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TOO MUCH variety?

C

carolinaradio

OK, trying to pump some life into this board ;D

As most of us know, a lot of ACs like to toot the "variety" horn. Usually there is very little or none, just your typical AC material, but I'm starting to wonder about WMYI in Greenville, SC. It was a very coherent, well-rounded, typical AC until earlier this year when they started promoting "variety" every time the DJ talked (which isn't frequent :p ) and in every liner. The playlist is almost all over the place sometimes. The playlist is pretty wide for CC...but my question; can an AC playlist be too wide? The music can be all over the place at times. Here's a sample from the website:

Diamond Rio - One More Day
Bon Jovi - Livin' On a Prayer
G. Stefani/Akon - The Sweet Escape
America - Sister Golden Hair
GoGos - We Got the Beat
Brian McKnight - Back at One
Wham! - Careless Whisper
Uncle Kracker - Follow Me
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom
Gavin Rossdale - Love Remains the Same
Crowded House - Don't Dream it's Over
Boyz II Men - In The Still of the Night
Amy Grant - Baby, Baby

I guess you have to listen, but it's different. Actually, I'm all for a variety of music, but they can be a bit extreme. WSPA, their competition, is much more structured, and tighter, but sounds much better and listenable. I don't think I've heard a Clear Channel AC with such a vast playlist, there is really no structure....this is one of the only ones left around here that isn't nationalized yet.

So, back to the question - can too much variety be too much of a good thing? I know this one has almost turned me away, and I'm all for variety if done properly.
 
That list seems pretty mainstream AC to me. The only two songs that seem too uptempo are "Livin' On A Prayer" and "We Got The Beat". Then again the AC demo grew up with those songs.

"Variety" has certainly replaced soft when it comes to AC. I would be interested in seeing what would happen if truly soft ACs would launch to compete against the variety stations. My hunch is many offices would switch to the softer station and the current breed of variety ACs would get middled between soft and hot ACs.
 
Yeah, they throw some weird ones in there. Bon Jovi's "I Will Be There For You" is also played, among some others. They seem to have a tight playlist of 80s/90s/early 2000s (maybe to 2004), then it's very open when it comes to recent and 70s. They don't play a TON of 70s or recent songs, but when they do, you can go a couple of days without hearing the same one over again or at least when I am listening. I hear it a lot because it stays on in the background at work.

IMO, an AC needs variety, but not too extreme. The 'current' songs need to get a little more rotation than the older ones. It doesn't need to be predictable, but not too open in what is played.
 
"Livin' on a Prayer"? If I didn't see so many soft songs on that list I would say this was a hot AC station.

I remember once telling a DJ on a soft AC station they shouldn't play certain loud songs. When she tried to use a certain kind of logic, I said, "So why not "Livin' on a prayer"? "Oh, we don't play rock!" Well, that was rock she was playing. I thought "Livin' on a Prayer" was outrageous at the time. Now this is what AC stations are playing???

Look at my "I went to the barber" topic for what AC radio OUGHT to be doing.
 
Jay F said:
"Variety" has certainly replaced soft when it comes to AC. I would be interested in seeing what would happen if truly soft ACs would launch to compete against the variety stations.
Click to expand...
It was tried in Myrtle Beach. Didn't work.

They have "easy listening" there, though. Some markets have a version of that. In most areas that do, it is the radio format "adult standards", which isn't really standards anymore. If they're using the 'Timeless" satellite format, this is a good choice for people who want really soft music but don't like songs that are actually standards or even AC from after 1980 or so. Personally, I can do without "Timeless".
 
I noticed both Greenville ACs, especially WMYI, went down in the Spring book that was released yesterday. Perhaps your "too much variety" theory has some validity to it. Still, both Greenville-Spartenburg ACs seem in the realm of what you would typically hear on AC stations anywhere in the U.S these days.

I noticed WMUU is on the rise. Their format is listed as easy listening. Do they play any AC product? Perhaps they are taking away share from the ACs?
 
WMUU is classical, sacred, and some 'beautiful music.' They aren't playing anything AC. It's very tranquil and has a lot of religious programming.
 
Jay F said:
I noticed both Greenville ACs, especially WMYI, went down in the Spring book that was released yesterday. Perhaps your "too much variety" theory has some validity to it. Still, both Greenville-Spartenburg ACs seem in the realm of what you would typically hear on AC stations anywhere in the U.S these days.

I noticed WMUU is on the rise. Their format is listed as easy listening. Do they play any AC product? Perhaps they are taking away share from the ACs?
Click to expand...
It's a good station but it would put dentists to sleep. Easy listening radio in general hasn't sounded like that since the 1960s. Bob Jones University started the station .

WHLC is the type of easy listening you're talking about. But it doesn't have the signal to do anything.
 
Yeah, BJU probably props the station up. I don't see how it could stay alive on advertising money alone. I bet that station is worth a fortune.

WMYI, the station I was noting, did take a huge beating, down to 9th. Their competition just lost .1. The good thing about the 'variety' approach, if done properly, is that the new songs aren't burned out so quickly. WSPA, the one I noted with the tighter playlist (which was pretty stable), totally removed recent hits such as Viva La Vida, Crush, Bleeding Love, Tattoo, etc around a month ago after literally playing them in the ground for months...have any other AC stations out there dropped those? Seems odd to me, as they're still playing Time of My Life, Who Knew, Pocketful of Sunshine, etc along with more recent hits. I think the recent songs all need to be kept so the new ones for the format aren't burned out so quickly and can be mixed in to the rotation. Just my theory.
 
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