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KRTH now playing rap music.

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rparky54 said:
Back in the 60's when I grew up in the Inland Empire we had KMEN and KFXM, we also got XERB and KHJ. Other stations heard in the daytime included KRLA, KCBQ, and KEZY before they cut their power at sunset. We were lucky to have KMEN and KFXM, and even over 50 years ago their library of golds was larger than your typical Classic Hits format today such as KRTH has. KMEN had their Rebound Weekends, and KFXM had Flashback Weekends to match KHJ's Million Dollar Weekends. They alternated currents with gold starting on Friday afternoons instead of playing three currents to one gold like the rest of the week.

I don't believe there are only a couple hundred songs from the past worth hearing and even if I did I would include many other songs than the ones Classic Hits stations are now playing which would include tunes from the 60's and even 50's. When I do listen to oldies at home I stream Pop Gold Radio, Rewound Radio, Deep Oldies, WLNG, WSWO, and other stations that have a huge playlist going way back. Until recently I listened to KFXM online until it ended.
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The first seven words of your post, rparky..."Back in the 60s when I grew up..."

Commercial radio survives on commercial sales.

Ad agencies want 25-49 year old adults.

Today's 40-year-old was born in 1983. So, high school class of 2001, college grad 2005.

What you and I grew up with in Southern California in the 60s (and I listened to every one of those stations, too) is irrelevant to what KRTH (and any radio station relying on ad agency sales for survival) needs to be doing now.
 
oldies76 said:
If I want to hear some obscure hit or a song that any station avoids, there’s always you tube or your own personal collection. No one is forced to hear anything they don’t want to hear. To each their own.
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David: If you feel that way, why do you seemingly with purpose and intent, try to annoy us with comments about radio that are illogical, impractical and un-doable?
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And for fifteen years?
 
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I know we're talking bout Krth but I was channel surfing as I always do last night and heard a tune I love and kept it on that station while the song was playing and I was quite surprised what station was playing this.

The song was hanging by a moment by lifehouse on 94.7 the wave the soul of southern California. Just seems a little to rockin for them.
 
michael hagerty said:
It seemed harsh after I had my coffee. I'll be interested in your answer to David's question
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I'm just trying to have a good conversation here on a nice thread, unlike other ones in the past. My choice of words could have been different though. Enjoy your weekend.
 
oldies76 said:
Ha, they've been on the decline since Jhani Kaye left. Hip Hop / rap is a mistake for KRTH. Why they even test that stuff is beyond me. Sorry, but rap music are not classic hits.

I suppose exceptions could be made. Songs like "Bust A Move", "It Was A Good Day" or "Whoop! There it Is" could supposedly fit on KRTH, but for gosh sake, stay away from 90's and 00's gangsta rap or the more recent trap variant. It has absolutely no business playing on KRTH.
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Perhaps a good thing you’re not in charge of a broadcast station. If you can’t grasp that you respond to what the listeners tell you, I’m not sure what you think the business is about.
 
The listener at the end of the day is who you want to please not anyone else. If they want run-dmc tricky so be it or Coolio gangsta paradise so be it.

Why is that not the way to go if that's what the listeners want. And I am sure these songs were tested and did well or they wouldn't have added them. Give the listener what they want.
 
hotpatrick2004 said:
I love the song by Linkin Park/Jay-Z back in 2004. You still here it today on the radio😁 Wasn't Aerosmith/rundmc the first rock rap tune walk this way? And a more obscure rock rap song was bring the noize by Anthrax/Public enemy. Indie 103.1 in LA played it.
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And then one of Linkin Park's two vocalists, Mike Shinoda, was the rap guy in the group. Even their first album had rap parts interspersed in the songs. And Hybrid Theory was a massive hit album. A good one, too. I liked their first two albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora.
 
I could see "light" rap like some coolio or will smith being okay with the crowd, but stuff like jay z's "big pimpin" would probably sound out of place.
 
boombox4 said:
And then one of Linkin Park's two vocalists, Mike Shinoda, was the rap guy in the group. Even their first album had rap parts interspersed in the songs. And Hybrid Theory was a massive hit album. A good one, too. I liked their first two albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora.
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My girl was gonna break up with me the other day because of my obsession with LINKIN PARK but in the end it doesn't even matter 😂😂😂
 
34james said:
Yep they are playing Coolio gangsta paradise and 2 PAC California love. I thought that will never happen but it has me personally I'm surprised they are playing Coolio and 2 PAC but that's Just me. Anyone else surprised?
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That’s going to be a hard pass for me. I’d rather listen to talk radio than that (quite frankly, I don’t see why any classic hits listener would want to hear rap, Maroon 5, or anything else like it on a classic hits station). While the songs they selected are pretty safe, it sets a precedent for what we can probably expect in the years to come. I was born in the late 90’s, but I have zero interest in hearing music like that on KRTH. Why not play some Sheryl Crow, Wallflowrs, Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, or literally anything else? Most 90’s music from an ordinary old AC station would probably be sufficient to keep up with the need for more modern music.

With all that being said, this music is indeed the future of classic hits, but as of right now, it doesn’t fit in with music from the 1980’s.
 
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fordranger797 said:
That’s going to be a hard pass for me. I’d rather listen to talk radio than that (quite frankly, I don’t see why any classic hits listener would want to hear rap, Maroon 5, or anything else like it on a classic hits station). While the songs they selected are pretty safe, it sets a precedent for what we can probably expect in the years to come. I was born in the late 90’s, but I have zero interest in hearing music like that on KRTH. Why not play some Sheryl Crow, Wallflowrs, Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, or literally anything else? Most 90’s music from an ordinary old AC station would probably be sufficient to keep up with the need for more modern music.

With all that being said, this music is indeed the future of classic hits, but as of right now, it doesn’t fit in with music from the 1980’s.
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Couldn't disagree with you more. It's a classic and it's a hit. I think they should ad Will Smith getting jiggy with it and his song with his son just the two of us.
 
hotpatrick2004 said:
Couldn't disagree with you more. It's a classic and it's a hit. I think they should ad Will Smith getting jiggy with it and his song with his son just the two of us.
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Fair point, but looking at this from a business prospective, there may be more to lose than there is to gain from playing music that elicits such a strong opinion from listeners.
Looking at the classic hits radio station in my home market, the overwhelming majority of music played was made from 1980-1990, with some tracks going back in time further and some extending into the 1990’s. Most of the songs that are selected from the 90’s are pretty safe bets.

Music like Dr Dre, Maroon 5, and others elicits a fairly negative response from me personally, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that a listener ten or twenty years older than me would agree. Not trying to say that these songs didn’t test well in a survey, but if I hear that come on after Phil Collins, I would tune out.

Personally, I see this as an all or nothing situation. If you’re going to play music like this, the format has to shift entirely to focus on the 90’s (and the 80’s would have to become a decade that is rarely visited). I doubt that will happen, for now at least. Will it happen someday? Probably, depending on if programmers can arrive at any conclusion on what songs from the 90’s should be in rotation. It’s not as easy as the 70’s and 80’s.
 
michael hagerty said:
What amazes me about this conversation is how many people think their personal tastes can somehow translate to a radio station format in a metro area of 12 and a half million people. Or that a radio station that they'll roundly criticize for being too careful and research-dependent somehow has suddenly gotten reckless.
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And, beyond that, the lack of realization that research is intended to find the songs that "everyone" likes, not songs that some people like and others despise.

And even beyond that, that research is done very specifically with moderate to heavy listeners to a specific station (or format if there are multiple stations in the market in the format) and in the core age target of the station. The cost for a full library music test on a gold based station can be from the low $20 thousands up to $35,000 or so for a station with a library over 500 songs.

And going a step further, it's all about "how much would you like to hear that song today?" and not "was that song one of your favorites when you were a teenager?"
 
fordranger797 said:
Fair point, but looking at this from a business prospective, there may be more to lose than there is to gain from playing music that elicits such a strong opinion from listeners.
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The thing is... we don't have access to their research. The station obviously has tested the songs in question, as they test regularly and deeply. If they play it, then they tested it and it "fits" nicely.
 
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