Hi guys what's are your thoughts on classic hits format who does it good in Fm and online.For me online clear winner by a mile is Carolina Classic Hits.Its automated 24 7 and a solo operation by Rick Freeman Time checks great music info and so entertaining .He puts in huge prep work and it shows and he got lots more that 350 songs on the playlist.Have a listen online it's good stuff.Enought of me what are your thoughts please?
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Classic hits radio who does it best on FM or online .
- Thread starter Mido3737
- Start date
SXM does a better job than FM IMHO, but any internet station is going to be free to expand their playlist as much as they want and not get , for lack of a better term... out of focus.
Points well made and also online stations are not restricted to playlist of 300 songs or less Some of the Fm stations I listen online are just going thru the motions all very tired and dated Wall Radio springs to mind .
Terrestrial radio stations are "free" to expand their playlists as much as they want. But, the moment they actually consult with listeners as to what they want to hear, the list drops way back.
Playlist size is a product of finding out what listeners like and dislike and providing them with only positive songs.
There is not restriction to play "just" 300 songs. Stations are free to play as many as they want, but when they play what the listeners want, it drops to that kind of level.
that was kind of the point of saying "going out of focus", playlists are largely compiled from focus groups .... what tests well, what does not test well.
There are plenty of Classic Rock, Oldies, Golden Oldies,and Classic Hit songs that may have been popular back in the time of their release, and even for a decade later, that if you heard them on the radio today you would cringe... Billy Don't Be A Hero would be a good example... I'm sure that tests like crap, and even without a focus group anyone who adds it to their playlist, or on the three stations in the North American markets where the air talent can pick their songs ever played that song, I suspect the hotline would be lit up before they got to the first refrain.
With all due respect to Barry Scott of The Lost 45's (TM) those songs are not lost, they are put away for a reason!
They do well on specialty shows though
per Todd Storz
I took your advice and went to the site you referenced above. I thought it was very interesting the message that appears on the site's home page:
This is an important issue for people who listen to music on the internet. These small sites are being killed by outrageous music royalty rates. When the law was passed 25 years ago, the music industry said they intended to help small web broadcasters, rather than big corporate interests. But in practice, we see their policies mainly help the big corporate companies such as Spotify and Apple.
At some point, more of these small sites will be forced to charge users for access to their sites. If you like what you hear on these small sites, hopefully you will pay to help support them. Otherwise they may be forced to either accept advertising (which will make them no different from FM) or shut down completely.
That's all very true Rick Freeman told me this was happening in January.He also mentioned that the best package live 365 could offer him could only reach half his listeners.For a hobby station Rick doing excellent job and on air it's as slick as any hot Fm station and would give any iheart station a run for their money.He gets a trickle money from merch like megs and shirts .But your points are well made stations like these need be supported .But the real question is what is the best way forward?Would it be good idea to do fund raising weekend like some jazz stations do in NPR.
"Billy" still tests and sets airplay on Classic Hits. It's never good to assume.
That would take a lot more work. What most sites do is place a paywall on the site that requires users to subscribe in order to receive access.
The music industry is not going to relent on the royalty rate. They want to get paid. They say its the users' responsibility to pay.
That always the way go after the people with zero funds no wonder the I hearts rule the air waves.
If you wrote a song, you'd expect to be paid for your work too.
Not all writers are millionaires, some are minor artists that write for others that count on that royalty income to survive.
Not all writers are millionaires, some are minor artists that write for others that count on that royalty income to survive.
The royalty writers get at best is tiny as Paul McCartney.The reason groups tour is because the day of relying on sales is gone.Steely Dan saw that elephant š in the room when they toured Ireland twice in three years ,prior to that they played in Europe 20 years ago .And it's also no coincidence that the back catalogues of David Crosby ,Bob Dylan and Sting were all sold recently
Well, here's the thing. Nobody plays 30,000 "B-sides", nor 10,000, nor 5000, probably not even 1000, what they do play are the hits that charted in good positions throughout the years. Playing unknown B-side song titles that were originally issued on the non-hit sides of 45's or album fillers that were never singles are great ways to bore and lose your listeners. I would change stations too.
I assume when you say B-side, you are referring to the above. A stiff today (that was a hit back in the day) are not B-sides.
That's an excellent point which is probably lost on many of the folks here: Doesn't matter whether radio or streaming, okay especially streaming... Don't bitch and moan because some radio station geofences their stream so now you can't listen. They do it because they're losing money on a stream from folks like you, listening out of market. Same goes with independent small streaming companies operating out of a closet. Enjoy their wide music selection? Enjoy that music without commercials? Do you find yourself listening a lot? Great! Then knock the cobwebs off your checkbook and send them $100, because independent streaming is gravely threatened by rising costs. Unless you actively support sponsors of your favorite radio stations, or support independent streamer's by sending them some money, you're nothing but a cheap-ass freeloader.
I posted somewhere else that the songwriters just got a 15% increase in their streaming royalty, and that cost will be passed on to subscribers of Amazon, Spotify, and some others. With people no longer buying CDs or songs, the streaming royalty is the only way the musicians and writers make money. They pass that on to streaming companies and radio stations. With ad rates dropping, I'd expect free streaming will be harder to provide as we go forward.
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