calguy said:
justpassingthough said:
Realistically, KRTH is going to have to start leaning more on 80s and early 90s hits to stay relevant. I've brought this up before, but music awareness is most prevalent around age 17 or 18 in life, and the music we enjoy at this time tends to stick with us throughout life. If you're trying to reach anyone 35, 45 or 55- this equates to music that was popular in 1994, 1984 and 1974, respectively.
Effectively, anything before 1974 should be played with relative infrequency and it should be bigger hits that tend to transcend time- not obscure album cuts- in an age of PPM.
If you're trying to reach the younger end of the demo, though, you're going to have to start relying on more late 80s and early 90s music, as this music is now "classic".
So true. I doubt you'll hear obscure album cuts on KRTH though. Programming there is too smart to do that. The only problem with 90's music is what each song sounds like. As you mentioned earlier, you have to stick with what fits. So lets say you play "Walk This Way". It should be the original, not the Run DMC version. It has to fit. I think that's why I would stick to mostly songs that charted on both the CHR and AC charts with careful attention to which CHR hits you add.
That's the kind of thinking that will kill the updated format before it ever gets a chance. With very few exceptions, the last thing music radio should be is totally predictable, which is essentially what you are doing - culling only the biggest crossover hits from an entirely new generation, adding a healthy dose of research to narrow the list of 1000-2000 songs down to 300 and slapping them on autopilot.
I agree that the original "Walk this Way" should be played the majority of the time, but the Run DMC version should also be played occasionally. One of the greatest joys of listening to music radio (particularly oldies radio) is reliving a song you have not heard for a long time. That's what gets people to come back - the positive experience of reliving a great song, whether or not it is on the master 300 list (particularly if it isn't).
I also agree with a point made earlier about the abuse certain decades have endured, particularly the 70's. There was some great music from the 70's that was written off as soon as the 80s came along as being too campy and schlocky. There is a whole generation (mine in particular) that grew up with the music and don't care that some of it was bad (as it is in all decades). Some of it was also damn good. Case in point: Carly Simon. She has never received the credit she was due for making great pop songs and ballads with very good lyrics (including a great take-down of the arrogant and obnoxious Warren Beatty in "You're So Vain"). She has a great catalog that I am sure people of my generation would enjoy hearing on the radio, but except for "You're so Vain", her biggest hit, it is largely ignored. I am sure all the researchers here will say how she doesn't "test well", yada yada. That's the kind of thinking that almost took down KRTH with Jay Coffee before Jhani got there, and may still if it returns.
