Same old, Same old..

[Shredder]

Is there some actual study that shows that people LIKE hearing the same playlist repeated over
and over again? If you've listened to radio in the last 5 years, give or take, you've heard every sone
they've played....

I've also noticed that dance songs, or non related love songs do not seem to last long the air.
I guess actual fun sons no longer have a place on stations these days...

 

[lalumia]

"People don't always know what they like,
But they sure do like what they know!"
Rick Sklar in an interview with a teenage Jimi LaLumia, 1970, for "Rock" Magazine

 

[Walter Graff]

The average person has 6000 words in his vocabulary. The dictionary has 450,000. Did they need to know all 450,000 to speak well? Point is there are a lot of songs out there, just not enough to really make a play list that is all encompassing. Most folks only want to hear those 6000 words.

 

[nd2023]

Cascada - Everytime We Touch lasted quite a long time on CHR and Dance. I believe Dance added it in November '05 and CHR added it in January '06. It lasted well into spring '06.
September - Cry For You was added to dance in February 2007. It stayed in the dance rotation, went into medium rotation around the summer of '07, but refused to die. CHR tried it in February 2008, and it really picked up steam in May 2008 on CHR, going into heavy/power rotation there, and back into heavy rotation in dance. Stayed in rotation on CHR and dance till the end of the summer. That's over a year and a half of rotation on dance radio!
The same person generally doesn't like hearing the same songs over and over, but different people like hearing their favorite song when they tune in. Hence, cume is high and TSL is low.

 

[andreajesus]

Ah so different than it was back in the 60's and 70's...I remember Rick Sklar in his GREAT book "Rockin' America" talking about how at one point back in 1964, "Hello Dolly" by Louis Armstrong was in the Top 10 - the DJs were supposed to play it like every hour - well, Scott "Beatle" Muni was NOT too happy with that - I believe that's around the time he left, yes - because of some dude named Louis... - and a guy by the name of Bruce Morrow replaced him doing the 7 to 11 time slot - say whatever happened to him??

And as far as it is today, this is MY thing - it's a whole different ballgame when you got BOTH a CHR station AND a dance station playing something like an "Everytime We Touch" - the same rule that applied in Top 40 back then STILL applies today - WHATEVER the most POPULAR records are, the CHR (Top 40) plays them, NO MATTER how much of a "drop-out factor" they might be - the Cascada record is the PER-FECT example of that...as far as the dance stations go, they're gonna just play the heck out of the record because, let's face it, I've heard this thing, and it IS a GREAT song, period!! But that's just MY opinion...talk amongst yourselves...

Andrea
(PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORTING IN THREE WEEKS SO GET READY COS HERE THEY COME!!)

 

[lalumia]

love you,andrea,but you must realize that back then, popular records were actual records that people bought,selling millions of copies;
that machinery is no longer functional,it's all about 'adds' and 'testing',or so we are told;
Robbins is the label that managed to squeek one or two dance records into the Top 40 every year,but it's been a while since the last one,and there's no real groundswell for the genre on the horizon
in the old days,WABC would be playing the new Springsteen if the sales were there,and the new Springsteen is selling big numbers,but I don't expect to hear it on Z100 anytime soon(even though they should be playing it);
i also don't recall them giving airtime to "High school Musical", or even "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from the DreamGirls soundtrack when that was the biggest selling CD in NY and America

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

The average person has 6000 words in his vocabulary. The dictionary has 450,000. Did they need to know all 450,000 to speak well? Point is there are a lot of songs out there, just not enough to really make a play list that is all encompassing. Most folks only want to hear those 6000 words.

Yeah, but not variations of the same words over and over and over. Today's music playlists are too tight. Consultants are
wannabe network PD's. It started with what tunes to play and when top play them and now it's what to say and how to say it. Give me a break! : : ;D ;D

 

[lalumia]

by the mid 70s, 77WABC's chart consisted of 14 "Super singles" and about 8 extras, I have the Feb.4,1974 Survey sheet in front of me as I write;
THAT was a tight,and VERY SUCCESSFUL playlist,
in comparison,Z100 is almost like free form radio;
the tight playlist has always been and will always be the key to success for "Hit" Radio

 

[Walter Graff]

I was going to say the same thing. Play lists have actually increased in size. What's missing is new music so you are tired of all the same songs. Music in many ways is dead. Only small genres of music being made these days that most don't listen to. Everything else IS an oldie.

I remember the summer Saturday Night Fever came out. WABC played 14 songs an hour, all from that album. Hour after hour with an occasional song outside the album thrown in. And yet is was all so new that no one cared.

 

[Shredder]

Yep, but at least to me, back then music was more fun and memorable. All the songs today seem to gel together, at least for me...

And doesn't the overplaying of a song generally hurt the artists? So many people have only one and done hit lists these days...

 

[lalumia]

as Rick Sklar also said to me during the interview,and said many times thereafter, "we're not in the music business, we're in the radio business!"
and that ,then and now,sums up the whole situation.

 

[oldies76]

Today's music playlists are too tight.

Agreed 10x over!

From 1963 to 1985, 2203 songs made the Top 10 positions on the Hot 100 and all we can hear is just 400 or 500 of them repeated?? What..22%?

And remember, we're just talking Top 10. Go out to position 20 and it's probably less than 10% of the songs played.
Good Grief!

 

[davideduardo]

Agreed 10x over!

From 1963 to 1985, 2203 songs made the Top 10 positions on the Hot 100 and all we can hear is just 400 or 500 of them repeated?? What..22%?

Remember two things.

1. The charts from that era are more than a little suspect. Everything from getting paper adds to giving free product to stores in exchange for reporting... very ugly.

2. Radio does not offer a time machine feature... people don't want to hear most of the songs that were hits then. We play the ones people still want to hear, or that are hits now.

 

[returnofbongo]

What a load. Interesting to have david gleason talking about what is suspect and what people want to hear. You sir, represent all that is wrong with radio today. You make judgments about "suspect" charts and claim to play what people want to hear. You don't know the first thing about what people want to hear. It would cost Univision (or CC, or CBS or________) too much money to find out what we want to hear. So you will keep boiling it down to a chart of your choosing. Is that REALLY better? I find THAT, suspect.

 

[oldies76]

Remember two things.

1. The charts from that era are more than a little suspect. Everything from getting paper adds to giving free product to stores in exchange for reporting... very ugly.

I only referenced the books to figure out approx. what percentage could be aired. With or without the charts, the songs still exist and a low percentage of them are ultimately spun.

 

[davideduardo]

What a load. Interesting to have david gleason talking about what is suspect and what people want to hear.

Why don't you argue the points rather than taking the opportunity for another ad hominem barrage.

You sir, represent all that is wrong with radio today.

Idem.

You make judgments about "suspect" charts

It's widely known, and recorded in many books and publications, that the record companies of the day used a variety of methods to influence the charts. The most common included free product for record stores in exchange for reporting sales of a song or liberal return policies for ordering specific product.

And that's just a start on how charts were liberally manipulated at the sales end... without getting into the motivations for airplay.

and claim to play what people want to hear.

There is no need for stations that consult with listeners (called "research") to "claim" anything. They are simply finding out what listeners wish to hear.

You don't know the first thing about what people want to hear.

Nor, with great precison, does any program director. That is why the listeners themselves are consulted so that the right songs are played.

It would cost Univision (or CC, or CBS or________) too much money to find out what we want to hear.

Actually, it costs a reasonable amount of money for stations in any significant market to find out the songs and the content that listeners wish us to provide them with. The return on such investments in research, when in the hands of a good PD, are vastly greater than the costs.

So you will keep boiling it down to a chart of your choosing. Is that REALLY better? I find THAT, suspect.

In my particular case, there are no Whitburns or charts of any kind to be selected or consulted. The only way to determine listener preferences is to ask the listeners.

In the case of others, with or without charts from the past, the issue is finding out what songs people still like today. That's a totally different issue.

 

[Zeb Norris]

Yep, but at least to me, back then music was more fun and memorable. All the songs today seem to gel together, at least for me...

This is a predictable feeling; most people like the music of their youths the best. That's why radio doesn't play much new stuff... agencies want adults.

Want to figure out the target demo of a station? Easy; find the era they play the most music from and figure out who was 15 to 24 at that time.

You say you're 57 and you love new music? Sorry; you're an anomaly. That's just the way it IS.

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

Yep, but at least to me, back then music was more fun and memorable. All the songs today seem to gel together, at least for me...

This is a predictable feeling; most people like the music of their youths the best. That's why radio doesn't play much new stuff... agencies want adults.

Want to figure out the target demo of a station? Easy; find the era they play the most music from and figure out who was 15 to 24 at that time.

You say you're 57 and you love new music? Sorry; you're an anomaly. That's just the way it IS.

That's why WNEW AM/FM went out, WNBC radio (and the over FM music thing, plus the fact that management couldn't run the station properly. People in their 40's are not going to get into today's tunes. That's just the way is......Bruce Hornsby! : : ;D ;D

 

[returnofbongo]

I won't cut and paste another long daitribe from Univision's David Gleason. What I WILL say, is that I find it suspect when a broadcasting company ALSO owns a record label. What I find suspect is when an executive from said company claims that "research" dictates what makes onto charts. I believe there were "issues" concerning said broadcasting company and said record label. Give me a break.

 

[returnofbongo]

FYI, here is the headline from the POST:

By BRIAN GARRITY

August 10, 2007

The world's biggest music companies are lining up to acquire the music assets of Univision Communications, even as a growing payola controversy swirls around the Spanish-language media giant.

David, don't talk about integrity and research.