familiairty, I think, weighs pretty heavily in our music choices.
More to come and hopefully not more of this!
