PS - Re: in-house music libraries... This does not mean to run to corporate "sales" suppliers to pick up the first thing that says "Adult Standards" or, for that matter, any "format" on CD or hard drive. Look at the library completely, first. Lots of tunes does not a library make. Find out how much customization (if any) the company will do, find out how much of the genre they truly understand (or is it a bunch of songs being passed off as a non-researched library just to fill CDs or a drive,) and look for quality in audio and manufacturing. Contracts are not easily broken without pain and suffering.
Go to the bookstore (or online) and get a good book or two by Joel Whitburn as a reference...save lots of money. The titles will jump right out at you if you are a fan of the format...but don't merely go by "charts." Lots of "turntable hits" were just that in this format. Sinatra, for example, did ten times as many songs we knew than those that ever charted. Know the product as much as possible, but don't do just "favorites."
You'll fill your library with drivvle that won't fit the format if you do, (hence, the problem with buying blindly what a syndicator tells you is "Adult Standards.") Some just don't know the format and its ingredients. They are selling quantity, not quality ... but quality is, in my opinion (and many others,) more than 300 "Greatest Hits" songs. There are thousands of well remembered songs out there...many hundreds that would be fresh to hear on-air today.
Don't forget dowloading, whether it be iTunes, WalMart.com, Rhapsody, MusicMatch or others. Not hard to do, and, actually, quite fun. Exceptional quality and fast to do. As expensive,inexpensive or as cheap as you want it to be. Budget your music and build a library as you go along after you establish a good base. Keeps the format fresh, that way.
It's so fast, your 7 year old can do it...(especially if he/she is atypical and actually likes Adult Standards... The point -- they can download anything. You'd be surprised. It's really easy to do. No Einstein needed and it works anywhere, as long as there is an Internet connection ... and a broadband one, at that. (You'll long have sold your station trying this by dial-up modem.) You can get broadband, now, anywhere.
And, yes, there are directions available.
Soon, you'll have a library to be proud of, one that is instantly updateable, one that flows with the seasons, songs that can be relaxed when you want them to be, increased as you need them, tempoed, rotated, balanced etc. It's not hard to do or, today, as time consuming as it used to be.
It truly IS rocket science! People will be way impressed if you play not only the "best" music...but a lot of it that has feeling, relevance, style and class. And they'll give you the credit for being smart and intelligent for your own community, not because you went to the "major syndicator store" to get, at a substantial cost, what you think you want, because they tell you it's what you need. (I've been there, done that, incidentally...for years.) And remember..."Free isn't free."
Remember...adult listeners, even on AM, have longer Time Spent Listening (TSLs) spans well over the 22 minute average. Why bore them to death with the same old - same old every single day? Some songs are being played today as much as they were 40 years ago! Shame...
Control, that's what it's about. Your control. You won't mess it up too bad (there is no perfect format, after all,) and the uniqueness that is your "design" (even down to playing the basic hits, if that's what you want,) is what makes the station fresh, positive, believable, relateable, promotable and $ellable.
It's always easier to sell yourself and your product, if it's well done.
The hype that listeners don't know "bird programming" is a fallacy. They do. Even if you're the only game in town, they know something is amiss. Don't treat your listeners (and customers) as dummies. Anyone who hears, "It's 20 past the hour," knows something is up. And so it goes...
That's why they call them "program directors." Hire a competent one or get some outside advice (sometimes for free!)
Check online for particular "lists" and save lots of time and money on research. There are a lot of such lists out there. Lots of radio stations of the genre put playlist info on their web sites. It's a kick to see how they do their programming. Great research tool.
A week of that and you're set to get a good idea of what "sound" you really want ... A/C based gold, "true Standards," "Nostalgia," MOR, Soft A/C, contemporary MOR, crossover country, a hybrid of all, etc.
Inside a week, you'll have an more than basic library. Inside of two weeks, a complete library. Your jingles won't be cut that fast, so, you'll have plenty of time. Go make some sales in between downloads.
This format is only as "alive" as you can make it ... and there is plenty to keep it that way for success with planning and a dedication to it. You'd be surprised how inexpensively this can be done. There's a goldmine out there ... lots of nuggets for success. It's a great format, long neglected...and longer remembered, or it wouldn't be around today, at all.
