sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.5?

[promixcuous]

If you're in promotions for a station aimed at young women, and an artist in town sold out a mid-size venue in your target demo--to a passionate and rapidly growing audience, do you think you should be interested? Maybe it's an unproven commodity...unless that artist has hit #1 the world over. Not convinced? How about is that artist puts on such good a show that it leaves the fans in the dust (or in a heap of confetti as was the case).

Well, that's what Friday night's Mika conert at the Orpheum was like. Simply incredible. I took a teen from Brookline High, who was absolutely psyched, and in the area we were seated we bumped into no less that five separate friends of his, all of whom have recently got hooked on Mika due to buzz across the school. The guy is on fire, a great performer, and he's becoming huge.

So, if the promo people from Kiss 108 and Mix 985 are doing their jobs, why did they miss the event and thus the opportunity to connect with their demo?

 

[Retro]

Mix played Mika's song last year but it didn't seem to catch on at all.

 

[promixcuous]

Given that the demo at the concert would have appealed to very specific advertisers, and given that many people only have recently become aware of Mika, and given the connection between the performer and his sold out crowd, there is an audience that is now or becoming prepared for his sound. Which, after all, is a straight-forward pop sound.

The reality is he is young, attractive, an incredible performer, a good, classic songwriter, and has a head on his shoulders. He's going to be around and have appeal for a long time. Radio builds listeners on good talent like this.

 

[Bigtime Bowler]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

Those passionate Mika fans that complain that he isn't played on KISS or Mix are the same passionate Mika fans that will complain once he's being played every hour and 45 minutes on KISS and Mix.

 

[RadioNewbie]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

The show was fantastic on Friday night! I was really expecting to see Mix there but also kinda guessed that they weren't going to be there since OneRepublic was also in town that night at the Paradise. Mix played "Grace Kelley" for a bit last year...and music director Mike Mullaney played "Relax(Take it Easy)" on his New Music show on Sunday Nights called "You Hear It First". So they are starting to open up to Mika, but as Mika said to the audience he's come to realize that his popularity in the States will be based on live performances and he's completely alright with that cause he loves it.

and I've now seen both of Mika's Boston shows(the recent one at Orpheum and this past summer at Avalon) and the crowd is so diverse with the age range and gender and sexual orientation and color...it really is kinda the craziest grouping of fans I've seen at a show in recent years.

 

[mistermicrophone]

I took a teen from Brookline High, who was absolutely psyched, and in the area we were seated we bumped into no less that five separate friends of his, all of whom have recently got hooked on Mika due to buzz across the school.

So, if the promo people from Kiss 108 and Mix 985 are doing their jobs, why did they miss the event and thus the opportunity to connect with their demo?

Look for your answer to the question in paragraph 2 be answered in paragraph 1...

 

[iknowpeople]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

mika's music, although great (and strikingly familiar...queen anyone?), has not yet become successful, radio-wise. coldplay doesn't test well in some markets, but their concerts are packed.

having worked at two stations who have played mika's music...both of them dropped the track because of it testing poorly...i love the song, but thats just the fact.

 

[AllForADeuce]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

mika's music, although great (and strikingly familiar...queen anyone?), has not yet become successful, radio-wise. coldplay doesn't test well in some markets, but their concerts are packed.

having worked at two stations who have played mika's music...both of them dropped the track because of it testing poorly...i love the song, but thats just the fact.

But that doesn't stop them from making an appearance. WAAF and WBCN show up for shows of older bands they haven't played in years. Seen AAF at two Iron Maiden Orpheum shows and they hadn't played Maiden in YEARS. I talked to one of the street crew and as much as he agreed, AAF was the station that played them and they management wanted an AAF presence. They did catch a bunch of flak one year from some of the post-concert crowd while passing out stickers. The fans weren't too receptive.

 

[mistermicrophone]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

mika's music, although great (and strikingly familiar...queen anyone?), has not yet become successful, radio-wise. coldplay doesn't test well in some markets, but their concerts are packed.

having worked at two stations who have played mika's music...both of them dropped the track because of it testing poorly...i love the song, but thats just the fact.

But that doesn't stop them from making an appearance. WAAF and WBCN show up for shows of older bands they haven't played in years. Seen AAF at two Iron Maiden Orpheum shows and they hadn't played Maiden in YEARS. I talked to one of the street crew and as much as he agreed, AAF was the station that played them and they management wanted an AAF presence. They did catch a bunch of flak one year from some of the post-concert crowd while passing out stickers. The fans weren't too receptive.

Yeah, AAF/Maiden, they fit together although they are not played on the station. My point was that this person talked about a TEEN who he brought to the show who ran into other TEENS at the show and implied that KISS and MIX should be jumping out of their skin to cater to said teens. That is NOT KISS or MIX's core. I'd be willing to bet that of the people in KISS/MIX demo at the show - who were there of their own will - were not KISS or MIX P1's.

 

[MassMusicMan]

I can't put my finger on this thread. Neither station (nor most stations in America) play Mika, and you want these stations to send a street team to his concert? Why would they attach themselves to this event? It would do nothing for the station.

If you want to make the point that he should be getting airplay on Kiss and Mix, you could point out that people are passionate about him based on the concert attendance (I'm kicking myself for forgetting about the show...would have been a cool Friday night), and that they should play his records based on that. But if he's not on the station now, no sense in sending the van.

As for the post about Mix playing songs every 1:40: Seriously? They played their top current 51 times this week.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

There are certain acts who always jammed concert halls, but did relatively little on the radio. In my "generation", the Grateful Dead were the prime example. Only one Top Ten hit in a 30-year band career, and a handful of tunes that got a little occasional AOR airplay among all their albums, which never sold all that well (when new)... but they sold out most every concert nationwide for over two decades of almost continuous touring in major venues.

But, don't forget that the size of the audience to sell out even the largest stadiums and amphitheatres may appear impressive if you're among the crowd and swept up by the enthusiasm at the event, but it's only a small fraction of the amount of listeners that a major market station needs to be successful - and a concert hall or theatre such as the Orpheum is even far less. A sellout audience for concerts by an artist who has not caught onto the radio (for whatever reasons) is considered to be just a "cult following" by broadcasters, and not of interest to the mainstream majority demo of their format that they're targeting.

 

[Retro]

I believe Mix's heavy rotation is every 3 hours.

 

[promixcuous]

Eli, I see your point about the Dead filling venues but not playlists; however, Mika is a top-40 artist with remarkable CHR success worldwide.

Here's the big picture: What we're seeing (and this week's Phoenix points this out) is that US pop culture is shifting away from the arts having to always exhibit "gunpowder"--that innocence and joy (and even cuteness), when delivered with craft and excitement, are catching on. CHR programmers in the US should look at this trend. Mika is emblematic and his appeal is being underestimated in every US market he performs in.

Let's stretch a little but I think there's a zeitgiest connection: Obama is uplifting--look at the reaction.

Kiss 108 and Mix 985 pay attention to female demos, and particularly Kiss if it involves teens. A song like "Relax, Take it Easy" leans adult, anyway.

 

[mistermicrophone]

Eli, I see your point about the Dead filling venues but not playlists; however, Mika is a top-40 artist with remarkable CHR success worldwide.

Uhhh...no he's not. Success elsewhere doesn't equal success in the U.S. (David Hasselhoff is HUGE in Germany).

Kiss 108 and Mix 985 pay attention to female demos, and particularly Kiss if it involves teens.

Huh?? Teens may listen to KISS, but KISS does not target them.

 

[Signpost]

Re: sold out show...1000s of screaming girls...but where are Kiss 108 and Mix98.

Any event that attracts the demographic (including parents chaperoning..) a station can only benefit by having a presence there. Regardless of airplay.