Radio station playlists songs 300 or less?

[ScottBurns]

How many people even KNOW 2,500 songs? Is there any semblance of a power rotation, or is the average listener likely to hear their favorite big hits just as often as they'll hear a song they don't remember at all?

I'm guessing your station is a mom-and-pop operation in a small town, not part of any rated market. I'm also guessing there are few or no major cities near it, and thus no big-market FM classic hits station for competition. More power to you if your advertisers and listeners support your little station, but I seriously doubt the average radio listener in your town is as enthusiastic about it as you imagine.

PS -- If you're still playing hundreds of '50s titles, be aware that many of those tunes' most enthusiastic fans now reside in your town's cemeteries.

CTListener (assuming you are in CT), if you ever make it over to Boston/Providence/anywhere in Eastern MA, check out Easy 99.1/Plymouth (I think they stream too). Their playlist has at least 2,500 songs. They have nightly specialty hours from 6-10 PM ("'60s at 6," etc.) that broadens the playlist even more. They play songs from the late '60s to today, although music from 2010-today probably is played once an hour, if that.

This station is my favorite in the entire country.

 

[gr8oldies]

The station I work for has a 50s/60s/70s format and includes around 2,500 songs in the rotation, which is more than double what it was a year ago and it continues to grow... The response so far appears to be positive!

Every amateur programmer has this "we'll cure repetition by stuffing more and more songs in". Yes, you have very vocal fans who claim to love you, but if you aren't buying the book, you don't know about the rest of the audience.

 

[b-turner]

Good point. The folks that love you will say they do. Those that don't just change the station and never say a word.

 

[TheBigA]

How much attention is given to an emphasis on seasonal play?

For some time it seemed like ballads had a better chance of getting played in the winter, while uptempos got more play in the summer.

 

[TheBigA]

CTListener (assuming you are in CT), if you ever make it over to Boston/Providence/anywhere in Eastern MA, check out Easy 99.1/Plymouth (I think they stream too). Their playlist has at least 2,500 songs.

Where did you come up with that number? The station doesn't report it's playlist to Mediabase. I can tell you I researched WFEZ Miami, and what I saw was about 500 songs in the playlist, including 7 currents. The playlist revises every week, and so their most played songs last week change this week. So its possible the rotation gives the perception that it has a much larger playlist.

 

[gr8oldies]

For some time it seemed like ballads had a better chance of getting played in the winter, while uptempos got more play in the summer.

That brief time I spent in Florida in 1980 was in February and March, and I noticed some uptempo tunes that weren't getting play up north. One of those being "Baby Talks Dirty" by The Knack, which stiffed up north/

 

[ScottBurns]

Where did you come up with that number? The station doesn't report it's playlist to Mediabase. I can tell you I researched WFEZ Miami, and what I saw was about 500 songs in the playlist, including 7 currents. The playlist revises every week, and so their most played songs last week change this week. So its possible the rotation gives the perception that it has a much larger playlist.

I am taking a wild guess. It is rare to hear the same song twice in a week, never mind in a day. Moreover, seemingly no song (except, perhaps '80s death metal and '90s-'10s hardcore rap/hip hop) is off limits. The station is also live and local from 6 AM to 6 PM during the week (no voice tracking). I don't have access to the numbers, but the station's billing has increased in recent years. I remember David posting it on the Boston board.

I also enjoy WFEZ and WDUV, as both play songs I can't hear anywhere else on terrestrial radio.

 

[TheBigA]

I am taking a wild guess. It is rare to hear the same song twice in a week, never mind in a day.

As I said, it's perception. This week's #1 song is "Out Of Touch" by Hall & Oates. That song was #136 last week. I saw that kind of shuffling going on throughout the playlist. The actual number of songs is smaller than one perceives because of the rotation.

 

[ScottBurns]

As I said, it's perception. This week's #1 song is "Out Of Touch" by Hall & Oates. That song was #136 last week. I saw that kind of shuffling going on throughout the playlist. The actual number of songs is smaller than one perceives because of the rotation.

In observing Easy 99.1/WPLM for several years, there seems to be little "rotation." And given its live and local nature, listener requests, for example, are common throughout afternoon drive and even part of mid-days. Perhaps my perception is off. But having observed the station's PD/MD for many years, his philosophy is that very, very little is off-limits. The station is a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

And there is a difference between size of the playlist and frequency of rotation. I remember you saying that WOGL had a playlist equally as wide as Ben-FM in Philadelphia. I have no doubt that you are correct, but the former repeats the same songs far more frequently than the latter.

 

[TheBigA]

I have no doubt that you are correct, but the former repeats the same songs far more frequently than the latter.

And the former gets better ratings than the latter.

 

[ScottBurns]

And the former gets better ratings than the latter.

Clearly that is what the audience wants. I understand the reasoning. My taste is different, however. I like as much variety as possible. But that puts me in the minority.

 

[kevtronics]

When they were "The Breeze" (Soft AC/Classic Hits), 107.1 WWZY and 99.7 WBHX on the Jersey Shore had a "No-Repeat Workweek", in which they did not repeat any songs from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday. Even if they played an average of only 10 songs per hour (since they had top-of-hour news), that equals playing at least 400 songs with no repeats.

 

[vchimpanzee]

PS -- If you're still playing hundreds of '50s titles, be aware that many of those tunes' most enthusiastic fans now reside in your town's cemeteries.

Oh, please. That's good music.

 

[Don CT]

Oh, please. That's good music.

Honestly 50's music is maybe the one decade that did not age well.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Honestly 50's music is maybe the one decade that did not age well.

All I know is in the 70s when "Happy Days" was a big hit series, I kept seeing commercials for records with those songs.

63 Big WAYS suburban Charlotte NC and KTUC Tucson play a lot of 50s music. KTUC has plenty of advertising. WAYS has an owner who doesn't care about making a lot of money and each hour has a sponsor.

 

[Don CT]

All I know is in the 70s when "Happy Days" was a big hit series, I kept seeing commercials for records with those songs.

63 Big WAYS suburban Charlotte NC and KTUC Tucson play a lot of 50s music. KTUC has plenty of advertising. WAYS has an owner who doesn't care about making a lot of money and each hour has a sponsor.

And who was the target demo for happy days?

 

[davideduardo]

. KTUC has plenty of advertising.

Lots of spots does not mean lots of money. Those AMs playing 50’s and 60’s dinosaurs are generally getting a “dollar a holler” or less.

 

[gr8oldies]

Oh, please. That's good music.

Lots of spots does not mean lots of money. Those AMs playing 50’s and 60’s dinosaurs are generally getting a “dollar a holler” or less.

If they're in a cluster, all the barter for all of the other stations' networks, features, etc may be being dumped there

 

[vchimpanzee]

And who was the target demo for happy days?

Well, they were kids then, right?

 

[TheBigA]

Sean Ross just wrote a column about song repetition in radio.

https://radioinsight.com/blogs/220767/is-it-still-groundhog-day-at-radio/

Sean's column is more about song scheduling than playlist size. But he notes that some recurrents are "burned to a crisp" by the time they move out of the current rotation. My view is some of that is because some currents in heavy rotation weren't actually hits.