Dancerev889 said:Tony Santiago said:First everyone, BREATHE IN, and BREATHE OUT!
First, Nick....if you CLAIM to be a dance fan, then why do you start these bash posts all the time? You do it with PartyFM often enough in here. You also did it to some HD2 station in Baltimore, that I had to call BRETT out to answer it since I was getting rather sick and tired of it (to which he didn't dignify it with a response, and rightfully so). And now you do it here. You really do amaze me, and not in a positive manner.
But since the topic has been brought up, we do have to call things out here regarding the resentment because I was very critical too. Still am, but looking at the recent playlist, BPM actually appears better than it was around the same time last year, post-merger. If BPM started out like this, then most of the core fans wouldn't complain. To which that is where the ANGST began.
Let's go back to history because somehow things may have been forgotten. When it was solely an XM thing, "BPM" was a very cutting edge dance station reaching out to the core fans that paid for the service along with other stations such as "The Move". XM had always catered to that music fan that wanted a bit of "edge". For those that wanted to get more of a "radio" feel for music, Sirius was around for that, which is why you had a station like "The Beat", which was good for those casual listeners. Yet at the same time when something NEW came out, "The Beat" was late in the game for it. "Area" on Sirius, was a great station and yet I could also understand to some how it could be rather intimidating because of the ultra-progressive trance, EDM sounds. It was really TWO extremes on Sirius yet with XM, somehow they balanced it out.
Early on when BPM was kept for SiriusXM, they played a lot of 80's material. I remember being at last year's WMC wondering what the heck was going on. I did speak to Mike Abrams personally about it (since he was there) and the 80's material was eventually shifted out. Then "Bagatelle Brunch" came in, which to me sounds like a show for "transplanted hipsters entering NYC thinking they are 'kool kats', hanging at the Meatpacking District, yet are listening to Billy Joel on a dance station. See where I'm getting at here? Yet when it came to the fans speaking out about BPM on the Facebook boards, a lot of "games" were being played around in there which caused the fan anger to broil. I was on that board for quite a while with those games, until I decided it was better for me and for what I'm doing to not fall into that trap and work on the positivity of this music.
Point is, BPM WAS about the core fan base when it was launched. Guys like Blake Lawrence and Alan Freed KNEW what the fans wanted and programmed it in such a manner. I suppose in a lot of ways, the BPM (pre-11/08) to BPM (post-11/08) arguments hold similar "water" with Pulse vs. Party FM. While I don't blame ANYTHING that has happened with the station on Mike Abrams, Geronimo or Austin Kramer, clearly the Sirius philosophy had taken over BPM. While the station, according to the list JP provided actually appears to be good and I have few complaints about it, it still isn't close to the days prior to November 2008. Add to the fact that people are paying for this, they want something that they can't find on a "traditional" basis. Sirius helped take that away.
Honestly Brett, I have to call you out on that attitude "If you don't like it, don't listen". :-[ I think you have to give me SOME credit for trying to view things from BOTH the fan perspective and radio industry angles and being as fair-minded as possible. I can understand why Ke$ha appeared on BPM. She is MASS appeal, the hottest thing right now since Lady GaGa in the mindset of mainstream broadcasting and caters to the "casual" fan that make up the majority (as I had stated on another thread). Yet we go back to the history of BPM and perhaps understand why a core dance fan may be rather upset by this. While yes, as a programmer, it's your job to keep a station financially afloat based on the formatics of the music, at the same time you want to please ALL aspects of fans with such formatics. That's why Joel Salkowitz was successful when he ran Hot 103/97 as well as Pulse 87. He knew that "balance" whereas to appeal to that casual crowd yet get at the core crowd evenly. In that sense a core dance fan would "tolerate" hearing a Sean Kingston or Chris Brown track on Pulse 87. Which is what is NOT happening with Party FM. And I GET IT, Vic and John need to keep the stations financially afloat but in the process of doing so, a large segment of the crowd is being alienated because of the dance/hip-hop infrastructure. They may be deleting posts on their board, but I have never heard anyone there say "if you don't like it, don't listen".
You are in a position of great responsibility to present this music to the masses in your region and people respect you for that. You have to concern yourself with the formatics of your station along with the brand of "politics" that goes with it. I know. Sometimes these arguments can be repetitive. But at the same time, it is up to you (and all of us that love this music in such power) to help "guide" and "mentor". To slam on it just isolates and we can't have that. Makes us all look weak.
Maybe this is me, but when I do my one hour show, I WANT to hear what the listeners have to say. In fact, I need to.
I hate the position I'm in right now because I am stuck between a "rock and a hard place". I understand WHY Party FM has to program the way they do, and I'm still "holding out" for that "big picture" where they can split the signal for 87.7 to become MORE dance intensive, so as to allow 105.3 to become more "rhythmic", to cover that Eastern portion of Suffolk County that doesn't have a hip-hop/rhythmic outlet. I'm not bashing Vic or John in that regards. However, from a dance music fans point of view, I can understand their concerns regarding the "formatics" of the station, especially that some folks in the area do remember Party 105.3 as a dance station when Andre Ferro ran it and being in "shock" hearing the current version.
Pardon the length of this. John Parker did put a good list up, and in comparison to where we were LAST YEAR with BPM, this is an "improvement". We are NEVER going to get that old BPM back, unfortunately.
Thank you for hearing me out. And Nick, I love ya kid, but you gotta STOP starting new posts with these negative vibes.
Seriously.
Can me out on what? Speaking my opinion on the situation? These boards have become a whine fest over the past year and for what reason? The ironic thing, is its always about a New York station or satellite. I rarely heard any negative comments about any other station. If it wasnt KTU, it was The Beat, if it wasnt the Beat it was Party.
Then there is the issue about what is dance music and what isnt. There isnt a pure dance station on the air right now, by everyones definition. Look at the playlists for yourself. They are loaded with pop remixes or records that most on this board would consider hip-hop. And why is this? Maybe its for a thing called mass appeal.
This past August there was such a good vibe at the DJ expo about where this genre was heading. But then you come on these message boards and you think your best friend died.
Again show me where Party ever said they were a dance station? They are rhythmic station, just like my station.
If you want to see what the dance stations are doing across the country check this website on a regular basis http://www.fmqbproductions.net/dance/index.html . You might get a better understanding on what is going on all the stations.
This is purely laughable...some of the same people who complain about people complaining about just the NY stations were the same ones complaining about KNRJ Phoenix (Energy 92.7/101.1) not having enough power, playing enough of the songs they liked, or having the right management in place. Yet, KNRJ stuck around for nearly seven years (longer than most), and when it was gone, people didn't stop and say "Thanks...", they just searched out the next "better" station.