One commenter 'DJBABYFACE' said that the Urban format is 'already dead'.
"WUEDACHRIS!" as Mike Tyson or Elmer Fudd might put it.
The backbone of what we politely term 'urban radio' today has been African-American music, and the world's worst secret is that its long had the ear of people other than African-Americans. These collective works (though not a collective format anymore) had its own separate-to-segmented development because of the racial segregation our country started with. We've gone from admirers of jazz and Black standards aka 'race music', to Motown to the 70s funk and disco, to commercialized R&B and gospel, along with an allegedly silly little fad called hip-hop lasting 30+ years (and counting). From AM to FM to XM to IM and streaming, from '78' to 8-track, to Dolby-sound Cassettes to CD to MPEG-3 and AAC: The medium have changed, the sounds and genre definitions have changed, but the overall cultural appeal of Black music remains, to the point where its awkward to call it 'Black music' in mixed company.
DJBabyFace has a point about the iPod and other portable music players liberalizing individual music choice. But the 'color line' isn't what the iPod attacks, per his suburban white girl example. The iPod and its storage has made it possible to house only the hip-hop/R&B/jazz(?) she likes. And what she likes might keep her on Atlanta's 95-5 The Beat rather trying to sit through Hot 107.9. Personally, there are country songs (mostly older classics) that I like enough to pay for. But I'm not going to sit through an entire country station's playlist hoping they come up next.
Radio isn't going to abandon music by any means. Rather, its going to adjust music's role in its on-air product. I think the days of the pure jukebox (hello MTV!) are done, so its not going to make a big difference if I "jam the most hip-hop and R&B". If I were starting an urban station in 2010, I'm probably putting music research aside as my biggest priority. I'm putting 'non-music' research at the top: I want to know what music they're listening to (in and outside of what's 'urban'), the news stories they pay attention to, what movies they're buying tix and DVDs for, down to the podcasts they download and the sports teams they root for.
I'm going to include more compelling, talk-able (and therefore, podcast-worthy) content into my station, and OUTSIDE of the dang morning show. My efforts might just necessitate talent who can do more than read liner cards. Folks who can write and produce something interesting, whether their chops have been in journalism or entertainment (Both, perhaps?). My station won't be an urban music station as much as it will be one that tries to superserve 'people who tend to love urban music' in my area. The culture surrounding the music will be much more important to me to tap into. I can get 'my jams' anywhere, anytime. But for an good discussion on last night's game/movie/play/concert, or a local comedian's funny take on the latest city council brouhaha--they should be coming to my station.
