On the other hand, a standards format that leans heavily toward older recordings is what Serenade Radio (online only with volunteer DJs and supported by donations) does most of the time. It is in England though the first DJ I listened to was based in Palm Springs. There are also a lot of instrumentals like an easy listening station would have (though most songs have vocals), and the station does describe its format as easy listening, though a lot of songs are high energy, sometimes described as "swing". On the shows I listen to most recordings are from the 40s through the 70s. Most if not all of the newer recordings are by Michael Buble, Rod Stewart or others singing the old songs. One show occasionally goes back to the 30s and has a "vintage tune", but many of the recordings would fit that description. Some shows are just 1920s, 30s and 40s.
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Radio stations that are "chestnuts"/anomalies
- Thread starter jp1996
- Start date
Most if not all of what you just mentioned would never be commercial viable these days, which is why even with online radio, they survive on donations and volunteers.. id gather they probably barely cover costs.
You're right, although unlike a lot of internet-only stations, this one seems to have some cut-through to listeners via word-of-mouth. At work the other day, I went to see someone in their office and they had Serenade Radio playing. They aren't a "radio person" at all, but I asked them about it and it had been recommended to them by a friend and they listen all day.
Most internet stations are listened to by absolutely nobody, so to randomly hear this one playing at work was a surprise.
I've always thought radio discussion boards have too much discussion of whether or not something is or isn't "commercially viable". As someone who nowadays is just a listener, it's literally not my job to think about that. With volunteers, donations and internet streaming, it's possible to run a station for other reasons, for passion or to give something back to a music genre you love.
As most public stations have learned over the years, you still need donors or underwriters (sponsors). That means one is competing for ears among the commercial stations, with now streaming and podcasting stealing your lunch money too. The ones that survive, are the ones who create unique programming, not just play someone else's content.
When it comes to old Standards, Beautiful Music (BM), Do-Wop, Swing-Jazz, whatever, there are a lot of options other than OTA radio, including (here in the States) SXM. Occasionally some rich person buys a station and loses money for a while playing their favorites. They soon find out the old saying; rich people don't get rich by burning money. Doing some obscure radio or streaming format with no support is exactly that.
I'm not sure where I learned about Serenade Radio. It might have been here on a thread about other places to hear standards.
If you look here it seems to be very popular.
Listeners Comments
Serenade Radio - The Best in Easy Listening, leave us a comment and let us know what you think of our station.
www.serenade-radio.com
I'm not sure where I learned about Serenade Radio. It might have been here on a thread about other places to hear standards.
If you look here it seems to be very popular.
Listeners Comments
Serenade Radio - The Best in Easy Listening, leave us a comment and let us know what you think of our station.
popularity doesnt always pay the bills
Are they sponsored? Do you hear ads?
If so, do you go out of your way to support the advertisers who are paying to 'serenade' you? How much do you think you've spent since you began listening?
I think I know the answer, but am hoping you'll prove me wrong.
$8000 on one advertiser, but the station isn't one that I like that much. It's as close as I can get to music I like when I'm in the car.
That's the only answer I'm going to give.
That's the only answer I'm going to give.
Wait, you spent $8G's with a single advertiser specifically heard on 'Serenade', or whatever it's called?
Standards now is for people 80 and older. When the rock era began with Rock Around the Clock and the like, anyone 10 and older grew up on what we call oldies now... and those oldest adopters of Top 40 songs are 78 old or older.
The expenses, starting with the absolute requirement to pay music licensing fees, is such that few volunteer and amateur operations can survive.
I remember (about 20 years ago), Clear Channel blew up WRLX, probably their last quasi-easy listening station in West Palm Beach. Replacing it with alternative “Planet Radio”…in a market which already had an alternative rocker in WPBZ. WRLX was 2nd in the 6+ ratings at the time. But, all those ratings were 55+ in a market which (even in the early 00’s) still skewed 55+.
But it shows, even being one of the most popular stations in a market doesn’t make you immune to profitability. Guaranteed “Planet Radio” billed just as well if not better than its predecessor…even being a second-fiddle niche format!
No, an oldies station. I didn't say I liked the station but some of its songs are good.
WLML has never been shown in the 12+ or 6+ numbers but I'll bet it does well.
How do you figure that?
What sponsor did you spend $8000 on? And was it solely because you heard the ads on the radio? or.. were you in the market to buy whatever.. and this just gave you the idea who to but it from?
The first person who actually showed up when I needed work done, which actually had nothing to do with the ad.
If a person is 55+ in a market that has a real standards station, don't you think that person is more likely to listen than someone under 55?
Okay, I'm confused but let's let that question go for now.
The point is; let's say you and other friends at the senior center listen to The Serenade stream. My question was how you, as someone who really enjoys Mitch Miller, Laurence Welk, or whomever they play, are helping support the stream? Especially given the cost of streaming music over the public Internet.
Telling people about it.
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