G-Rock Suggested Changes

[SoulCrusher]

But then what to the teen girls listen to?!

Hmmmm... Z 100 and Q 102 have got the market covered between the two of them. Wired comes in pretty good, and pretty much sounds like a teen girl's iPod. WAYV and the increasingly CHR sounding WSJO play Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects and other teen pop acts as well.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be all things to all people, but doing that within the context of an Alternative format is taking a huge gamble, because the audience for this format is notoriously selective when it comes to what they listen to. I find it hard to believe that any fan of the pre-Nirvana Alternative Rock could even bear to listen to Teen Beat fodder like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, both of which are mainstream guitar pop bands. That same group (and maybe even the latter group) would have to be very open minded to tolerate the earnest, groveling Bon Jovi-esque balladry of bands like Fuel, Staind and Incubus. The music industry must be changing, because bands that would have been labeled bubblegum pop or corporate rock 15-20 years ago are now considered Alternative. In stark contrast with what we have come to know as Alternative's core audience, these latter styles predominantly appeal to females, yet both are prominently featured on G Rock, an Alternative station. G Rock is far more pop-leaning than other Alternatives (they'll hang on to recurrents far longer than others, blissfully unaware of the old Burn concept) yet still eclectic, willing to play anything other than the heavier acts on the format (that means no System Of A Down, very little Tool, and even edits to take screaming out of songs like they did with AFI and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus). They're a very good station, far superior to your average CBS Alternative. It just seems that they're trying to capitalize on the lack of a CHR in the local market by playing up to the pop crowd, but that's not a smart move to make taking the tastes of the Alternative audience into account. We've seen improvements for the better since Terrie Carr took over (alas, no more Underground and a disappointing format change for Friday's Music Lab, but those are relatively minor quibbles) - hopefully the future will see G Rock ditching the bubblegum and "Mom Rock" completely and continuing to evolve into one of the best Alternative stations around. This station has all the tools to become a major success in the ratings, and with a few slight changes, I know it will get there.

 

[I WORK IN RADIO]

I am a BIG fan of The Pixies, The Replacements, and others and ALSO think that MCR's Black Parade album was one of the top 5 albums for 2006. SoulCrusher, I think what you need is an Alt Classic format on your radio. WILL NEVER HAPPEN on corp. radio in NJ, BUT that's what you need. FOB, MCR, and all the other "this generation ALT bands" do belong on ALT radio. It's not the same ALT, but it's the ALT for this generation. And if programmed correctly can survive hand in hand with 90's ALT and 80's ALT.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I am a BIG fan of The Pixies, The Replacements, and others and ALSO think that MCR's Black Parade album was one of the top 5 albums for 2006. SoulCrusher, I think what you need is an Alt Classic format on your radio. WILL NEVER HAPPEN on corp. radio in NJ, BUT that's what you need. FOB, MCR, and all the other "this generation ALT bands" do belong on ALT radio. It's not the same ALT, but it's the ALT for this generation. And if programmed correctly can survive hand in hand with 90's ALT and 80's ALT.

Classic Alternative would be great. I understand that it probably won't work, but a station that leans toward the '80s and '90s is a necessity. This was the period in which WHTG (as FM 106.3) thrived, and the current ownership made the mistake of leaning way too modern in recent years - the ratings suffered as a result. We're seeing positive changes at the current G Rock, but there's a lot of acts that they could be playing but currently are not. My theory was that the "Mom Rock" and Teen Pop chased listeners away. I understand playing some of it, but it was becoming the core of G Rock's sound - it probably bored any fan of FM 106.3 to death.

There are some current bands that I am a big fan of - Bloc Party, Silversun Pickups, and Blue October (a band that surprisingly crossed over despite having lyrics over the heads of the mainstream audience) to name a few.

When I hear Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, I hear bands making a concerted effort to appeal to the lowest common denominator trying to be as mainstream and radio-friendly as possible. The bands of the '80s that were on the Alternative format were arty and ambitious, and they did not sing about how much they loved their girlfriends (at least, not most of the time). And their songs certainly didn't get spins between Phil Collins and Bread (or whoever the Hot AC staples were at the time).

Is there really a difference between FOB & MCR and Simple Plan, Bowling For Soup, Cartel and other bands who are marketed as Pop and whose music is only sent to CHR and Hot AC? I'm struggling to find one. At least these bands know what they are and don't pretend to be something else.

If Nickelback are today's Journey and The Killers the new Duran Duran, what does that make FOB & MCR? I'm not quite sure, but they certainly aren't heirs to the best that the '80s & '90s had to offer - they're just radio-friendly pop/rock, music that seeks widespread approval and takes no chances.

Maybe these bands will prove me wrong one day, when they stop trying to be centerfolds in Seventeen and focus more on writing. For now, they're just mainstream fluff. Somehow, My Chemical Romance manages to make death seem cuddly.

 

[mjb1124]

To me, bands like Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard, Sum 41, and the All-American Rejects fit in just fine at Alternative. (So do MCR, but I would put them in a different category from those bands.) It may be true that their basic style isn't that far removed from Simple Plan, but their music isn't as overproduced, and it just strikes me as having more of an edge and coming more from the heart. It's hard to describe, but it's just a vibe I get. It also doesn't hurt that all of those bands had an underground following before breaking into the mainstream, and have all shown willingness to evolve from album to album. And really, is there that much of a difference between those bands and old Green Day and Offspring?

I could understand if those bands aren't your cup of tea, and I'm not huge on them either, but I really don't see why they shouldn't be played on Alternative. As "I WORK IN RADIO" stated, like it or not, this is one of the directions that Alternative rock has taken. To omit them from a Alternative playlist would just scream elitism.

Honestly, at this point, I can't really think of anything that G Rock should completely stop playing. If they could just stop the heavy rotation of recurrents, and drop their vendetta against heavy acts (how about some Rage songs to go along with those tickets you're giving away?), they'd be completely fine in my book.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Maybe I'm just used to a different model for Alternative Radio. I was in Orlando a short time ago where there are three Alternatives (two full-time, one a talk/rock hybrid). One is dedicated to the harder end of things (we really need a station like WJRR in Monmouth/Ocean), one (WTKS, which is the talk/rock station) is Alternative with lots of seldom heard gold tracks and no Mom Rock, and the other one (WOCL) is the closest to G Rock but is unafraid to play harder acts like Tool, Deftones and Bullet For My Valentine.

You want to play current Mom Rock and Teenie Rock, that's fine - be my guest. The disappointing thing is that G Rock finds the time to play all of this older Mom Rock (Puddle Of Mudd's "Blurry", Linkin Park's "In The End") and Teenie Rock (Blink 182's "All The Small Things", Wheatus's "Teenage Dirtbag") when they could be playing more Classic Alternative like what we heard on FM 106.3 (read: Sonic Youth, Catherine Wheel, Charlatans, They Might Be Giants, Primus, etc.) and more of the edgier Alternative Rock out there. The listeners request music along the lines of the latter categories, but aside from the special features, how often do we hear it? Not often at all. Heaven forbid they stop playing The Killers and Green Day once an hour.

On a related note: I mentioned Linkin Park before, and G Rock plays certain songs from them a lot. "One Step Closer" and "Faint" are among the biggest hits they have had on the Alternative format, but do they play them? Must be the vendetta against harder rock. The same applies to Staind - they have had some harder songs chart pretty well but you never hear them. I could take or leave both of these acts but I mention them to prove a point.

To me, bands like Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard, Sum 41, and the All-American Rejects fit in just fine at Alternative. (So do MCR, but I would put them in a different category from those bands.) It may be true that their basic style isn't that far removed from Simple Plan, but their music isn't as overproduced, and it just strikes me as having more of an edge and coming more from the heart. It's hard to describe, but it's just a vibe I get. It also doesn't hurt that all of those bands had an underground following before breaking into the mainstream, and have all shown willingness to evolve from album to album. And really, is there that much of a difference between those bands and old Green Day and Offspring?

I'll give you FOB and Yellowcard. But to my knowledge Sum 41 and AAR have no independent background to speak of - it's all just radio-ready pop/punk that I've heard. Nowadays the frontman of Sum 41 is married to pop tart Avril Lavigne, and the recent offerings of both bands have been very slick balladry in the vein of Bon Jovi (i.e. Sum 41's "Pieces" and AAR's "It Ends Tonight"). I know for a fact that AAR has charted poorly on Alternative and is now pushed as a Hot AC/CHR act. Most of these acts just scream "Radio Disney" to me and sound juvenile to my ears, but that's beside the point. If you play bands like this too much on Alternative, you are going to lose the older (read: over 25) part of your audience.

On Green Day and Offspring: Both of these bands have had a slight edge over the years that set them apart from the current crop of pop/punkers. They both released several albums on indies and are on a different level lyrically. Yes, Green Day might have put out several Mom Rock songs and Offspring might be releasing several cheesy novelty songs, but they have had their moments. I tend to think that Blink 182, with their overproduced sound and songs about puppy love, were a bigger influence on all these bands anyway.

To omit them from a Alternative playlist would just scream elitism.

But what Alternative doesn't practice elitism? WFNX and Indie don't play Mom Rock or much Teenie Rock. WJRR, despite being categorized as Alternative, seems to have heavy guitar-based acts at the core of their playlist and suffice to say, you won't be hearing Depeche Mode or The Smiths, let alone The Killers or Franz Ferdinand. And on the other side of the coin you have G Rock who practically never play Tool, Rage or System Of A Down. So they think their listeners would rather hear corporate fluff like Evanescence and Fuel than the latter group of acts who have proven success on Alternative and receive minimal play anywhere else. This kind of elitism in a market with no competition doesn't make sense to me.

Honestly, at this point, I can't really think of anything that G Rock should completely stop playing. If they could just stop the heavy rotation of recurrents, and drop their vendetta against heavy acts (how about some Rage songs to go along with those tickets you're giving away?), they'd be completely fine in my book.

I totally agree with that - if they improved on these fronts it would be much easier to look past my least favorite subgenres of Alternative. It would also be nice if they dug just a little deeper into their vaults - there are some great acts that receive little to no airplay, and it's a shame. I remember when FM 106.3 was pulling in better ratings on one frequency than G Rock currently is on two. One of the factors that kept listeners tuning in was not knowing what they would hear next. G Rock needs to get back to that as well. They have improved drastically in that department, but I know they're capable of even better.

On a related note: I did hear them play "Killing In The Name" by Rage the other day, but they absolutely butchered the song by completely removing the "F--k you I won't do what you tell me" part. I understand taking out the objectionable word, but no station has ever done that before and it ruined the song for me. If they did it for time constraints, that doesn't explain why it's alright to play certain 6 minute Pearl Jam songs (read: the overplayed ones from Ten) ad nauseum. Whatever the case may be, I get the feeling that they're done with Rage now that the ticket promotion is over. Never mind the fact that they were bombarded with calls throughout the day for tickets - that must mean that people hate the band, right?

 

[SoulCrusher]

More changes at the ever evolving G Rock:

Apparently Brooke Connolly is no longer with the station. Judging by the G Rock website hosting a series of comedic videos that she was involved with, she clearly has aspirations of a career in entertainment, perhaps in front of a camera. Anyway, good luck to her.

This right here is a terrible idea: First G Rock eliminates The Underground, now it looks like they have done away with the G Rock Music Lab - its section has been deleted from the webpage. Which begs the question: What will be the source of new music for the listener at G Rock? There is no show or segment that features it at all currently. Unless G Rock is aiming to become a Classic Alternative, then it would all make sense. Of course, that doesn't explain how Fall Out Boy (or should we call them "That band with Ashlee Simpson's lover"?), a boy band with guitars that anyone who enjoys 80's Alternative hates with a passion, currently has one of the most played songs at the station. Ditto for up and coming FOB/Simple Plan sound-alikes Plain White T's - how dreadful their lame sub-Air Supply mush is.

If they are through with The Underground and Music Lab, something needs to be done to take its place. I propose at least one or two specialty shows at night between Friday and Sunday - something pertaining to a particular Alternative subgenre, an All Request show, or something talk-intensive like the Anti-Social Club. In addition, I would really like to see G Rock implement a feature where they play about an hour or two of new music every night. There are a lot of Alternative stations doing this and it would fill the hole that the absence of the aforementioned two features has left.

In closing, the music is continuing to improve. While Tool and Rage Against The Machine are still seldom heard (come on guys - both of these bands broke on Alternative), they're playing everything from a far more diverse selection of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains songs (they played "Rusty Cage" this morning!) to acts like The Stone Roses, Catherine Wheel, Mother Love Bone and Siouxsie And The Banshees during the regular rotation. It's beginning to sound like a station that even FM 106.3 fans could get behind, and that's what was missing from WHTG since Press took over. With a few more changes (namely, new special features and airtime for some edgier bands) there's no doubt that this station will rebound from their recent struggles.

 

[I WORK IN RADIO]

Not that this is a "suggested change" as it is more a "huhhh". Why is GROCK still spinning "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab 17 times a week. But you don't find more GREAT new songs. Just wondering, not judging

 

[SoulCrusher]

Not that this is a "suggested change" as it is more a "huhhh". Why is GROCK still spinning "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab 17 times a week. But you don't find more GREAT new songs. Just wondering, not judging

G Rock does that sometimes - they take a song that's over a year old and continue to slam it like there's no tomorrow. The somewhat alienating lovey-dovey ballad "Soul Meets Body" is a baffling selection to start giving power rotation, but the folks at G Rock must know something that I don't. It also reignites the debate over who G Rock is targeting - I can say with absolute certainty that this song tested better with Females than Males.

There's a lot of new acts that G Rock could be playing instead of slamming certain recurrents like "Welcome To The Black Parade" and "When You Were Young" incessantly. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was a good add - I'm glad to see that they're getting airplay. But what about Tool, The Almost, Kings Of Leon, Madina Lake, Strata, Bullet For My Valentine, Arcade Fire - I could keep going, but the point has been made: it indicates that G Rock could be doing better in the new music department when many stations are playing these acts and G Rock still isn't. It also would help take the sting away from G Rock adding the very cheesy teenybopper ballad "Hey There Delilah". You want to talk about a song that will cause the Male listener to tune out immediately - that's it right there. I still don't get how this song is charting so well, but then again the equally cheesy "The Reason" (Hoobastank) and "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" were also surprising hits on the format.

G Rock has improved their library dramatically. Assuming that they are not abandoning new music despite pulling two special features off the air, I would like to see improvements in that department as well.

 

[SoulCrusher]

If I had to whittle down G Rock's biggest flaw in one word: repetition. This past week, G Rock has played:

Muse - Starlight: 30 Times
Fall Out Boy -This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race: 29 Times (Don't the Soccer Mom stations play this song enough?)
Angels And Airwaves - The War: 19 Times
Death Cab For Cutie - Soul Meets Body: 18 Times (That's right, a song that's a year and a half old got played 2.5 times a day)
Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko: 16 Times
30 Seconds To Mars - From Yesterday: 16 Times
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down: 15 Times
Pete Yorn - For Us: 15 Times
Incubus - Anna Molly: 14 Times

Note that all of the above titles (with the exception of boy band FOB) are at least 6 months old.

I don't have a reading on MCR's "Welcome To The Black Parade", but no doubt it's in this company - it was played once in the 6 PM hour and again in the 12 AM hour. In addition, there's a slew of Gold tracks that probably get at least daily spins if not more than that - among them Sublime's "What I Got" and several Stone Temple Pilots and Green Day songs.

I have listened to several other Alternatives, and with the exception of certain CBS & Clear Channel outlets they don't take the approach of pounding the hits incessantly for months and months. Maybe if G Rock scaled back a little bit on the repetition of the aforementioned tracks and others, they would find the time to play more new music (and add better tracks if you're going to limit yourselves so much instead of this Plain White T's garbage) and go deeper with the Gold tracks like some other stations out there. I'm listening to WLIR right now - tons of titles that G Rock hasn't thought of playing and far less of the played to death tracks of the '90s and today.

G Rock has come a long way in two years, but they need to cut themselves free of this "slam the hits" approach. I'm 100% sure that this is management's idea and not Terrie Carr's, and the fact that they refuse to recognize Burn will only have an adverse effect on ratings. They wouldn't let Terrie implement all of her ideas - I'm not saying she proposed this, but did you really think management would give her the OK if she came in and said "Let's play Tool as much as we play Incubus and Green Day"? They really should be more willing to relinquish control to those who are passionate about the format and just stick to checks and balances.

On a related note: An upcoming Kings Of Leon concert is advertised on the webpage. That's funny - G Rock played "The Bucket" for 5 minutes in 2005 and since then hasn't played anything by KOL even once. Why bother giving away tickets for a band that your listeners probably aren't even familiar with - just coddle them some more and talk about how great Green Day and their Mom-friendly pop/rock is.

 

[That_Guy]

Radio is meant to be listend to in 15-30 minutes per listening session, not 9 hours at a clip. 9 hours a day, over 7 days would result in a TSL of 63:00.

You have to play the most popular songs more often. Typically for an active station, that amounts to once per day-part, or 5x per day for between 35-40 spins per week. That's non CHR of course, where everything is doubled.

If a listener turns it on to drive to where they are going, and does not hear at least 2 of their "favorite" (read- Most popular at the moment, NOT YOUR favorite), then they will switch the station and find that elsewhere.

You're just listening ABNORMALLY long.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Radio is meant to be listend to in 15-30 minutes per listening session, not 9 hours at a clip. 9 hours a day, over 7 days would result in a TSL of 63:00.

You have to play the most popular songs more often. Typically for an active station, that amounts to once per day-part, or 5x per day for between 35-40 spins per week. That's non CHR of course, where everything is doubled.

If a listener turns it on to drive to where they are going, and does not hear at least 2 of their "favorite" (read- Most popular at the moment, NOT YOUR favorite), then they will switch the station and find that elsewhere.

You're just listening ABNORMALLY long.

Well, there are the people who listen at work. For the sake of these listeners, it's important to keep things interesting in order to keep them from tuning out.

Alternative listeners tend to be a little bit more selective, yet at the same time are more loyal than other audiences. They're going to change the station to hear what - Kelly Clarkson, Styx, Faith Hill or something (Note: Those are pretty much the only options, at least here in Ocean County)? The stations that tend to have more overlap between artists they play (read: all the AC variants) are the stations that should be most concerned with familiarity for fear that listeners will jump ship if their favorite smash hit song isn't played.

30 times a week is fine for a song that's current. But there's no good reason to play a song that's a year and a half old 18 times, especially a polarizing song like "Soul Meets Body" (let's be honest - it's a "jam for the ladies"). And you can't tell me that those songs that I listed haven't burned on a good percentage of listeners by now. We're talking about an average of 20 spins a week for six months, especially in the case of the established acts like Incubus.

That being said, while G Rock may have days where they fall back too much on the most overplayed hits, they have days that really surprise me - today has been one of them. There have been enough surprises in the playlist (i.e. The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, R.E.M. - Don't Go Back To Rockville) to keep the most frequent listener tuned in. And this is what I hope to see all the time from G Rock. Anyone who hadn't lived under a rock for the previous 15 years could not listen to G Rock two years ago for more than 5 minutes at a time because of all the safe worn-out material that was played. They're sounding much improved under the direction of Terrie Carr and with the inclusion of more '80s tracks. If they keep this up, play some more new music (either in the regular rotation or a new program to take the place of The Underground and Music Lab) and become a little less squeamish about playing harder Alternative acts, the mix will never get stale and they may even win over new listeners.

 

[hubcity]

Alternative listeners tend to be a little bit more selective, yet at the same time are more loyal than other audiences. They're going to change the station to hear what - Kelly Clarkson, Styx, Faith Hill or something (Note: Those are pretty much the only options, at least here in Ocean County)?

That assumes that the only option listeners have is another local radio station. In many cases, that may be true, but more often now, it's not, which is why it's still not a good idea to burn things out too heavily (as they tend to do.) That may be changing, though. The moves they're making are quite interesting, and I find I'm certainly able to listen longer these days (though Staind and Trapt have passed their sell-by dates.)

 

[mjb1124]

Wow, things are starting to really look up. They played both Tool ("Sober") and Rage Against The Machine ("Sleep Now In The Fire") this afternoon. They also played Alice In Chains' "Again" this morning which I believe was previously restricted to nighttime rotation. Plus they're continuing to do great with the retro stuff, and I think they're even starting to ease up a little on the recurrents (though "Black Parade" is still played way too often). If they could just get a little more progressive with their currents, then we'd really be in business here.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Wow, things are starting to really look up. They played both Tool ("Sober") and Rage Against The Machine ("Sleep Now In The Fire") this afternoon. They also played Alice In Chains' "Again" this morning which I believe was previously restricted to nighttime rotation. Plus they're continuing to do great with the retro stuff, and I think they're even starting to ease up a little on the recurrents (though "Black Parade" is still played way too often). If they could just get a little more progressive with their currents, then we'd really be in business here.

Agreed on all counts. While they do tend to pound recurrents too heavily at times ("Anna Molly" and the aforementioned "Black Parade" are examples) and they throw a little too much soft stuff into the mix (the soccer-mom fluff from acts like Coldplay, Green Day, Fuel and others - come on guys, the new Plain White T's song gets played enough to satisfy anyone's "nursing home rock" cravings), they are sounding better in every way. Most notably is how they have loosened up enough to play songs like AIC's "Again" during the day and the surprising retro tracks that pop up every now and again. This is easily the best the station has sounded since Press took over. Here's some surprising tracks played today:

4:58pm Our Lady Peace Starseed
1:24pm REM (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
11:29am U2 Zooropa
10:53am The Dandy Warhols We Used To Be Friends
9:38am Supergrass Pumping On Your Stereo

This is more like it. G Rock finally sounds like an Alternative station now, as opposed to a Modern AC masquerading as Alternative. This station will sound even better once they lose the lite-rock fluff completely. All they need is a daily new music show (as I said before, G Rock doesn't exactly have a very deep playlist of new music) and they'll be set.

 

[Beejus]

(come on guys, the new Plain White T's song gets played enough to satisfy anyone's "nursing home rock" cravings),

Just because you don't like a song doesn't mean the rest of the world matches your view. The Plain White T's are KILLING at Alternative. They've screamed up to #6 and look like they have a chance at #1 with Hey There Delilah. GRock has only spun it 6 times this week.

(as I said before, G Rock doesn't exactly have a very deep playlist of new music)

They're spinning the Fratellis, Pearl Jam's new one, Peter Bjorn & John, Guster, Val Emmich, The Kooks, BRMC, Pilot Speed, Strata, Straylight Run and others that most Alternative stations haven't touched. Combine that with Papa Roach, Muse, Fall Out Boy, Incubus, Rise Against and 30 Seconds to Mars, and they're a very well balanced Alternative station that sounds great, IMO.

And not to be a d**k, but does anyone else think this thread has been dragged on WAY too long?

 

[SoulCrusher]

Just because you don't like a song doesn't mean the rest of the world matches your view. The Plain White T's are KILLING at Alternative. They've screamed up to #6 and look like they have a chance at #1 with Hey There Delilah. GRock has only spun it 6 times this week.

Can't argue with you here. The song is popular and I just don't get it - just like "The Reason" and "Good Riddance" before it, it's an incredibly schmaltzy ballad that's somehow becoming popular with the Alternative audience. The song makes me ill but somehow it struck a chord with the listener, and there's a good chance that it will move upward on the charts. I do expect it to burn out very fast and I imagine there's as many people that dislike the song as there are those who think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Hopefully it will peak and drop off quickly, because this song is an instant turn-off for me as soon as I hear one note. It's as cheesy as anything Michael Bolton has ever done.

They're spinning the Fratellis, Pearl Jam's new one, Peter Bjorn & John, Guster, Val Emmich, The Kooks, BRMC, Pilot Speed, Strata, Straylight Run and others that most Alternative stations haven't touched. Combine that with Papa Roach, Muse, Fall Out Boy, Incubus, Rise Against and 30 Seconds to Mars, and they're a very well balanced Alternative station that sounds great, IMO.

And not to be a dick, but does anyone else think this thread has been dragged on WAY too long?

The latter group probably receives spins on every Alternative around the country. And as far as the former group is concerned - thumbs up for playing those acts, but I have nothing indicating that they are playing Strata and Straylight Run. And while it's good to see that they are playing some good new selections, there's still a lot of stuff that they have yet to add. Where are The Used, The Almost, Kings Of Leon, Arcade Fire, Bullet For My Valentine, Marilyn Manson, etc.? Instead of giving certain gold tracks 10 spins and certain recurrents at least 2 or 3 spins a day, maybe they could make room for some more new music on their playlist. If they insist on playing so much mellow stuff, they should play some heavier acts to keep things balanced. It's safe to assume that BFMV and MM have more female fans than Plain White T's have male fans, so it makes perfect sense to play these bands as they're less polarizing.

The absence of both The Underground and Music Lab is felt at this station in the comparative lack of new music and deeper '90s tracks, and I hope to see something done to remedy this. I know several stations that have nightly new music shows during late night hours - I don't see any reason why G Rock should not give something like this a try. It will keep the station sounding more fresh and interesting to the average listener.

 

[The_Drake]

And not to be a d**k, but does anyone else think this thread has been dragged on WAY too long?

I thought that months ago.. so you can imagine my surprise to see visit here after so long as still see it raging!

 

[Matt Knight]

"Not enough retro music", "Not enough new music", "Too much overplayed FLUFF AD NAUSEUM WITH SAPPY BALLADS INTERTWINED AMONG SOCCER MOM MUSIC THAT IS VERY BUBBLE-GUM TEENY POP." (Did I miss any other adjectives that SoulCrusher uses?)

If we change it to "Soul-Rock 106.3/106.5" would that make you not nitpick EVERY single move that's made here?

Now you're just grabbing at straws. If we played ALL new music and added 7 songs a week, there would be no familiarity. If we played ALL retro music, where would people go for new music? Give it a rest man. Most people seem to be pretty pleased with the station. But you'll do what you have to so you can prove a point that's been beaten into everyone on this boards brains for the past two years.

And for the record, the reason everything we play is "overplayed" to you...is most likely that you're listening for 10 hours a day. And in those 10 hours, the most "repeated" song will only play two times. But if it's 5 days a week at 10 hours a day, then it will sound repetitive. I really hope you get a ratings diary this Spring. It will drive our TSL to numbers never before seen in the history of Arbitron.

I heard that 100th reply wins a free prize. GOOD LUCK! See SoulCrusher to claim.

 

[mjb1124]

Thanks for posting, Matt...You do have a good point about familiarity. I don't really agree with the complaints about playing certain gold tracks too much, becaus let's face it, those are songs people expect to hear. (Not to mention that I used to hear those songs a heck of a lot more on K-Rock.) And if people are hearing their favorites, they're more likely to stay tuned for a more obscure retro cut or a new single from an up-and-coming band.

That said, I do think that being a little more progressive with new music wouldn't hurt. Yes, seven new songs per week would be excessive, but three or four wouldn't hurt. And they could come at the expense of multiple daily spins of songs like "This Ain't A Scene", "Anna Molly", "The War", and "For Us" that even the most casual listeners have to be all too familiar with at this point.

Just my two cents though. In spite of my nitpicking, I really do enjoy this station - it's practically all I listen to in the car. And no, I don't listen 10 hours a day.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Hello, Mr. Knight.

I do listen to G Rock a lot but I wouldn't say that I spend 10 hours listening to it. I've always felt that there were some areas that are very strong and others that could benefit from some improvement. The on-air presentation, jocks and retro cuts are top notch - we're hearing a lot more '80s than we did a year ago and that's terrific. Areas that could benefit from some tinkering are the soft lean at times (the latest from Incubus and Plain White T's are enough to satisfy anyone's "lite rock" cravings - if they wanted to hear more they would turn on WOBM or WLTW. There's no need to play all these Mom Rock hits from the likes of Coldplay, Green Day and Fuel so often - not that I'm saying to stop playing these bands, what's wrong with playing deeper cuts instead of safe pablum like "Clocks" and "Good Riddance"? I know stations that play songs like "Daylight" and "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" rather than the obvious pop tracks) and the relative lack of new music (anything added this week besides White Stripes?). Even though I don't listen for hours on end I still get bombarded by recurrents like "Welcome To The Black Parade" and "Anna Molly" - neither of these songs are strong enough to withstand the power rotation they have received for six months now.

But it bears repeating that the station has come a long way - you're digging deeper with acts like Stone Temple Pilots, U2 and Depeche Mode to name a few, and you occasionally play something edgier (Tool and Rage Against The Machine are worthy of airplay - they broke on Alternative while Active was still cranking out Bad Company). I definitely enjoy the features that are on during the day and listen often knowing that there will be a few surprises.

If there's anything that I would like to see, it's a specialty show for Friday and/or Saturday nights and a new music show to replace The Underground and The Music Lab. It's on a feature like this where you find out what tracks will perform well enough with the audience to warrant an add. One thing I always liked about G Rock is that it didn't always follow the charts - with the elimination of these two features, it seems like that is about to happen now. I like the balance that G Rock has now but would prefer to see lighter rotation for some recurrents with the space going to some good up and coming acts. We're hearing a good mix of the familiar with new tracks and deeper cuts and while there is some room for improvement, the station sounds a million times better than it did 2 years ago. I'm not missing Nickelback, 3 Doors Down or the other trucker rock bands in the least.