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Don't Look Now, But......

What good will each station's spring ad figures be (where this is all aimed at, supposedly)

Would someone please forward to me the names of the people who'll pay top dollar for Spring airtime based on the ratings on Christmas stunt programming? I'm talking about people who think that the ratings for Christmas music will somehow translate into similar performance when the stations go back to regular programming, and are willing to spend money on that belief. I have some swamp land I'm trying to sell.
 
It goes back to the idea the format isn't that strong in the first place.

Okay, sure. WISH's ratings and most likely revenue doesn't stink. The jocks they have on are very good at what they do.

But I'm sorry, at the end of the day they are playing MICHAEL BOLTON.

Soft rock? Christmas carols? It's both the sort of stuff you'll hear on elevators.

Incidentily- WISH has gone to the all Christmas music after Thanksgiving for several years.
 
Pratte4Life said:
It goes back to the idea the format isn't that strong in the first place.
Okay, sure. WISH's ratings and most likely revenue doesn't stink. The jocks they have on are very good at what they do.
But I'm sorry, at the end of the day they are playing MICHAEL BOLTON.
Soft rock? Christmas carols? It's both the sort of stuff you'll hear on elevators.
Incidentily- WISH has gone to the all Christmas music after Thanksgiving for several years.
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It's popular and it's profitable. It isn't a question of the format being "that strong," it's more a matter of the format being to your personal preference.

Not everyone worships AC/DC.
 
Radio_Realist said:
Not only has 3WS jumped the gun playing Christmas music early, they're also only playing a very short list of Christmas songs. So in addition to having to hear Christmas songs in November, we're also be subjected to the same handful of Christmas songs over and over and over and over and over and over.
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Actually 3WS is working from a very deep list that covers the '50s through '80s with a wide variety of styles.
 
Actually 3WS is working from a very deep list that covers the '50s through '80s with a wide variety of styles.

I've been forced to listen to it non-stop for several days. You are correct in that it is a wide list, with a wide variety of musical styles. But that doesn't change the fact that it only contains a very limited number of songs, otherwise I wouldn't keep hearing the same ones repeated over and over. Playing "I Want a Hippopotamous for Christmas" three times in three days should be grounds for a station losing its license.
 
I will always remember Boss Radio as the poster who tried to be a hard ass know-it-all with agendas but then ultimately wound up defending Michael Bolton.
 
Pratte4Life said:
I will always remember Boss Radio as the poster who tried to be a hard ass know-it-all with agendas but then ultimately wound up defending Michael Bolton.
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It's commercial radio, sonny. The idea is to draw an audience that appeals to advertisers. Your iPod is for the stuff you like, played in the order you like it. If you want to make a mix CD, that's one thing. Programming a radio station is another matter entirely.

I couldn't stand to listen to Y108 for more than five minutes, but I'd sure like to have a percentage of what they bill.
 
Radio_Realist said:
Playing "I Want a Hippopotamous for Christmas" three times in three days should be grounds for a station losing its license.
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Like 3WS doesn't have plenty of repetition and songs you don't like when they're in their normal format? What's the difference between "Hippopotamous" and "Play That Funky Music," really?
 
What's the difference between "Hippopotamous" and "Play That Funky Music," really?
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Not a thing, which is perhaps the point.

Although has anyone at Rhino thought of maybe cleaning up the digital master of "Hippopotamus"?
 
Then I'll remember Boss as the poster who criticized me for asking what the difference was between soft rock and Christmas carols, and then asked what the difference was between "I Wanna Hippo" and "Play that Funky Music" was.
 
What's the difference between "Hippopotamous" and "Play That Funky Music," really?

If you don't know, then you have no business working in any industry that has anything to do with music.

Asking that question is like someone who works in the restaurant industry asking "What's the difference between a baked potato and soup?" It may be a question to which they would like to know the answer, but not knowing the answer indicates that they have no business being anywhere near a kitchen.
 
Radio_Realist said:
What's the difference between "Hippopotamous" and "Play That Funky Music," really?

If you don't know, then you have no business working in any industry that has anything to do with music.

Asking that question is like someone who works in the restaurant industry asking "What's the difference between a baked potato and soup?" It may be a question to which they would like to know the answer, but not knowing the answer indicates that they have no business being anywhere near a kitchen.
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The point is that any static format (like 3WS is the other 46 weeks of the year) will regularly play songs that are grating and groan-inducing and make some listeners reach for the dial to either turn off the radio or switch stations. When it's all said and done, the silly holiday song will get as many spins as the annoying "Funky Music" would have in the same time frame. Pick your poison.
 
When it's all said and done, the silly holiday song will get as many spins as the annoying "Funky Music" would have in the same time frame. Pick your poison.

Which totally misses the point. Whether a song is intriguing or annoying is a matter of personal taste. But beyond the emotional response a song evokes, one can still evaluate whether a song fits within a format or not by a musical analysis of it.

"Funky Music" might be annoying, but it was a major hit in its day, not a throwaway novelty song. If one removes the vocals from "Funky Music", one is left with a well-crafted example of a 70's era hit song from the funk genre of music, a category of music that is part of the 3WS format. If one removes the vocals from "Hippopotamus", one is left with a third-rate novelty song in the style of the big band era, which is a genre that does not fit on 3WS at any other time.

If one were to re-write the lyrics of "Funky Music" to something with a holiday theme, then that song would fit on a 3WS Christmas music marathon. However, if one were to change the lyrics of "Hippotamus" to anything else, then 3WS would never ever play that song on their station.

Anyone who understands music should agree that for a Christmas song to be a good song, it must be a song that would still be appealing if the lyrics had nothing to do with Christmas. That's not to say that a silly novelty song has no place on a radio station. But silly novelty songs are best used as the occaisional change of pace, not something thrown into high rotation.
 
I think this thread lost the Christmas spirit a long time ago.

Bah, Humbug!
 
Radio_Realist said:
When it's all said and done, the silly holiday song will get as many spins as the annoying "Funky Music" would have in the same time frame. Pick your poison.

Which totally misses the point. Whether a song is intriguing or annoying is a matter of personal taste. But beyond the emotional response a song evokes, one can still evaluate whether a song fits within a format or not by a musical analysis of it.

"Funky Music" might be annoying, but it was a major hit in its day, not a throwaway novelty song. If one removes the vocals from "Funky Music", one is left with a well-crafted example of a 70's era hit song from the funk genre of music, a category of music that is part of the 3WS format. If one removes the vocals from "Hippopotamus", one is left with a third-rate novelty song in the style of the big band era, which is a genre that does not fit on 3WS at any other time.

If one were to re-write the lyrics of "Funky Music" to something with a holiday theme, then that song would fit on a 3WS Christmas music marathon. However, if one were to change the lyrics of "Hippotamus" to anything else, then 3WS would never ever play that song on their station.

Anyone who understands music should agree that for a Christmas song to be a good song, it must be a song that would still be appealing if the lyrics had nothing to do with Christmas. That's not to say that a silly novelty song has no place on a radio station. But silly novelty songs are best used as the occaisional change of pace, not something thrown into high rotation.
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OK, Maestro, you get back to me when you find someone who is going to remove the vocals from those songs or write new lyrics for them. Then you may have a relevant point.
 
get back to me when you find someone

I'd settle for someone who understood music, which you clearly do not.

Do you even understand that a song consists of music and lyrics? Can you tell the difference betweena bona-fide hit song that you personally don't like, and a third-rate novelty song that wasn't much of a hit when it was new?

Do you know the difference between "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen and "Another One Rides the Bus" by Weird Al Yankovic?

Do you even understand the concept of a "novelty" song?
 
Maestro, I wouldn't pretend to understand music as well as you do. I just think it's interesting that you've started tossing out vague references to being a musician. I'll bet you're a regular virtuoso on that accordian.
 
Maestro, I wouldn't pretend to understand music as well as you do.

Considering that you don't seem to understand music at all, that makes sense.

you've started tossing out vague references to being a musician.

They aren't "vague". I've worked as a bass player in rock bands. I've had formal training in music theory. I've made no secret of that fact. I can't help it if I listed my musical credentials in here before you started participating and reading posts. The world didn't begin when you joined here.
 
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