DANCE-PHILLY???

[instigator]

I WORK AT Z889 (PEMBERTON NJ) AND CANNOT BELIEVE THE GREAT RESPONSE I GET WHEN I TELL PEOPLE IM ON THERE. I PROGRAMMED 91.5WDBK (BLACKWOOD NJ) FROM 1994-98 WHERE WE HAD A HUGE FAN-BASE(WE WERE THE ONLY PLACE TO LISTEN TO DANCE MUSIC IN THE NEW JERSEY - PHILLY AREA). PEOPLE IN THIS AREA LOVE FREESTYLE,TRANCE,AND BASICALLY ANYTHING DANCEY. WHY OH WHY DO WE HAVE 4 HIP HOP STATIONS AND 3 ROCK STATIONS AND NO DANCE STATIONS? (PLEASE DONT SAY MY106.1 BECAUSE YES THEY WILL PLAY 80S AND 90S DANCE BUT WILL NOT GIVE CURRENTS A CHANCE). MY POINT IS MANY CLUBS AROUND HERE ARE ABANDONING THEIR HIP HOP NIGHTS AND REPLACING THEM WITH DANCE NIGHTS. IT WOULD BE REFRESHING TO SEE A FUN DANCE STATION EMERGE LIKE Q102 (WIOQ) WAS IN THE LATE 80S - EARLY 90S. WHY NOT???YOU COULD PLAY UPBEAT HIP HOP AND POP(NO ROCK LEANING OF COURSE) SURROUND IT WITH FREESTYLE ,ESTABLISHED HITS OF THE 80S AND 90S AND THROW IN 4 OR 5 CURRENTS.HOW ABOUT CASCADA, SEPTEMBER, KIM LEONI,PLUMB,AND BOB SINCLAIR (IF YOUR READING THIS I ASSUME YOU KNOW WHAT SINGLES IM TALKING ABOUT). IT WOULD WORK HERE! I SEE IT THROUGH MY CLUB WORK, MY AIRSHIFT ON Z AND FROM TALKING TO PEOPLE(YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE TRUELY SICK OF HIP HOP HERE). THIS AREA WOULD GO NUTS!EVERY SINGLE TIME A DANCE RECORD GETS INTO MAINSTREAM HERE IT BLOWS UP...PEOPLE JUST ARENT FAMILAR WITH THE NEW TRACKS HERE.I MEAN EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T HARD-CORE DANCE FANS LIKE THE SONGS WHEN THEY ARE HEARD HERE. I KNOW PEOPLE ALL OVER THINK DANCE WOULD WORK BUT IM TELLING YOU HERE IN THE PHILLY MARKET IT WOULD BE HUGE.

 

[lalumia]

the realities are that programming new dance tracks without a healthy dose of hip hop/r&b/reggae would be radio suicide unless you're a high school radio station and the cheerleaders are the air personalities

 

[instigator]

I SAID WITH HIP HOP....GOOD READING SKILLS L

 

[Dancerev889]

The problem is the track record of dance stations. How many commercial dance stations have done well in the ratings books? KTU had success because they were able to sell the format to advertisers. San Fran does a good job, but they are targeting a niche audience. I also think we still need more songs to cross-over to Top 40. Another issue, which I have been dealing with at the college is, the fact that the younger generation is programmed to like certain music. I had a member of the student government come to me and say we dont play enough familiar songs. He also said we play too much techno. So I had a listening session with the student. He listened to the dance remixes of Rhianna, Britney, Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys. I said I dont want to be a Top 40 station, I want to be different and expose different styles of music. I gave him our playlist and he was shocked to see that a lot of the songs we play are familiar. I also said I dont play techno. The point is that MTV, Top 40 radio and so forth push hell out of a few artists. How many very talented artists never made it because they didnt get the exposure? Bottom line its about marketing dollars. Cascada did very well against the grain but could you imagine if they used a major labels marketing budget? Im not talking about payola, just marketing.

But getting back to dance in Philly, the only way that will happen right now is programmers are allowed to program again. Maybe with the new ownership of the Clear Channel stations that might change. Put radio back in the hands of programmers and tell the sales side to take a hike

 

[CHRles]

There are 2 key sentences in DanceRev's post that sum it up best:

Another issue, which I have been dealing with at the college is, the fact that the younger generation is programmed to like certain music.

But getting back to dance in Philly, the only way that will happen right now is programmers are allowed to program again.

 

[instigator]

GOOD POINTS.THEY COULD GET A NEW EDUCATION THOUGH COULDNT THEY IF THEY WERE INTRODUCED TO DIFFERENT MUSIC.

 

[lalumia]

music fans don't want to be educated, they want to be entertained..if they want education they'll sign up for some night courses

 

[Dancerev889]

music fans don't want to be educated, they want to be entertained..if they want education they'll sign up for some night courses

Jimi but that was what made radio great only a few short years ago. We used to educate the audience to new music. Radio still does it but forgets to tell the audience what the song was.

 

[instigator]

THE POINT WAS THAT UNLIKE MANY MARKETS IT WOULD WORK HERE. WHY SHOULDNT WE HELP EDUCATE THE LISTENERS AND INTRODUCE NEW MUSIC? DOES EVERY STATION REALLY NEED TO BE PLAYING THE SAME MUSIC PICKED FROM A CONSULTANT THAT DOESN'T LIVE IN THE MARKET ESPECIALLY ONE AS DIVERSE AS PHILLY? THE BOTTOM LINE IS EVERY,AND I MEAN EVERY, DANCE SONG THAT GETS AIRPLAY HERE TURNS OUT HUGE. ANOTHER THING EVERYTIME I SPIN SEPTEMBER "CRY FOR YOU" OR KIM LEONI "AGAIN" AT EITHER OF MY CLUB GIGS SOMEBODY WALKS UP TO THE DJ BOOTH AND ASKS THE TITLE AND ARTIST. IF THERE WAS A STATION HERE SPINNING SOME OF THE BETTER NEW DANCE AND SOME OF THE EST. DANCE HITS THAT NEVER MADE THE AIR IN PHILLY(ex amber above the clouds) ITS NUMBERS WOULD BE BIG.

 

[nd2023]

Q102 has a dance mixshow Friday/Saturday nights 2-4 AM. Most of the listeners at that time would have just gotten out of the bars after they closed.
In Connecticut, I heard 2 different dance mixshows on KC101 and Kiss 95.7 at a more reasonable time on Saturday night (12 midnight), not to mention Party 105 also can be heard in that area. Z100 in New York doesn't have a dance mixshow.

We should have a Rhythmic CHR/Dance format, with more CHR than Z88.9. Have different dayparts, with more dance in the evenings and weekends, and mixshows every night. And little or no music that doesn't have a beat. Much like Q102 with the rock songs replaced with dance songs. Pop, hip hop, and dance would sound really great.

Could Z88.9 get a translator in downtown Philly? Anyone would rather have dance on 97.1 or 103.5 than that religious waste. At least there are 2 dance stations in the suburbs, Z88.9 in south Jersey and Super 91.7 in northern Delaware.

 

[Dancerev889]

Theres no room in Philly for a translator. Plus its not our primary focus. Our focus is South Jersey.

 

[nd2023]

I find it sad that there is more likely to be room for another religious translator but no room for a Z88.9 translator in Philly.

 

[Dancerev889]

Theres no room for any new signals in Philly not even a translator.

 

[CHRles]

Crossover Dance is on the upswing in Philly - both Q-102 and Wired 96.5 are playing Enur and Rhianna's "Please Don't Stop The Music". In fact, they're the biggest records at these stations. Wired 96.5 is owned by Beasley, the same company that owns Power 96 Miami. Currently Power 96 is finding a lot of success with "David Guetta's "Love Is Gone", so maybe Wired will pick up on that.
In the past year Power 96's sound has moved from sounding like a station catering exclusively to chongas back more to its roots (a true Rhythmic/Dance catering to a diverse group of people). For those not familiar with the chonga phenomenon, I'm sure you've seen these types of girls at some of the clubs in your area:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uVHdqmN7-XE

 

[dj_dalimah813]

how bout a station similar in sound to z103-5 out of toronto??

 

[CHRles]

First of all hell yeah to a Z-103.5 type of station.
Second of all, whats up Dalimah long time bro. Hope all is well back in Tampa 8)

 

[wprt949]

wired 96.5 was playing dance last saturday night at 2am and it was being mixed


q102s dance show plays alot of the stuff i hear on XM81 bpm

 

[Dancerev889]

wired 96.5 was playing dance last saturday night at 2am and it was being mixed


q102s dance show plays alot of the stuff i hear on XM81 bpm

Q's mixshows maybe pulled soon. The Dj's have been sued in a lawsuit plus Im hearing that the PD wants to pull them

 

[PhDance]

As CHRles said, best hope of dance in Philly is airplay on Wired. If enough people request Guetta, it's likely to get play considering its sister station found huge success with the track. I recall early on after Wired debuted that they tested a few dance songs (Kelly Osbourne One Word- Chris Cox RMX comes to mind) on the overnights. There's a few things helping this out- as it's been mentioned, the sister station is now a traditional rhythm/chr, and second, the hd-2 is an exclusive dance channel. Adding certain dance songs to the playlist will create good synergy between the stations- which will matter once advertising starts to become a factor on hd radio. Wired has already had a period where they repositioned the station (from CHUrban to CHR/Mainstream... back to CHUrban) so they are not averse to change. Thing is, David Guetta actually fits the format-- MUCH better than Fall Out Boy. It will reduce listener fatigue, increase TSL/cume and potentially attract more advertiser friendly demographics (potentially siphon some listeners from WISX and the upper end of the WIOQ demos). Seems like a no brainer!

As much as it hurts to say, maybe there's a few cities where this might not be the case (perhaps something warmer, like Tampa, Orlando, Miami, or Los Angeles), but I don't think a full blown Dance/CHR would find success in Philadelphia. At least not today....

 

[TonySantiago]

Read your thoughts Instigator!

The motivation on this thread goes to a thread that I've posted on both the Philadelphia & Boston boards about getting a dance station for those cities, upon landing Pulse 87 in New York. It was a thought that came up a few days ago and I had made those posts solely to "test the waters." The responses shocked me only because I thought I was going to get the opposite!

The Boston board was fairly receptive to the idea! I thought that with Boston, traditionally being a rock town, they would lambast dance music/rhythmic. However on the Philly board, thinking with the history (Q102, Boss 97 and perhaps disco) behind it, where I expected there would be an openness for it, there was LAMBASTING! That threw me back, gotta admit!

I've e-mailed Brett on this and we'll just let things happen. But with the "hatred" I see on the board, it still compells me to make points. I won't change attitudes in there but I certainly can't allow things to just bash and just "take it" either.