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Classic Adult Contemproary??

Avid Listener said:
Which does not change the fact that the "term of art" Classic Adult Contemporary is an oxymoron.
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You really don't seem to get the fact that words used together often have a meaning quite separate from the meaning of the words taken separately.

A "red" can be a communist, and "head" can be a vulgarism for oral sex. But a " redhead" is neither, of necessity, a commie nor a practitioner of a particular sexual procedure.
 
When I added some Soft AC streams to iTunes, I nicknamed my playlist "Lite Hits radio stations".
 
Music Lover said:
When I added some Soft AC streams to iTunes, I nicknamed my playlist "Lite Hits radio stations".
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And you make a good point... just as you named your playlist with a title you like, radio stations can position themselves with the promotional slogans and names they like.

I recall when one "Soft Rock" station included Barry Manilow on its playlist. But to the listeners, that station was soft rock. They used a term that made them sound more hip than they actually were, and the result was good 25-44 listening despite the older and non-rock leaning music.

It's just advertising... the industry that has allowed one food processor to sell as "cheese" something that is even labeled as a "cheese product" and which is technically not a cheese. It's all in positioning and promotion.
 
I think if you asked an average listener what kind of music they like and listen to, they would respond "I like soft rock" or "I like pop" or "I like hard rock" and so on because they aren't knowledgeable with radio terminology. I think that's why DJ's use layman's terms instead of fancy terminology.
 
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Music Lover said:
I think if you asked an average listener what kind of music they like and listen to, they would respond "I like soft rock" or "I like pop" or "I like hard rock" and so on because they aren't knowledgeable with radio terminology. I think that's why DJ's use layman's terms instead of fancy terminology.
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And those in the industry (or ANY industry) love to create their own jargon terms to exclude the "outsiders". Having their own special little private code language (jargon) lets them sneer at the peons who don't know their special, secret language. It's a holdover from grade school playgrounds.
 
Avid Listener said:
And those in the industry (or ANY industry) love to create their own jargon terms to exclude the "outsiders". Having their own special little private code language (jargon) lets them sneer at the peons who don't know their special, secret language. It's a holdover from grade school playgrounds.
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That's not so, and I have told you why.

Nielsen establishes via formal consultation with the industry a set of format names. Each station can pick the one that best fits the station's actual programming. This format descriptor is included in the ratings data that is given to ad agencies and major subscribing advertisers and is intended to help buyers identify stations they are not familiar with.

The industry, thus, uses the Nielsen terms internally and in dealings with ad agencies.

Thus Jack and Bob and the iike are "adult hits" and Què Buena and La Jefa are Regional Mexican and so on. When advertisers and stations speak the same language, it makes doing business easier and makes radio a tiny bit easier to buy.

Imagine if every hardware manufacturer had a different term for "Brass plated wood screw". Nobody would be able to find the right screw for their needs.
 
For us radio geeks, the official format names like AC, Hot AC, CHR/Pop, Classic Hits, AAA, MOR, etc. are second nature: we know immediately what format people are referring to when they use those names. I have caught myself many times saying the official name of the format I like rather than an euphemism that the average person understands.
 
nkd said:
For us radio geeks, the official format names like AC, Hot AC, CHR/Pop, Classic Hits, AAA, MOR, etc. are second nature: we know immediately what format people are referring to when they use those names. I have caught myself many times saying the official name of the format I like rather than an euphemism that the average person understands.
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To all insiders in all fields, both business and fans of something, jargon is second nature. That's one of the main reasons jargon exists. It separates the insiders from everyone else. It's a variation on the secret handshake.
 
JeffM said:
You're repeating yourself again, again. We need to stamp out and eliminate this redundant redundancy.
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Given what nkd wrote, even though others in here have read what I said before, it's obvious that he didn't. So, I repeated it for his benefit.
 
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