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I Love 94.7 The Wave!

G

Gregg

OK, I may be in the minority here. But I still like 94.7 The Wave.

I'm a fan of Smooth Jazz. If so many stations around the country weren't totally abandoning the format for something different, maybe I'd feel differently. But I like what P.D. Jhani Kaye is doing on KTWV.

It seems like nearly all the vocal artists I hear are ones the Wave had been playing anyway. Anita Baker, Michael McDonald, Sade, Phil Collins, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones. I like their music anyway. I've always liked the Wave's DJs. I think Keri Tombasian may have the best voice of any female DJ I know. But I like all of the others, too. And OK, so they're starting to talk over some song intros. I still feel like they're intelligent adults. I can put up with the talk-ups.

The major change is the ratio of instrumentals to vocals. Yes, I have to listen to four vocals before I can hear an instrumental. And I have to wonder if the changes I hear are all Kaye intends to do for now, or just the tip of the iceburg. Will someday all the jazz instrumentals will be gone? I hope not.

But for now, I'm OK with it. As long as I get some George Benson, Spyro Gyra and David Benoit, I'm happy. I just hope enough 25-54 adults will also like what they're hearing so we can keep The Wave in some form, even if it isn't exactly the same.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
Gregg said:
OK, I may be in the minority here. But I still like 94.7 The Wave.

I'm a fan of Smooth Jazz. If so many stations around the country weren't totally abandoning the format for something different, maybe I'd feel differently. But I like what P.D. Jhani Kaye is doing on KTWV.

It seems like nearly all the vocal artists I hear are ones the Wave had been playing anyway. Anita Baker, Michael McDonald, Sade, Phil Collins, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones. I like their music anyway. I've always liked the Wave's DJs. I think Keri Tombasian may have the best voice of any female DJ I know. But I like all of the others, too. And OK, so they're starting to talk over some song intros. I still feel like they're intelligent adults. I can put up with the talk-ups.

The major change is the ratio of instrumentals to vocals. Yes, I have to listen to four vocals before I can hear an instrumental. And I have to wonder if the changes I hear are all Kaye intends to do for now, or just the tip of the iceburg. Will someday all the jazz instrumentals will be gone? I hope not.

But for now, I'm OK with it. As long as I get some George Benson, Spyro Gyra and David Benoit, I'm happy. I just hope enough 25-54 adults will also like what they're hearing so we can keep The Wave in some form, even if it isn't exactly the same.


Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...

The problem is, Gregg, the more spins for Anita Baker, Phil Collins, Michael McDonald, Alicia Keys, and Norah Jones (none of whom REALLY need them), the less spins for great, up-and-coming contemporary jazz artists like Darren Rahn, Jonathan Fritzen, Cindy Bradley, and Drew Davidsen, not to mention the established artists you speak of. I have no doubts a lot of listeners still like KTWV---they play a lot of familiar and popular A/C vocal cuts, which obviously fetch ratings. The average listener likes familiarity, but contemporary jazz purists typically buck this trend, and ALWAYS have. They crave new music and expansive playlists. Therein lies the rub.

Simply put, KTWV is no longer a Smooth Jazz station. And for many who revered KTWV as a pioneer for this format back in the 1980s, it is a sad and bitter ending.
 
A lot of people like Lite FM, but that doesn't make it smooth jazz. A lot of people like the music on WCBS FM, but that doesn't make it smooth jazz. A lot of old people like the tired old soft AC on 94.7 The Wave. Every 60 year old lady loves those Chi-Lites, Roberta Flack, and Isley Brothers tracks. They listened to that stuff in high school 40 years ago. But just because the 60 year old lady loves the songs that The Wave is playing doesn't make it smooth jazz.

Most people who enjoy smooth jazz such as Nils and Jesse Cook are not looking to hear Oh Girl from 1972! That song is almost 40 years old. We know it's not smooth jazz, but it should not be played on an AC station anymore. Perhaps it should be left to the oldies channel.

Please stop posting about the soft AC station that plays bland oldies. This is the smooth jazz board. There is another board to discuss oldies or soft AC stations.
 
There is a radio station owned by CBS in the second largest market in the U.S. that plays smooth jazz instrumentals several times per hour. It has a giant signal and it reaches a large number of Southern Californians, and more fans via auido streaming.

Isn't that a good thing?

Even if you're a jazz purist or a smooth jazz purist, this is as much as you're going to get in 2010. Every spin of George Benson's Breezin' or other Smooth Jazz classic, brings this music to a casual listener. Maybe after listening to KTWV, they'll explore jazz more deeply. Maybe they'll feel as if Jazz is part of their musical taste, like Rock or Pop.

I don't care what label you put on Anita Baker or Sade or Basia or Michael McDonald. They make good music. Is it jazz, smooth jazz or simply jazz-influenced? I don't care. There should be a full-power radio station in LA that plays their music. If The Wave becomes a clone of KOST or another AC station, those artists will get little or no airplay because AC stations try to play only the softer songs by the biggest Top 40 artists. Sade is lucky to be coming off a #1 CD. But even she probably doesn't get the airplay of Kelly Clarkson. I'm not sure if AC stations play much Anita Baker or Michael McDonald anymore. I'm pretty sure Basia is gone from AC playlists.

But they're all played regularly on The Wave. If there were no Wave, the radio dial would be filled with only stations playing Lady Gaga and Beyonce. I'd rather take half a loaf than no bread at all.



Gregg
[email protected]
 
I see the point you both are trying to make and you both are right. I would explain it like this: 94.7 the Wave is a good station in a vacuum. The problem is, it has replaced what used to be a better station (the old 94.7 The Wave.) Now if you were to take the current Wave and plop it down in a market that hasn't had ANY smooth jazz in a long time (like here in Knoxville, TN) it would be like a blessing from above!
 
Gregg said:
There is a radio station owned by CBS in the second largest market in the U.S. that plays smooth jazz instrumentals several times per hour. It has a giant signal and it reaches a large number of Southern Californians, and more fans via auido streaming.

Isn't that a good thing?

Even if you're a jazz purist or a smooth jazz purist, this is as much as you're going to get in 2010. Every spin of George Benson's Breezin' or other Smooth Jazz classic, brings this music to a casual listener. Maybe after listening to KTWV, they'll explore jazz more deeply. Maybe they'll feel as if Jazz is part of their musical taste, like Rock or Pop.

I don't care what label you put on Anita Baker or Sade or Basia or Michael McDonald. They make good music. Is it jazz, smooth jazz or simply jazz-influenced? I don't care. There should be a full-power radio station in LA that plays their music. If The Wave becomes a clone of KOST or another AC station, those artists will get little or no airplay because AC stations try to play only the softer songs by the biggest Top 40 artists. Sade is lucky to be coming off a #1 CD. But even she probably doesn't get the airplay of Kelly Clarkson. I'm not sure if AC stations play much Anita Baker or Michael McDonald anymore. I'm pretty sure Basia is gone from AC playlists.

But they're all played regularly on The Wave. If there were no Wave, the radio dial would be filled with only stations playing Lady Gaga and Beyonce. I'd rather take half a loaf than no bread at all.



Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...

Gregg, with all due respect, I would not say KTWV "plays Smooth Jazz instrumentals several times per hour." Here is their "most" played directly from their website. One instrumental in the bunch, and the one listed---while a decent cut back in the day, has been WAY overplayed and is well over 15 years old:

1.Spencer Day – “Til You Come To Me”
2.Norah Jones – “Chasing Pirates”
3.Sade – “Soldier of Love”
4.Paul Taylor – “Exotica”
5.Mick Hucknall – “Futher Up The Road”
6.Corinne Bailey Rae – “Put Your Records On”
7.Santana featuring Michelle Branch – “Game of Love”
8.George Benson – “On Broadway”
9.Michael Buble – “Home”
10.Michael Buble – “Haven’t Met You Yet”

4-5 vocals to every one instrumental will net you 2-3 instrumentals each hour, tops (with spots). Hardly constitutes "several" in my mind. And that has been my and others' gripe for the past two years now. There has been a gradual but steady move by terrestrial radio to morph Smooth Jazz into a Soft A/C format, and bury it for good (and that transformation is nearly complete). But RMarino brings up a decent point. For markets lacking even The Wave's current product, there is an audience for it. I do not dispute that, and big revenue stations with equally huge overhead like KTWV need to find a way to continue to be profitable. And if that means playing the overplayed and familiar, so be it. But the fact remains that it is no longer a Smooth Jazz station, and KTWV makes no bones about that. Not sure why it continues to be such a hot topic on a Smooth Jazz board. If they are not featuring contemporary jazz artists, I could really care less what they are doing these days, their history notwithstanding.
 
AC Tones said:
Not sure why it continues to be such a hot topic on a Smooth Jazz board. If they are not featuring contemporary jazz artists, I could really care less what they are doing these days, their history notwithstanding.
Click to expand...

Great point. They aren't playing new instrumentals. Breezin' was an easy listening song long before the smooth jazz format. I wish smooth jazz stations would drop songs like Breezin'. It's elevator music.
 
One could definitely state a case for the fact that we had reached a tipping point where overfamiliar, overplayed, 20-40 year old songs are still the 'safe" default but are becoming a tune-out and sending adults to other media for their music. Yeah, 20 years ago we all worked on the assumption that repeatedly playing overfamiliar music was the way to go, but 20 years later stations are still repeatedly playing those same songs. The tread on 'em has worn to bald and although hook testing may make them still look good all you have to do is look at the ratings crash the SJ format suffered when it went to by-the-numbers playlists based on hook testing. Carol Archer's column on Rob Moore's "Avenue" format had some real nuggets of wisdom they derived from actually studying the target demo instead of walloping them with 250 10 second hooks. One short quote that I hope won't violate BB rules "We confirmed at that time that the old radio adage 'familiarity is good' is not always the case. To the 35-plus demo, there is indeed a 'negative familiarity,' applied to songs and artists that they deem dated or just burned out by radio. "
rest of the article is here:
http://www.allthatjazzinc.com/index_files/page0085.html

A lot of people like Lite FM, but that doesn't make it smooth jazz. A lot of people like the music on WCBS FM, but that doesn't make it smooth jazz. A lot of old people like the tired old soft AC on 94.7 The Wave. Every 60 year old lady loves those Chi-Lites, Roberta Flack, and Isley Brothers tracks. They listened to that stuff in high school 40 years ago. But just because the 60 year old lady loves the songs that The Wave is playing doesn't make it smooth jazz.
Click to expand...
Not so fast there..A lot of studies have shown that women are actually much more likely to stay current musically than men, men tend to default to the "songs they grew up with"..women are more likely to not want to hear dated music. I'm close to that demo and very few of the women I know who are "my age" want to hear 40 year old songs for the 1000th time. Men program most of the stations, however, so the assumption that all adults like dated music is built into the music test model so it becomes self fulfilling. If people don't know something exists you cant test it, and if something is not on the list of choices then how do you gauge its appeal.

Actually I DJed my 30th class reunion and the guys were asking for old stuff and the women wanted either current dance music or sappy Delilah show ballads.
 
On another note, listeners being willing to settle for less are one of the reasons we got backed into this corner. When BA first took over it was "oh well, I don't really want to hear Mariah Carey or Phil Collins on my SJ station but where else will we get instrumental music." Then as the number of oldie vocals grew and fewer instrumentals were played repeatedly people said "oh well, I really don't want to hear Anita Baker and Sade every hour and that same Kenny G song when I drive to work, again when I drive to lunch, and again when I drive home - but this is the only station that plays any smooth jazz so I guess I'll stick with it." So here we are at "well, they only play 2 instrumentals an hour but nobody else plays any so I really appreciate those two songs, even if one of them is usually 'Breezin" or "Songbird."

Settle for less and you get less, then even less. Accept that a corporate PD knows more about what you like than you do, or that you "should" like what they are feeding you even when your gut says "this isn't what I came here for. and you feed into the agenda that dumbing down is the only way to win.

There are excellent streaming stations playing about any approach to this music that you could imagine. Please search for and support contemporary instrumental music and let the A/C people have their Lite A/C station.
 
First of all-Cindy Bradley's trumpet playing is so awesome, especially her titled "Bloom".

Second, if this format change that 94.7 is doing would have happened, say during the 80's or early part of
the 90's, it would be very adverse for us smooth jazz fans. However, with the countless outlets for good smooth jazz music online (ie. live365, youtube, etc.) format changes by terrestrial stations are no longer the issue they once were. I live here back in the Southeast and no longer stream 94.7 like I used to at one time.

KOST is the real deal when it comes to A/C music in SoCal as it always has been. No doubt, Jhani Kaye knows a lot about the radio industry, but he will have quite a challenge on his hands if he is going to compete with KOST.
 
Looks like the Wave's #s are already going up..so they will probably phase out the remaining instrumentals shortly except for things that crossed over A/C like Koz and Dulfer
 
I just checked www.yes.com for KTWV.

I looked at 8pm Tues. night. The music log says The Wave played, among the vocals, three jazz instrumentals:

Peter White
Jeff Kashiwa
Marc Antoine

Also heard was jazz/R&B vocalist Hil St. Soul... something KOST is not going to play.

The Wave played 12 songs in the 8pm hour and three were jazz instrumental. I also checked the 2pm hour where I found The Wave played Boney James, Kirk Whalen and David Koz, as well as Basia, among the 13 songs played in that hour.

So please stop saying The Wave plays no jazz instrumentals except those that can be heard on AC stations. (And I'm not sure if AC stations play ANY instrumentals anymore.) If you're an all-or-nothing-at-all person and this version of The Wave doesn't work for you, OK. But let's not make up the facts.



Gregg
[email protected]
 
Hey Gregg. Not sure who you are accusing of "making up the facts." But your facts seem to be consistent with mine---3 instumentals an hour is about it these days, and I can GUARANTEE you they are the most familiar and overplayed instrumentals of each of the artists you have mentioned. Enjoy KTWV, man, if that is what you want to listen to. No one here is telling you not to listen. What makes our country so great is the freedom of choice. All we are saying is that the station REALLY merits no further discussion in the context of it being an outlet that prominently features contemporary jazz artists. It is NOTHING of the sort these days. What KTWV is doing is not a "reinvention" of the format. It is a continued marginalization of it.
 
Gregg said:
I just checked www.yes.com for KTWV.

I looked at 8pm Tues. night. The music log says The Wave played, among the vocals, three jazz instrumentals:

Peter White
Jeff Kashiwa
Marc Antoine

Also heard was jazz/R&B vocalist Hil St. Soul... something KOST is not going to play.

The Wave played 12 songs in the 8pm hour and three were jazz instrumental. I also checked the 2pm hour where I found The Wave played Boney James, Kirk Whalen and David Koz, as well as Basia, among the 13 songs played in that hour.

So please stop saying The Wave plays no jazz instrumentals except those that can be heard on AC stations. (And I'm not sure if AC stations play ANY instrumentals anymore.) If you're an all-or-nothing-at-all person and this version of The Wave doesn't work for you, OK. But let's not make up the facts.



Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...

We've got a real nifty terrestrial station down here in St. Augustine Florida that plays most of the trash KTWV does..."lite EZ" crap including those stupendous instrumentals like "Lily Was Here" and "Obsession Confession". We turn it on for our dogs when we leave the house but I noticed they are getting more fidgety and annoyed with us when we return.

It's call letters are, believe it or not, WSOS.

Therefore I propose KTWV change their call letters to "KSOS".

Would fit the bill of overplayed junk accordingly from the East to the West coast.
 
I've been trying to pitch a brunch show to that station. I mean what would they have to lose? Guess those infomercials bring in the big bucks?
 
Nock said:
Another one of those over 45 washed up listeners that corp radio does not want ------ right, kid is a kid and very passionate about the music. Still amazes me at the youth I have drawn into my show.
Click to expand...

Another case of conclusions being made based on untrue information.

45-54 is one of the most desirable demos for advertisers. Many, many stations focus on the higher end of 25-54 and do very well because of that.

55+ is a different matter. Radio does not program specifically to that group because, almost without exception, advertisers that buy based on ratings do not buy against this demo. If there is no available revenue, or very, very little, you can not expect a radio station to purposely program themselves out of business.

So, first, it is not "45+" that corporate radio does not go after. Second, corporate or not, no station will go after an audience they can not generate sales from.
 
Nock said:
Anyone seen this yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-h9SwvF0vE

Another one of those over 45 washed up listeners that corp radio does not want ------ right, kid is a kid and very passionate about the music. Still amazes me at the youth I have drawn into my show.

Nock
Click to expand...

Hey Nock!!!! Sign this guy up!! We need him on "our" team, and on this board!!! Great rant :D.
 
Missed the point David ------- Dude in video is lucky if he is 35. See how passionate that age group is for a format that you say does not survive in that demo. It's everywhere but he like me are switching to our Iphones and Ipods.

Nock
 
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