AC format rules of programming

[karasak]

Our station will switch strictly to AC format, where can i find general rules for AC programming? Music programming, how much talk? When will i play 70's when 80's?

 

[hornet61]

If you program It by the rules, you'll have a lousy station....be original, program It from, your heart ,your intimate knowledge of the music and from the perspective of the listener....what would they want to hear.....why copy someome else's mess. Send me a personal e-mail, and I'll give you a 2,000 play list for starters....and much more if you want more. Fly me to your business and I'll bring the whole radio station to you.

 

[creatiwitty]

for starters, there are some thumb rules one would look at - focus on the 25-34 demo, which comprises of your adult listener. next, go back to when they were 12-15 years old. one tends to develop one's music tastes when one is in that phase. that period will help you develop your playlist. but, like hornet61 said, play by your heart and also, play by your ear.

last but not least - test the playlist. long live AMTs!

 

[Seltzer]

I would focus 35-44 females if you're doing "Mainstream A/C". Since you mentioned playing 70s, that's who I'd focus on.

If you focus on 25-34, you really are more in the Hot A/C arena, which is perfectly fine if that's your target demo.

I really question the idea of a 2000 song playlist. That's not going to win.

But going back and figuring out the high school age of the target is a smart way to develop a playlist. Play Big hits. Stay clear of rap and material that is too edgy. But make sure you have tempo. You don't want to be too sleepy.

 

[karasak]

Yes, seems to that our main listener is in range of 30-45, maybe even older, but near town is rural suburbs and they like to listen "country" songs, how to balance with "urban" taste? We have potential of 50 000 listeners.Is it possibility that station switch from AC to Hot AC after 7.P.M. when old listeners are start to watching tv? Anybody done it? my email: kresimir.karas(at)zg.htnet.hr

 

[gr8oldies]

You have any way to do research of your potential audience? (Uh oh I said the R word)

 

[karasak]

I have time to make research, what are ordinary questions in research? or you think about music research, to play them a chorus of songs and they decide what are good and bad songs.

 

[JimmyJames]

In smaller markets, you can successfully run a large playlist. It's been done.

Go with your gut about new songs sometimes - people like variety, as long as it matches their expectations of mood and sound of the station.

Get to know your listeners - don't presume copying what works or has been copied in larger markets fits your situation.

Be local. AC listeners care about what's going on in town, but keep it brief and relevant.

 

[gr8oldies]

I'm going to get the "play everything that was ever recorded" crowd's dander up, but, no, you shouldn't be playing 2000 songs. A/C isn't a music-geek and 45 rpm record collector format. You should be able to come up with a basic playlist, depending on whether you are leaning hot or softer A/C, by monitoring larger market A/C's in your region (I know, blasphemy, local hits, etc!). That at least will give you a place to start. Then, you can, by asking your listeners (not request line callers), find out what is working and what is not working in your market. If you can't afford a music test, I've known university professors who might like to have that as a project for students. The way to not be repetitious is to carefully program your rotations, not throw more titles into the mix. You toss a bunch of non-hits, no longer hits or never should have been hits in, your audience may well think you have too much repetition because they hear stuff they don't like more often. OK, I'll go back into my corner.

 

[JimmyJames]

Actually, in smaller markets, some of those "request line callers" are also neighbors and listeners worth discussing music with. These are people who listen to, and in many cases run businesses and support your station.

I think it's more telling the reactions of people who don't support the larger playlist and neglect to understand it can be done, and pre consolidation was working very well in a number of smaller markets.

In many cases, AC is used as background music - and the sound of the songs selected is as much to do with it as other factors. I know this from personal experience, when I thought tightening the playlist was a brilliant idea.

A larger playlist isn't the solution to everything, and can be a bad idea. But it's not always a bad idea, so don't count it out in your particular situation.

 

[karasak]

Now i have in database about 27,000 songs, too much i think.Can i rotate rural and urban songs or go strictly to rural (seems to me that our listeners prefer it) and in the evening switch to Hot ac for younger audience, beacuse old audience are switching to tv.Somebody done it? How to make a music test, with 30 songs or more?

 

[JimmyJames]

What sorts of songs constitute a "rural" song in your market? I'd need a few examples of the songs to determine more about the situation.

Also, I think we'd all agree that 27,000 is way too many songs to rotate. Comparatively, 2,000 with groups you rotate in and out (play for awhile, rotate those out and play a group of others) would be much better - but make sure your top currents and strongest recurrents play more often and the longer list plays less often.

I know some "Adult Hits" stations in the US have a total of around 1,300 titles but again, rotate the golds in and out to keep the "wow" factor and not turn a "wow" into "not again."

 

[Roger That]

EDIT: Nevermind...found the answer to the question I had.

 

[12 In a Row]

Yes, seems to that our main listener is in range of 30-45, maybe even older, but near town is rural suburbs and they like to listen "country" songs, how to balance with "urban" taste? We have potential of 50 000 listeners.Is it possibility that station switch from AC to Hot AC after 7.P.M. when old listeners are start to watching tv? Anybody done it? my email: kresimir.karas(at)zg.htnet.hr

Speaking as a former radio geek, here is fantasy vs. reality.

FANTASY-Your core listener-(37 year old female) wakes up to your station and hangs on to every word you have to say. Reacts favorably to all of the great songs she hasn't heard in years or songs she has never heard of.
In the evening, the younger listeners have put away their new technology and listen to your station.

REALITY-37 year old female rushes around in the morning getting her 10, 7 and 5 year old ready for school.
Loads the 3 noisy kids in the mini-van drops them off at school, daycare and off to work. All the while thinking about bills to pay, work load ahead and what's for dinner tonight. Maybe turns the radio up for a minute or two, hears a song she never heard of before and quickly hits the scan button.
In the evening, the younger listeners are watching TV, texting friends and playing games on their X-Box.

 

[12 In a Row]

What I'm saying is, don't over think.

Focus in on your target demo, understand you're a tiny part of their day. When you can grab their attention for even a moment, you better have something worth listening to (the hits) or they're gone. She can't sing along to a song she doesn't know.

 

[karasak]

Oh, that's probably true, we are all occupied with our obligations, and radio is on the last place. I'm 37 years old, and i listen radio (when i'm not on a radio) in the car, sometimes at home. In our country we have only one station formatted (Hot ac) and they have the biggest popularity so i try to format my station beacuse i feel that is time for this, all stations in our area play similar songs and market is too divided and nobody have big success. We have a lot of local news and news from our county and older people listen us almost all day in offices, home so maybe AC or soft AC would be good format for us. i try to find general rules for that format (how long must be the news (3 min,5 min) etc.) but it's hard to find. Now you are teach me, that database of max. 2000 songs would be good to me.

 

[hornet61]

Lets do our homework...If you take the whitburn book between 1965-1995..which is the span the author hinted as his target......I will bet a dollar to a donut that there are over 3,000(conservative estimate) top 40 hits (that's top40)which is standard of top40 radio, what about all the 40-60 range cuts that are the staple of programming lists.....to say 2,000 represents a MUSIC GEEK or RECORD COLLECTOR repesentation of everything ever recorded is plain ignorant and a simple regurgitation of ""so called experts" defending the theory that any thing over 1,200 is no good. Sure go with 800 - 1200........... like listening to a six cd player on repeat. And on an A/C format you can draw from every chart on Billboard, the possibliities are endless ...but, no, more than 2,000 is toooooooooo much,bunk. I say Bunk. A/C in the only format where a span of decades and different genre's works great....so far evryone wants to pigeon hole you......... from some hip 50's/60's "Sinatra" to 2010 "Buble", Tony Bennet "San Francisco", 80's Wham-"Careless Whisper", 60's Ray Price.."For The Good Times" , 70's Sanmmi Smith "Help Me Make It Thru The Night"good music is good music, universal appeal, 60's beatles, 70's soft America and Al Green-90's Amy grant and Celine Dion back to 60's Gladys Knight,stylistics, del-phonics, Elvis "can't Help Falling In love"(Elvis had 104 top40 hits alopne) , soft eagles, crosby stills, nash, every Instrumental from the 60's-80's, I could do this till my fingers bleed , but, no.......2,000 songs are for geeks only.
A/C doen't have to be a narrow a format as the rest, It's wide open ....but hey I'm a 4,000 plus song playlist guy, the 800-1,200 theory is outdated, and is kept alive by those don't want to do the homework, be creative ......they settle for lazy and boring, programming.

 

[gr8oldies]

The only thing that matters is what you are playing right now. No one is going to sit through stiff after stiff for hours hoping they'll hear a stiff they like. If you're running a hobby internet stream have at it with 50000 songs. If you are trying to build an audience then play the hits. Don't assume because you don't like the hits your audience doesn't. If you're playing "Watching Scotty Grow" and I'm playing "The Longest Time" I win. Or the CD player wins. Every hobbyist assumes audiences hate the hits and the "answer" is to go to Whitburn and throw titles on the air. You'll get your butt kicked by a more focused competitor every time.

 

[12 In a Row]

Yep, we're lazy, boring and lead the pack.
Most important lesson you'll learn is, listeners lie.
They will tell you they want variety. Haul out your Whitburn book and watch your numbers drop like a rock.

Similar to any business. Offer the consumer 100's of different brands of soda. 100+ years later the vast majority will pick up Pepsi or Coke or Diet Pepsi/Coke.

 

[Tom Wells]

The only thing that matters is what you are playing right now. No one is going to sit through stiff after stiff for hours hoping they'll hear a stiff they like. If you're running a hobby internet stream have at it with 50000 songs. If you are trying to build an audience then play the hits. Don't assume because you don't like the hits your audience doesn't. If you're playing "Watching Scotty Grow" and I'm playing "The Longest Time" I win. Or the CD player wins. Every hobbyist assumes audiences hate the hits and the "answer" is to go to Whitburn and throw titles on the air. You'll get your butt kicked by a more focused competitor every time.

I would rather listen to "Watching Scotty Grow" over "The Longest Time", and would have made the same choice when "The Longest Time" was released.

They both have serious problems, but at least Bobby Goldsboro seems earnest, while Billy Joel (?) seems strained and saccharine.

Sure can't understand why it's so important to satisfy the listeners with such tiny perspectives.
Hits burn out. So does any selected group of titles not managed, rotated or updated.
But I'd rather suffer songs I don't know and maybe don't like but hear infrequently over a tighter playlist where every song is burned out.
I began complaining about limited playlists in the early 70's, and it's only gotten worse.
One of the many reasons I stayed out of the biz, much as I'd like to be in it.

What's that? Yes I do listen to college radio for music. I already know exactly what's playing on the commercial FM dial, and there will be no surprises.