JANUARY PPM'S REVIEW

[TVradioguru]

damn those meddling kids(geeks and hobbyists). once again here we have the self proclaimed radio slash Tv guru, shooting off like some elite pompous politician, who's cup runneth over. as far as revisionist history, triple A radio was actually done somewhat well for over two decades in seattle. yes, its a challenge. which is probably why we no longer have it in seattle. KMTT, is AAA in name only, and a watered down version of its 90's format. the guru talk of AAA format repeating power plays every hour, makes as much sense as ferrari producing an econobox that gets 50 mpg. nope, adult album alternative will never contend for #1. what it will contend for is an upscale musically educated listenership, and staff. whether an ownership can make a profit on this real unique AAA audience, depends upon whether the ownership is part of some megalopoly, who is in deep acqusition debt, and has a hierachy of office white collars and public shareholders, feeding at its trough. or whether its a lean clean, lightly staffed, low debt broadcasting company, that can actually eek out a profit. sorta like what jackson dell weaver posted about KJR AM recently. namely that KJR sports radio is selling ads and making money, because the advertisers want to be a part of what KJR and its sports format is all about, and sell to its unique demographic, despite its middle of the pack ratings.

Geez, I can see your reading and comprehension ability seems to be on par with your writing ability..

Perhaps reading of my posts slower pace, sounding the words out will allow them to make more sense. Once you do, I believe you will see that I never said AAA stations turned music every hour. My statement was that some who frequently post here, complain about the current rotation of music on stations vs. their revisionist recollections of sucessful stations in the past. Try keeping up.

I'm not even going to comment about the other parts of your post, mainly because they are so off the mark, I could write for hours on the topic and feel confident you still wouldn't get it. If someone else would like to take a crack at replying to SS, please be my guest.

 

[discjockeyjohn64]

As recently as 2001, I was playing music as a DJ in Salt Lake City. I chose the music I wanted to play during my shifts, and had very little interference from management. We were owned by a large conglomerate, but they trusted that we had a feel for the market and allowed a lot of leeway. I have noticed in the past 4 or 5 years that there is a lot more cookie cutter and sameness to radio. It seems you can go town to town and hear the same playlists based on the format you choose to listen to. Kind of sad, but then there are still those stations that stand out from the crowd and do something a little different. I used to always ask my listeners to email in thoughts and suggestions, and was able to gear the music to what my listeners really wanted to hear. Formats were HOT AC/CHR and SOFT AC.

 

[Jay Peninger]

I don't disagree with any of what Guru and others said here after all there are after all tons of data to back all that up... But then again maybe that is why radio seems to be getting older and we are seeing more classic rock, oldies formats etc...

Radio trying to hard to keep an audience they have had for generations instead of trying to make radio interesting and exciting for the next generation of listeners... I suspect that is why when you look at the breakdown of radio vs internet listeners it truly does break dramatically along generational lines... And the trend according to Arbitron's study would indicate that there are more older people sliding towards the Internet than there are younger people sliding towards radio...

So while I understand perfectly well why these companies do these tight micro researched playlists I still think there is a place and an audience for a station like KMTT to venture outside that comfort zone and still find success.

Seattle's is awash in great young indie artists that don't fit into the typical industry mold and KMTT for a long time was the station who embraced those artists and as such were embraced by their fans...

Oh and Guru for the record I may indeed be considered a hobbyist by you and others on this board but just because I am not working for MegaCorp Broadcasting it doesn't mean that I have any less passion for this industry and business, and I would venture to say I might have more passion than most...

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Dear God, it really isn't worth arguing with people who celebrate the fact that they have very limited taste in music. And that an entire industry must reflect this, or it will die! How can an industry survive when it freezes its playlists for decades and won't play anything from emerging and local artists that people enjoy in other cities and other countries? I mean, how do you ever get anything new on the air? Payola??

Discussing this with those whose minds are closed (and apparently think most of their listeners are idiots) is like trying to get a toddler to eat something other than Cheerios and applesauce!

Try it! You might like it!

 

[notalent]

I finally saw the documentary from 2006 titled "before the music died"

I can't believe I never saw that before now.

It addresses the topic at hand in this thread well.

Good points are made by Guru, commercial radio is a mass market industry leveraging multiple market penetration to specific sellable demographics desired by the advertising industry.

That is all fine, it is what it is and thats really what commercial radio has ALWAYS been about.

Freeform radio is cool, but it has never been mainstream. All the way back to Drake, Chenault, and Mclendon who discovered that patrons in establishments with a juke box would play the same songs over and over paying to hear them with their own nickel.

Thus the birth of "popular" music radio.

There is a reason its call POP!

And that is not because it is obscure, forgotten, obsolete, or unheard of.