Marshmellow Asparagus...and Other Wrong Foods.

[Scooter Lesley]

How 'bout a Chicken Liver Omlette for breakfast? That is with or without fudge sauce? For Supper: A Marshmellow Asparagus, as a side dish, served with a bubbling hot deep-dish Lasagna, in which the featured meat is split weenies, surrounded by Toefu?
If Radio was food, what would your ears eat? This taste-teee preface may or may not contain any humor, but when you listen to the dashboard speaker,...what's your diet? This brings me to my thoughts as to why today's CHR & Hot AC formats sound so bad, suffer with low TSL's, and have such Peee-u-neee ratings. They are, at best, a slop bucket of all the new crap, that the labels want you to play. The Labels couldn't care less whether your station lives or dies, just as long as they get airplay. If you listen for more than ten minutes, your first scoring finds you only fond of..."Some". CHR's have been ruined by pointless Hip-Hop Rap Crap, while AC's, and Hot AC's are polluted by worthless Country Cross-overs, and droopy Indie fodder. Today, if you are not a reporting station, why please the Labels in any way. They do more harm than good. These formats need to be purified... You can't please everyone. Both WROQ & The Road have their flaws, but at least, the format is pure!

 

[TheBigA]

I get it. What this comes down to is a matter of taste. Some people like ketchup on their hot dogs. Some people like chili. Oh, we already talked about that. Me, I like chili & cheese.

Recently I was sitting in a room with a bunch of music industry people. All genres, all areas, including songwriters, engineers, musicians, and label people. Call me a glutton for punishment. I was the only radio guy in the room. And everyone is harping about the terrible music being played on the radio. At that moment, I stood up and gave everyone a sample of my singing abilities. If you want to know what it sounded like, think of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. It was awful. My point is I'm not the one in the room making the music. They are. If the music sucks on the radio, it's because all of them have done a bad job. I just play what's popular. If the public wants cow flatulence, then we'll play it in heavy rotation. It's all the same to me. But if the music industry could get its act together and promote great music, and demonstrate to my listeners why great music is better than cow flatulence, then I'd be happy to play better music. It's really all the same to me. I'm not going to force everyone to eat hot dogs with chili & cheese just because I do.

But record labels can't do that. They lost the ability to make those kinds of decisions. At one time, you had A&R people. John Hammond, who signed Bob Dylan and Billie Holiday. Labels have trouble doing that now, mainly because the music tastes of the public have become so splintered. So they just sign everyone and anyone. It's spaghetti that they throw against the wall. They sign them to 360 deals, to minimize their liability. That means anyone who wants a record deal can get one. What does that mean for me? A full mailbox, loaded with CDs from artists who all have some ability, but no marketing. Their marketing plan is to send a CD to radio, and hopefully they'll play it. Not much of a marketing plan. And they hope to get rich that way. If they don't, then it's my fault, because I chose to play the record getting the most downloads that week, instead of theirs.

So yes...it's a matter of taste. What we really need is a tastemaster. Like Charlie the Chicken of the Sea guy. We don't want tuna with good taste. We want tuna that tastes good. That's why music on the radio sounds the way it does.

 

[jamesh]

I get it. What this comes down to is a matter of taste. Some people like ketchup on their hot dogs. Some people like chili. Oh, we already talked about that. Me, I like chili & cheese.

Recently I was sitting in a room with a bunch of music industry people. All genres, all areas, including songwriters, engineers, musicians, and label people. Call me a glutton for punishment. I was the only radio guy in the room. And everyone is harping about the terrible music being played on the radio. At that moment, I stood up and gave everyone a sample of my singing abilities. If you want to know what it sounded like, think of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. It was awful. My point is I'm not the one in the room making the music. They are. If the music sucks on the radio, it's because all of them have done a bad job. I just play what's popular. If the public wants cow flatulence, then we'll play it in heavy rotation. It's all the same to me. But if the music industry could get its act together and promote great music, and demonstrate to my listeners why great music is better than cow flatulence, then I'd be happy to play better music. It's really all the same to me. I'm not going to force everyone to eat hot dogs with chili & cheese just because I do.

But record labels can't do that. They lost the ability to make those kinds of decisions. At one time, you had A&R people. John Hammond, who signed Bob Dylan and Billie Holiday. Labels have trouble doing that now, mainly because the music tastes of the public have become so splintered. So they just sign everyone and anyone. It's spaghetti that they throw against the wall. They sign them to 360 deals, to minimize their liability. That means anyone who wants a record deal can get one. What does that mean for me? A full mailbox, loaded with CDs from artists who all have some ability, but no marketing. Their marketing plan is to send a CD to radio, and hopefully they'll play it. Not much of a marketing plan. And they hope to get rich that way. If they don't, then it's my fault, because I chose to play the record getting the most downloads that week, instead of theirs.

So yes...it's a matter of taste. What we really need is a tastemaster. Like Charlie the Chicken of the Sea guy. We don't want tuna with good taste. We want tuna that tastes good. That's why music on the radio sounds the way it does.

And Pandora allows EACH listener to program their own stations. This is why they have grown so fast and people are so passionate about the product.

It's like building a sub sandwich that you want instead of eating a shrink wrapped one. The guy in line behind you doesn't like olives but you love them, so you stack them on and he avoids them. We want this control with our food, our news and our music. Pandora allows that control, radio can't beat them at that game. Radio has to target a section of population or a phantom pretend target listener like a 35 year old female with two kids etc. Problem is you target her you lose her husband, this is where Pandora is so disruptive. It is real time listener feedback for that listener only. Disruptive technology for sure, but it has no local content, no personality, no soul. This is where local can score and where Pandora can't fight back.

 

[Scooter Lesley]

"Pandora can't fight back!" Eggggg-zac-lee, and here's were things get strategic: For those that disagree with me,...take a break, sit back, slowly sip that diet peach wine cooler, and reee-lax. Yes, that Fat Girl from the Dollar Store that you date on a regular basis, will be knocking on your door within the hour, so it's my turn to Rant:
...and I shall! In your market, if you have programmed opposition, its pawn for pawn, as you both..."Have At It"! However, if that opposition just happens to be(say) a CC Premium/Prime Choice iHeart station, here's where the lim-less torso flops on the hot pavment! They can't fight back nor counter program. Like a one-legged duck, they just swim in a circle, making for an easy target. CC's THE ROAD was launched with about 97% of WROQ's playlist, give or take a few Classic Hits songs, such as "Drift Away". As you might know, it was launched to shave male numbers away from Rock 101, to benefit an easier path for WSSL to make the Top Three. As for the "keep it like it is" pencilnecks that (allegedly) Program ROQ, they suffer from the confusion of Anatomy & Archeology. Yes, it's true...They don't know their ass from a hole in the ground! WROQ could expand their playlist, and head for double-digets, and The ROAD...could not counter! Delete JB&B, as it has been long enough, and go Earth-type local. A new Morning Team, and for the first 30-days :30-second spots are $50 net.
With WMYI in the same wicker basket, WSPA could kick ass, as well.
It is like running the football, while the defense huddles on the sidelines, around the cooler,...filled with refreshing diet peach!
Boooooooooooooooooo--Yeowwwww!
Scooter Lesley.

 

[SaltyDog]

... this is where Pandora is so disruptive. It is real time listener feedback for that listener only. Disruptive technology for sure, but it has no local content, no personality, no soul. This is where local can score and where Pandora can't fight back.

I've been listening to Pandora since 2000. There seems to be an assumption by people who work in radio that listeners prefer local. The success of Tom Joyner, Kidd Kraddick et al suggests otherwise.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I like chili and slaw on my hot dog.

And Charlie is the Star-Kist tuna.

 

[Scooter Lesley]

I've been preeechin' this message for quite a-while, with no Cercease!
For AC, a Deep & Wide Playlist is the only Panacea. However, it does appear that WSPA is smelling the coffee. I can't take credit for it, but maybe the exsitance of EARTH can. Their Playlist alone might've created a thought on the other side of their Chamber door. However, they still run Tesh. Even MY was smart enough to rid themselves of Delilah, the queen of sap. Tesh: Dumb crap for your life that you didn't need to hear about in the first place.>>>It's Mother's Day. Taking care of your elderly Mother? Regarding their dietary, surveys have proved that fiber is good, but too much fiber is not. The old bird might need to be quick on her feet, but running is not good either, as that is a fall hazzard. Proper balance is the key. Wellll,...got any advice on what to do when Mom is face down...in it.. on her way to the bowl??????????? WSPA, rid yourself of Tesh, and hire a good local Night person...Male or Female!!