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Different styles/niches of Adult Contemporary

N

new_friends_gr

A while back, I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who often posts on here. We were talking about the difference between "mainstream AC" and "soft AC".

I live in Grand Rapids where we have two mainstream AC stations and one Hot AC station. The lighter of the mainstream AC stations is WTRV/100.5 The River. Even though it's on the lighter side, it plays songs like Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", One Republic's "Good Life", and lots of stuff by Nickelback. My friend considers WTRV to be Soft AC, but I consider it to be more "mainstream" than "soft".

On the other hand, WSRV/105.7 is the heritage AC station that plays more upbeat music than WTRV (including stuff by Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Carly Rae Jepsen, Gotye, Katy Perry, and so on). Is WTRV considered "soft" because it doesn't play those artists, or would folks consider it "mainstream" while WSRW is more of a "bright AC" station by including those current artists?

For reference, here is the Mediabase listing for WTRV:
http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/7/stationplaylistrequest.asp?c_let=WTRV-FM

And here is the Mediabase listing for WSRW:
http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/7/stationplaylistrequest.asp?c_let=WSRW-FM

(Obviously, there are lots of Christmas songs on those playlists because both of those stations just flipped to all-Christmas a few days ago.)

I'm curious as to what different opinions are on this. It seems like we have the following styles or niches of Adult Contemporary:
  • Bright AC (these stations play a wide variety of hits and aren't afraid to play newer stuff)
  • Mainstream AC (these stations sound the most stale in my opinion because they play the same worn-out songs that have been on the air for years or decades)
  • Soft AC (like how my friend would classify WTRV)
  • Super-soft AC (like how he would classify WFEZ/Miami or WDUV/Tampa)

As for me, I actually think WFEZ and WDUV are just plain Soft AC. A "Super-soft AC" station in my opinion would be bordering on Standards or something.

What does everyone else think? Do these distinctions exist in reality even if the stations are not categorized/labeled as such?
 
new_friends_gr said:
As for me, I actually think WFEZ and WDUV are just plain Soft AC. A "Super-soft AC" station in my opinion would be bordering on Standards or something.
Click to expand...
WDUV isn't AC at all. WFEZ, on one site, was called soft AC and then changed to oldies, back before a change that may qualify it as AC.

WDUV should probably be categorized as a type of oldies as well.

And I don't care for either one.
 
I don't have a job in radio. So here's a perspective from a music fan's outside point of view:

These distinctions definitely exist for me. I even notice subtle differences in the various stations I listen to on the Internet.

Music isn't merely background noise for me. I notice what is playing in the background wherever I am. I keep my MP3 player charged at all times and may be tempted to slip my headphones in for a little bit if the music blaring in the background is awful (in my opinion).

As someone who still keeps up with new pop/rock/rhythmic music and likes some of it, my preference is of course for a brighter version of AC.
 
vchimpanzee said:
I have no interest in new music unless it is soft. I mean soft.
Click to expand...

The fact is the women who are coming into the AC demo are into far more upbeat music. Why is CHR winning adult demos coast to coast? What we call AC today can only compete if it's brighter and a tad more current. Songs we would never considered even 5 years ago are more than fine today. The ultra soft stations like DUV are programmed for seniors and it will only fly in areas with large pockets of retirees. Then again, the buys will probably not come because the agencies will consider the stations to be too old sounding.
 
Seltzer said:
The fact is the women who are coming into the AC demo are into far more upbeat music.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The people who get caught up in labels (or even more laughable, think that AC stations are now Hot AC because they play a Lady Gaga song) are clueless and miss the point. The target has moved, and you can't use old definitions to track what's happening today.
 
new_friends_gr said:
I live in Grand Rapids where we have two mainstream AC stations and one Hot AC station. The lighter of the mainstream AC stations is WTRV/100.5 The River. Even though it's on the lighter side, it plays songs like Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", One Republic's "Good Life", and lots of stuff by Nickelback. My friend considers WTRV to be Soft AC, but I consider it to be more "mainstream" than "soft".

On the other hand, WSRV/105.7 is the heritage AC station that plays more upbeat music than WTRV (including stuff by Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Carly Rae Jepsen, Gotye, Katy Perry, and so on). Is WTRV considered "soft" because it doesn't play those artists, or would folks consider it "mainstream" while WSRW is more of a "bright AC" station by including those current artists?
Click to expand...

Sounds like the first AC station you mentioned has a higher percent of male listeners
 
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