Ok, I've read through the R&R Summit/Topic posts as far as my screen will allow...let me summarize with a horrible pun: It's not so black or white. One side seems to think there is a vast conspiracy keeping "black" and "white" artists from desegregating in Christian AC. The other side thinks all things are fair, colorblind, and fluffy kittens and since no concrete examples have been given the black/white separation doesn't exist at all. May I suggest a third option: humans are flawed and we don't always use the best judgment?
The black/white barrier may not be a vast, pervasive conspiracy but it does exist perhaps even subconsciously in individual programmers. Here is a concrete example and no, I will not call out the individuals or station(s) involved. Music testing for a cluster of stations was done. Shackles by Mary Mary tested very well. Certain programmers pulled the song out of rotation even though it tested well because it "sounded too urban." Their target audience - females 25 to 54...WHITE females 25 to 54. Targets are broken down by race even on Arbitron - just fact. The thinking behind this move...white women don't want hear songs that sound too black. ERROR...ERROR Will Robinson. Research confirmed white women did want to hear that particular song and it was added back into rotation, eventually. Chalk one up for research on that case. My concern is what would have happened if white women had never heard the song in the first place? If it hadn't gotten played at all on the assumption "it was too black/urban/rhythmic for the audience." If it was cold tested to a group that had never heard it the unfamiliarity score would have been high. That is the reality we are dealing with. That is a specific example. I'm sure it wasn't racially motivated on a conscious level with an intent to hurt. But do you see where the lines blur subconsciously? That is what I think radiofan and whatzthat have issue with. I think we need to realize this and not be blind to My station does reseach; therefore, I am giving my audience what it wants. Many subconscious decisions can skew that research so are you sure you are giving the audience what it wants? Just questions to always consider.
The black/white barrier may not be a vast, pervasive conspiracy but it does exist perhaps even subconsciously in individual programmers. Here is a concrete example and no, I will not call out the individuals or station(s) involved. Music testing for a cluster of stations was done. Shackles by Mary Mary tested very well. Certain programmers pulled the song out of rotation even though it tested well because it "sounded too urban." Their target audience - females 25 to 54...WHITE females 25 to 54. Targets are broken down by race even on Arbitron - just fact. The thinking behind this move...white women don't want hear songs that sound too black. ERROR...ERROR Will Robinson. Research confirmed white women did want to hear that particular song and it was added back into rotation, eventually. Chalk one up for research on that case. My concern is what would have happened if white women had never heard the song in the first place? If it hadn't gotten played at all on the assumption "it was too black/urban/rhythmic for the audience." If it was cold tested to a group that had never heard it the unfamiliarity score would have been high. That is the reality we are dealing with. That is a specific example. I'm sure it wasn't racially motivated on a conscious level with an intent to hurt. But do you see where the lines blur subconsciously? That is what I think radiofan and whatzthat have issue with. I think we need to realize this and not be blind to My station does reseach; therefore, I am giving my audience what it wants. Many subconscious decisions can skew that research so are you sure you are giving the audience what it wants? Just questions to always consider.
