Restructuring Alternative

[Mark-Oni]

Re: Restructuring Alternative / Linkin Park

> Meh. There's no denying their strong work ethics, but most
> of the reasons why they did all these things is because of
> the huge sales of their albums. It's called striking while
> the iron is hot. Linkin Park are lightweights from an
> artistic standpoint. All of their songs follow a very
> similar formula, last no longer than 4 minutes, have lyrics
> that are way too simple and direct, and they are real
> tightwads with their albums - they're both about 35 minutes
> long. They're just another mindless corporate rock factory
> that, along with the likes of Nickelback, 3 Doors Down and
> Hoobastank, will soon fall off the face of the earth.

Sadly, the bulk of listeners like these mindless corporate rock acts. Thus, we must play them.

 

[Mark-Oni]

Re: Restructuring Alternative / Comparing U.S. Act to UK Act

> and Fall Out Boy. What I'm saying is, there's so many
> people abandoning ship on the Alternative format, and it
> probably has to do with the fact that these stations are
> playing acts of little substance.

No, it's more likely due to the fact that alternative is playing acts that no one cares about. You know, the ones that you hear on WFNX and Indie in L.A. The format would do better if the audiences would actually like hearing Kasabian and the Kaiser Chiefs or some of the other bands you mention.

 

[Mark-Oni]

> Good point. No one can deny that, whether you are a fan or
> not (I can take or leave them), Green Day put a lot of
> effort into American Idiot. No doubt about it, they have
> come a long way since Dookie. Nickelback, on the other
> hand, is content to stick with the exact same successful
> formula album after album. What shocks me is that the
> American public are so naive that they continue to buy these
> albums, and that Nickelback's All The Right Reasons is still
> in the upper echelon of the charts. Well, there's no
> accounting for taste in these people - simple minds enjoy
> simple things.
>

You nailed it. These are the people we are programming to. Altenative radio gave up being a niche format in 1994. Now that we are aiming at pleasing the masses, that's what we do. As a result, we have to play what the listener's want. That means playing Nickelback. Whenever we try to ram bands like the Kaiser Chiefs down their throat (a band I love and have tried to break as best I could), the damn listeners throw it back in our face.