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Please Explain The Logic to "No Soft Music on AC Anymore"

I also got into my parent's record collection as a kid -- but my parents are baby boomers. Their record collection started with Disco, Elvis and Loretta Lynn. Nothing earlier. As the world moved to Cassette tapes, the collection veered heavily into country. Alabama, George Strait, Lee Greenwood.

Nothing "soft" for a young BoardOp to listen to - unless you consider some of the Elvis songs soft! (Which, by comparison to modern AC they are. Kentucky Rain comes to mind)
 
Each generation says the music before was.....awful. I gotta say a good portion of today's Hot AC/AC is not bad. I have to keep in mind I'm not 30 anymore. I like Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion etc...... But I don't want to hear them everyday. Heck I listened to Gary Puckett the other day (way before my time). Keep in mind today's listener was very young and little or no connection to the songs I listed. Not to say they don't have some classic AC favorites in their collection.

Anybody wanna hear the wreck of the edmond Fitzgerald. Occasionally for memories, but not all the time.

You have listeners and musicologists.... The latter makes a poor radio listener.

I always laugh at those that say radio is boring and repetitive but if you look at their Itunes library, it is the same music they can hear on the radio. People (listeners will complain no matter what).

And to pay $12.00 a month for radio. for the purpose of having Buffett or Willie
on one channel. Go figure.
 
The thing that makes me mad is seeing current Soft AC artists I loyally follow no longer having a place on the dial to air their new material.
 
Typically Soft AC hasn't been a format that plays new or current music. That's more for Hot AC.

The Soft AC stations I used to listen to would play new songs as long as it was something with a soft texture. In the '90s, they added soft songs to their playlists by Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, Selena, Marc Anthony, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain. In the '00s, they added soft songs by The Corrs, James Blunt, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Norah Jones to the mix.

The few Soft AC's that are out there are in retirement areas, such as Florida. Many of the core artists they play are still putting out new albums but their new material is being ignored by those stations.

Those few Soft AC's that are out there could also play artists such as Susan Boyle, Chris Mann, Mark Masri.
 
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'tis a bit surprising it takes 13 pages to debate a question that can be answered in two words: tastes change.
 
Each generation says the music before was.....awful. I gotta say a good portion of today's Hot AC/AC is not bad. I have to keep in mind I'm not 30 anymore. I like Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion etc...... But I don't want to hear them everyday. Heck I listened to Gary Puckett the other day (way before my time). Keep in mind today's listener was very young and little or no connection to the songs I listed. Not to say they don't have some classic AC favorites in their collection.

Anybody wanna hear the wreck of the edmond Fitzgerald. Occasionally for memories, but not all the time.

You have listeners and musicologists.... The latter makes a poor radio listener.

I always laugh at those that say radio is boring and repetitive but if you look at their Itunes library, it is the same music they can hear on the radio. People (listeners will complain no matter what).

And to pay $12.00 a month for radio. for the purpose of having Buffett or Willie
on one channel. Go figure.

You confirm what I've been saying for a long, long time. Gary Puckett's music from his heyday and Michael Bolton's music from his heyday have more similarities than they have differences. If someone who didn't know when either one of those two was having chart hits heard a good cross-section of both of their catalogs, I think that listener might have a tough time identifying which era either one came from.

And your comment about the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is also dead-on accurate. There is such an enormous wealth of good music available that fits the various descriptions applied to Adult Contemporary that no station needs to inflict a tiny little playlist on their listeners.

However, if you were to look at my MP3 collection, I guarantee you that over half of the songs I listen to in "heavy rotation" are not radio hits. Lately, I've been listening to mostly blues-rock from the 60's, with bands like the Electric Flag, Blues Project, and the pre-David Clayton Thomas Blood Sweat and Tears. Before that, I was in a mood for mostly neo-swing, with Cherry Poppin Daddies, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and the Squirrel Nut Zippers predominating. I was just putting together a new collection on my thumb drive for next week before logging in here. I felt an urge for good female singers, so I have lots of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Audra Mae, Adele, Katey Sagal (yes, that Katey Sagal), Tarja Turunen, and Imelda May. It's mind boggling how much great music is out there that people who only listen to the radio never, ever get to hear.

The thing that makes me mad is seeing current Soft AC artists I loyally follow no longer having a place on the dial to air their new material.

I agree, though I'm more selfish about it. It's not so much that they don't have a place for their new music, it's that I don't have easy access to hearing their new stuff.
 
The Soft AC stations I used to listen to would play new songs as long as it was something with a soft texture. In the '90s, they added soft songs to their playlists by Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, Selena, Marc Anthony, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain. In the early '00s, they added soft songs by The Corrs, James Blunt, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Norah Jones to the mix.

Late '00s is when I noticed the focus of those stations change to playing more upbeat and edgier sounds. When you are so used to something for so long, like I am, it's harder to accept change.
 
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And your comment about the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is also dead-on accurate. There is such an enormous wealth of good music available that fits the various descriptions applied to Adult Contemporary that no station needs to inflict a tiny little playlist on their listeners.

The fallacy in all your ongoing arguments and comments is that you base them on the idea that radio stations, for some unexplained reason, want to play fewer songs than might be available.

The truth is the opposite. Radio stations generally try to increase playlist size because it makes scheduling easier and maxing out the list will enhance variety perceptions. But when listeners are consulted and the results compiled to get a consensus list for any particular format, the list is not as expansive as we would like.

It's not so much that they don't have a place for their new music, it's that I don't have easy access to hearing their new stuff.

Many people will tell us that they pick certain stations because they play familiar music and they select them because that is what the want to hear... not new songs, not unfamiliar songs, not songs that have a sonic similarity to songs that were hits.
 
The few Soft AC's that are out there are in retirement areas, such as Florida.

The major successful soft AC's are in Tampa, San Diego and Miami. The newest one is in Phoenix. So 3 of the 4 are not in retirement markets.
 


The major successful soft AC's are in Tampa, San Diego and Miami. The newest one is in Phoenix. So 3 of the 4 are not in retirement markets.

The thing is, I've seen numerous times on the Soft AC forum that WDUV and WFEZ get the ratings they do because of the locations they are in.

I've also noticed a lot of the soft AC stations are in warm climates, where boomers tend to go in the winter.
 
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The thing is, I've seen numerous times on the Soft AC forum that WDUV and WFEZ get the ratings they do because of the locations they are in.

Miami is not a retirement community any more. In fact, the market has an average age below the national average. The largest group of 65+ persons in the market, is in fact Hispanic and not non-Hispanic white.

And WFEZ made significant changes after it launched to lower the average age and to "get rid" of the geezer demos. They did considerable research and did a very good job of making that happen. Since then, they have contemporized WDUV to the extent that it now looks quite good in 25-54, although it has shed a lot of the 65+ audience.

I've also noticed a lot of the soft AC stations are in warm climates, where boomers tend to go in the winter.

San Diego is not a "spend the winter" kind of place... it is way too expensive. And Phoenix, with a population approaching 4.5 million and a very young average age is neither a retirement location nor, statistically, very dependent on snowbirds any more.

In any event, temporary residents do not get into the Nielsen PPM ratings sample, so are not a profitable listener target.
 


Given the fact that AC began as an 18-49 format and over time has slid upwards to 25-54, that would be a very difficult case to make. It is what it always has been. The only thing that has changed is us. Asking AC to grow old with us would be like asking McDonalds to make an escargot Happy Meal. McDonald's serves kids with that product. AC serves 25-54 adults.
 
Given the fact that AC began as an 18-49 format and over time has slid upwards to 25-54, that would be a very difficult case to make. It is what it always has been. The only thing that has changed is us. Asking AC to grow old with us would be like asking McDonalds to make an escargot Happy Meal. McDonald's serves kids with that product. AC serves 25-54 adults.

I lean towards the idea of a hybrid playlist to help fill the void, like this station advertises: http://www.kliteonline.com/
 
Given the fact that AC began as an 18-49 format and over time has slid upwards to 25-54, that would be a very difficult case to make. It is what it always has been. The only thing that has changed is us. Asking AC to grow old with us would be like asking McDonalds to make an escargot Happy Meal. McDonald's serves kids with that product. AC serves 25-54 adults.

If radio stations were the same as fast food restaurants, then that would be a good example. But they aren't, so it isn't. In an era when one company owns multiple stations, it doesn't make sense to keep each station/format targeted at the same age bracket, and expect the listeners to change stations as they age. It makes more sense to target each station to a specific birth-year range, and then have the station grow with the audience until the audience is ready to throw away like so much useless garbage. When the loyal listeners get to old, blow up the station, and bring it back targeted at the old audience's grandchildren.
 
In an era when one company owns multiple stations, it doesn't make sense to keep each station/format targeted at the same age bracket, and expect the listeners to change stations as they age. It makes more sense to target each station to a specific birth-year range, and then have the station grow with the audience until the audience is ready to throw away like so much useless garbage. When the loyal listeners get to old, blow up the station, and bring it back targeted at the old audience's grandchildren.

First, to the advertising agencies, which control most of the available ad dollars in major markets, 55 is too old. So that's already being done.

Second, what you're describing is kind of like a bell curve....starting out slow, peaking in the correct demo and then this long slide into oblivion (which, by necessity, brings with it layoffs and declining investment in the product) before blowing it up and (hopefully) starting it all over again. In the words of Rocket J. Squirrel, that trick never works. The reason KIIS-FM has been the #1 CHR in Los Angeles for 32 years, as opposed to KFWB's five, KRLA's three, KHJ's 14 and KFI's two is that they didn't age with their audience, but stayed true to their demo. It's why KOST has been the #1 AC in Los Angeles for the same period of time.

Stable powerhouses (think BMW) are created by picking a sweet demographic spot and serving whoever's in it at that moment. Failed relics (think Oldsmobile, to some extent Buick and very nearly until they started turning it around with interesting cars and Led Zeppelin in the TV commercials, Cadillac) are the ones that age with their audience and then find they're stuck with the image of being "for old people".
 
Each generation says the music before was.....awful. I gotta say a good portion of today's Hot AC/AC is not bad.

Of today's artists, my music interests consist of some country crossover (examples: Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Lonestar), some triple A (examples: Colbie Caillat, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Coldplay, Adele, Sarah McLachlan, Dido), and classical crossover (examples: Jackie Evancho, Josh Groban, Celtic Woman, Il Divo).
 
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If I were programming a modern old-school Soft Rock/AC station I would have a playlist like this station: http://radioez.net

They have the usual stuff from the past (Bread, John Denver, and so on). Of today's music, they choose coffeehouse songs and singers. Examples:
Landon Pigg's Falling In Love At The Coffee Shop song
Colbie Caillat
Jason Mraz
John Mayer

Seems to be it's about choosing what fits best sonically.

I think that article hit the nail on the head about commercial radio. They're trying to please advertisers and don't take chances.
 
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