If You Seek Amy (Britney Spears)

[TonySantiago]

I ask this question to the terrestrial broadcasters.

Regarding a remix, would your station play Britney Spears' "If You Seek Amy" due to the clever wording of the pronunciation of this track. that COULD get a station in trouble??

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Well, the radio edit we just got has the IF YOU cut off the beggining, only saying Seek Amy.... Im asuming this is what most stations will play... I think its a pretty rubbish song to be honest, but its not up to me to decide,,, Im gonna give it 7 spins a week and see what happens.

 

[Roger That]

I'm gonna give it 7 spins a week and see what happens.

Nothing will happen when you spin a record 7 times a week. If you're going to play it, play it.

 

[theedger]

It's not a strong song. I'd skip it.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Im kinda with Edger,, Although we are a CHR,,,, I cant really skip it since its an established artist, but im gonna let the feeback decide when and how much to bump it up,, Ill probably go up to 20 spins next week or so, but if the audience doesnt like it,, i may have to toss it,,,, however, since its britney, i think the song will be a hit, but I have to gradulally work it in.. ive got some more dance music and ALT Rock doing well right now,, some songs i predicted as future hits, like Shinedown-Second Chance have proven to work for us,, as well as Green light,, Kid Cudi,,,ETC,,, I gotta try to make room for it...... Like ive said,,, We arent Z-100, FLZ or KIIS,, but ive proven some Active Rock and Dance Hits to work for us in the recent past,, so I gotta be careful not to put stuff into high rotation just because the labels want us too...

 

[JohnParker]

MikeO is right. The song isn't that great. The joke is in the title and works if you have the mentallity of a Junior High School kid. And nobody will get in trouble for playing it from the FCC. The local church community might raise a stink though.

jp

 

[lalumia]

The weekend crowd at the Bunkhouse goes nuts for this, requests it constantly...

 

[theedger]

This song isn't good. It doesn't matter if Britney is a core artist in CHR. A good programmer needs to be able to know when a song just isn't worth adding. It'll be forgotten in a few months. It'll never make it to recurrent. The majority of your audience will not even miss it. The Britney fanatics will call and ask for it.

Don't let an artist's history on your station or format dictate what is added. That's called sheep programming. I have to be proved wrong to get a song I'm not feeling on the playlist. Start using those things swinging between your legs.

 

[willcalder]

So the song isn't the greatest in the world, but it's FUN and people RESPOND to it. It's a novelty, people are talking about it - it's topical. So what, yeah it'll be gone in a few months and nobody will care -- but it's for the here and now and striking an emotional response now. I'm playing it and people are requesting the hell out of it. It's Britney and she's hot right now, like it or not - plus she's gearing up for a tour. It fits some stations and not others.

I think sometimes we over think this stuff and that's part of the reason why radio is suffering. If my audience wants it, I'm gonna give it to them and I'm not going to judge them for having the mentality of junior high school kids either.

 

[CHRles]

So the song isn't the greatest in the world, but it's FUN and people RESPOND to it. It's a novelty, people are talking about it - it's topical. So what, yeah it'll be gone in a few months and nobody will care -- but it's for the here and now and striking an emotional response now. I'm playing it and people are requesting the hell out of it.

That's pretty much how I view this song.

 

[JohnParker]

So the song isn't the greatest in the world, but it's FUN and people RESPOND to it. It's a novelty, people are talking about it - it's topical. So what, yeah it'll be gone in a few months and nobody will care -- but it's for the here and now and striking an emotional response now. I'm playing it and people are requesting the hell out of it. It's Britney and she's hot right now, like it or not - plus she's gearing up for a tour. It fits some stations and not others.

I think sometimes we over think this stuff and that's part of the reason why radio is suffering. If my audience wants it, I'm gonna give it to them and I'm not going to judge them for having the mentality of junior high school kids either.

My point is that the title is something that some kid that has never heard a dirty joke will think is clever. It's a cheap gimmick and a lowest common denominator thing done to get people to talk and that isn't exactly something I get excited over. But some people will and I guess that's what makes the world go round.

If people call your station and want to hear it and you find it a song that fits, play it. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[KarsonWithaK]

I understand the concern about playing the new song from Britney Spears, so I just did a little number crunching and it may help some in their decision process. Circus is still Top 10 on the BillBoard Album charts and it has already sold 1.25 million copies. That's a pretty good number in today's world. The single "Circus" is #9 on iTunes, "Womanizer" is #17 and "If You Seek Amy" is now starting to creep up, currently at #89 with the full album at #16. I know many successful Program Director's that require solid sales before considering a new song and it would seem the album meets that criteria. I also imagine that many of the people who bought the album are in the target demo of many CHR radio stations to include my wife, who is 27 and bought the album on its date of release and who knows every word to every song on the album. I'm not sure if the song is a hit but I wouldn't be afraid to play it a new song category.

Wow, maybe I should consider a move to the "Records" side of the biz. :-\

K~

 

[theedger]

I looked at Mediabase for the song in CHR reporting stations. It doesn't even have 70 spins. #1 by the way has 10,800 spins. She has 2 song in the top 10 CHR/P. There's no room for a third single right now. When Womanizer drops down more, I don't see f-me as a successful follow-up single. It's an album track for her die-hard fans at best.

High School Musical 3 has sold more copies. Where are all of those songs on CHR? Some dance songs sell very well on iTunes. Where are they on CHR?

I could see stations that over-weigh phones playing it.

I'm not a fan of songs with a 2-month life. It's killing radio. It's killing the music industry. There's no value. Only lables trying to make a quick dollar at the expense of their business.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I think the same thing about artists releasing singles to close together,,, part of the reason I am holding out on playing Lady Gaga-Poker face,,,, aside from that I dont care for it,,, we just now got our audience comfortable with Just Dance. which I wanted to add months ago... But for every turd I play that the labels and Big Corp consultants want us to play, that squeezes out more room for me to test more Quality dance, or Active Rock songs,,,.... Im playing Seek Amy because COMP is, and if i dont play what they consider hits, they will listen somewhere else... I havent had one call asking for Poker Face,, but get tons of calls for just Dance, so why spring poker face on them before I have to,, Ive spent the last 14 months getting listeners to accept quality Dance Music in moderation, and have a successful 5 o clock, live at 5 mix show... There are quality Dance friendly songs now, like Kid Cudi-Day and Night-Crookers Mix,,,, John Legend-Green Light,,, and the dance version of Killers-Human.... Killers are an astablished group for midwest CHRs,, and the dance versions of day and night and Green Light have enough of a youth-Street feel to work at CHR and Rhythmic..... I am so glad I dont have to deal with consultants,,, I can play whatever as long as it isnt nasty, and doesnt drive off adverts or the 9-5 25 plus listen at work crew.

 

[KarsonWithaK]

High School Musical 3 has sold more copies. Where are all of those songs on CHR? Some dance songs sell very well on iTunes. Where are they on CHR?

I could see stations that over-weigh phones playing it.

I'm not a fan of songs with a 2-month life. It's killing radio. It's killing the music industry. There's no value. Only lables trying to make a quick dollar at the expense of their business.

The HSM franchise targets an audience that it a little younger than most CHR stations seek as listeners. If you're not a fan of songs that have a two month shelf life then maybe you should stop listening to CHR. It's "Pop" music meaning, what's popular right now. It's like going to a fast food joint and being upset that they don't serve you a six course dinner. Sometimes you just want a cheeseburger and fries just like sometimes you just want SexyBack. ;D

K~

 

[willcalder]

I'm not a fan of songs with a 2-month life.  It's killing radio.  It's killing the music industry.  There's no value.  Only lables trying to make a quick dollar at the expense of their business.

Oh Edger, much respect, but seriously?  There are far worse things killing radio than 2-month shelf life songs. C'mon now.  I'm sure you can find countless threads all over this site on that topic, so I wont rehash them here. 

The Top 40 format has always moved pretty fast and you know that.  I'd be happy to rematch our little bet from a few years ago when we disagreed on that Paris Hilton "Stars Are Blind" stiff...   A steak sure sounds good.. Yum.  Luv ya!

 

[theedger]

I'll take that bet. I say it's a stiff. You say it's a hit.

Steak sounds good.

 

[Wildstyle K]

Well, since she is giving me permission to say what I want about her, here it is! Overall, I don't think it's that much of a bad song. Good melody. I don't mind hearing it, but once again, I say it would've been so much better with Flo Rida and/or someone else using the instrumental instead. For the most part, I like it, but it's very disposable. I don't see it doing too much more than "beep" by Pussycat Dolls.... or "rumors" by Lindsay Lohan. I'll be a little upset if this Britney song does better than "break the ice", which was pretty decent and underrated. "Beep" itself was pretty good, too. Well.... regardless, I still like Britney. What a creative song though. It's creative in a Crank Dat Soulja Boy type of way. This sounds like something Madonna would have done..

Perfect timing for the release though - I'm sure quite a few people are going to attempt to mix Britney's song with "poker face". Watch someone try it...

Hopefully, people making dance hits today and aiming for mainstream attention watch what they do and don't release things that have a chance of killing this whole trend before dance has a chance to "heal" itself. Lets not give hip hop a chance to pop back or push people to no longer want to go in the dance direction. For the sake of the hits that are going to be released this summer, I'm praying that more quality top 40/dance hits are made so when summer hits, a lot of the future releases that are on their way will have a lot of support, due to quality hits being released and capturing people's attention previously. In other words, if crappy things start being released now, then people will not stick around and keep their minds open for what's to come, especially when you consider the fact that most people have no idea what's currently in production for future release right now! SO, with that being said, I think Britney's song is alright, and Poker Face is acceptable too, but nothing else that sounds similar should be released for the time being or else it will all begin to sound the same. This is not a sound or style that should be push too long and too far. Lets continue with the stuff that has a lasting effect so we can add to and build the amount of uptempo hits on the radio, not just start having a whole bunch of hits that will pop up and die before the next dance hit pops up and dies. Also, lets not scare off rhythmic radio too early. We've done a good job so far not only taking top 40 hostage, but we are also sweeping in to the rhythmic charts as well.

How funny!! The song just randomly pops up and starts playing on the radio now! It just sounds so disposable... and poppy...but who knows? It MIGHT become something...

 

[Wildstyle K]

..Ok - I think I should clarify some of what I said before anyone thinks I'm saying their/someone's music is awful. The Britney song overall already sounds radio friendly enough, so I'm going to leave that one alone for now. Lady GaGa on the other hand, she's not a bad musician/artist, but she's definitely beginning to "push the envelope" a bit with "poker face" and came a bit too early with that. I know that song is charting in many countries, but still, it's a little bit ahead of it's time in the U.S. I like how Ne-yo and Chris Brown were being cool, calm, and collective and playing it safe, not doing anything too drastic. Rihanna was also good for just pushing things just a little bit - just enough to make her original hits dance friendly, but not so much to scare off the rhythmic (and even some urban) formats. Britney knew the right timing for what she's doing now, even though I believe "womanizer" could have charted anytime after Rihanna's "sos" made it's successful appearance. They all played it very safe. Akon is playing it smart.... Lady GaGa did so well with releasing "just dance" at a perfect time for where we are in music now, but the "Poker face" style is pushing it a bit too far for now and if too many songs come out that are too "edgy and awkward", it could possibly lead to the early destruction of this dance trend, and that's what I meant by "too many songs that sound like this shouldn't be released now". I'm not saying they are awful songs, but they are a bit heavy when it comes to "unusual style". As I said, we have Britney's "If you seek Amy", which is decent melody-wise and but disposible. Then you have "poker face" which "if you seek amy" kind of resembles in some ways. Think about it. Two dance sounding songs coming out around the same time, one being ok but disposable, the other being a bit strange, compared to other typical top 40 hits. What kind of picture do you think this is going to paint in people's mind for dance music now? You might think "well what about ne-yo / chris brown / rihanna". Well look at how their music, while still being dance, is being kept really safe without too many unnecessary and outrageous stuttering or awkward lyrical arrangements. I respect Lady GaGa's true creativity and being herself, but I'm thinking we should've waited a tad bit longer on "poker face", being that there are other songs on her album that sound more radio friendly. It's not as "out there" as Dj Sammy's very noisy and loud "heaven" was, but it's a bit out there. Besides, the whole release timing issue was different for when Dj Sammy released "heaven"..... As far as Britney, I wish she went along with a "stronger" track than "If you seek Amy". If people are going to do dance in the mainstream, lets at least drop some memorable material..... but it's all good - I keep worrying - forgetting that this is just a super-small portion of what's out there and what's to come!!

I believe the title of a track, the arrangement of the words in the track, the digital effects on words, the artist's name, and the overall topic or theme of the song all play a large roll in acceptance and the possibility of a long term hit. If too many of those elements come across a bit "different" or "awkward" to too many people, it could hurt the song, and possibly the entire genre if the conditions are right. I say it's the same if all those elements are put together in such a way that it makes the song sound disposable, disney, or child-like, which seems to be the case with "if you seek Amy" (and some of Lindsay Lohan's material). Notice how some songs (usually the ones that tend to reach and last a bit on the charts), you listen to and you can just feel the quality or something about the song that makes it feel "full" and strong. Flo Rida and Rihanna, Pitbull, maybe Ciara, or even Katy Perry would've definitely done something so much better with Britney's "if you seek Amy" song.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Well I dont know really how to say this... But I really liked this past summer when songs like Neyo-close,,, Chris Brown-Forever, and Rhianna Disturbbia amongt others where making it big... With those top pop-Dance songs as well as September-Cry for you, and David guetta-Love is gone where all in our heavy rotation at one, it made out station sound very dancy,,, Plus the Breaks Funy Mix of Flo Rida-Low earlier that winter,, and then Flor Rida in the ayer, and three 6 mofia lolo loli Pop that Body where all big, it was making our station, and many other sound very dancy, but yet Rhythmic and youth friendly as well.... We need more songs like these on CHR... I had said for years, and many on this board can rememember, that I said It will take well known established artsits doing Dance Record to get Dance excepted again... And Im hoping maybe this summer it may happen again... Some of these artist have other dance friendly songs on their CDs but are they hit worthy and catchy like last years...idk.... But if that happens... Its alot easier for me to squeeze in some more Real Dance music than if our music is in another direction ya know.... I dont like Poker Face... It could grow on me if it becomes a big hit,, but I dont feel the production was made to make either POP or Dance or Rhythmic Friendly really... I think it sounds like a B side track.... I could play it now,,, But I wont until I see some success with it at Biger City stations... I am playing a few dancy tracks and or remixes now, but I dont think their is enough pop friendly dance being pused to top 40 to make it right now,, I dont really want to be the only station playing it, cause it doent help the record, and we get tune outs that costs us money.. I had the label trying to get me to add Madannos Miles Away,,,, and While its a Decent, not great Dance hit, I think it would flop at CHR so I passed on it,..... Was this a mistake???? Once labels see that you support Dance, they will try to spam you with stiffs forever.... But This summer we may go into a more Active Rock lean to serve the market,,,, Nothing too hard,,, But if available may play more dance, and daypart the harder hip hop to nights.... Bad Idea,,, Good Idea.... Its not up too me or you,,, its up to our audience and adverts.... Keep in mind that some adverts are only daytime, or only nighttime Adverts, this is just how it works in these towns, and im sure many other, but since this is the only station I been at, I cant say,, but your opinions and suggestive criticsim is much welcomed.. and could help me maintain both me,, our mixshoe dj,, and PDs job,,,,, and just the MD but its no secret that I do most the seeking, and scheduling, while our PD concentrates on his high profile on air show,,, and I set on my incoherent moening show, am not the star, and I rarely talk,,, but im usually working on little to no sleep. Thanks to those that took time to read this... I know its a bore.