Playlist for Stations

[hman]

ive been in radio for about 25 years,since 4 years ago i retired and theres one question i have got to ask ,now im from the old school of radio but when i listen to stations like q100,star 94 and so on ,i hear the same songs every 2 hours now u know and i know there are more songs out there that u can go longer than 2 hrs for repeats,Mr music dir,who decides what songs to put in now days or does it all go back who pays more money oops did i say that.in the old days we had at least 2,ooo songs to chose from that was at the last station i worked at . Was just wondering what kind of an answer i will get from posting this . Now be honest with your answer ok.

 

[romer979fm]

hman: did you work for 25 years with your eyes closed?

 

[amos]

i know all the reasons given. CHR listeners demand it, if you don't play the hits that often you'll lose to the competition, it's necessary. i also understand that in a larger market you need the cume you get from playing the currents more often, and i understand that in the larger market AQH isn't as important as cume.

but i don't get it. chr isn't the only current music format. how can a new country or new rock outlet turn their powers over less than the chr station? 100 plays an week? and we wonder why listeners biggest complaint is radio plays the same songs over and over.

i certainly don't mean that 2000 songs are appropriate. 300-400 maybe. there must be recurrents and recent gold that still test. on my net station my powers get around 46 plays a week, b's get about 38, c's get around 30, hot recurrents get 20, recurrents 5-10, powergold 3, and gold 1. tell me what's wrong with that, ok? seriously, don't be kind, tell me what's wrong with it.

-amos

 

[whit979]

i certainly don't mean that 2000 songs are appropriate. 300-400 maybe. there must be recurrents and recent gold that still test. on my net station my powers get around 46 plays a week, b's get about 38, c's get around 30, hot recurrents get 20, recurrents 5-10, powergold 3, and gold 1. tell me what's wrong with that, ok? seriously, don't be kind, tell me what's wrong with it.

-amos

Sounds like a fairly typical Hot AC rotation, which is good in its own right. It's all about what audience you're pursuing, anyway. With CHR stations, the majority of the audience is going to be sub-25 years old...people who don't have the time or the interest in listening to the radio for any long stretch of time. If you ever buy a car and the printed letters on the SEEK button are worn off, you know that somebody young owned it at one time or another.

 

[Mr_Place]

Radio people hate tight rotations. Real people love hearing a hit when they turn on the radio. It works. Now, on with the countdown.

 

[radiojunki]

Hate to say it but Mr_Place is right.. Real People want to hear the same thing. They don't want to talk about how their freedom of speech is being violated or hard hitting news.. they would much rather talk about their favorite smells or something not as important. Maybe that's because they are already stressed by the economy and their lives but they want something new yet somewhat familiar since they heard it last hour and the hour before that and so on. :-\

Where's the challenge? ???

 

[Richard Kimball]

Radio people hate tight rotations. Real people love hearing a hit when they turn on the radio. It works. Now, on with the countdown.

And that's the reason radio listenership and revenues are at an all time high!!

 

[burksy]

Radio people hate tight rotations. Real people love hearing a hit when they turn on the radio. It works. Now, on with the countdown.

And that's the reason radio listenership and revenues are at an all time high!!

Tight rotations are the reason revenues are struggling? Really? You sure it doesn't have anything to do with a certain recession and that companies pulled a lot of their radio advertising in an effort to save money?

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Tight playlists have been proven to get ratings, for years and years and years. As someone said above, we complain about too little variety, and some listeners do also. But when you give them a longer playlist, they tune away.

 

[grmf]

A wise man once said, "Shut up and play the hits." That simple philosophy really does tent to work. As it's been pointed out, when someone turns on the radio they want to hear the song they like. They hop in the car and want to hear their 3 current favorite songs on their 10 minute drive.

 

[Richard Kimball]

And I'm absolutely certain that as long as the radio programming geniuses continue to do the same thing over and over again and just blame the economy, everything will be just fine.

 

[OutOfTheBiz]

And I'm absolutely certain that as long as the radio programming geniuses continue to do the same thing over and over again and just blame the economy, everything will be just fine.

Yeah, it's all about the playlists. The fact that every station in America has been gutted from a talent, promotions, research and marketing standpoint is completely irrelevant.

 

[Richard Kimball]

Just make sure Ryan Seacrest is on every music station in the country at the same time. That'll work.

 

[electroboy73]

Gee, here's a thought for beefing up the number of songs in a playlist....(Q and STAR):
Add in all the current pop/r&b songs that they're NOT playing!

 

[StevenCee]

1. The short playlist of WJZZ was instrumental in their recent demise, as well as "Smooth Jazz" stations nationwide. This was one case where the L.C.D., national programming, came back and bit them. When even the girls at the dentist office complain of hearing "the same songs over & over", you've got to know trouble is brewing. Even some of their top DJs chimed in as to this being the reason....

2. When I was growing up Top 40 while concentrating on hits, to some extent, was at least a very diverse blend of genres. Everything from Motown, to rock, pop, even some comedy, jazz, & movie themes. Then when FM hit, the "Underground" music stations also played a very eclectic blend of styles & genres, you'd hear Hendrix & Cream, then "Walk on By" by Isaac Hayes, CTA (early Chicago), then some BB King, & Joni Mitchell.....

So obviously, listeners used to be very broad in their tastes. I think it's radio & programming that channeled and separated genres, to the point that now, kids up to young adults expect that to be the norm..... unfortunately.
Today, those fed up with the same 30 songs all day, have moved to cable radio, internet, or their own mp3 playlists. Which is also a reason why talk radio has become so popular. I'm a musician, but if I have to listen to radio, I'd rather hear talk, than repetitive (& usually crappy) music & inane DJ prater.

3. WAOK now only has two local hosts 6-10am, and 4-7pm, the others (Al Sharpton, Warren Ballantine, Bev Smith) are all national. They are popular, but the station's weak signal, and even weaker marketing (despite being "sister station" to WVEE), keeps their numbers so low.

I think there's definitely a market here for "less conservative" talk radio, as long as the hosts are entertaining, and not simply ranting mirror-opposites of Rush/Sean. It gets really tiring hearing the very same talking points everywhere you turn. I don't know why no one's come up with an entertaining duo with varied perspectives, oh wait, there's the Frank & Joe Show, but that's only two hours a week....

 

[Wildstyle K]

I wonder who remixed that version of "push it" by salt n peppa that just played on Q100? And I see Flo Rida's "low" is still pretty hot in Atlanta, as both 95.5 The Beat and Q100 just played it live from the club in the mix..

Well... as far as stations playing the same thing over and over, I used to hate it, but now I'm rather used to it, although I still wish sometimes they'd at least play more songs. If you have mix shows, then that's where the extra and exclusive stuff should be played. Stations that don't mix throughout the week for at least one hour are boring to me, especially if its format top 40 or rhythmic... or urban, latin-rhythmic, dance, or rhythmic oldies.

I don't care if soft rock, lite rock, jazz, opera, mexican, or alternative stations don't mix.

But bottom line, even if having a large playlist is "forbidden", there should at least be mix shows that feature stuff you can't get on a regular playlist. Here in Arizona, both the mixshows and the regular playlists are very basic. I see the same thing has happened to Atlanta mixshows, too.

By the way, "low" by Flo Rida is back on 95.5 The Beat again. It's been about 35 - 40 minutes since the last time.

I appreciate having a station like KPKX. They never repeat a song within the same day.
"Listeners of The Peak can hear great artists like Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Foreigner, Guns n’ Roses, Gin Blossoms and so much more."
They forgot a bunch of stuff, like "don't cha" by Pussycat Dolls, "don't stop the music" - Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Pink, Maroon 5, UB40, Ave of Base, Green Day, and.... well, let me just stop here.

If only we had a rhythmic or a top 40 that would consider the same amount of variety with their format.

 

[Wildstyle K]

I wonder who remixed that version of "push it" by salt n peppa that just played on Q100? And I see Flo Rida's "low" is still pretty hot in Atlanta, as both 95.5 The Beat and Q100 just played it live from the club in the mix..

Well... as far as stations playing the same thing over and over, I used to hate it, but now I'm rather used to it, although I still wish sometimes they'd at least play more songs. If you have mix shows, then that's where the extra and exclusive stuff should be played. Stations that don't mix throughout the week for at least one hour are boring to me, especially if its format top 40 or rhythmic... or urban, latin-rhythmic, dance, or rhythmic oldies.

I don't care if soft rock, lite rock, jazz, opera, mexican, or alternative stations don't mix.

But bottom line, even if having a large playlist is "forbidden", there should at least be mix shows that feature stuff you can't get on a regular playlist. Here in Arizona, both the mixshows and the regular playlists are very basic. I see the same thing has happened to Atlanta mixshows, too.

By the way, "low" by Flo Rida is back on 95.5 The Beat again. It's been about 35 - 40 minutes since the last time.

I appreciate having a station like KPKX. They never repeat a song within the same day.
"Listeners of The Peak can hear great artists like Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Foreigner, Guns n’ Roses, Gin Blossoms and so much more."
They forgot a bunch of stuff, like "don't cha" by Pussycat Dolls, "don't stop the music" - Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Pink, Maroon 5, UB40, Ave of Base, Green Day, and.... well, let me just stop here.

If only we had a rhythmic or a top 40 that would consider the same amount of variety with their format.