JESUS I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START. THERE WERE SO MANY RIDICULOUS THINGS SAID.
Let me answer your question first:
PLEASE get out this business. Not because of your age but because you don't seem to even understand what your job requires in today's radio climate.
Here are a few things. Sorry if it jumps around a little:
- If you are being paid to do a live shift on a CHR, it goes without saying that answering those phones IS YOUR JOB. And I'll take it a step further. It is your job to make sure that you make some kind of connection with them that they remember.
- It's also quite clear that you are either to old or not creative enough to turn everyone of those ten annoyances into positives somehow.
- A CHR station's survival depends on the younger demos, whether 18-34 overall or a more narrow demo. And those younger demos are using radio LESS and LESS. TODAY'S PAIN IN THE ASS 15-16 Y/O IS TOMORROW'S 18 YEAR OLD THAT WE WANT USING RADIO.
- Kids that call over and over again do it because they don't feel like they were heard. If they call twice for the same song, I take :30 seconds and TALK to them. I ask them what are their top 3 songs right now, whatever. Relate to them for just a few seconds and they are satisfied. If you act like they are an idiot for requesting V.I.C and talk down to them, blow them off, etc then expect them to call back. And JESUS, don't EVER tell someone "that songs sucks" when they request it. It's the same as saying the listener themselves suck.
- SO WHAT if they request "Apple Bottoms Jeans" instead of "Low", SO WHAT. She's making a request, it's your job to know what she's talking about. When everyone kept calling for "Low Rider" by Flo or "Flow Rider", I turned it into a bit, ran the call back and would play the old "Low Rider" instead each time. That almost always generated a call correcting me that I'd playback followed by "Low".
- You want to blame the LISTENER when they request "Bicycle" instead of "Handlebars"? REALLY? They are coming to you for NEW music that they most likely heard on another medium (online, TV, whatever) first. Take two seconds and educate them tell them the correct title. EMBRACE THEM.
- Yes of course we don't use YouTube charts to enfluence programming our station. But the listener should never think that. You Tube (MySpace, Facebook, your station social net site) influences their lives, they assume it influences their station. Remember, well programmed CHR's are LIFESTYLE stations.
- I saved the best for last. You said this:
Yes, you can do the “Soulja Boy” dance. That song has been downloaded legally millions of times, and illegally a lot more. How’s about you do that and let the rest of us who are either (a) sick of it or (b) are a bit put off by some of the lyrics, forget it happened? Do some research would ya?
This is why I want you to please quit radio now. Seriously.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT A LISTENER REQUESTS why would you tell them to go get your product from another medium??
Basically you said this:
"It doesn't matter what you want. I'm the radio DJ and I'm sick of hearing that song. I'm also old and don't want to hear someone say "superman that ho" in a song. So since I, the DJ, don't want to hear that song, you should go where 2 million other people got it and downloaded it from. Then you'll have Crank Dat and hopefully you can get other songs too so that you have no reason to use radio anymore ever. And then I won't have to answer your call anymore. Dumbass."
Please at least move to some boring AC station instead before you end up getting replaced by syndication or VT.
For the record I'm 34 years old and I've done nights on a rhythmic leaning CHR for three years. We are #1 18-34 and #2 25-54.
Final Note: The station playing "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz anywhere is not a CHR. Period.
