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KIFM is not even playing 1 or 2 instrumentals an hour anymore

Donald_WBWH

Donald_WBWH

Well, it looks like KIFM has decided to start scaling down their instrumentals even more by only playing one every 3-4 hours. What a shame, I know this used to be a great Smooth Jazz station back when they had Kelly Cole on the air (of course I'm a Smooth Jazz purist though).

Their experiment has worked in the ratings department where they have been competing with KYXY very well, so kudos go our to Mike V for that.

I will say that this playlist is better than a normal AC station's but KIFM is pushing it. I'll take KTWV's 3-4 instrumentals an hour over this anyday.

KIFM's PLAYLIST from Nov. 16th 1-5pm:

5:00 PM "JUST A KISS" - LADY ANTEBELLUM buy on iTunes
4:57 PM "IF YOU DONT KNOW ME..." - SIMPLY RED
4:52 PM "CLOSE TO YOU" - MAXI PRIEST buy on iTunes
4:48 PM "SIR DUKE" - STEVIE WONDER buy on iTunes
4:36 PM "DROPS OF JUPITER (TELL ME)" - TRAIN buy on iTunes
4:32 PM "IT'S GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE" - DENIECE WILLIAMS
4:28 PM "I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN" - MICHAEL BUBLE'
4:24 PM "EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD" - TEARS FOR FEARS buy on iTunes
4:21 PM "WALK ON BY" - SEAL
4:09 PM "READY OR NOT" - AFTER 7 buy on iTunes
4:05 PM "HOLD ME NOW" - THOMPSON TWINS buy on iTunes
4:01 PM "GOOD LIFE" - ONE REPUBLIC
3:57 PM "DONT DISTURB THIS GROOVE" - SYSTEM
3:51 PM "SMOOTH" - SANTANA/ROB THOMAS
3:48 PM "WHAT YOU WON'T DO" - BOBBY CALDWELL
3:37 PM "VIVA LA VIDA" - COLDPLAY buy on iTunes
3:34 PM "ROCK WITH YOU" - MICHAEL JACKSON buy on iTunes
3:28 PM "IN YOUR EYES" - PETER GABRIEL buy on iTunes
3:23 PM "I WANNA KNOW" - JOE buy on iTunes
3:19 PM "RISE" - HERB ALPERT buy on iTunes
3:09 PM "SWEET THING" - MARY J. BLIGE buy on iTunes
3:05 PM "EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES IS MAGIC" - POLICE buy on iTunes
3:01 PM "ROLLING IN THE DEEP" - ADELE buy on iTunes
2:56 PM "DREAMIN'" - VANESSA WILLIAMS buy on iTunes
2:52 PM "I'LL BE" - EDWIN MCCAIN buy on iTunes
2:46 PM "SAIL ON" - COMMODORES buy on iTunes
2:38 PM "THANK YOU" - DIDO buy on iTunes
2:34 PM "SEXUAL HEALING" - MARVIN GAYE buy on iTunes
2:30 PM "OVER THE RAINBOW" - IZ
2:26 PM "BREAKAWAY" - KELLY CLARKSON buy on iTunes
2:19 PM "AT LAST" - BEYONCE'
2:09 PM "LAYLA" - ERIC CLAPTON buy on iTunes
2:04 PM "AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE" - EARTH WIND & FIRE
2:01 PM "HEY SOUL SISTER" - TRAIN
1:56 PM "LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN" - THE DREAM ACADEMY buy on iTunes
1:52 PM "KISS OF LIFE" - SADE buy on iTunes
1:49 PM "LOVELY DAY" - BILL WITHERS buy on iTunes
1:39 PM "FOR THE FIRST TIME" - SCRIPT buy on iTunes
1:34 PM "KISS ON MY LIST" - HALL & OATES buy on iTunes
1:31 PM "CANT LET GO" - MARIAH CAREY
1:26 PM "ANY LOVE" - LUTHER VANDROSS buy on iTunes
1:23 PM "RHYTHM OF LOVE" - PLAIN WHITE T'S buy on iTunes
1:19 PM "SONGBIRD" - KENNY G buy on iTunes
1:09 PM "ASCENSION" - MAXWELL
1:05 PM "DRIVE" - THE CARS buy on iTunes
1:01 PM "LOVE SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO ME" - TONI BRAXTON
 
Hi David, I have notice this trend too. KIFM used to be a great station, which I agree. But, it's time to move on. I recently spoke to a friend of mine who used to do the morning shift for a former smooth jazz and he says, what we have been saying for a while, which is the format has move to a web based format.

As regards to the playlist, I have some love and hate there. I do believe they will move more away from the vocals that were related with the old smooth jazz format and be adding in some new music, maybe a new name too. We'll see. That's JMO. ;)
 
I don't understand the psychology of this. Why is it that people who are today within the 25-54 demographic don't want to hear instrumental music but a few years ago, they did? If you were born in 1960 or 1970, please play instrumental jazz music along with some soft vocals. If you were born in 1980 or 1990, then you will not listen to instrumental jazz music.

Why? What happened? Jazz has been a popular musical form for 200+ years. But anyone born after 1980 won't sit still for it? Their ears can't cope with listening to music unless someone is also singing to that music?

A few years earlier, people would listen to Classical music with nobody singing. They'd listen to Easy Listening music with nobody singing. Jazz too. Even Top 40 would have the occasional instrumental hit. Now all these styles of popular music are gone.

What happened to the brain mechanism in people born after 1980 where they reject music unless someone singing to that music?


Gregg
[email protected]
 
Gregg asked this very poignant question:
"A few years earlier, people would listen to Classical music with nobody singing. They'd listen to Easy Listening music with nobody singing. Jazz too. Even Top 40 would have the occasional instrumental hit. Now all these styles of popular music are gone.
What happened to the brain mechanism in people born after 1980 where they reject music unless someone singing to that music?"

And I'll add to Gregg's question: Not so many years ago, people (of all ages - even 25-54s) would listen to 'classy', jazz-tinged pop-hits! Remember that "Paradise" by Sade, "Endless Summer Nights" by Richard Marx (featuring Dave Koz on sax, I believe), and "Fields of Gold" by Sting were all major CHR/Top 40 Hits; and "Drowning In Your Eyes" by Ephraim Lewis, "Recipe For Love" by Harry Connick Jr., and "Cruisin For Bruisin" by Basia were moderate hits, too. But we don't hear anything new that in any way resembles any of these, do we? Well, we might, if CHR were still interested in that kind of variety; we ought to be hearing Melody Gardot, Lisa McClowry, or something off of Seal's new album on Hit Radio today, but we're not. I think this has a lot to do with why Smooth Jazz is dead on commercial radio today. The industry isn't nurturing this kind of talent or music anymore, so it obviously doesn't believe there's enough interest in this sound.

Pretty soon, from the way pop music is sounding lately, people won't be interested in sitting still through songs that feature REAL people singing, sans that annoying synthesizer that digitizes voices. Many 20-somethings that I know today are entirely bored with music that doesn't have a booming bass track of 500 beats per-minute, a wall of distorted guitar feedback, or the aforementioned vocoder. Apparently, what we enjoy is soooooo last Century.
 
@Jazz_Cat: I definitely listen to most of my Smooth Jazz online, but sometimes I know I'd like to hear some on the FM dial like any other genre of music. I don't know if they'll take out the vocals played on commercial SJ stations because it sets them apart from a typical AC station like KYXY (who is now KIFM's rival). Like I said before, this lineup by KIFM and stations like them is better (in my opinion) than a typical commercial AC station.

@Gregg: I don't really know why people in my generation (I am 20 - born in 1990) don't like instrumental music as much. I know Smooth Jazz has always been my favorite music, but that's probably because I grew up with it.

@Media_Maven: I like your point about Top 40 music not really including any softer songs anymore. The closest you can get is probably Adele, John Mayer and maybe Bruno Mars in terms of being somewhat soft/classy songs on a top 40 station. I can't even imagine a commercial top 40 station here in U.S. playing Melody Gardot or Lisa McClowry - they are just too jazzy. I have always thought that the UK music scene has been better about this as you'll hear softer artists like Pixie Lott, Duffy, Amy Winehouse, Gabriella Cilimi and other similar blue-eyed soul artists on their AC and even top 40 stations.
 
Donald_WBWH said:
@Gregg: I don't really know why people in my generation (I am 20 - born in 1990) don't like instrumental music as much. I know Smooth Jazz has always been my favorite music, but that's probably because I grew up with it.
Click to expand...

WOW, Donald. You are only 20?? :eek: Good for you, brother. We need more passionate young guys like you to get with the program and embrace this music, or it is going to be gone for good one day. Keep the faith, man, and keep preaching to your friends that there are true alternatives to the crap they hear on the FM dial.
 
@AC Tones: Yes, I get that all the time! Actually, I meant to say I was born in 91' instead of 90'. That's exactly what I've been doing with my show and our station, getting the word out to others that are my age. I've actually received a lot of positive feedback from my classmates in college, they tell me that they have never heard this kind of music - but that they are enjoying it (to my surprise). It's about exposure and bringing my generation on board - I think it's possible if approached right!
 
Based on that playlist I wouldn't even consider them Smooth AC anymore - I'd call them a Soft AC station with an Urban AC twist. Interesting mix - old school Mary J. and Lady Antebellum on the same station. Is their HD-2 still doing "pure" SJ?

And Donald - you're not alone. I fell in love with smooth jazz at age 15, when V98.7 debuted in Detroit. We already had 105.9 WJZZ before that which was playing much of the same music but with fewer AC vocals. Both were excellent stations and still missed.
 
I'm wondering...do you think we'll ever get another radio station switching to smooth jazz? Or, is this format doomed to just streaming/on-line (better than nothing, really?
 
@Gregg I don't believe anyone younger than the boomers (as a group there are always individual exceptions) are capable of enjoying or appreciating instrumental, soft, or relaxing music. This is the reason why Smooth Jazz no longer exits (on OTA radio) and why ACs have become so hard. Post boomers are endlessly fascinated with "upbeat" music and they are taking this preference with them through their entire lives.

I am an older GenXer and I first picked up on this trend as a teenager in the early 80s. I sensed my generation was rougher than the boomers. Fusion known as "triple z jazz" had a following at the time and I couldn't imagine anyone in my generation ever having any inerest in it or any of the popular softer (AC/pop) music out at the time. I knew this just wasn't a matter of age. Boomers had more of an overall gentle, mellow vibe and I sensed correctly this would not continue with future generations.
 
@Tim: Are you in San Diego? I'm not sure if you guys get it back on the FM dial commercially anytime soon. There are a couple of movements to get SJ back on the FM dial nationally, so it may be possible in the future especially in SD where the ratings for KIFM were good for years.
Where are you exactly in the San Diego Area? I only ask because if you're up in the Northern Areas like Oceanside or Escondido you may be able to get Smooth Jazz on 94.5/KMYT (http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KMYT&service=FM&status=L&hours=U)
or 88.5/KSBR (http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KSBR&service=FM&status=L&hours=U).
Hopefully you can pull these in your area.
 
One reason people are not getting into instrumentals now is that starting in the mid 90s instrumentals had to fit into the smooth jazz format straitjacket which stripped all the interesting elements out of them. The high profile instrumentals are boring and the ones that better represent the genre don't get exposure. The other is that CHR and A/C radio stations have stripped their playlists down to a small amount of songs that sound just like each other and A/C rarely plays current music.

The older instrumentals that do play were hits in a more adventurous era. Lots of them would not have gotten exposure if they had not proven themselves before format restrictions. Like this:

Koz - You Make Me Smile (not urban enough..too "happy jazz" sounding)
Dulfer - Lily Was Here (too guitar based, "irritating" guitar sound is not relaxing, too bluesy)
Mangione - Feels So Good (too uptempo, guitar solo)
Benson - Breezin (too long, too much improvisation)
Us 3 - 90s hit forget title...(not smooth, noisy, too different sounding)
G's "Songbird" may have made the cut but that's it.
 
Donald...I think you're talking to me, right? No, I'm in the midwest...living near a major market. Not too far from you.

KIFM isn't smooth jazz....they are Smooth AC....about 75% urban and AC vocals, and some smooth jazz instrumentals.
 
Tim, I don't do exactly where you are in this area, but up in Cleveland - 107.3 (formerly The Wave) is coming back next Friday. They are flipping back to Smooth Jazz from Triple-A.

The thing that worries me is that they will try the same type of Smooth Jazz that they used to play. Hopefully they will take the lead of online stations such as
WavJazz.net and consult guys who actually know what kind of music should be on this station (Bill Harmonic, AC Tones, etc.).

I know that KIFM is Smooth AC Tim, but my point was that they are not following that 75/25 vocal to instrumental form anymore. It's only 1 instrumental (with vocals) every 6/7 hours now.
 
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. :(

We just returned from Southern California and I was saddened to hear that KIFM has gone from top of the pack to complete garbage in a matter of months. I didn't hear a single instrumental and many of the vocal tracks they played are not even 'smooth'. (i.e. Daughtry.) This isn't "changing with the times," it's a complete format flip. Honestly it sounded like KYXY on a bad day.

At least KTWV/Los Angeles, which has always been reliably bad, is still reliably bad. One real smooth jazz track every four or five songs, and most of their vocals are, at least, smooth enough.
 
The Wave's real instrumental SJ tracks are usually covers of oldies or AC songs (i.e. As by Najee).
KIFM on the other hand is the garbage BA brings to us on the Smooth AC network. It should at the very least switch to the satellite BA Smooth Jazz network, like WAEG in Georgia or KJJZ in Palm Springs. Sure, it's Richard Elliott's Boomtown or Kenny G One Breath played to death, but it's SMOOTH JAZZ! I don't count Smooth ACs as SJ stations.

And Donald, 107.3 in Cleveland unfortunaly is Smooth AC, I don't count that station as SJ either, only if they play mostly SJ instrumentals with some Jonathan Butler, Sade, Anita Baker, etc. mixed in.

-crainbebo
 
@crainbebo: Yes, sadly WNWV is a Smooth AC station and not pure smooth jazz. I had a suspicion that they might do this just because pure Smooth Jazz was their original format already. Obviously we can see what they are trying to do, steal AC fans from now rival WDOK which is listed as a soft AC station but plays Lady Gaga - so they are really more of a "Traditional Today's Modern AC" kind of station.

So far it looks like WNWV is playing anywhere from 1 to 6 Smooth Jazz instrumentals an hour. Kind of Random, I'm assuming they'll tighten it up to around 3-4 Smooth Jazz instrumentals when it's said and done.

WNWV's playlist: http://tunein.com/radio/The-Wave-1073-s8080/

compared to

WDOK's playlist: http://tunein.com/radio/1021-WDOK-s28312/

You can see that WNWV is going for a softer kind of approach that might draw some WDOK listeners that prefer that style of AC. WDOK has gone towards more of a modern AC approach with only a few soft AC songs sprinkled in. This tactic may just work for WNWV.
 
KIFM don't play the same songs that other BA Smooth AC stations like WLFM, WAUN, and WXJZ does, at least from what I heard. Could be a sign that they about to leave them altogether.

BA is going away station by station.

http://smoothjazznetwork.com/wheretolisten.html

Four "Smooth" stations and the rest are BA's Smooth Jazz Network carrying stations.
 
I too have noticed KIFM taking a significant departure from even "smooth AC"....a very different type of music mixed in.

And, the re-launch of WNWV in metro Cleveland is a smooth AC/smooth jazz mix. Not sure if BA is consulting. From listening to their stream, KTWV is similar to Cleveland.

Other stations in other markets are doing variations...with a few simply running BA's Smooth AC network.

From what I've heard, the owner of BA is making a big push to revive the format nationwide (a smooth AC/smooth jazz blend, primarily).

Apparently Alan Kepler, the founder of BA who sold the business to Clear Channel a decade or so ago, got a great deal when he bought it back in the past year or so ago. Despite the pretty heavy criticism BA has gotten over the years, when Clear Channel owned BA, they tried so hard to make the format mass appeal AC...they nearly totally killed it nationwide.

Perhaps, hopefully in some form, Kepler & his current BA firm can bring the format back. Some NAC/SJ on the radio is better than none at all.
 
A look at KTWV's music list from Friday...it's mostly vocals. If that's what's actually on the air, I correct my previous comments. Cleveland is about 50-50% vocals-instrumentals.
 
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