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New Format

This reminds me of some of the Drake-Chenault automated (reel to reel) FM formats of the 70's, where many, if not most of the songs were edited down. One prime example I recall was Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Half the song was chopped out. Even The Beach Boy's "Good Vibrations" went under the knife.

If listeners don't notice that the songs have been butchered, it probably means they're not paying any attention to the commercials, either. For many people, it's all noise to keep them company. Perhaps this is the 21st century reincarnation of elevator music.
 
Is sounds like "Jack lite" to me without the scarcastic bumpers.
 
Hmmmm...

I might actually listen to this format...

But I don't think it'll be hugely successful.
 
My early take is that this thing could be wildly successful. People will tune in & not tune out & they won't even know (or care) why. Look at the success of a restaurant like McDonald's & you will get an idea as to why a format like this could be a success.

Personally I could tell the songs were shorter, however they didn't sound edited.

I don't dig it myself but this could really, really work with the right music - especially in markets w/o Variety Hits stations.
 
This reminds me of some of the Drake-Chenault automated (reel to reel) FM formats of the 70's
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I listened to hour 1 of Radio SASS and it does remind of DC. I remember hearing a demo of Drake/Chenault formats where they edited the songs down to 45 seconds or less rather than doing a traditional aircheck presentation. Radio SASS reminds of that same editing only you can tell they spent a lot more time at it.

Uncle Albert from Paul McCartney is featured on the SASS demo about 20 minutes into hour 1 and it clocked in at 2:13 vs 4:41 on the album or single. The edits were very skillful and unless you have the songs totally memorized you'd be hard pressed to notice the cuts. An earlier track was Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move". Other than the song being over way too soon for my tastes I could not catch the edits.

Mr. Gimarc sure has something different.
I can just see the radio war over this if SASS catches on. KWHL - K-whole - not just a 2 minute snippet, we play the WHOLE song.
 
I am listening to hour one and it sounds good. I suspect I would have figured out that the songs are edited even if I hadn't read it ahead of time. (The Euyrythmics "Sweet Dreams" probably would have been the tip off)

I have no idea if this would actually attract a large audience, but I hope someone gives it a try so we can find out.

My one concern about this format is that it probably doesn't allow a good air personality to shine. Everything would have to be kept short - including talk from the DJ. It used to be that the DJ's were the draw as much or more than the music. So many formats today try to eliminate the DJs altogether. Worse, if the DJ is local he/she provides one of the most important links between the listener and the station. This format makes a DJ all but impossible to squeeze into the on-air mix - unless he can say whatever he's going to say in less than 2 minues.
 
Music stations have eliminated the DJ as a draw. If you want any kind of personality, outside of morning drive, it's all on talk radio. I remember reading a story about Ron Chapman commenting on music intensive stations saying to the effect someone can always play more music (you do 10 in a row and they do 11 in a row) so what separates your station from theirs?
 
I think this format will be a HomeRun in the industry. It's kind of like today's society ... fast and ever changing. It will hold the audience ... by the time you reach out to change channels when something less favorable is playing, voila' ... there is something new playing. Well done George!
 
If a station signs on to it,it will last long enough for a 6 month contract. We may have a fast pace society BUT listeners like their music and they like all of a song not a snippet. Formats are driven by talented personalities ,especially ones who know the local listening area. That is a vanishing breed.
Compared to the average length of a song in the 60'-70's (3:30) to now (4:45) the listener doesn't like "edited" songs. Remember "inna gadda divida" ? 18 minutes, and they tried to get it into top 40 then with a 3:30 version..it bombed,BUT it was a hit on the LP side. Remember KAFM in the early 80's when they edited songs for "offensive" content? That Idea lasted 2 months when the ratings dove.
George should be commended for his many innovative ideas, and God knows we need some type of innovation now,but this ain't it.
 
klifhanger said:
Formats are driven by talented personalities ,especially ones who know the local listening area. That is a vanishing breed.
Compared to the average length of a song in the 60'-70's (3:30) to now (4:45) the listener doesn't like "edited" songs. Remember "inna gadda divida" ? 18 minutes, and they tried to get it into top 40 then with a 3:30 version..it bombed,BUT it was a hit on the LP side. Remember KAFM in the early 80's when they edited songs for "offensive" content? That Idea lasted 2 months when the ratings dove.
George should be commended for his many innovative ideas, and God knows we need some type of innovation now,but this ain't it.
Click to expand...

I still hope someone gives it a shot so we can find out. If he can find a way to let DJ's into this format effectively, I think it'll work. (it might work without them, but I suspect not)

Regardless - I too commend George for the idea and work behind it to create something different. It is needed.
 
I remember a station doing something like this as a stunt a few years ago using the short attention span idea. Only they played the "best part" of the song then it was on to the next one. I think it was called Quick 96. I dont remember where though. Are yall sure this isn't a stunt?
 
I'm listening to the online demo as I type this. I was skeptical of the concept when I read about it... but the execution is very smooth from what I've heard so far. I'd be very interested to see how this format would fare in terrestrial radio.
 
rageradio said:
I remember a station doing something like this as a stunt a few years ago using the short attention span idea. Only they played the "best part" of the song then it was on to the next one. I think it was called Quick 96. I dont remember where though.
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It was done four years ago in Seattle on (then) KBTB 95.7. Played the "most recognizable seven seconds" of a song, and supposedly was able to cram 426 songs into each hour. But it was just a stunt that lasted a couple of days.

The station is now Classic Hits KJR-FM http://www.957kjrfm.com/main.html
 
It should work with personalities well enough as long as they don't edit the intros.
 
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