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Classic Country years

WPPCProductions said:
I'm sticking to classic country.These new artists are destroying country music like rap did to mainstream pop charts. I guess that's what they got to do to get the younger demos to tune in. LOL it must be my age.
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No arguing the toxic brutality of (C)RAP as heaped upon the legitimate mainstream charts, but, as I've posted before (elsewhere), the first shot heard over the bow was fired by disco. In my opinion, disco already had pop on life support circa 1980, when Debbie Harry put a smiley face on (C)RAP with Rapture. Sort of a one-two punch.
 
All the different comments on here have some merit to them but one of the things I read sugested that I really like is an idea to take the country music genres and regenre it so as to clean the dilution of country music up some.
 
Gatekeeper007 said:
All the different comments on here have some merit to them but one of the things I read sugested that I really like is an idea to take the country music genres and regenre it so as to clean the dilution of country music up some.
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Would be nice, but can we really un-ring the bell?
 
I did a Classic Country request show from 2003-2005 in Goldsboro NC on a 6,000 watt FM..It was a Sunday night show 6-10pm. I took request with the policy that after a month into the show the songs had to rest for a week. If I played it last week I'm not playing it this week. I may play the same artist but not the same song.. The phones rang constantly and at least half the calls were for more obscure cuts because the listeners found out I had a huge library of about 12,000 songs at the time. The ratings were good. I left to take another radio job but my point is you'd be amazed at how deep the classic country listeners knowledge and favorites go. Callers started calling to hear songs they had never heard until I played it and I jogged memories of songs they had forgotten.. A Classic Country format needs to be deep and wide musically because your audience knows the music and is very passoniate about it. Thet don't need to hear Hello Darlin'or He Stopped Loving Her Today 15-20 times a week..That is as big a tune out factor with the Classic audience as anything
 
Gotta agree with 1250WTAE on this one. I am sure your 4 hour show on Sunday nights digging deep into your extensive library was a hit. Thats why most classic country, classic rock, classic whatever local or syndicated request shows like Country Gold etc are 4 hour shows aired once weekly on the weekends! People do love them while getting their weekly dose of the old oldies.

BUT- a 24/7 format of deep cuts will send the daily faithful diving for the tuner.
 
My point is there are alot of top 10 and even top 5 records that aren't getting played and have never been tested on an audience.
 
allenv said:
I did a Classic Country request show from 2003-2005 in Goldsboro NC on a 6,000 watt FM..It was a Sunday night show 6-10pm. I took request with the policy that after a month into the show the songs had to rest for a week. If I played it last week I'm not playing it this week. I may play the same artist but not the same song.. The phones rang constantly and at least half the calls were for more obscure cuts because the listeners found out I had a huge library of about 12,000 songs at the time. The ratings were good. I left to take another radio job but my point is you'd be amazed at how deep the classic country listeners knowledge and favorites go. Callers started calling to hear songs they had never heard until I played it and I jogged memories of songs they had forgotten.. A Classic Country format needs to be deep and wide musically because your audience knows the music and is very passoniate about it. Thet don't need to hear Hello Darlin'or He Stopped Loving Her Today 15-20 times a week..That is as big a tune out factor with the Classic audience as anything
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I experienced the same kind of listener product knowledge and loyalty on KDJW, Amarillo, 2003/2004. Our library wasn't as deep though, so the sequestering of oft-requested songs wasn't an option for us. Bless you for running such a wonderful service for classic country listeners!
 
I just wonder how much of this research involves things like sharing a meal with listeners, meeting them at shows,talking to them at remotes,, letting them come in during a show and watch what you do and ask questions and actually asking them what can we do to better serve you..What do you like??? Dislike??? To me that is research they really pays dividends for you. And thank you JFrancis I appreciate it..It was a fun time.
 
I've tested songs that in my mind, I thought would be 100% recognized by the sample audience. And they didn't test well. Big hits in a lot of cases. So again, a specialty show is fine, a deep cut format, will not work any where in a my format. I wish I were wrong, and I've tried to prove it wrong, but its true.
 
1250WTAE said:
I've tested songs that in my mind, I thought would be 100% recognized by the sample audience. And they didn't test well. Big hits in a lot of cases. So again, a specialty show is fine, a deep cut format, will not work any where in a my format. I wish I were wrong, and I've tried to prove it wrong, but its true.
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tested songs where, urban, major, rural etc? tested songs when 1991, 0r 2012? tested for likability, and/or recognizability? how big was the test group? music testing can be a good programming tool. thats tool, not the bible!!!
in most cases if your market even has a country station that plays the pre 90's, it is by no means a negative factor to dip a bit deeper on a forgotten/lesser hit, and book end it with a presell, and/or a back sell. ie: "coming up a reba song that hit #1 on this day back in 92". but, what if that reba song aint part of the usual 4 or 5 consistent reba repeater spins that some centralized dictator has pushed on every Mcclassic country station? will the listener get negative and turn the channel? to where? to listen to some speed/sound modified over produced country pop teenager on the competitor? there aint no competitor for classic country!!!! it all comes down to adjusting the music carburetor properly for day parts, and properly knowing decades of country music, and knowing, and learning what your listening audience can, and can't handle. there is musical room to keep every listener happy. from the 20 minutes on the road soccer mom who has little knowledge of country, but wants to hear a familiar kenny rogers hit she can sing to, or the hard core fan who listens all day while he works and wants some deeper merle, other than "okie from...."(yes, this is the TSL'r who also hears all your advertisers sell theri goods and services) if the music carb is not adjusted properly, then the format under standard operating centralized control procedure will eventually burn out, like dry kindling on fire. amazing how many times weve seen that happen....
 
Gatekeeper007 said:
All the different comments on here have some merit to them but one of the things I read sugested that I really like is an idea to take the country music genres and regenre it so as to clean the dilution of country music up some.
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Those of us who listened to pop/top 40 radio in the '70s and '80s also didn't really care for all that "watered-down" "country" "crossover" crap either. You can take it all back. We don't want it.
 
If we started listing top 10 70's and 80's records that don't get played on Classic Country radio the list would be staggeringly huge. How about the songs that don't get tested at all..How do we know how they would test?? You can't test them all on a sample of people in a room so sometimes you test them on the radio..I'm not talking stiffs or songs just because I like them.Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut and knowledge of your audience and see what happens..We make the process so complicated and it really isn't...Sometimes you just gotta play the damn song and because of the reasons your audience might like it and not always be so scarred and gun shy to take some chances once in a while.. Just my opinion..
 
thanks allen, we make the programming, and research process so complicated because thats the trend that was put into motion so many years ago in major markets with some legitimate ratings results. and then the competition followed, until it is a standard operating procedure that you cant do without. or can you do without? for a lesser market station, your research has been done by all the others, in that market, or other markets for years. copy cat the playlists, and programming ideas, and add/adjust to suit your own station programming research and finger print. also, your own stations research is being done constantly by keeping in touch with your listeners through phone, e-mail, and facebook, and personal appearances. there you just saved your small/medium market station some $$$$ to put into advertising or help pay the upkeep bills.

regarding all them thousands of top 10 hits from the 70's and 80's. we all agree its a programming killer to just add all 10,000 to playlist and hit the play button. some old hits can be metered in gradually and become reknown through rotation, and front and/or back sells. then they can be put on hold after an extended period of time for the next batch of fresh forgottens to be metered in amongst the easily known country fav's. what the average suit and tie, bmw driving corporate cat in the major market forgets, is that old forgotten hit songs can be like personal time machines for your listeners. ie: an old forgotten #1 john conlee hit song from 1986, "got my heart set on you" reminds me/you of an old girl friend back then. yep, congrats your station just made a major heart string bonding with me/you the listener by spinning it, that no payed consultant firm could make with the line "we recommend you rotate one conlee hit only "common man" because our research says it is the most commonly recognized conlee hit....
 
All your points are good, but even filtering in songs slowly, that don't test well, still doesn't work. They are tested locally, and nationally. At least when I was part of them. Today, certainly more nationally. They are tested on all that was posted above earlier, including burn out factor. Guys, your not going to change the wheel, no matter how much you debate it.
 
Its funny I live in a 50,000 person town and know a resonable amount of people and not one person have ever told me they were involved in a music test on any kind anywhere ever..Ratings books yes but never in the last 30 years a music test..You would think if all this research was taking place all the time somebody who knew somebody would have told them or me about such an experience..Makes you wonder.....
 
Music tests are almost never conducted in cities that small, except for the newfangled online music test, for which I have been a panelist many times for several different formats. I'd guess that not many people you know would be willing to rate 800 seven-second clips of country songs.
 
Guess not..... 7 seconds Wow!!!! Very few things are accomplished in 7 seconds unless you count my two children!!!! Is that really enough time foe someone to make a real solid decision for or against a song..Maybe so but you've gotta wonder how many people after about clip 300 are just going through the motions and are ready to go home...So many factors also go into doing this that you have no control over...There is no perfect research..but my gosh there has got to be a better way..Maybe not...
 
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