As someone whoâs Gen Z and always was into and remember radio as far in 2005 down in San Diego (LOVED 94/9 in 05-08), and 91X was always one I loved too, even if the alternative landscape hasnât been at its best on the corporate side (and 91X always had a mix of playing more indie artists as well as commercial acts), 91X always had a balance and an ear for new music. Itâs why I stuck around and would argue with someone who thinks they fell off and arenât as good as they used to be in the 80âs and 90âs.
They were always a station that was a bit of a tastemaker, and gives love to local bands with the Loudspeaker show, has a kickass new music show, and does have a great library of songs old and new, the issue was always how much they underutalize that library, old and new songs that are never played anymore that were relevant at one point in the station, and were well received.
So, for most of the week you had the new music play a lot but the older stuff was always the same few hits (Dead Manâs Party, a Nirvana tune, Pearl Jam), so when I heard the announcement of the station following the amazing XYZ event, I was hyped. I was hoping 91X would finally show what theyâve always been capable up, flex a library of old and new songs that would keep listeners entertained while also showing them new music, and letting the djs just go crazy with it.
Then I read what the REAL direction was, and thatâs when I got disappointed, and when I saw what the library would become after the event. The same 800 songs on replay while new music thatâs AWESOME and them doing their usual new music magic that iheart and Audacy will never play, but only 1 new song per hour so half the audience doesnât even know they play new music. As well as reading a lot of Reddit comments of people jumping off ship because it got even more repeitive (and a lot of San Diegans seem to joke theyâve always kinda played the same stuff for 40 years). And while those classic songs are great, itâs not fun hearing them constantly every two days, ESPECIALLY when the same artists (Sublime, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots) get SO MUCH airplay every day, all of those same 5-10 songs by them, every two hours, spots that are more deserving to new music, to a classic alt song that they used to play Gen Xâers would LOVE hearing, 2000âs-10âs stuff that was good, yet they never get out of that comfort zone, the same comfort zone that makes their ratings stay at 1.8, they had a 3.4 when they did XYZ, it immediately went down once people caught the patterns of the playlist and that new music is kinda gone.
They have the right people behind the station, I genuinely believe this. Garett Michaels is a cool dude and I liked talking to him on the phone call I had with him in July 2022, heâs the same PD behind working with Halloran during 94/9 at its PEAK, but 94/9 did so much cool stuff that was engaging that them playing classics wasnât boring, they had Big Sonic Chill, they had Halloran constantly doing cool stuff, they had a show where listeners can play stuff for an hour, they were geniunely about the music. So why with 91X is none of that happening? Just some cool events like Block Party Weekend on 2 days of the year, and they did a wonderful Top 20 weekend on 4th of July last year, wherw they played the top 20 songs of every year since their inception in 1983. They forgot some years (2009, 2010) on accident but it was still a fun event since so much songs i never hear on the radio anymore I DID as a child returned. It was great, it was fun, same when they did the first 3 hours of 91X on the anniversary of the 40th year this year. Garett and Halloran were electric with their chatting and it felt like old times. But for most of the days of the year, itâs just rinse and repeat, outside of good new music adds and once in a while someone will request something good. Hereâs a resurrection classic we play every week or so, followed by 2 songs that get rotated every day ALSO from the 80âs-90âs, new music, IMMEDIATELY follow the new music with the same grunge song, then maybe youâll get 1 or 2 of the same 2000âs songs, break time, hereâs 6 old songs after, break time, then it goes back to the 7 songs of that pattern. Late at night its 2 new songs but whoâs listening late at night to catch any of that? I donât even think half the audience knows Resurrection Sundays, Loudspeaker and Planet Nu Nu even exist, which are good (also Church of Bob), but outside of Sundays, I feel more stuff can be done. Not everyday, but with a massive music library that 91X has, surprise the listener more. Play a deeper cut, play a popular song that never plays anymore, play new music more, just do something interesting so the playlist is like 4 unique stuff, 3 of the same ol, a balance is needed.
Itâs insane how even with how repetitive they can be, they still played WAY MORE NEW MUSIC than Iheart and Audacy stations across the country. 94.9 kept playing the same old Powfu, Cannons, Vance Joy and Imagine Dragons song in 2022, with some other new music but not compared to 91X, who had so much new music additions (about 140, plus the new music shows adds that to maybe 600), that it shows how much potential 91X has to show the corporate radio that weâre doing something the audience who thinks radio is boring now and just stream (which is understandable because as much as I am a radio nerd, we are in dire straits because of how repetitive we are) or listen to public radio (whoâs ratings are going up because they actually PLAY NEW MUSIC and not major label stuff like BoywithUke, Imagine Dragons and AJR), but instead the potential gets squandered because âactually the data says these same 300 songs that we play the most is what the audience and advertisers like and people past 25 are more comfortable with the old songs of their youth (even though half the audience is bored and left to do other things and a lot of their songs from their youth never get played)â. Itâs flawed, itâs not gonna do 91X good id they continue to do this. The alt landscape has potential, thereâs so much cool acts out there right now. 91X knows who they are and plays them on new music shows. They rotate them 1 time a day, up the new music, it might show the audience that new music is still good, and is what alternative is supposed to be. Mix classic and new like the purpose was supposed to be. Be local, listen to your audience, do fun events again. Itâs different for every market, but the San Diego market obviously wants more.
I have dreams meeting the 91X crew. I love them, even with my gripes with the station. I like to call in requesting, I hit them up a lot, they tolerate me and are very kind people. I hope for the best for them, and maybe they will once again just be 91X, and not classic oldies only. The oldies are fantastic, but many of the XYZ playlist still hasnât got played, and a lot of good stuff still exists. KROQ is Audacy hell now, time to be the station the industry focuses on.
