dance music station (or at least show) needed in Boston

[TonySantiago]

My only point that I am trying to make here:
it is very cavalier to claim what will or will not
work, what will or not be profitable when the individual
making the claim is not putting up any of his own cash...
It is really easy to blame "corporate" because one is not
getting his/her own way. The industry does not owe you
(or anyone) a fomat because you say you want one...
Get over it...

Nope...won't get over it. I make no apologies for that either.

And I'm not blaming corporate for not getting my way. I blame corporate for the destruction of what was a fine medium. Nothing to do with me. Hey, if you wanna throw on 64 different variations of a "Mike" format, fine with me. And if things are stagnant and no one is giving a damn, you know why. I'm just looking outside the box.

 

[TonySantiago]

Time to break it down.....

I Refer to Star so much because the title of this thread is "dance music station (or at least show) needed in Boston" and that was the last unsuccessful attempt at a dance format in Boston. Three different program directors, a couple of different morning shows and multiple consultants took a whack at it. They retooled it a couple of times and if it was successful there never would have been a flip to Mike. Since it wasn't jumping on the Jack format first made good sense.

BECAUSE THE WAY IT WAS PROGRAMMED SUCKED! I've heard Star 93.7. As much as I didn't like 'KTU in New York, I thought 'KTU was better than this! Consultants? HAH! If Star was programmed right from the get go, Boston would have had a killer dance station (not to be confused with what Star was mainly....a rhythmic A/C.)

No one in this business cares that you don't feel you have enough diversity on the dial. We are not here to entertain you. We are here to sell advertising and make money for our stockholders or investors. A dance format in Boston today would not sell more advertising than most of the stations you have mentioned. These companies actually know more about this business than you do. The Boston market is nothing like NYC, Chicago or LA. All these same corporations have many successful urban orientated formats there. But Boston does not have a big enough urban population and that is the whole problem here.

So wait, you don't care about the listeners? You're not here for our entertainment? (with all due respect to Pink) Is that what you're saying here? I don't want to twist this so please correct me if I am wrong. And if these companies know, then how come so many of them are failing left and right? Okay, economy stinks. But what product are you putting out that is compelling for the listeners? (and that can be in ANY format).

I will give you this, I DO know Boston is mainly a rock town. WBCN, WAAF....I know. But you can't just single out Boston as the one place. I'm aware of Brockton, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, areas on the outskirts that have an urban population.....I would think you guys would hit into Providence a bit (albeit a separate market). But let's cross "urban" out a sec here because most people would then link this to African-Americans mainly (at least that's what I get when I hear "urban"). Dance is a tricky format because it is diverse where it reaches out to all cultures, sexes, religions, sexual preferences, etc. It's just a matter of nailing the majority. Okay, so NYC has Latinos (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans). Boston/Providence has mainly Portugese (Cape Verdeans) who are into this style of music. Whites like it too! If a DANCE (and I stress current in this case) station were to happen in Boston, it CANNOT sound like what Star 93.7 did. The music was a bad mix and that's why the station failed.

This is why I continually stress that its a perfect fit for HD-2. And where do you get the idea that only 100 folks can get HD-2??? The HD-2 signals of all the Boston FM's blanket the city. Yes you have to buy a radio but for this niche programming that is the perfect solution. A powerful good sounding signal and yet you don't need the audience or cash flow you need for the main signals. This is where you could get your diversity without impacting my cash flow.

Do I even START on HD here? As far as I know amongst my friends, I am the ONLY one that has an HD radio. I'm a radio geek, I confess! Corporations collectively FAILED at promoting this. This was supposed to be the "alternative" to satellite and what is it? A "dumping ground" for formats (at least that's how it is in New York anyway). Maybe because Boston is a smaller city, HD works out well there. Not in NYC. One day I can hear old skool hip-hop on WQHT (Hot 97 HD-2) and the next day, doesn't come in.

Now as to another CHR or HipHop station I was never talking about that because this thread was never about that. It was SteveN looking again for a dance station and for him and his pals Funkytown ( yes 93.7 HD-2) is not a bad answer.

For you probably pirate radio..

No, something legal above 92.1. I just have to find a Boston area "counterpart" to get the noise circulating. And we will.

Oh, and BTW not your station. After all, we don't want to impact your cash flow.

 

[WBIMDJ]

I totally agree, any kind of Rhythmic, CHR, Urban Urban A/C would tool on the weak monopolies that are Jamn' and Kiss. These stations are only on top by default and because they are the only choice. Look at Hot 93.7 in Hartford. That station debuted in 2001 and shot straight up to #1! Now obviously this is a different market but it's also smaller than Boston! I don't buy that "not enough of an urban audience" factor when Boston is much larger than Hartford and its population is much much more diverse and getting more everyday. I say go for it, and it's only a matter of time before a company does try it after seeing 5 different rock stations getting low ratings book after book. We'll see...in the meantime good luck guys with the dance station "fight". Don't get discouraged by some people here, this is Boston and we're so damn stubborn and stuck in our old and tired ways that we're always the last to catch onto things!!

 

[TonySantiago]

I totally agree, any kind of Rhythmic, CHR, Urban Urban A/C would tool on the weak monopolies that are Jamn' and Kiss. These stations are only on top by default and because they are the only choice. Look at Hot 93.7 in Hartford. That station debuted in 2001 and shot straight up to #1! Now obviously this is a different market but it's also smaller than Boston! I don't buy that "not enough of an urban audience" factor when Boston is much larger than Hartford and its population is much much more diverse and getting more everyday. I say go for it, and it's only a matter of time before a company does try it after seeing 5 different rock stations getting low ratings book after book. We'll see...in the meantime good luck guys with the dance station "fight". Don't get discouraged by some people here, this is Boston and we're so damn stubborn and stuck in our old and tired ways that we're always the last to catch onto things!!

You want stubborn? Go to the Philadelphia board! LOL

 

[TonySantiago]

ADDENDUM:

To Johnster, I know you were responding to BRNout but I had to say something as if you were approaching me with this. And to BRNout, you are right...comparing Star to 'KTU wasn't fair to 'KTU. And it gets back to what I had said earlier....the programming sucked on Star! Boston would do much better with a station leaning mainly on currents (a few recurrents here and there; as far back as 10 years perhaps but mainly currents.)

 

[chitchatjf]

How about a station that plays Rock AND dance music.

 

[BoscoGoldBear]

Whoa! When I started this thread I was just coming off the plane, I had been listening to the Strobe and the Groove XM/Sirius channels, coming off a Disco Vinnie high. I would be very happy with a Disco Vinnie/Joe Causi-type classic disco SHOW (as opposed to format). I'm amazed that Star lasted 6 years, and that was largely because of the late Vinnie Perruzzi, who passed just before the format did.

Does Boston need some sort of shakeup? You bet! I think that Kiss, which overdoes the Nickelback/Godsmack/Saving Abel hard rock crap thanks to common ownership of Jam'n, and Magic, which plays so many hard rockers these days (i.e. REO Speedwagon, Kid Rock, Journey, Bon Jovi) that it may as well queue up Crazy Train by Ozzy and pass THAT off as "soft rock," can be taken by one of the existing rock stations (i.e. the failing WBCN) and totally embarass Kiss and/or Magic.

My bottom line: one of Boston's stations needs a classic disco show IMHO. When Barry's classic disco show was canceled, I believe it was #1 among those in their 30s and 40s, and now that Oldies has a WZLX-type classic rock show on Saturday night (should NOT happen under any circumstances), the Saturday night ratings have justifiably tanked! BTW, Led Zeppelin is NOT party music IMHO; it may have a beat, but you sure as hell can't dance to it! JMHO!

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

BTW, Led Zeppelin is NOT party music IMHO; it may have a beat, but you sure as hell can't dance to it! JMHO!

Now THAT's what is needed, a transverse format based on beat, rather than genre (rock, country, urban, jazz, gospel, etc.). In particular, one based on "quarter-beat/time" (i.e., "1/4" in "sheet music").
A lot of the late 60's-70's-early 80's classic hits/rock are quarter-beat oriented (some of the more pronounced, beat-wise: "Cats In The Cradle", "Everybody Plays The Fool", "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad", "Layla", "November Rain", "MacArthur Park", "Never Been To Spain", "Faithfully", "Locomotion", "I Wanna Get Next To You", "Stand Tall", "The Seduction (Love Theme)", "You See Me Crying", "Shannon", "The Load Out/Stay", "I'm Your Captain/Closer To Home", "Come On Over" (Olivier Newton-John). Looking at genre-wise, this may look like a train wreak, but in terms of beat, they are all compatible under the same roof.
The format with the most quarter-beat these days is country, which (surprise-surprise) has gained in market share (even here in Boston).
A transverse "Jack" type format based on quarter-beat, comprising mostly current country with what few (quarter-beat) rock/ac/other currents that are out there, mixed with the compatible classic hits/rock oldies (and even non-hit oldies that fit the mold), rather than one based on the video oriented, electro-pop crap that no one will remember 6 months from now, nevermind 5-10 years!
The other key component to such a format is rich, strong audio processing (what I call "hypnogogic compression"), old AM radio daze style (e.g., like WBZ in the late 70's, just before they destroyed it to add stereo)——i.e., the type that "makes your ears bleed" (the Sunday Nite AT-40 replays on 103.3 is halfway decent)!! P=)

 

[BRNout]

If you think JAMN is or was targeted at Men... Clearly you don't understand what we're talking about here.

Okay, Mr. Expert, what do you think men in their teens and twenties are listening to?

If you think it's WBCN, you're wrong. Sure, some do. But they aren't number 1 in that demo. JAMN is. Wish I had the latest breakdown at my fingertips, but I don't.

Now it may also shock you to learn that it's JAMN in the suburbs as well as in the cities. In general, younger men trend toward a market's hip hop station and women toward CHR in most markets; however, Boston is a little different because Kiss is aimed at (and does better) in slightly older demos. It's almost, but not quite, a hot AC - at least it leans that way. So, JAMN gets some younger women too. But, it's targeted at least as much toward younger men. Between the two, they're getting younger men and women 18-34. And, Clear Channel is cleaning up in the ratings with JAMN and Kiss.

Do you think the same owner would have their two stationsgoing after the same female demo? No, JAMN gets the men and Kiss the women. Duh. Yes, the likes of WAAF and WBCN used to clean up on men 18-34 - 15 years ago. That's been slowly changing for years and the audiences of both are aging (on average). Sure, some kids still listen to them. But, not the majority - and not by a long shot.

So yes, I absolutely understand what we're talking about here. Do you?

I Refer to Star so much because the title of this thread is "dance music station (or at least show) needed in Boston" and that was the last unsuccessful attempt at a dance format in Boston. Three different program directors, a couple of different morning shows and multiple consultants took a whack at it. They retooled it a couple of times and if it was successful there never would have been a flip to Mike. Since it wasn't jumping on the Jack format first made good sense.

No one in this business cares that you don't feel you have enough diversity on the dial. We are not here to entertain you. We are here to sell advertising and make money for our stockholders or investors. A dance format in Boston today would not sell more advertising than most of the stations you have mentioned. These companies actually know more about this business than you do. The Boston market is nothing like NYC, Chicago or LA. All these same corporations have many successful urban orientated formats there. But Boston does not have a big enough urban population and that is the whole problem here.

This is why I continually stress that its a perfect fit for HD-2. And where do you get the idea that only 100 folks can get HD-2??? The HD-2 signals of all the Boston FM's blanket the city. Yes you have to buy a radio but for this niche programming that is the perfect solution. A powerful good sounding signal and yet you don't need the audience or cash flow you need for the main signals. This is where you could get your diversity without impacting my cash flow.

Now as to another CHR or HipHop station I was never talking about that because this thread was never about that. It was SteveN looking again for a dance station and for him and his pals Funkytown ( yes 93.7 HD-2) is not a bad answer.

For you probably pirate radio..

I'll keep this brief. For the LAST TIME, Star wasn't a dance station! It had a retro dance show on Saturday nights, with the late, great, Vinnie Peruzzi (RIP) which was one of the few times that it was worth listening to. Then again, WODS had one too for a few years. That doesn't make Oldies 103 a dance station in your eyes, does it?

Secondly, this is business. Those who are truly talented at business have the foresight to see an untapped market and tap it. That's what I am advocating here. You seem to be stuck in the past on this one.

Third, almost NOBODY has the damn HD radios. The digital signal of 93.7 HD-2 does not blanket the city. In fact, you'd probably be lucky to get it to decode without an external antenna over much of the market (including Boston itself). It would only come in well within about 10-15 miles of Peabody, where the transmitter is. If or until HD Radio takes off (which is debatable right now), telling people to go listen to a jockless HD-2 signal is the modern equivalent of "let them eat cake." It's a non factor, so quit suggesting it. I'd bet that 50 times more people listen to pirates than an HD-2 subchannel.

If you can't see a good opportunity to see success and good cash flow, then it is you who needs a refresher in business. Not every signal in Boston can be raking it in right now. Some do well and some don't. That's just how it is. So, my suggestion is to get rid of some of the redundancy that makes Boston such a dull radio market and - doing it right - be successful at the same time. It can be done.

My advocacy is for one of a group of rhythmic formats and not dance in particular. I question whether a dance format like Pulse would work that well because it's too niche. Perhaps if it were on WFNX's signal - which can only go up as far as ratings go. But for a full powered signal, I would recommend something more general like a hot CHR or urban contemporary would be better in a business sense. Take on JAMN and Kiss. That's where the money is.

 

[CHRles]

Kiss 108 sounds like a CHR/Pop station, albeit one that is just slightly Adult friendly music-wise, but still a straight ahead CHR. The only reason why some would categorize it more Hot AC sounding is basically back in the day, during Kiss 108's peak years it was a lot more Dance friendly, and played more novelty/reaction records. While they were never as Dance heavy as Hot 97 New York, they sounded a lot like the current sound of Z-103.5 Toronto.
http://www.z1035.com/

Now that is the type of CHR that just might work in Toronto. A high energy CHR that is heavily customized for its market, that's what Kiss 108 was all about in the Sunny Joe White era.


PS when has Kiss 108 ever played Godsmack? ??? They dont lean Rock. In fact, the last time their playlist was somewhat Rock leaning was in its Adult CHR/Modern AC lean in the mid to late 90s.

 

[chitchatjf]

My bottom line: one of Boston's stations needs a classic disco show IMHO. When Barry's classic disco show was canceled, I believe it was #1 among those in their 30s and 40s, and now that Oldies has a WZLX-type classic rock show on Saturday night (should NOT happen under any circumstances), the Saturday night ratings have justifiably tanked! BTW, Led Zeppelin is NOT party music IMHO; it may have a beat, but you sure as hell can't dance to it! JMHO!

Barry's Saturday show played generally the same 80-100 pop tracks all in 7" edited versions. Boring!

 

[johnster]

BRN obviously you don't believe me so just ask around. What they pick up in the ratings has nothing to do with the target. The target of both is and has always been women. Two different age groups with an overlap but both women. And they have owned both those demos for years. That's why you get all the gossip reports, Entertainment news etc on both of them. Both aimed at MetroBoston and Suburbia. JAMN never went for the real urban HipHop like WBOT did always staying with the more MTV side of the format. Again because they are looking for the young white girls in Waltham. If there boyfriends listened too that was a plus. If the overall numbers were good that was great too. Check out one of their concerts sometime. The idea is to carry girls from pre-teens thru their 40's. At some point they will move from JAMN to KISS but they will hold onto them. Now I'm sure your still unconvinced so ask around. Call some sales folks or agency types. Even the ones at the other stations they will know.

 

[BRNout]

So, who do you think does well with Men 18-34? For one, JAMN. Their playlist is lame because it can be. It lacks the "hard core" stuff, yet it comes off pretty hard edged because it lacks any of the rhythmic crossover songs that the likes of Hot 93.7 in Hartford might play. If you're someone accustomed to listening to a CHR/Urban in another market, JAMN basically sucks for you because it's so one-dimensional. But that's what happens when you have the entire audience to yourself.

Yes, the entertainment stuff is aimed at women; but the station as a whole tries to capture men too. Whereas Kiss makes no attempt to capture a male audience. It's solely going after females and skews a little older than most CHRs that you see in larger markets. Between them, they are capturing a sizeable chunk of the audience and it's JAMN who gets the male demos.

And, collectively, they should be targets for the likes of CBS Radio or Entercom. Either one is capable of pulling it off - if they executed it right. None of the others have the knowledge or (apparently) the grapes to take them on.

By the way, WBOT was an example of an opportunity squandered. For one thing, the station's signal was poor over a large part of the market. Secondly, they had too narrow of an demographic aim. Thirdly, their execution was amateurish and promotion non-existent. All in all, Radio One never committed adequately to this station and it was totally botched. The later half-hearted effort at cobbling together an urban contemporary and urban AC was an abortion. Terrible, terrible programming. So, we can't make many conclusions based on that mess because it was horribly done.

 

[MikeyBos]

PS when has Kiss 108 ever played Godsmack? ??? They dont lean Rock. In fact, the last time their playlist was somewhat Rock leaning was in its Adult CHR/Modern AC lean in the mid to late 90s.

Kiss 108 has NEVER had Godsmack in their rotation. It's part of Steve N's delusional conspiracy theory that rock music has overtaken Kiss. Kiss did lean very hot/rock AC from late 1995 through late 2000, the most in the middle of that period. But upon, John Ivey's departure, Cadillac immediately started re-centering its format. And if Steve took the time to actually look at their playlist or their music log (available on their own web site as well as sites like yes.com), then he might realize that his delusions about Kiss being a rock station are JUST THAT...delusions...nothing but fiction. Since about 2005 or so, I would say most of the time Kiss has been about 65-75% rhythmic or pure pop.

 

[lost45]

"My bottom line: one of Boston's stations needs a classic disco show IMHO. When Barry's classic disco show was canceled, I believe it was #1 among those in their 30s and 40s, and now that Oldies has a WZLX-type classic rock show on Saturday night (should NOT happen under any circumstances), the Saturday night ratings have justifiably tanked! BTW, Led Zeppelin is NOT party music IMHO; it may have a beat, but you sure as hell can't dance to it! JMHO!


Barry's Saturday show played generally the same 80-100 pop tracks all in 7" edited versions. Boring!"



That makes me cry, lol. Does anyone ever say anything nice on this board? That Saturday Night Party show was #1 for a reason. It was Saturday night and people were partying. "YMCA" every week baby! That's how a party show works. It ain't rocket science, folks; it's supposed to be fun! If it isn't for you, go work at Target. I needed a life and decided to take time off...Glad I did!

 

[BRNout]

Well Barry, for what it's worth, I always thought of your shows ("Dance Party" and "Lost 45s") as appointment radio and enjoyed them immensely. And, the comment about hearing 'the same' songs over and over isn't accurate. A few favorites perhaps - but with a heck of a lot of seldom heard songs in between. Great radio.

Don't let a few trolls discourage you!

 

[pause]

Time to break it down.....

I Refer to Star so much because the title of this thread is "dance music station (or at least show) needed in Boston" and that was the last unsuccessful attempt at a dance format in Boston. Three different program directors, a couple of different morning shows and multiple consultants took a whack at it. They retooled it a couple of times and if it was successful there never would have been a flip to Mike. Since it wasn't jumping on the Jack format first made good sense.

BECAUSE THE WAY IT WAS PROGRAMMED SUCKED! I've heard Star 93.7. As much as I didn't like 'KTU in New York, I thought 'KTU was better than this! Consultants? HAH! If Star was programmed right from the get go, Boston would have had a killer dance station (not to be confused with what Star was mainly....a rhythmic A/C.)

No one in this business cares that you don't feel you have enough diversity on the dial. We are not here to entertain you. We are here to sell advertising and make money for our stockholders or investors. A dance format in Boston today would not sell more advertising than most of the stations you have mentioned. These companies actually know more about this business than you do. The Boston market is nothing like NYC, Chicago or LA. All these same corporations have many successful urban orientated formats there. But Boston does not have a big enough urban population and that is the whole problem here.

So wait, you don't care about the listeners? You're not here for our entertainment? (with all due respect to Pink) Is that what you're saying here? I don't want to twist this so please correct me if I am wrong. And if these companies know, then how come so many of them are failing left and right? Okay, economy stinks. But what product are you putting out that is compelling for the listeners? (and that can be in ANY format).

I will give you this, I DO know Boston is mainly a rock town. WBCN, WAAF....I know. But you can't just single out Boston as the one place. I'm aware of Brockton, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, areas on the outskirts that have an urban population.....I would think you guys would hit into Providence a bit (albeit a separate market). But let's cross "urban" out a sec here because most people would then link this to African-Americans mainly (at least that's what I get when I hear "urban"). Dance is a tricky format because it is diverse where it reaches out to all cultures, sexes, religions, sexual preferences, etc. It's just a matter of nailing the majority. Okay, so NYC has Latinos (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans). Boston/Providence has mainly Portugese (Cape Verdeans) who are into this style of music. Whites like it too! If a DANCE (and I stress current in this case) station were to happen in Boston, it CANNOT sound like what Star 93.7 did. The music was a bad mix and that's why the station failed.

This is why I continually stress that its a perfect fit for HD-2. And where do you get the idea that only 100 folks can get HD-2??? The HD-2 signals of all the Boston FM's blanket the city. Yes you have to buy a radio but for this niche programming that is the perfect solution. A powerful good sounding signal and yet you don't need the audience or cash flow you need for the main signals. This is where you could get your diversity without impacting my cash flow.

Do I even START on HD here? As far as I know amongst my friends, I am the ONLY one that has an HD radio. I'm a radio geek, I confess! Corporations collectively FAILED at promoting this. This was supposed to be the "alternative" to satellite and what is it? A "dumping ground" for formats (at least that's how it is in New York anyway). Maybe because Boston is a smaller city, HD works out well there. Not in NYC. One day I can hear old skool hip-hop on WQHT (Hot 97 HD-2) and the next day, doesn't come in.

Now as to another CHR or HipHop station I was never talking about that because this thread was never about that. It was SteveN looking again for a dance station and for him and his pals Funkytown ( yes 93.7 HD-2) is not a bad answer.

For you probably pirate radio..

No, something legal above 92.1. I just have to find a Boston area "counterpart" to get the noise circulating. And we will.

Oh, and BTW not your station. After all, we don't want to impact your cash flow.

Tony, please continue to be more active on this board, as it tends to always go in the direction of " Waah, if you don't like it, then find some investors to support the format that you think this town needs." You and a few others said it perfectly, yeah the formats have been tried here and it failed, but they were "programmed horribly" i.e. Hot 97, Star 93.7. What I'm not understanding is why this market is so different from others when it comes to dance or urban formats. I speak to enough people of all nationalities in this town and they have the same thought that the music that they play in NY is what we want here. What is so hard about copying the playlists of KTU, Hot 97, Kiss FM or Hot 93.7 Hartford and just retool the advertisements towards the different demos. I'm sure that if Jamn and Star had went this route from the beginning, then we wouldn't be having this discussion, because they would have been the ratings leader anyways for lack of competition similar to what is going on now.

 

[TonySantiago]

Tony, please continue to be more active on this board, as it tends to always go in the direction of " Waah, if you don't like it, then find some investors to support the format that you think this town needs." You and a few others said it perfectly, yeah the formats have been tried here and it failed, but they were "programmed horribly" i.e. Hot 97, Star 93.7. What I'm not understanding is why this market is so different from others when it comes to dance or urban formats. I speak to enough people of all nationalities in this town and they have the same thought that the music that they play in NY is what we want here. What is so hard about copying the playlists of KTU, Hot 97, Kiss FM or Hot 93.7 Hartford and just retool the advertisements towards the different demos. I'm sure that if Jamn and Star had went this route from the beginning, then we wouldn't be having this discussion, because they would have been the ratings leader anyways for lack of competition similar to what is going on now.

I'm not going anywhere And we are working on some sort of "revolution here" in terms of a Boston Dance Music Coalition.

There is a fan base, and if the doubters can't see it, don't worry because we are WORKING on it . Boston is very important for New England in terms of setting the trends and scenes. And should such a station make it to the top 5 in the marketplace, be sure Providence and Hartford will follow. There's certainly a fan base down in the Providence/Fall River/New Bedford markets (Fun 107 is pretty close to it; keep up the good work!) as well as in the Hartford/Springfield metro areas.

The time is now.

 

[robotique]

being a huge dance music fan and DJ myself i must weigh in....


anyone who is into dance music in boston has given up on commercial radio. there is a huge fan base here starving for something to turn on in the car on the way home from the clubs. Yes rhythmic AC Star 93.7 was okay...but again was horribly programmed. Toward the very end it was essentially the same as Kiss 108.

could a dance format work in boston? maybe. i really dont have a business head about it in order to give a proper assessment. its really about cost effectiveness and numbers.

In the meantime we have more college stations than i can name who can fill the dance music void. i find thats indicative of the age of that fanbase too. The younger people i know (under 30) dont even listen to the radio...and like myself, dont waste their personal time listening to what somebody else wants them to hear. Helloooooo ipod.

A related note about Jamn: people are starting to ignore Jamn 94.5 because they are going toward a hits format and away from hiphop. In fact, this i think has stimulated the interest in pirates. Real hiphop heads dont even listen to the radio anymore seemingly.

And about Boston being a rock n roll town....
That is what they want you to think. I never understood why there had to be essentially three rock stations with basically redundant programming. I guess with WBCN going its going down to two. I understand WAAF and WBCN and WFNX are all different corporations trying to get the most listeners however it plugs up the dial. Its redundant formatting that has killed radio period.

and a final note about HD radio.... I dont know anyone who has one. I bought a Hyundai 6 months ago and asked the salesman about it and he didn't even know what it was.

Me: "do i have any options with respect to High Definition radio?"
Salesman: "yup, you get six months free XM Satellite service"
Me: "i meant HD not satellite"
Salesman: "I can check on that for you...so do you want to start the paperwork??"

*head in hands*

 

[trock]

I remember back in the day Jamn had some kick ass dance shows on the weekends. Like the late night power play's with the mass pool dj's and the stopples music jam's with Damien Paul. Lots of deep house and progressive cuts. Like nightcrawlers and Robin S and Clubland. In fact they used to mix the dance in with the hip hop! They sounded really good back then. In fact I still listen to those old mixes I taped to this day. If Jam'n could get back to sounding like that again then I would feel a lot better. But it ain't happening.