In Myrtle Beach SC a new owner bought the longtime easy listening station in 2000 and moved the soft AC (by today's definition; it may have been mainstream then) to its frequency, and moved the call letters to a 1000-watt AM, putting Music of Your Life there and telling the former listeners this would make them happy. It didn't. There were numerous complaints. And the market already had America's Best Music on a signal that was better during the day, though limited at night. The other AC, which had misjudged how listeners would reject their attempt to be more hip, not only changed to easy listening but had a sound that was very traditional. They kept doing easy listening until about 2006, though by then instrumentals were no longer the majority of songs. I think by 2007 it was what might have been called adult standards, with few if any instrumentals.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
58 years of Beautiful Music comes to an end
- Thread starter KilowattKat
- Start date
The best of the Adult Standards stations on the West Coast ---KMPC, Los Angeles and KFRC, San Francisco---bailed out of the format in 1992 and 1993 respectively for the same reason---it was increasingly difficult to sell the ratings, which were quite good, especially for AM stations, because the bulk of the audience had aged out of even the uppermost 35-64 demo. It had become a 65+ format.
That was 30 years ago. While there are outliers (I'm one of them) who are younger than 95 and like the format, there aren't enough of them who are 50 years younger than that to make it a viable advertising-supported format.
That was 30 years ago. While there are outliers (I'm one of them) who are younger than 95 and like the format, there aren't enough of them who are 50 years younger than that to make it a viable advertising-supported format.
The beauty of being an 'outlier' is now there are actual options. It wasn't like that in the 1980s and early 1990s. Beautiful Music isn't a format I like, but I understand what it's like to enjoy programming most people do not care for.
There's cable, satellite radio, internet broadcasters, youtube, and also social networks where like minded people get to connect/and share their interests. And thanks to those who rolled tape in the past--airchecks, or what I like to call: retromedia.
Exactly.
Beautiful Music and Standards (two very different things) can be accessed a million ways today, which wasn't true when it was on the radio.
What may have killed the beautiful music format was the fact that so much of the music had to be custom-recorded, because there was so little of that kind of music commercially available.
If a lot more albums of string-laden instrumentals and choral vocals were commercially available, I think the format would've lasted longer since distributors of these formats wouldn't have had to spend considerable sums of money commissioning custom music, which in turn would have reduced the cost of maintaining the format, which probably would have allowed distributors to sell the format to subscribing stations at a lower price, which would have perhaps allowed these formats to have been distributed for a longer period of time.
If a lot more albums of string-laden instrumentals and choral vocals were commercially available, I think the format would've lasted longer since distributors of these formats wouldn't have had to spend considerable sums of money commissioning custom music, which in turn would have reduced the cost of maintaining the format, which probably would have allowed distributors to sell the format to subscribing stations at a lower price, which would have perhaps allowed these formats to have been distributed for a longer period of time.
Here's the flaw in the logic. Record labels stopped releasing that type of music because there was a declining audience for it.
Basically, radio could make a business case for playing it a few years longer than the labels could make the case for recording and producing it. Eventually, the demographics caught up with radio and they had to abandon ship.
Yep. Kind of the same as the audience for the BeeGees or Prince today. Radio can make money with their music today, but probably not in 10 additional years.
Does anyone here remember an NPR program with new-age / easy listening music titled "Hearts of Space" ? ( probably not). I still listen to it on some weekend nights on different NPR affiliates. It was started in the Bay Area by Stephen Hill in 1973.
They might be playing re-runs, but I still like the music, which is relaxing and good for sleeping. Not everything has to be hard core rap. There are still enough listeners for alternative formats, that some kind of music can be found for listeners over 49.
www.nprillinois.org
They might be playing re-runs, but I still like the music, which is relaxing and good for sleeping. Not everything has to be hard core rap. There are still enough listeners for alternative formats, that some kind of music can be found for listeners over 49.
Hearts of Space
A mix of ambient, electronic, world, new age, classical and experimental music; recognized as the original, most widely heard, premiere showcase for "contemplative music, broadly defined." Official Website
www.nprillinois.org
Today...there is still KAHM in Prescott, AZ, the B/EZ station that refuses to die! An agreement between the previous and current owner to keep it as is, is what's keeping it alive. They stream, but they charge a $10 monthly subscription fee.
The other "true" Beautiful Music station still in existence is KNCT-FM, and the streaming is free.
The other "true" Beautiful Music station still in existence is KNCT-FM, and the streaming is free.
KNCT-FM
This website is home to KNCT-FM. KNCT.org has something for everyone including kids, parents, educators, and the general audience.
knct.org
In part... but the problem was that there were 10 instrumental versions of every Beatles song, but non of the lesser hits that would fit the format nicely if done "for the format". And most commercial instrumentals were coming from artists like Paul Mauriat and Richard Clayderman and were either European originals or covers of French and Italian hits, not ones known in the US.
The reason the major syndicators like Shulke and Bonneville and the Independent Beautiful Music group did their own production was to have exclusive music rather than the same songs everyone in the format played. The smaller syndicators did not do custom music and still worked well in smaller markets... ones like KalaMusic, Churchill, Peters, Drake-Chenault and a half-dozen others.
They all died at the same time, because people moved on and no new, younger listeners arrived.
Pricing was market based. Market #30 might have paid $1,500 a month to $2,000 a month, while it would be over $10,000 in NYC or LA. Or $500 in Sioux City.
There’s not. Seriously.
Heck, Stan Coning ran WCTM 1130 in Eaton, Ohio, all by himself for decades (IIRC using old automation tapes decades after they would have otherwise been decommissioned) until he physically could no longer do it. I honestly thought his was the last beautiful music station.
Interesting... owned by the same family for 37 years!
Wasn't WDBN in Medina, Ohio one of the first, if not the first, Beautiful Music formatted radio station? I remember glancing at a book about Beautiful Music and seeing the call letters of WDBN in it.
From what I see online, WDBN signed on in 1960. KABL, Oakland launched as a Beautiful in 1959. So, 'DBN was certainly early in the format.
It was an early one, and well done. But there were AMs doing the format, such as KABL in the San Francisco market...
KROW Becomes KABL (May 1959) | Bay Area Radio Museum
KROW Becomes KABL Monday, May 11, 1959 The recording that accompanies this exhibit is truly the stuff of
bayarearadio.org
That article mentions that KABL, in 1959, was patterned after a long-time Dallas competitor, KIXL, which had used the format for years.
WDBN went on the air in 1960. It was programmed by a programming newcomer, a guy named Jim Schulke! The station was so good that, even as an early teen, I listened to it often when doing my homework from school!
Not if they don't listen.
There are many things that are hard to replicate. Doesn't mean people have the slightest interest in supporting them.
There's no hidden boogeyman, no massive underserved audience clamoring for beautiful music. The audience moved on. For those that have a taste that lies way outside any definition of mainstream, there are other options.
Yet, isn't that part of the issue?
There's folks that would like to see these relics of formats on commercial radio. Industry pro's like yourself and others have explained the very viable rationale on why this is no longer commercially viable on OTA radio.
Now, as a person that might be interested in listening to these format relics of the past, one needs to have a bit of technical knowledge in order to partake of this...whether it's buying a SXM subscription, figuring out how to listen to on-line versions of these stations, et. al.
In short, for those that may not be technologically-savvy, or care to invest $$ in listening on-line, options are small - and none.
- Status