The PartyFM Listener Angst...I gotta vent

[Dancerev889]

I actually have to laugh at some of these posts because people are complaining about a radio station that supports dance music. Look at Party's concerts they are all heavy on dance artists. Some one needs to look one the dance board and take a look at the playlists from back in the 90's. All the stations were playing records that were not all dance records.

Dance fans get over yourself, you sound like an a music snob. You fight for dance music to be accept but do not accept other genres. The hip-hop community is embracing dance music. David Guetta and Tiesto are working with Hip Hop and R&B artists. They are becoming household names in the world of Top 40. Take a look at the Dance airplay charts. There are a ton of hip hop records and pop artist on there. They are all being played on dance heavy stations.

Support Party FM, they are a solid company and now you have a station that has financial stability

I'll answer your thoughts here separately Brett because there are some things that need clarification from me. And I don't know if that "snob" comment was a general directive but I'll answer as if it was directed to me.

The gist of my post IS NOT a personal complaint from me regarding PartyFM. Far from it...I WANT it to succeed and have been a big supporter of it. And yes, they do play dance music, which is great.

However, what I am seeing within the dance music community is a "disdain" and one that I really don't think is warranted. That is why I threw out my thoughts in question (not even thinking that people were actually going to answer them, just a rant and thinking in my head that made it onto "cyberpaper"). I see the complaints and bi-atching on FB and in that sense, I'll say it...people have been SPOILED with Pulse and don't want to give Party that opportunity to flourish.

Hey, I liked Pulse too but I know the reality is that the station isn't coming back. But as soon as people would hear Party and all of a sudden a hip-hop track appears, that becomes the anger fueled. And you can go back to Hot 97 (circa 1993) for that format flip (as well as Power 106 - LA and Kix 106 - Providence, RI...just to name a few). When I started the coalition soon after, my goal was NOT an anti-hip-hop agenda (if you want proof, go back to Dance Music Authority - October 1994 issue) but a "let's get a new station" agenda. Yet there is still that bitterness about the music that people never forgot.

I do realize that there is a new sort of "crossover" happening with hip-hop artists going to the dance music side of things, and if that can help get more people into dance, then great, all for it!

I'm just trying to "get to it" and find out the concerns within the community. I am also seeking answers from those that enjoyed Party 105 BEFORE the 87.7 add that loved hip-hop/R&B and feel that they are "losing" something as the station tweaks more dance.

I'm trying to get all angles of the picture here Brett. No snobbery, no negatives....just trying to find out from everyone what is up.

Tony the snob comment is not directed at you. Radio is about mass appeal and not a small amount of people that like one type of genre. The dance community is its own worst enemy. No one is ever happy and when there is progress, no one says this is great and is a start

 

[BJSteigner]

Dance music IS a hard sell to advertisers...because of the fact that European and trance dance is not music normally heard on "mainstream" American radio.

A DJ who entertains at a club gets...what?  Several hundred...maybe a thousand, or so (tops) people into a club?  If that's the "audience", it's too small for radio advertisers.  You simply can't compare the two.  They are apples and oranges, regardless of how much the DJ is getting paid.  Advertisers couldn't care less what a club DJ makes. 

The reason why it is a hard sell to advertisers is one thing....Demos and Sales.

American Mainstream Radio is dead if you were wondering. Many companies have decided against dance music and make up excuses. Advertisers are very dumb in their pitch for profits.

If Kim Sozzi advertises her moves for Pepsi, would that generate sales in dance music? SURE!

The DJs who are in the clubs work harder than radio would ever do to get not only an audience, but also sponsors. If radio had the guts to give DJs airtime straight from the clubs, that would expand the number of audience in both the clubs and radio.

Yes Dance Music is big around the world, and America should take a page out of the books from Europe and other continents and program one dance station in one market.

 

[nd2023]

I have to agree with BJ Steigner. Pulse 87 gave Glenn Friscia 4 hours a week on the air to spin from various clubs around the entire listening area. I had been to a lot of the Saturday Night dance parties, and I noticed that they were all PACKED! No matter where it was. Even when they were broadcasting from a club in Seaside Heights where the Pulse 87 signal was weak, the club was still packed.

At every club on Saturday night Pulse was at, there was a line out the door by 11 PM, and so many people on the dance floor enjoying the music. And I'm sure that Pulse 87 was able to charge the clubs way more than any club promoter could.

 

[stationless listener]

I've stated on previous occasions that I wasn't a Pulse fanatic, as I thought Pulse could've done much more with the dance format. Having said that, I will answer the questions:

1. PartyFM is a Long Island station leasing a dial position in the big city. It doesn't matter if they were on 87.75, 92.3, 97.1 or 107.5. A Long Island station is going to serve its core listeners first and then hope that city listeners accept the format sound. I just don't buy into the theory that big city listeners would push a suburban station towards their type of sound. If that's the case then WFAS, WKXW, WCTZ and WKJY would be big city stations as well, instead of being actual suburban stations.

Another thing we have to consider: This isn't Binghampton, Stamford or Ronkonkoma. No offense to residents of those cities but cities of those sizes can't compare to the size and power of importance of New York City. A city that fit the definition of polyglot and can't be treated as another suburban town. If anything, the NYC radio dial has become more or less "suburbanized" with the equivalent of the Starbucks, Applebees and McDonald's hogging the radio dial. The only difference, it seems, is "paper or plastic?" or "Have it your way (as long as it's a ______ sandwich)." This is one area where European and much of the rest of the world run complete circles around us. Check out the WinAmp player if you have that. Go to their Shoutcast program and search for radio stations. Put in "Dance" in the searchbox. Check the results. Notice how many stations are based outside the U.S. that plays heavy dance. I'm not talking about your average mom-and-pop start-up on Live 365 but actual stations with budgets. That's the difference! They take dance seriously. We (except for the Dance Coalition types) don't!

2. OK. I get it that Mega Media had money problems and it wouldn't surprise any intelligent person that they went out of business. Still, I commend them for following their dream and taking that risk, a word that has completely disappeared from the vocabulary of the radio business. I long for the days when the DJs have considerable influence and power within the radio stations and could lobby to put a song on that no other radio stations were playing. "Hey, Mr. Program Director! People want to hear this song from ___, who I just learned about. I think we can get people to listen because I think it's booming!" The loss of limited autonomy is what has hurt radio stations and encouraged the migration to the Internet.

3. Why should dance artists have to beg and plead hip-hop artists to help them "legitimize" the dance sound? Why should an aspiring dance artist need to put on a rapper to help him/her sell records? If anything, dance artists could use some guerrilla marketing to help push their sound forward. Take a few pages out of the hip-hop heads in terms of marketing their brand as a "true underground" sound. Like when Eminem dissed Moby back in the day, Moby (and dance producers) should respond by banging dance music even HARDER! If that causes the hip-hop heads to tune out, that's their loss. The culture's too ghettoed up already. It's time to turn the page and move forward!

What Producers or Dance artists are begging? Funny Will I Am came to Guetta to help produce the Black Eyed Peas album. Didnt know asking was now begging. I think you need to listen to the producers that are producing records. Guetta was on our airwaves and he absolutely loves the latest trends. All types of artists are knocking on his door. I think Tiesto would say the same thing

Well, I hope that Guetta was handsomely compensated for that work because BEP is all over the airwaves. "I Got A Feeling" is so overplayed but then that makes total sense. Gosh, it's so predictable! Gimme Ian Carey any day.

 

[struckmatch]

Y'all know will I am does electro music under a different alias....

Im barely able to listen to 87.7 because I only get it in my car. But for the little that I caught of partyfm I was pleased. Heard some new releases that surprised me (especially since it wasn't from a mixshow).
Its funny because when I told my friends that I got into house that pulse was shutting down all of them said they weren't surprised at all. Not because of the bankruptcy thing, but they all said that it must of been because pulse had been playing the same music for the past year.

But yeah house is finally coming back to the states and I'm loving it. Artists of different genres are now wanting to hop on the gravy train. U have artists like Nina sky, pitbul, baby, 3 6 Mafia, Sean Paul, and many others incorporating house into their music.

P.S.
One thing that use to piss me off with pulse was when they would diss disco......there wouldn't be a pulse if it wasn't for disco.

 

[JayD]

Drake's "Forever" after a girly dance song just doenst sound right... Party needs to fix some loose ends. They cant be playing a hard hip hop song in between an Inna and Cascada song. It just doesnt go...

 

[trock]

Drake's "Forever" after a girly dance song just doenst sound right... Party needs to fix some loose ends. They cant be playing a hard hip hop song in between an Inna and Cascada song. It just doesnt go...

Eh, I think we are falling into that modern big business radio trap of over analyzing playlists. Take a look at the dance leaning rhythmic stations of the early 90's late 80's. They played a cross section of "dance" music. To the average listener rap, house, techno, pop whatever it's all dance music to them. Quite frankly current dance IMO is so niche right now that simply going "pure" dance doesn't make financial sense. But playing strong dance acts like cascada, Kim Sozzi, Ameerah, along side mainstream acts like Drake (which is not considered hard hip hop) Mariah Carey, Beyonce etc. can only help dance. I think pure dance fans need to stop being snobs about this and be happy that there music is on the radio and getting exposure. Ok rant over.

 

[JohnParker]

It's not so much the playing of those songs back to back, it's the fact that in some cases I'm not hearing elements to break them up to make the transition easier on the ears. Throw in an ID or a Sweeper or jingle but you can't go from one genre into the other without it sounding like bad radio.

It's something that I'm sure they will fix but right now there are other things that most likely need to be addressed first. If there was an MD in place it would be there responsibility to go over the logs and make sure the music flows correctly.

Also, as to the comment that giving more time to airing sets in clubs will bring more listeners, I'd like to see the proof of that. It's always been my belief that those sets are best served being placed in the overnights because the core listener has zero interest in hearing a 2 - 3 hour set of club music on the radio. They are great for those that are only interested in hearing deeper, more underground sounds but that isn't going to win you many advertisters.

And while we are at it, the statement that DJ's work harder than radio to get sponsorship is pretty funny. Radio groups have a team of sales people that get advertising and work as hard as anyone to get it. Not many dj's have "sponsorship" deals and those that do are playing to a couple of thousand people a night max. Radio reaches millions. Where would you put your real money as an advertister?

jp

 

[JayD]

Drake's "Forever" after a girly dance song just doenst sound right... Party needs to fix some loose ends. They cant be playing a hard hip hop song in between an Inna and Cascada song. It just doesnt go...

along side mainstream acts like Drake (which is not considered hard hip hop) Mariah Carey, Beyonce etc. can only help dance. I think pure dance fans need to stop being snobs about this and be happy that there music is on the radio and getting exposure. Ok rant over.

Drake has both commercial hip hop and hard hip hop songs. "Forever" is definitely isnt a commercial, female friendly hip hop song that sounds like it belongs sandwiched between commercial dance songs. If it were "best I ever had" then that may make more sense.. but not "forever"

 

[lalumia]

in the golden age of pop/top 40 radio, the 1960s, when I was but a queenager, WMCA and 77WABC played The Rolling Stones followed by Louie Armstrong followed by The Temptations followed by Johnny Cash followed by The Supremes followed by Bob Dylan followed by "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha' followed by The Beatles followed by "Strangers In The Night" by Frank Sinatra... and the fact that we were hearing all the hits that were out there, with strong personalities, brain washing jingles and i.d.s and zany contests kept us hooked..
and then we were told it was all over by the end of the 70s, people were too hip, too many choices, FM radio stole the audience, blah blah
and then in the 80s, Z100 came along doing the 77WABC thing and it worked,again,and it works, now..
current dance does not have anything resembling a base,no singular identifying artists(and Tiesto and Guetta are many things, but identifiable pop artists is not one of them) and there are no real dance hits on the itunes top hits chart, the big champagne downloads chart, nothing that indicates a mass desire to hear the stuff..
and the queenagers of the moment are hearing drake, followed by jay z ,followed by miley, followed by muse, followed by gaga...and they're loving it...

 

[Doug D]

Trock is dead on here. The old hot 97/103 never just played strickly dance records, they were a true rhythmic hits station.

You can play Drake, its a hit, but not after a 130bpm female dance song, you need to think about how jaring that is even if you like both records. What I don't get is records like new boyz tie me down, hot owns hip hop, stick to the hits mixed with the very best dance cuts of the moment.

 

[trock]

Well new boyz is ok it's really gaining steam on the rhythmic top 40 charts. I believe it's around 13 behind David Guetta's track. Now if they start playing acts like Birdman,Juvenile and Gucci Mane in regular rotation. Then I'd worry.

 

[d21ofnj]

Party had played Birdman, Gucci Mane, and Juvenile before the 87.7 simulcast.

 

[Doug D]

I would think that as the new guy they should refrain from jumping on newer hip hop that is only now heard on the urban stations.

What they offer that no one else does is dance music. This music is unfamiliar to many as it is, so every other pop and hip hop record should be mass appeal and well known. An unknown dance song followed by an unknown hip hop song is suicide. Let z and now warm up the non-dance stuff, expect of coarse the major artist releases.

 

[Jeffrey]

The whole thing about Party is that if they continue to play so much hip, hop why would anyone struggle with the bad signal when there are plenty of other stations with better signals playing the same songs? Dance fans are loyal listeners...they'll go the extra mile to pull in the signal but not when they have to listen to 2 hip, hop songs for every dance track.

Pulse worked on that frequency because it was a good station but if Party doesn't do a bit more tweaking in the dance delivery they don't stand a chance of pulling in a 900,000 cume like Pulse did.

 

[JohnParker]

Once again, Party is a Rhythmic reporter to Billboard and they will be the ones playing, and breaking the hip hop hits before the CHR's and even will beat Hot and Power to some songs. That will help them because in Rap the thirst for new music is insatiable.

They are the only station playing dance in NY so it is actually there that they can be more patient with the music. Athough we all know that Vic doesn't play that way and he'll get on all the best dance tracks asap.

As for signal problems. I live in Long Island and I get 87.7 out there. I work in Manhattan and I get 87.7 here. The signal seems to have improved since the take over so I'm not sure there is a signal problem any longer.

jp

 

[Dancerev889]

The whole thing about Party is that if they continue to play so much hip, hop why would anyone struggle with the bad signal when there are plenty of other stations with better signals playing the same songs? Dance fans are loyal listeners...they'll go the extra mile to pull in the signal but not when they have to listen to 2 hip, hop songs for every dance track.

Pulse worked on that frequency because it was a good station but if Party doesn't do a bit more tweaking in the dance delivery they don't stand a chance of pulling in a 900,000 cume like Pulse did.

News flash, Party is not a pure dance station. Stop trying to think its something that it isnt. Party plays dance music, but also playing hip-hop. If you don't like the station don't listen to it. At least you have a station in your city that plays dance music, a lot cities do not even have that.

 

[DesiArnez6]

Once again, Party is a Rhythmic reporter to Billboard and they will be the ones playing, and breaking the hip hop hits before the CHR's and even will beat Hot and Power to some songs. That will help them because in Rap the thirst for new music is insatiable.

They are the only station playing dance in NY so it is actually there that they can be more patient with the music. Athough we all know that Vic doesn't play that way and he'll get on all the best dance tracks asap.

As for signal problems. I live in Long Island and I get 87.7 out there. I work in Manhattan and I get 87.7 here. The signal seems to have improved since the take over so I'm not sure there is a signal problem any longer.

jp

I was wondering about possible signal changes. 87.7 seems noticeably more difficult to receive here in the Bronx, since the Party FM 105 Maybe they have shifted the signal? * Note their mix is slowly getting better I confess, so far. I did find myself listening to them on my walkman the other day.

 

[JohnParker]

I'll ask them about it but I don't believe there was any change to the to the direction of the signal. I wonder if there is a pirate that might be interferring with the signal over there.

jp

 

[d21ofnj]

I'll ask them about it but I don't believe there was any change to the to the direction of the signal. I wonder if there is a pirate that might be interferring with the signal over there.

jp

There's a possibility that the Compact FM 87.9 pirate could reach the bronx.