What is up with Top 40/CHR in Atlanta?!

[mike7586]

In the interest of full disclosure, "1979" played on most of those stations during Backtrax USA. VERY different from playing in the regular gold category during weekday middays. Z100, Hot 99-5, 107.5 The River and nearly all other major market CHRs would never touch that song otherwise, and as much as I personally love the song, Q100 shouldn't either. Same goes for some of the other golds in their rotation (All Saints, Vertical Horizon, Stereo MC's...)

Thank you TheMusicMan, that's what I was trying to say.

Nyte Ryder, fine... I will sort of admit I am wrong in that Q100 is the only station playing that song. And sorry if this comes off as "rationalizing" but I think it's important to know how many times those stations played that song and why? Is it part of their regular playlist or was it some sort of "past hits" thing they were doing (for example Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte used to have myPod lunch from 12-1pm where they played pretty much anything). Unfortunately, I can't access Mediabase, so I can't look up that info. Also, the list of stations playing that song is only a handful compared to all the CHR stations in this country. I think it's safe to assume a majority of CHR's don't play it.

And... the playlist today on Q100 is sounding a little better. So do their sweepers, etc. and Brittany is actually talking more and taking calls. So I'm not impossible to please as I may come off that way. I just think Q100 would sound better if they were more discriminating with the songs they mix in during the day. There is a fine line with dayparting, because if affects the feel, flow and sound of the station. Recently, I think they have been "way over the line"... mixing in too much with no real thought to how it all flows. Sometimes, they are mixing in songs that just don't "fit" sound-wise anymore and it creates a very jumpy feel for the station.

 

[TheMusicMan]

Yeah, I'd like to qualify what I said before about the station not having depth after 10:00 by saying that Brittany's a really good jock, and based on what I've heard on Q and from her Seattle days, has plenty of personality. Q100's formatics, for whatever reason, don't always seem to let her display that.

While we're on a positive note, and speaking of middays, I've gotta hand it to Heather Branch on Star. She's always been great, but she has especially stepped it up over the past few months. Lots of personality and a great listen. I'm super impressed.

 

[Nyte Ryder]

Sounds like I should have done a 4th click. Yup, looks like Backtrax. Looks like I lose about 15 I.Q. points there, deservedly so.

If Atlanta didn't have a true top 40 during the Star 94 days, it stands to reason that some of these songs might still work for some upper demo midday listeners, no? Maybe it's not about trying to be like Z100?

 

[bclark71.]

Sounds like I should have done a 4th click. Yup, looks like Backtrax. Looks like I lose about 15 I.Q. points there, deservedly so.

If Atlanta didn't have a true top 40 during the Star 94 days, it stands to reason that some of these songs might still work for some upper demo midday listeners, no? Maybe it's not about trying to be like Z100?

I think Nyte Ryder has a very good point. Just because all of us self-professed "experts" know that Star 94 was never a true "Top 40" and only played roughly half of the songs on the CHR charts, the casual Atlanta Top 40 listener identifies those songs that Star played as what Top 40 was in the 1990s, simply because that's all they knew.

 

[TheMusicMan]

If Atlanta didn't have a true top 40 during the Star 94 days, it stands to reason that some of these songs might still work for some upper demo midday listeners, no? Maybe it's not about trying to be like Z100?

This isn't a bad point. But first of all, it's not about sounding exactly like Z100 per se...or KDWB, WFLZ, KHKS, WNKS or whoever. It's about having a certain edge which I feel Q100's music lacks. Many Atlanta listeners probably don't know the difference since Q100's the only Top 40 game in town. My issue is with the station entirely ignoring perfectly acceptable currents (Ready Set and Bareilles are perfect examples) and relegating lots of pop/rhythmic material to afternoon drive or their abomination of a night show. The stations I listed above are highly successful while playing Rihanna/Drake, Far East Movement and Trey Songz all day long, and most have strong Hot AC competition. And frankly, although I understand the rationale for playing golds during the day, I still think some of those titles are pushing it a bit. Stereo MC's...really?

Like I said before, Q100 isn't the trainwreck it was in, say, 2008. But I still think their music is restrained and at times boring, and that's symptomatic of the station as a whole, in my opinion. Don't get me started on Billy Bush...

 

[Nyte Ryder]

Billy Bush sucks. We can all agree on that. Corporate move across the board on Cumulus stations. Sadly, Entercom is using the same kind of principal on their Hot AC's and Clear Channel is looking to launch a similar show using the Ryan Seacrest template (but not Ryan) by 2012. Distressing to say the least.

 

[atlantaboy]

There have got to be tons of CHRs nationwide that play Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon - it was the #1 CHR hit of 2000 - most of the pop stations that play it daypart to "Hot AC" during the day, just like Q100 does, and most are probably medium-small market stations, but a CHR playing Vertical Horizon as a gold track is far from rare

The point about Q100 playing old hits that Star didn't play definitely isn't true (Star 94 definitely played 1979, Everything You Want, Clocks, Speed Of Sound, Drops Of Jupiter, etc.) - almost all the songs that Star skipped were hip-hop - if Q100 wanted to play CHR tracks that Atlanta listeners never heard on Star, they'd be playing In Da Club, Hot In Herre, Gold Digger, etc., and that's definitely not the way they're going

If Q100 sounded like Z100/NYC, I think the ratings would be cut in half - Z100 leans rhythmic to cater to a largely ethnic audience, and in ATL most of that audience has been listening to Urban radio for decades

 

[Wildstyle K]

Speaking of yes dot com, I've been wondering if anyone even knew what the full purpose of that site was for? Why is there a log in feature, and what purpose does it serve? This question is coming from someone who didn't even want to open a twitter at first because I couldn't see the point in it, so you could imagine how pointless I'd think a log in feature is on yes dot com - but then again I may be wrong, so someone please let me know what benefits I'd get for signing up?

I didn't want to start a new thread to ask this question.

 

[Nyte Ryder]

Q100 is playing Hot in Herre, California Love, Fantastic Voyage and others. I heard Mo Money Mo Problems this week on Q100 during middays.

 

[atlantaboy]

These are the gold tracks Q100 played yesterday during the workday:
Alicia Keys/Fallin'
Puff Daddy etc./I'll Be Missing You
Mary J. Blige/Family Affair
Coldplay/Clocks
Gavin DeGraw/I Don't Want To Be
Train/Drops Of Jupiter
John Mayer/Waiting On The World To Change
Nelly Furtado/Promiscuous
Maroon 5/She Will Be Loved
Pink/U + Ur Hand
Fergie/Clumsy
The Killers/Mr. Brightside

Not sure about Family Affair, but Star 94 definitely played all the others except for IBMY

 

[atlantaboy]

EDIT:

I can't listen to Q100 during the workday (cause of my job), but for the first time I scrolled through yes.com to look at what everyone was talking about - They definitely play just as much hip-hop/rhythmic pop from a decade ago as they do pop/rock from a decade ago - people complain about 1979, Drops Of Jupiter, and Everything You Want, but TLC/Creep, All Saints/Never Ever, and Usher/You Make Me Wanna... are fine? ???

They're not even prioritizing pop/rock (or pop/alternative) - they're just mixing in a lot of late 90s/early 2000s retro-hits to mix up the workday

BTW, today was the second time I've seen yes.com say that Q100 played Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park - IMO that's gotta be a mistake, but not sure why they keep making the same mistake

 

[mike7586]

EDIT:

I can't listen to Q100 during the workday (cause of my job), but for the first time I scrolled through yes.com to look at what everyone was talking about - They definitely play just as much hip-hop/rhythmic pop from a decade ago as they do pop/rock from a decade ago - people complain about 1979, Drops Of Jupiter, and Everything You Want, but TLC/Creep, All Saints/Never Ever, and Usher/You Make Me Wanna... are fine? ???

They're not even prioritizing pop/rock (or pop/alternative) - they're just mixing in a lot of late 90s/early 2000s retro-hits to mix up the workday

BTW, today was the second time I've seen yes.com say that Q100 played Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park - IMO that's gotta be a mistake, but not sure why they keep making the same mistake

Q100 isn't that far off from Z100 in terms of music. There's a handful of songs Z100 plays that Q100 doesn't. I doubt it would make a huge impact, especially if Q100 played those songs at night instead of the day since they like to play it "safe". Also, Q100 has been playing more rhythmic songs during the day (Chris Brown - Yeah 3X, Enrique - Tonight, FloRida - Club Can't Handle Me, etc.) and it seems to be working fine for them. To me that says their audience is receptive to that kind of music. Also, you know the NY metro has the same amount of urban stations as Atlanta in addition to 2 CHR's (106.1 BLI and 92.3 Now) and 103.5 KTU and 2 Hot AC stations (95.5 PLJ and Fresh 102.7).

In terms of the songs in their dayparting, I agree, TLC, All Saints, John Mayer, etc. are also kind of strange. The songs that do blend in better with the rest of the playlist are Notorious B.I.G. - Mo Money Mo Problems, Sean Paul - Temperature, Gavin DeGraw - I Don't Wanna Be, The Killers - Mr. Brightside/Somebody Told Me, Eminem - Lose Yourself, Usher - Caught Up/Yeah!/You Make Me Wanna. Also, Q100 does play Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong because one time I heard it played, so not a mistake.

They need to put more thought into the songs they choose to mix in during the day. They could do it without creating a "jumpy" feeling by choosing songs their audience wants to hear that blend in with the overall playlist better. Personally, I would prefer they just stick with their weekend playlist throughout the week (no dayparting) because the station sounds a lot better on the weekends music wise.

 

[Nyte Ryder]

Jumpy = Variety

 

[mike7586]

Jumpy = Variety

No, it necessarily doesn't, and you are completely missing my point, as usual.

 

[Nyte Ryder]

Whatever. I didn't even want to get sucked back into this discussion. That's my fault.

 

[atlantaboy]

Q100 isn't that far off from Z100 in terms of music. There's a handful of songs Z100 plays that Q100 doesn't. I doubt it would make a huge impact, especially if Q100 played those songs at night instead of the day since they like to play it "safe". Also, you know the NY metro has the same amount of urban stations as Atlanta in addition to 2 CHR's (106.1 BLI and 92.3 Now) and 103.5 KTU and 2 Hot AC stations (95.5 PLJ and Fresh 102.7).

In Atlanta, the Urbans/Urban ACs are rated 1st (8.9), 3rd (5.80), 7th (4.7), and 10th (4.4) - in NYC, the Urbans/Urban ACs are rated 13th (3.0), 14th (3.0), and 17th (2.80) - BIG difference IMO

Also, WBLI is a Long Island CHR (not NYC - just overlaps in the LI suburbs), and Fresh 102.7 is AC, not HAC (although it's pretty borderline IMO)

Q100 and Z100 are WAY different in music - Z100 has a very narrow list of pop/rock recurrents, and Q100 has a pretty extensive catalog, which it plays much more frequently - BTW just noticed looking at yes.com that the list of gold tracks you want Q100 to play is the list Z100 is playing ;D

 

[atlantaboy]

Also, Q100 does play Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong because one time I heard it played, so not a mistake.

That is INSANE - that song didn't even chart on CHR (or even come close) - Breaking The Habit or Shadow Of The Day I could understand - if they're really gonna play stuff like that, they might as well add Waiting For The End

As far as sounding "jumpy", I just think that's the kind of thinking that leads to stations going completely pop/rhythmic (i. e. cutting from Like A G6 to Daughtry/September sounds too "jumpy", so just leave out anything with an acoustic guitar cause it doesn't "fit")

 

[atlantaboy]

(Sorry to keep adding new posts lol)

Z100 has a 4.7 rating, and it's DOWN from last summer - Q100 has the same rating (4.7), and it's UP from last summer

 

[mike7586]

Q100 isn't that far off from Z100 in terms of music. There's a handful of songs Z100 plays that Q100 doesn't. I doubt it would make a huge impact, especially if Q100 played those songs at night instead of the day since they like to play it "safe". Also, you know the NY metro has the same amount of urban stations as Atlanta in addition to 2 CHR's (106.1 BLI and 92.3 Now) and 103.5 KTU and 2 Hot AC stations (95.5 PLJ and Fresh 102.7).

In Atlanta, the Urbans/Urban ACs are rated 1st (8.9), 3rd (5.80), 7th (4.7), and 10th (4.4) - in NYC, the Urbans/Urban ACs are rated 13th (3.0), 14th (3.0), and 17th (2.80) - BIG difference IMO

Also, WBLI is a Long Island CHR (not NYC - just overlaps in the LI suburbs), and Fresh 102.7 is AC, not HAC (although it's pretty borderline IMO)

Q100 and Z100 are WAY different in music - Z100 has a very narrow list of pop/rock recurrents, and Q100 has a pretty extensive catalog, which it plays much more frequently - BTW just noticed looking at yes.com that the list of gold tracks you want Q100 to play is the list Z100 is playing ;D

The songs I mentioned (Notorious, Usher, Sean Paul, Eminem, etc.) are songs Q100 has been mixing in during the day in addition to Vertical Horizon, Smashing Pumpkins, All Saints, TLC, etc. They have quite an extensive list so all of the gold tracks they've been mixing in aren't played everyday, but they do play those songs too (which I think is strange if they're going for the Hot AC work crowd - where do all these songs, which are all over the place, fit in?)

I also don't see how going from Like A G6 to Daughtry - September is jumpy? They are both current songs. Going from Like A G6 to Smashing Pumpkins or Vertical Horizon or random TLC/All Saints is pretty jumpy though (and maybe "jumpy" isn't the best word to use but it's all I can think of to explain).

So nobody else agrees that Q100 could pick a better list of gold tracks to mix in during the day that are more fitting for a CHR station in 2010/2011? Because that is pretty much what I am saying.

 

[CHRles]

Z100 leans rhythmic to cater to a largely ethnic audience, and in ATL most of that audience has been listening to Urban radio for decades

Z-100's P1 audience has always been 18-34 suburban, non-ethnic females.