Need your opinion...how to categorize dance music.

[steadily]

Let's say you were starting a dance (hits) station from the ground up. Sure, you might expand into other electronica (house, progressive, breaks, etc), but your main focus is dance hits.

Some things to au pine about:

- How do you go about building a libary? What's in and what's out? What style and tone are you after?

- How do you categorize music? Do the standard power/current/recurrent/gold categorizations apply?

- What should the rotation be? Lighter than your average top 40 for sure, but how light?

- What sort of musical features do you want? New music? Mixes (and where)?

Let's hear what you guys would do if you were starting a dance station!

 

[musicloverII]

One stream means you're doing this because you want people to hear music you think is cool and others like that will think so too (I assume). Don't expect to make anything. You need many streams and at least 1 million per month cume with about 4 milion page views to make it worth your while (unless money is something you don't mind throwing away).

As far as formats, that's entirely up to you, might I suggest about 5 streams to start with, have depth, have knowledge and don't try to reinvent the wheel, just keep it filled with air.

Good luck to you dude, it's tough but if it's what your passion is then do it and don't look back, be open, be smart and adjust to what you need to so you can gain loyal P1's.

> Let's say you were starting a dance (hits) station from the
> ground up. Sure, you might expand into other electronica
> (house, progressive, breaks, etc), but your main focus is
> dance hits.
>
> Some things to au pine about:
>
> - How do you go about building a libary? What's in and
> what's out? What style and tone are you after?
>
> - How do you categorize music? Do the standard
> power/current/recurrent/gold categorizations apply?
>
> - What should the rotation be? Lighter than your average
> top 40 for sure, but how light?
>
> - What sort of musical features do you want? New music?
> Mixes (and where)?
>
> Let's hear what you guys would do if you were starting a
> dance station!
>

 

[rdalton]

> might I
> suggest about 5 streams to start with

They didn't necessarily say it was an internet station...<P ID="signature">______________
http://www.RichardJDalton.com</P>

 

[mikeo]

If you're not trying to compete with other online stations I would suggest contacting the programmers. Most of what we do is our trade secret. With the right amount of monitoring tools you can figure out what we all play but you won't know why. I talk to all of the major dance hits programmers for internet. What we don't discuss are rotations, adds, research tools. That's crossing the line.

If you're going to be internet based only, do what I did and figure it out on your own. It will be more rewarding that way. There are enough copycats out there, don't be one of them.

Good luck.

 

[jcolletta275]

> > might I
> > suggest about 5 streams to start with
>
> They didn't necessarily say it was an internet station...

Nope, and that's where my opinions come in: broadcast dance stations

I've thought this over for a long time, and I've built in my mind what I think is a pretty good idea for how to go about something like this. Keep in mind, though, that it's really all just common sense (which, in this case, goes against conventional wisdom when it comes to most broadcast corporations).

First, your library. It all comes down to the market you're in. Start building with your golds by researching what's been popular in your market in the past. What dance tracks hit it big in your area? Look at clubs, previous airplay, etc. Then use that research to determine what type of dance station you're going to build. What style and pace seems the most prevalent on the golds list? Start building the library around those attributes that are the most popular in the market.

As far as categories go, I would drop the power category but keep the other three. Mix the power in with the currents, and that should give you enough variety when you're dealing with how tight the playlist will be.

And that's where my suggestion for rotation comes in. As you said, you'll want to run lighter than a CHR, but make sure you don't run too light. A good example of how to under-play new tracks: WKTU. The 30's are no place for your #1 track... and I know they're skewing that way to compete with other area stations playing golds, but it's just a bad idea if you're the only game in town. Just take a look at what happened to Party 93.1. No, you'll want to push your currents, but somewhere in the 40-55 spins range... about the same area as KNRJ in Phoenix. Beyond the currents, I'd run the recurrents about 1.5 times as much as the golds. That should give you a good starting point to go from... but listen to your audience and tweak from there.

One thing I'll also point to KNRJ on is promotion of new music... they point out every new song they play (and they've got stellar imaging with which to do it, too!). I'd do the same thing: make sure the listeners know the artist and title of every new track that airs. I'd say run with that idea for two full weeks when the song comes out, then add it to music promos as long as it's a current. That's another thing: always promote your currents. Don't necessarily announce them every time they play, but put them in music promos that include the hooks of two or three songs (just don't do that "my three songs" thing... that's so sad that I want to shoot my radio every time I hear it!).

I would make mixes key during rush hours. I personally would borrow the "X:00 Traffic Jam" name that WPOW used to (and might still, I'm not sure) use. Drive time is when you're likely to get your most listeners if you're in a medium-to-major market, and they're going to want to hear the music, not jocks talking (although if traffic is generally heavy in the area, make sure you do traffic updates). That makes it the perfect time for mixes. Of course, a huge mixshow on a Friday or Saturday night certainly wouldn't hurt.

One thing that you didn't mention that I want to drive home as a key element is personality. Hire jocks that actually know what they're doing behind the mic, not liner card readers who are simply warm bodies working the board. Lively, energetic jocks whose personalities shine through on the air are what you want on a dance station, and that's another place where many have failed (especially Party 93.1). This is part of what made the old 92 KTU great. It's also worked for Energy 92-7&5, and it's working for the new KTU and KNRJ today. Personality is key.

All in all, look at what made previous dance stations successful. That's what I'm basing my ideas on here. If you combine the basic principles that they built their stations on and use them to build your own, you can't go wrong.<P ID="signature">______________

http://theradioblog.blogspot.com</P>

 

[CHRles]

Ditto!

Well said JC, well said!

 

[musicloverII]

Good advice, sorry, I thought I saw internet radio station. My bad. Good luck.

> > > might I
> > > suggest about 5 streams to start with
> >
> > They didn't necessarily say it was an internet station...
>
> Nope, and that's where my opinions come in: broadcast dance
> stations
>
> I've thought this over for a long time, and I've built in my
> mind what I think is a pretty good idea for how to go about
> something like this. Keep in mind, though, that it's really
> all just common sense (which, in this case, goes against
> conventional wisdom when it comes to most broadcast
> corporations).
>
> First, your library. It all comes down to the market you're
> in. Start building with your golds by researching what's
> been popular in your market in the past. What dance tracks
> hit it big in your area? Look at clubs, previous airplay,
> etc. Then use that research to determine what type of dance
> station you're going to build. What style and pace seems
> the most prevalent on the golds list? Start building the
> library around those attributes that are the most popular in
> the market.
>
> As far as categories go, I would drop the power category but
> keep the other three. Mix the power in with the currents,
> and that should give you enough variety when you're dealing
> with how tight the playlist will be.
>
> And that's where my suggestion for rotation comes in. As
> you said, you'll want to run lighter than a CHR, but make
> sure you don't run too light. A good example of how to
> under-play new tracks: WKTU. The 30's are no place for your
> #1 track... and I know they're skewing that way to compete
> with other area stations playing golds, but it's just a bad
> idea if you're the only game in town. Just take a look at
> what happened to Party 93.1. No, you'll want to push your
> currents, but somewhere in the 40-55 spins range... about
> the same area as KNRJ in Phoenix. Beyond the currents, I'd
> run the recurrents about 1.5 times as much as the golds.
> That should give you a good starting point to go from... but
> listen to your audience and tweak from there.
>
> One thing I'll also point to KNRJ on is promotion of new
> music... they point out every new song they play (and
> they've got stellar imaging with which to do it, too!). I'd
> do the same thing: make sure the listeners know the artist
> and title of every new track that airs. I'd say run with
> that idea for two full weeks when the song comes out, then
> add it to music promos as long as it's a current. That's
> another thing: always promote your currents. Don't
> necessarily announce them every time they play, but put them
> in music promos that include the hooks of two or three songs
> (just don't do that "my three songs" thing... that's so sad
> that I want to shoot my radio every time I hear it!).
>
> I would make mixes key during rush hours. I personally
> would borrow the "X:00 Traffic Jam" name that WPOW used to
> (and might still, I'm not sure) use. Drive time is when
> you're likely to get your most listeners if you're in a
> medium-to-major market, and they're going to want to hear
> the music, not jocks talking (although if traffic is
> generally heavy in the area, make sure you do traffic
> updates). That makes it the perfect time for mixes. Of
> course, a huge mixshow on a Friday or Saturday night
> certainly wouldn't hurt.
>
> One thing that you didn't mention that I want to drive home
> as a key element is personality. Hire jocks that actually
> know what they're doing behind the mic, not liner card
> readers who are simply warm bodies working the board.
> Lively, energetic jocks whose personalities shine through on
> the air are what you want on a dance station, and that's
> another place where many have failed (especially Party
> 93.1). This is part of what made the old 92 KTU great.
> It's also worked for Energy 92-7&5, and it's working for the
> new KTU and KNRJ today. Personality is key.
>
> All in all, look at what made previous dance stations
> successful. That's what I'm basing my ideas on here. If
> you combine the basic principles that they built their
> stations on and use them to build your own, you can't go
> wrong.
>

 

[CHRles]

> Good advice, sorry, I thought I saw internet radio station.
> My bad. Good luck.
>
See, we agree on some things at least

 

[musicloverII]

Usually, we're always in agreeance, I just look at realistically. There's nothing more that would thrill me than to wake up one morning and hear Rinocerose, Goldfrapp, Nouvelle and other great electronica bands on the radio alongside some nice, edited down trance but that's just not going to happen, that's why the internet is so great, that's why all these choices pick away at radio, radio is UNIDIMENSIONAL whereas all the other choices amount to many choices radio can't possibly be. No hard feelings, I'm on edge today, big presentation's will do that to you, take care.

> > Good advice, sorry, I thought I saw internet radio
> station.
> > My bad. Good luck.
> >
> See, we agree on some things at least
>

 

[CHRles]

> Usually, we're always in agreeance, I just look at
> realistically. There's nothing more that would thrill me
> than to wake up one morning and hear Rinocerose, Goldfrapp,
> Nouvelle and other great electronica bands on the radio
> alongside some nice, edited down trance but that's just not
> going to happen, that's why the internet is so great, that's
> why all these choices pick away at radio, radio is
> UNIDIMENSIONAL whereas all the other choices amount to many
> choices radio can't possibly be. No hard feelings, I'm on
> edge today, big presentation's will do that to you, take
> care.
>
Good luck with the presentation.
PS let us know when you wake up that morning and your local radio station is blasting Goldfrapp and Nouvelle - I'm sure we'd all like to hear it