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What happens to songs not in a station's active playlist?

AMRadioGuy said:
Ahhh okay! Just didn't want you to think I was picking or disagreeing with what you said. I appreciate the incredible amount of wisdom you contribute around here and it's always enlightening to read posts about your programming strategies.
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I appreciate those kind words. What I do today is not much different from how I programmed back in 1978 when I first sat in the PD chair. Some of it has changed, but the basics are still the same. (I actually use the same "hot clock" as I did at that first station, but with different categories in each position ... the difference between programming a current-based format and a gold-based one.)

I will say that I enjoy the benefit of having the music on hard drive with computer playback from a music log I generate from a scheduling program that is configured to cover all the variables I used to have to keep track of in my head.
 
K.M. Richards said:
I appreciate those kind words. What I do today is not much different from how I programmed back in 1978 when I first sat in the PD chair. Some of it has changed, but the basics are still the same. (I actually use the same "hot clock" as I did at that first station, but with different categories in each position ... the difference between programming a current-based format and a gold-based one.)

I will say that I enjoy the benefit of having the music on hard drive with computer playback from a music log I generate from a scheduling program that is configured to cover all the variables I used to have to keep track of in my head.
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Yes, those things do certainly make it easier. As does not having to try to track down a 45 to add to the gold library...

Very cool that you still use the same clock from 1978! Wow!
 
K.M. Richards said:
@The Hustle: If you aren't in the business, you are the most astute listener I've ever seen here.

In Classic Hits, we call what you described there "consensus favorites". Taking into account the documented fact that most listening takes place multiple times per day, in relatively short lengths of time, the programmer's goal is two-fold: Make sure the songs you play are the ones most of your target audience will at least tolerate if it isn't entirely their personal favorites, and schedule them in a way where every time someone tunes in during any given day they hear a different set of songs. (That includes staggering the spins so that those who listen at the same approximate times each day will hear a different set of songs from the day before.)

The advantage of this, for the radio station, is that with those listening patterns you can make a library of 400 songs sound to the audience like over 1000.

And yes, we are in the advertising business, not the entertainment business. What I do is create the "bait" to bring in the listeners, which we then sell to the local business owners. That's why it is called commercial radio.

It won't surprise our friend to know that I have even more Forgotten 45s than I do regular library songs, and I curate those based on research ... when a F45 loses popularity, even as a "ohmygawdIhaven'tnheardthatsonginlikeforever", it's gone. And it also helps to have a produced intro to make a special feature out of it, and always backsell it; the listener who spends the whole song trying to remember who sang it wants to know at the end who it was!

Music fans do not drive radio formats, much as they wish they did. The reason is that most of them want songs played that the real audience doesn't care about.
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Thank you KM...36 years in the biz, PD/MD for 21..including Classic Hits for the past 15...:)

1000% correct. The smaller the playlist, the less chance listeners hear "stiffs" and more of the "hits". I have worked at stations, and for owners who believe 2500 songs is the way to have real "variety". I try and explain to them that when listeners say they want "variety" they want variety in the TYPES of songs they hear, not 34 different songs from an artist that only had 4 hits..."but that artist had so many other "Great Songs"...why do we only play those same 4?" Because the other 30 songs werent hits...and the title of the format is "Classic HITS". And dont even GET me started on "Great Song Syndrome"..."We HAVE to play that...its a GREAT SONG". but NOT a hit by any stretch of the imagination...

I have also worked if far different competitive situations where we rotated 275 songs...certain powers would rotate 2-4 times a day...but they were the top of the line best testing most listened to songs. 275 can sound like 1000 when scheduled correctly. Any good scheduling program worth its weight can do that with little issues. "A day and a daypart" is the most basic scheduling trick there is to keep a station sounding fresh. Song A plays at midnight on Monday, 7:30a on Tuesday, 1:15pm on Wednesday, 5:30 on Thursday, and 845 pm on Friday.

I need to tune in to hear your version of the Forgotten 45...to see how deep it goes...and what other variables there are. For me, if we did that here in Rural Iowa, it would probably have a different feel to it then say, if was done in Philadelphia, or Waco Texas, or Portland, or Indiana. Im guessing you have anywhere from 400-500 songs in the forgotten 45 category...once an hour for 24 a day, so the songs rotate anywhere from 15-22 days. Probably rotate those songs in and out pretty regularly. Id be interested to know how quick you move them in and out, and what your basis for picking those songs are.
 
Audacy's version of Classic Hits has always sounded like the 275 side of your example, and they are more often than not very successful stations in their markets. They sound always sound fresh and even if I tune in and am burned out of whatever they're playing, it's always a tried and true hit.

Then you have small markets that program from old Whitburn books. WPNC in North Carolina boasts 12,000+ songs in "regular" rotation but almost every transition sounds like a trainwreck and they play stiffs I've never heard of,
 
vw86 said:
Audacy's version of Classic Hits has always sounded like the 275 side of your example, and they are more often than not very successful stations in their markets. They sound always sound fresh and even if I tune in and am burned out of whatever they're playing, it's always a tried and true hit.

Then you have small markets that program from old Whitburn books. WPNC in North Carolina boasts 12,000+ songs in "regular" rotation but almost every transition sounds like a trainwreck and they play stiffs I've never heard of,
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For my hobby station, I'm attempting to aim for a sort of middle ground. More variety than the average commercial station, but not so much that the playlist becomes completely obscure. I also try to get okay transitions, but some train-wrecks are unavoidable with the automation I'm using (the more advanced scheduling features of the software I'm currently using require an expensive subscription).

c
 


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