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Is Classic Rock Dying?

Bongwater said:
Time marches on. If Classic Rock programmers think people still get excited over 30+ year old songs from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and AC/DC they've heard a zillion times over, I have news for them. This music is already showing signs of extreme listener burnout.

http://www.wmtw.com/news/entertainment/-/8791692/16636154/-/xkoh6j/-/index.html

.....And it's closer to the end than they may think......
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I might point out Bong that Classical music hasn't changed in hundreds of years and people still listen to it. Not necessarily on the radio but pay big bucks to get their fix in concert halls.

Now I realize that Classical isn't Classic Rock but there is more than enough CR that a decent playlist size wouldn't subject the same listener to an overplay of common songs.
 
Bong cites this WMTW-TV article that people are burning out on Classic Rock. I assume Bong is in the Portland Maine market, where WMTW is the ABC affiliate.

Well, guess what. Portland ME has TWO Classic Rock stations! And they're both consistantly at or near the top for Men 25-54. In the latest ratings, 6+...

WFNK 107.5 Frank-FM is #2
WBLM 102.9 The Blimp is #3.

Frank is listed as Classic Hits, but it's really pop-leaning Classic Rock. The playlist is 85% the same as WBLM. There's even a third Rock station in town, WXHR 106.3, although they play both classic and current harder rock songs.

I guess nobody told the adult men of Portland Maine that Classic Rock is dying.
 
Listening to my local "classic rock" radio station on a "Deep Cuts Weekend". Sammy Hagar's "Three Lock Box" is a "deep cut"? Give me a break.
 
my only complaint against classic rock stations is the playlists are too limiting.there are is so much other good rock from the era of music classic rock stations play.
 
This is what I find to be so frustrating... Experts in radio seem to assume that everyone in the 18-35 demo is listening to radio stations like KIIS 102.7 and not a station playing older music they were not around to listen to when it was brand new. I actually am in high school, and I see what people are listening to all of the time.

Young women DO typically listen to Top 40 CHR stations such as KIIS 102.7; there is no denying that. However, there are tons of young women who DONT. Personally I exclusively listen to classic rock or oldies, as do the majority of the people I talk to. All of the money dumped into getting young people listening to contemporary hit radio is wasted on young males, for its a mixing pot of what we actually listen to.

None of these observations are near scientific; however I find it interesting that people are grouped into all of these different demographics because of their age, not their taste. I think the radio business is doing themselves a great disservice by grouping people this way, and assuming everyone in each demographic will be attracted to a certain format. Again, I am not saying they are totally wrong for assuming young people in the teen and 18-35 range will be attracted to CHR. However, its unrealistic to build a business model on that assumption when there are so many people out there who wouldn't ever tune into a CHR station

Luckily, here in Seattle, Washington we have the classic rock station KZOK 102.5. Yes, there is a lot of "burnt to a crisp" music that gets boring, but there is also a ton of great music to be heard. This station dives heavily into the 60's (which I personally love), and has interesting features on the weekend, such as the "block party weekend", where three or four song blocks are featured by various bands. At the same time we have another station, which has a playlist as tight as a CHR station by the looks of it. Yes, the station holds a "classic hits" format, but it is flat boring to listen to unless you like hearing the same boring stuff (that you didnt really want to hear the first time) over and over again. This is what causes people to turn off stations like this one, or give up on the format all together.
 
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firepoint525 said:
You think that's bad? Our Clear Channel classic rocker here in Nashville once referred to "Hey Jude" by the Beatles as a "deep cut."
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Speechless.
 
tsherck said:
I was just wondering as we listen to classic rock stations in 2013 today. I still hear all the classics of the 60s ,70s and 80s but nothing newer then that. Which makes me wonder will the classic rock format die out over the next 10-15 years?
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This question just struck me as funny.

Classic rock already died and came back, LOL. How many lives does it have? Good question.
 
Gregg said:
But nearly every sizable market has a Classic Rock station (or a Classic Hits station that's really pop-leaning Classic Rock, like WBIG Washington or WSRV Atlanta).
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Florence, SC is very small but its two rock stations are co-owned. One is actually classic hits but leans rock. The other is extreme active rock--very little pre-Nirvana gold other than metal.

You would think, especially since most sources call the new rock station "rock" rather than "active rock", that the station would lean more classic if the other station isn't actually rock.
 
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Firepoint 525 commented: said:
You think that's bad? Our Clear Channel classic rocker here in Nashville once referred to "Hey Jude" by the Beatles as a "deep cut."
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No song recorded by the Beatles was ever a "deep cut"!

In fact, during their heyday, many Top-40 stations would play B-side of Beatle singles and cuts from Beatles' albums.

No other act in the history of the music business, to my knowledge, ever got such airplay of B-sides and album cuts on "Top-40" radio.
 
Joseph_Gallant said:
No song recorded by the Beatles was ever a "deep cut"!

In fact, during their heyday, many Top-40 stations would play B-side of Beatle singles and cuts from Beatles' albums.

No other act in the history of the music business, to my knowledge, ever got such airplay of B-sides and album cuts on "Top-40" radio.
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I would say that "Her Majesty" is a deep cut.
 
Joseph_Gallant said:
No song recorded by the Beatles was ever a "deep cut"!
In fact, during their heyday, many Top-40 stations would play B-side of Beatle singles and cuts from Beatles' albums.
No other act in the history of the music business, to my knowledge, ever got such airplay of B-sides and album cuts on "Top-40" radio.
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This is true. Some Beatles songs were so popular that if they did not put them out as singles, someone else would quickly put a cover version out there. "Yesterday" (at least in the UK) and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" were a couple of examples of this.

Apparently, the Beatles put songs like these on EPs (in the UK) instead of, or in addition to, releasing them as singles because so many of them were so popular, and they only needed so many singles.
 
Its got about 20 years left tops. The 80s generation are in their 40s now and when they hit 55+ its gonna end.
 
I'd like to program for a CR station.

I think I could keep most of the Hard Core fans, by throwing them a "bone" every now and then from the "400". But, for the rest of the time, I would play songs by the artists that the hard core fans know, but songs outside the "400". That would draw in the baby-boomers who love the same artists, but cannot stand to be force-fed the "400".
 
TheRover said:
I'd like to program for a CR station.

I think I could keep most of the Hard Core fans, by throwing them a "bone" every now and then from the "400". But, for the rest of the time, I would play songs by the artists that the hard core fans know, but songs outside the "400". That would draw in the baby-boomers who love the same artists, but cannot stand to be force-fed the "400".
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Just for informational purposes - what would you consider a "bone"? I'd like to see some examples.
 
TheRover said:


"Freebird"
"Dream On"
"Sympathy For The Devil"
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Those songs are staples of classic rock radio. They might not spin every two days, but all CR's that I know of play them.
 
In Markets where one owner has at least two FM's...One a Classic Rock that needs updating-could benefit by flipping sister FM to Classic Hits and also have a larger Female Demo on the Classic Hits Station-then go ahead and move that Classic Rocker to Active Rock...the Older Demo that likes the Classic Stuff for the most part would likely be satisfied with Classic Hits (If it is done right) and the group could get a much younger demo moving a CR to Active.
 
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