Hey gang:
Music radio's deal in Providence, or Boston, or NYC, or LA...or wherever...is not necessarily the issue regarding the 'right' format or the 'right' lineup or the 'right' playlist.
Case in point: my own home rotation. Been in the process of selling my home over the past 6 months. The realtor loves having the computer rotation on my ITunes because it's my own customized format called Rhythm & Essence. It's got all the good stuff from the 50s to today from jazz, soul, r&b, gospel, ac, urban ac, CCM...a very calculated mix done up to have that 'ABC' sound every good station tried to mimic in the 60s and 70s that glued ears to music radio. (By ABC I mean the old WABC-New York and the record label). Every time he hears the rotation he will ask if it's a station or the computer and wants to know where he can find this great sound. Well, he's not the only one: friends who travel with me in the car, even friends who keep their IPods handy at various work places who have taken my 'playlist' along say folks just love the mix.
The reason? It's got what they remember, and what is fresh. The fresh is not what always gets the push from the industry, either; nor is it necessarily 'new'. One person I latched onto has never gotten airplay in the US (although she recorded an album here) but has gotten acclaim everywhere else: Tammi Chynn from Jamaica (get a copy of "Hyperventilating' and ask yourself where hit music stations missed the mark).
Anybody watch IMF on satellite (International Music Feed)? That's where I found her, and a powerhouse singer / songwriter Imogen Heap. Believe it or not, Imogen can be found playing in places all over America - but where, oh where, on ANY station??? She is singlehandedly winning listeners here and abroad, appearing on YouTube, IMF, my IPod and ITunes, and maybe even yours perhaps? 'Say Goodnight & Go' was the PERFECT 'light hits' tune; IMF had it, no one else did.
Rockers, thank IMF for Wolfmother - the Australian brand of hard edge rock that hasn't been heard on radio in a long time (from what I see they are getting more airplay now).
And don't get me started on the strong connection to audiences found in CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) which have been nearly silenced from the RI music scene; how can people who sell millions and millions of product not be heard in rotation? Is it that they are presumed 'Jesus Freaks' who would scare away listeners? Well, I've found the exact opposite to be true in live venues, some radio shows and in conversation with people. By the way, much of the CCM lyrics were not 'believe or go to hell' during the 80s and 90s; in fact that ABC sound was all over their brand and people like Bebe & Cece Winans, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, the Newsboys, 4Him and other success stories have continued to keep and grow a loyal fan base.
There used to be a time when WE, the announcers and PDs, took the chance on artists and brought them to the masses. There was freedom to do that in the 60s and 70s. Today? Too many prognosticators are relying on some high paid guru that says 'this artist or that' will bring in the ratings. You can't get ratings without LISTENERS, and it is a cold fact that listeners do veer away from us on-air folk more than we'd like to admit; they're needing to hear things they know are good but we don't have the guts to play because our freedom to break an artist is long since departed from us. That's why we have Jones turning to 'listener review boards' to gage what audiences want, having lost all our instincts to break out good music and make them hits.
The thing I love about my Juke Box Gold show on WINY/Putnam CT (winyradio.com) is that freedom to bring back ALL of the good stuff from the 50s & 60s...not just the Beatles, Elvis or Aretha Franklin. I get into the hits that charted well and have been long cherished that we all heard back then...like Dave Brubeck (Take 5), Marty Robbins (El Paso), Andy Williams (Can't Get Used To Losing You), Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra (Canadian Sunset)...this was great radio, when Rock mingled with standards and jazz and country and balladeers and orchestras to produce radio which to this day is unforgettable, cherished, and just plain WOW; it's modeled after WADK, WEAN, WGNG, WICE, WJAR, WSAR, WKFD, WWON, WNBC, WRKO, WBZ, WBSM, WMYS, WARV, PRO-FM and JB105...you know, all the stations that played music back in the day with each distinguishing themselves just a bit by the artists they featured and the jocks we loved. That was my youth, the reason why I got into the business and why I love it today.
Music is quite segregated now. That hurts stations and offends listeners. Music is very repetitive now, too cautious to take a risk that blending formats may actually work (yes, it's true that country and jazz and urban crossovers exist, but is it what we remember from the heyday of radio?) WJZS is at least reminding us of the hits we remember in our youth again, many of which I've heard for the first time in some 30 years. Maybe in time they will discover that a blended smooth jazz / easy album mix could be the ticket to get them solid audience share, and folks like myself could be easily swayed to stay longer.
Our saving grace is the very thing the industry fights too much: the internet. Artists are flocking there for creative license and opportunity to make new and better music is arising. Again, kudos to IMF too for being the best outlet for breaking out talent worldwide that the other sources are way too behind the curve to recognize.
Ok, now, Bill is off the soapbox.
-Bill Alley, JUKE BOX GOLD
