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Classic Rock?

myMHz said:
It's always the same thing..."Play something different....whaaa whaaa"
Then when a station does, the core audience, you remember them right? The ones that don't know that the radio boards are around...the ones that can't remember the call letters of a station even though they are told them every 5 minutes, they are gone. Radio is for the mass audience...I myself would love to hear some different stuff but I know it ain't gonna happen, it doesn't sell. That is what it all comes down to...what sells.
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Actually, the real "same thing" is that classic rock fans ask stations to play a little bit more "different" music, so the response is always as if we had requested nothing but deep cuts 24/7.

For example (and I'll use imaginary examples so the discussion doesn't turn into nit picking about the examples), The Classic Band recorded 10 albums during their existence, of 12 songs each, and had 15 charting hits from those albums when they were new. Of the 15 charting hits, 9 of them continue to to test well. So, programmers put one of those 9 into heavy rotation for a week until those who leave the station on all the time at work get sick of the song, then they put another one of the 9 into heavy rotation until it gets burned out, and so on.

What we classic rock fans would really like is not for a station to play the 105 "deep cuts" that didn't chart. We're just asking stations to not over play the 9 hits that tested well one at a time for a week, Instead, mix them up more so none of them get burned out.

We'd also like to hear those 6 songs that were hits but that didn't test as well every now and then. The trouble is, radio professionals don't seem to grasp the concept of "every now and then". Playing one such song every other hour is not going to destroy a station's ratings. But, if we ask them to play a hit song like that once every other hour, the response is always as if we asked them to play nothing but such songs all the time. If a station's ratings would go down the toilet just because over the course of a 24 hour day, they played 12 songs by artists who are common on their station already, and that were hits when they were new even if they might not test as well today, then that station is pretty shaky to begin with.

Personally, I wish there were more classic rock station programmers who knew music well enough to be able to tell the difference between a deep cut that should have been a hit but that wasn't promoted right by the record label back in the day, but that's asking for something that isn't possible. I also wish there were classic rock station programmers who understand that "classic rock" describes a sound, not an era. I wish there weer programmers who decided what songs to play based on what the song sounds like instead of when it was recorded, but I realize that is also too much to expect.
 
We'd also like to hear those 6 songs that were hits but that didn't test as well every now and then. The trouble is, radio professionals don't seem to grasp the concept of "every now and then". Playing one such song every other hour is not going to destroy a station's ratings.

Well when the hour is broken down into quater hour segments...yeah it does start to effect the rateings. Don't get me wrong, I like to hear something different to, if for no other reason that it's different.
 
myMHz said:
We'd also like to hear those 6 songs that were hits but that didn't test as well every now and then. The trouble is, radio professionals don't seem to grasp the concept of "every now and then". Playing one such song every other hour is not going to destroy a station's ratings.

Well when the hour is broken down into quater hour segments...yeah it does start to effect the rateings. Don't get me wrong, I like to hear something different to, if for no other reason that it's different.
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Or they take a song that didn't get played often and start pounding it. Mother from Pink Floyd use to be one of my favorites until kdkb started playing it every day.
 
Well when the hour is broken down into quater hour segments...yeah it does start to effect the rateings.

It would only affect ratings if one believes the hogwash that the handful of people who are filling in their Arbitron diaries later that night remember that earlier in the day they hit the preset button on their radio for another station because a song came on that didn't test quite as well as the other songs on the same album. There isn't a single song that 100% of the people like. The chances are just as good that you'll get someone to hit the preset for a different station by playing a good-testing song that you've burned out as there is that you'll get the same result by playing a different cut from the album that the good-testing song came from.

Say a song test really good, and 95 out of 100 listeners think the song is great. That still means you have five listeners who might tune out if you play the song. And if one of those five happens to have an Arbitron diary, then you still lose even with a proven, tested song.

But let's get specific. Layla tests better than Bell Bottom Blues, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?, or Little Wing. But the simple fact is, playing Layla to death only burns that song out. And even though the other three I mentioned might not test as well, I don't think anyone who knows classic rock and who also knows the classic rock audience can honestly say that playing any of those other three songs would chase away enough of the audience to matter. Every song has the potential to chase someone away. BTW, I used those examples because they all came from the same album. Substitute anything from the Clapton catalog you want, the point is the same. Likewise, substitute Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, or any other classic rock band and the point remains the same.

And another thing. Anyone responsible for programming a classic rock station needs to have it engraved onto his brain that classic rock is more of a sound than it is an era. True, the "Golden Age of Classic Rock" was 1967 to 1982. But classic rock fans are far more interested in the sound of the songs than the date of the recording session or album release. People who like Bruce Springsteen's good stuff recorded during those years will also like his good stuff recorded more recently. The same goes for Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and every other classic rock artist who continued to release new material after the arbitrary cut-off date set by the suits who program classic rock radio stations.

Classic Rock station programmers need to learn from their colleagues who program lounge music formats, like "The Music of Your Life". Those guys understand that a brand new song from Michael Buble that sounds like an old Frank Sinatra/Tony Bennett lounge song belongs on their station, regardless of the recording date. The same should also be true for newly recorded songs that have the "classic rock" sound.

Finally, if you work in radio, you need to bear this in mind. There is one big difference between playing the occasional good sounding deep-cut and burning out the handful of top-testing songs. The former might make a listener switch stations for a few minutes (and maybe he'll remember to mark it in is diary if he's an Arbitron listener). The latter is what makes people switch to iPods, satellite radio, and CD players. And when they make that switch, you aren't ever going to get them to come back to listening to your station.
 
If you are using music testing it's flawed from the get go. I'd really like to meet the guy who came up with music testing and shake his hand, brilliant way to make money with a completely useless service.
 
If you are using music testing it's flawed from the get go.

And yet, basing your programming choices on music testing is the only possible way that the scenario you described in your post where you said "Well when the hour is broken down into quater hour segments...yeah it does start to effect the rateings" might possibly come to pass. The only way that you could play a "wrong" song could hurt the ratings for a given quarter hour, as you suggested it would, would be if one believed that poor testing songs chase away listeners.
 
In a perfect world I would love to schedule Led Zep-Achilles Last Stand,Clapton-Mainline Florida,The Who-Slip Kid in regular rotation. Testing is a tool we can all learn from. You just have to know when & how to use it. Sure , I'll daypart the above mentioned . You just wont hear them in regular rotation . I love the deeper cuts dont get me wrong. There is a time and place for the lost classics . Haven't been in the Valley in awhile (2 years) . I was impressed with KDKB/KSLX/KUPD. I'm happy to hear KDKB found a morning show.
 
In a perfect world I would love to schedule Led Zep-Achilles Last Stand,Clapton-Mainline Florida,The Who-Slip Kid in regular rotation.

You don't have to worry about it. At the rate music fans are switching from radio to iPods and satellite receivers, music formats on the radio will join scripted radio comedies and dramas as something for nostalgia buffs. Tight, tested playlists are chasing listeners away. That didn't used to be a problem, but iPods and satellite receivers will do to music format radio what television did to The Green Hornet, The Shadow, and The Bickersons.
 
I like the deep cuts to (and have played them) but people who don't know a tune your playing will tune you out.
 
Re: Entercom need to buy Sandusky radio stations in Phoenix, Arizona

Zur said:
Radioguy2006 said:
Entercom Communications need to step up to buy Phoenix Radio Stations cluster from Sandusky Radio.

Sandusky Owns

93.3 KDKB (Rock)
97.9 KUPD (Active Rock)
100.7 KSLX (Classic Rock)
1060 KDUS The Fun (Sports)

Please tell Entercom CEO David Field to buy the Sandusky stations out in Phoenix.

http://www.entercom.com

I got a idea from Entercom merge KDKB and KSLX into one classic rocker on 93.3 FM and KDKB call letter and put Hip-Hop on full siginal 100.7 FM.
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Yeah it's that simple, just tell him and I expect the deal to close by 4pm monday, 5pm at the latest. That's what I love about this board, there are people that understand radio and people who think they understand radio.
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Hmmm .... I'm thinking RadioGuy doesn't think it is that easy...besides everyone knows Mondays are hectic and the deal would be lucky to close by 6PM ;)
 
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