todays top 40(hit music) stations ignore rock, not like years ago

[RunWithScissors]

Years back, top 40 stations played all popular music, black, country, and hard rock. In the 2000's it seems Rock and to a lesser degree Country are shunned on (so-called) hit music stations. 60's top 40 played the Doors, S.A.Clock, the Who, Iron Butterfly and other rock acts, 70's Deep Purple, 80's Van Halen, 90's Nirvanna but today its only urban acts that receive airplay. I can go on and on about many tunes that were on Progressive radio that made it to top 40, today its only urban music that makes it to top 40. I am waiting for Q-102 to spin the new Ozzy release or the Crue, Joan Jett, Priest or any other Rock act that has new material, long wait.

 

[K-Tel]

An Akon to Ozzy segue would be rather interesting. You're not going to hear Ozzy, Joan Jett or any artist like that on Top 40. Top 40 is POPular music. Just because Ozzy may be popular with some...and you, doesn't mean it belongs on a "Today's Hit Music" station like Q102.

Yes, there are times when a more Rock based Top 40 comes into play. I think back to the 90s when artists like Better Than Ezra, Gin Blossoms, 10,000 Maniacs, and even The Cure were heard on Top 40 - CHR and Modern AC stations. Everything comes and goes in cycles. That's what makes Top 40 interesting.

 

[radiofriend1]

today's top 40 sucks. all ba-boom ba-boom ba-boom rap & hip hop

of course, i'm sure the generation before us thought our top 40 of the 70's and 80's sucked, too

 

[cbsstaffer]

Good Point! Todays top-40, or whatever its called, pertaining to the area you reside in, is in bad shape. Most of the (if its a good popular hit and sells no matter what the sound), we will play it is gone. Rock/Country is taking the heat on most of these stations, with their PD's acting on phoney trends and not what the public is after.

 

[Auralous Sublimate]

NICKELBACK, THE FRAY, DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, MARS VOLTA, 3 DOORS DOWN, LINKIN PARK, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, GYM CLASS HEROES, KILLERS, FALL OUT BOY, RED JUMPSUIT APARATUS, HINDER, ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS...

Sure, not every Top 40 hits the same points on the Hip-Hop-to-Alternative Rock swing at the same time, but there are plenty who are right on top of the most Pop Friendly of new rock. Look, there aren't any boy bands to take 'em into the light nowadays, so they have to dip from other ends of the pool. Some programmers highlight urban, some rock. I suppose it depends on the competetive situation, and whether there is an Alt in the market serving those tastes listed above.

As for phoney trends... isn't that the whole idea of "Top 40"?

 

[radiofriend1]

As for phoney trends... isn't that the whole idea of "Top 40"?

ya got a point there

some of the rock makes it thru, but not much when u look at the overall picture. a stations list of 25 currents might have a few that are not bass-thumpin' hiphop but not many

 

[WTUX]

Traditional Top 40 was based on record sales (the old 45's and before that, 78's), juke box play (yes that used to be monitored), requests and the old favorite, payola. If a country song started producing numerous sales, it was added.

Once singles were no longer sold, you had nothing concret on which to measure the popularity of particular songs. Now its based on what music companies tell (and pay) the stations to play. Without a replacement to the old 45, Top 40 really cannot exist. In the 90's, WSTW in Wilmington and WRVQ in Richmand, VA, played the closest mix I've heard to traditional Top 40 in years.

 

[carnyfeet]

Although with the advent of services like iTunes, eMusic, and sites like the Hype Machine, the move back to Top 40 formats based on singles sales could easily take place nowadays.

And yes, they do play rock on Q102, it's just not the type of rock that most of us want to hear. Then again, it's a station aimed at kids in middle school and high school, not at people who remember what Top 40 used to sound like.

 

[Pinot]

I just heard Stone Sour on PST and on Q was The Fray. Those are the records that are selling the most units . . . the POPular records.

 

[radiofriend1]

I just heard Stone Sour on PST and on Q was The Fray. Those are the records that are selling the most units . . . the POPular records.

an example here.......maybe an example there

they do not represent a great majority of chrs around the country today who are by-and-large hiphop and rhythmic. the real joke is the *rhythmic chr* charts-----IT'S ALL HIP HOP! there's almost nothing chr about them

 

[Irishfl]

The death of rock on top40, can also be blamed on new rock stations. Such as Y100/DRE locally. The fans of those stations would never listen to Q102, even when it played several of the same songs. So Q102 moved towards the pop/rap/dance mix only around 1998. When Y100 was taken off, Q102 did add some rock, but none of the y100 fans went over, so they went back to wwhat they're today.

... Without a replacement to the old 45, Top 40 really cannot exist.

Sure it can. Music downloads (thru legal sites like itunes) The stations themselves often have music stores to download songs. They could even bring back the hot hits brand by iding what is downloaded in this area only.

 

[Jay F]

It's been this way for a while now. The formula of playing hip-pop (the most pop friendly hip hop) mixed in with some of the bigger rock hits is generally successful, depending on the structure of the market.

Keep in mind that Top 40 targets young women, the overwhelming majority of Radio-Info users are men, so it's really no surprise that many of the guys here dislike the format.

 

[eyg2181]

94.5 PST Is A Pretty Good Top-40 Channel, In Fact, Its The Only Good One I Can Think Of Besides 93.7 WSTW. Q-102 Stinks.

But, I Must Agree, Most Of The Modern Rock Is Ignored By Top-40 Stations. But, That Don't Mean It Ain't Popular. Look At Tool, Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, ETC... They're Popular, But Are Only Played On "Rock" and "Modern Rock Stations". The Hip-Hop Fans Would'nt Like To Hear PURE Rock Mixed In With They're So-Called Bangin' Hip-Hop & RnB.

And We, As Rock Fans, Would'nt Want 50 Cent Mixed In On WMMR With Our Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Tool, System Of A Down, ETC...

And MOST Top-40 Stations, Focus On And Target, The Hip-Hop Audience. As I Said, PST And STW Actually Do Play Some Rock Tunes. And They Play A LOT Of Rock COMPARED To Most Top-40 Stations, Even Though Its Still Noit A Lot Of Rock.

 

[carnyfeet]

The death of rock on top40, can also be blamed on new rock stations. Such as Y100/DRE locally. The fans of those stations would never listen to Q102, even when it played several of the same songs. So Q102 moved towards the pop/rap/dance mix only around 1998. When Y100 was taken off, Q102 did add some rock, but none of the y100 fans went over, so they went back to wwhat they're today.

See, I disagree with this. The rise of stations like Y100 and WDRE came as a result of the steady diversification of music. Those stations weren't the cause of Q102's format today -- both were results of a much broader phenomenon that was taking place. Top 40 charts are all over the place in terms of genre compared to just 20 years ago -- this is thanks to independent labels, DIY artists, and the internet among other things. You had specialty stations like Y100 coming up to fill a musical demand in the 90's because people didn't want to hear just "Top 40 Rock" anymore but alternative rock -- Q102 veered away from Top 40 Rock because people wanted to hear more pop. As genres became more and more different, they didn't gell into the more homogeneous formats like Top 40 or Rock anymore.

When it became easier and less expensive to acquire your specialty programming from other places, some station formats survived and others didn't. Q102 is still reaching it's target demographic, so it survived while Y100 didn't. Now that these stations have already whittled down their programming to reach that specific demo, they're not going risk losing those listeners in order to turn back the clock and re-incorporate genres they're not known for just for the sake of nostalgia.

 

[Pinot]

Couldn't it be that Hip Hop today is like Rock was yesterday . . . kinda rebelious and popular amongst young people listening to Top 40. Times have changed, I'm not a big hip-hop fan but thats what is popular so obviously that is what you'll hear on Top 40.

 

[Dancerev889]

The death of rock on top40, can also be blamed on new rock stations. Such as Y100/DRE locally. The fans of those stations would never listen to Q102, even when it played several of the same songs. So Q102 moved towards the pop/rap/dance mix only around 1998. When Y100 was taken off, Q102 did add some rock, but none of the y100 fans went over, so they went back to wwhat they're today.

... Without a replacement to the old 45, Top 40 really cannot exist.

Sure it can. Music downloads (thru legal sites like itunes) The stations themselves often have music stores to download songs. They could even bring back the hot hits brand by iding what is downloaded in this area only.

Q102 hasnt gone back to what it was. Q has been lost since they had Glenn Kalina go to Alice

 

[CHRles]

When it comes to Pop music and Top 40 radio, Philadelphia has always been more of a Rhythmic kind of town. That's usually the case for most major markets.
The idea is not to compare Philly CHRs with those in Lancaster or Wilkes Barre, but rather with Detroit, or Chicago. Detroit's CHR leans much more Rhythmic, as does KIIS-FM Los Angeles. Q-102 is a bit more balanced sounding then Kiss Chicago, and could easily be compared to Z-100 NYC or Hot 99.5 Washington. Sadly for the Q its ratings aren't that great, in part b/c of problems with its morning show, and in part b/c of competition from the market's Rhythmic CHR Wired 96.5.
Keep in mind, as a number of intelligent members of this board have stated, that Top 40 targets women in the 18-34 demo. NOT middle school kids, and not a bunch of male internet geeks who listen to nothing but Rock music.
Top 40 radio in general seems to be performing very well in many of the nation's markets. There are a few cities without a CHR (Baltimore, San Francisco, Denver, Vegas, and Norfolk come to mind) but if they did have one it wouldn't sound all that different from Q-102.
93.7 STW is much moer of an Adult leaning CHR, as is PST these days (since they moved down the dial to 94.5).
Q-102 really doesn't even play too much Hip Hop in a typical hour outside of nights. The only Rap record they played this hour was LL Cool J's "Doin It" (a 90s retro cut) , and a couple of hours ago they played Bone Thugs N Harmony's great new song called "I Tried".

 

[MarcR]

Couldn't it be that Hip Hop today is like Rock was yesterday . . . kinda rebelious and popular amongst young people listening to Top 40. Times have changed, I'm not a big hip-hop fan but thats what is popular so obviously that is what you'll hear on Top 40.

Actually, I think so-called "emo" music (bands like Dashboard Confessional and Fall Out Boy, and even the latest Linkin Park CD) has just about replaced hip hop as the "in" subgenre for teens today. However, since hip hop is more of a singles genre than an album one (hip hop album sales dropped 33% in the first quarter of '07), you're almost certain to continue hearing that kind of music on CHR/Pop stations.