What will Steve Strick say??? Billboard / R & R under one roof

[Varulven]

Former WBCN music director Steve Strick is at R & R, isn't he?

Wonder how VNU's pick up of Radio & Records will affect Boston radio?

http://www.radioandrecords.com/Newsroom/2006_07_13/topstory.asp

Anyone remember when Cashbox, Record World & Variety had The Ramones somewhere in the Top 60 and
Billboard had The Ramones a good ten spaces higher or so (The Ramones' label, Sire, was headed by Seymour Stein, who if memory serves, was a former Billboard employee; This is all by memory so if anyone has the actual chart position by all means...put it on this thread)). Remember when The Bee Gees "Love You Inside Out" was #2 in all the trades but Billboard pushed it to #1 for a week to give The Bee Gees the record for #1s in a row!

The beauty of Radio & Records was that it was separate - checks and balances. With Cashbox and Record World gone (and Variety not being a factor where the charts are concerned) - will we get accuracy?

Didn't WBCN get pulled for a book because of Arbitron misconduct? Radio & Records was that efficient if they believed "paper adds" were happening - they actually monitored the stations reporting to them. I believe a jock also told listeners to put his name in their Arbitron books and that might've yanked WBCN for a book as well. If those incidents are accurate, it reflects badly on the program director at the time. Three guesses who that was!

As for the merger - This is not good.

 

[Nik2.0]

Assuming with the merger that Steven isnt laid off and the Billboard staff take sthe reigns. It's a time of wacky corproate climates and although he's barely been there a year he was initially hired to write the alternative column and as the panel decreased he was given the active rock desk too as Cyndee Maxwell left. So Who knows these days.

 

[Chuck_igo]

spoke briefly with Steve the other day. he's staying as positive as can be.
and i'm in agreement V-man that R&R offers a complimentary balance to Billboard. where BB's focus is more on the record end of things and, comparatively (imo), mere lip service to radio, R&R's approach offers more of a service to radio (exchange of ideas, philosophies, job openings, etc) and how it interacts with the recording industry. not unlike these boards, the two magazines have similar interests with a different approach to their end product.

 

[Varulven]

Soundscan / Billboard

Keep in mind - the integrity of Radio & Records - keeping stations like WBCN as honest as possible (when
WBCN went Modern Rock, I believe for a time R & R kept them as an AOR station to make sure that Oedipus was, indeed, going Modern Rock) - Billboard, on the other hand, has always had problems with true chart placement - though they are the industry "Bible". Soundscan would've destroyed Billboard had they not paired up.

IF R & R can remain as autonomous as Soundscan (which won't happen; I believe Soundscan is a totally separate company - which got picked up by Nielsen - correct me if any of this is slightly off) - Billboard would essentially have two separate entities doing what it did on its own - the sales charts and the radio charts.

Thus, the competitors had to be brought into the fold by the "King". Cashbox and Radioworld were fun in their heyday (Did Cashbox finally fade away too? For awhile it was streamlined and for the Country Music part of the biz only).

As for Chuck's theory on the radio boards - I think they are two different things:

"not unlike these boards, the two magazines have similar interests with a different approach to their end product."

Radio-Info's "Boston" board has much more activity than "Brand X" - which had about 1 post since June 28th if my observation is correct - and those "moderating" the other board felt their opinion on radio and on the personalities contributing to the board "superior". There was no objectivity and the moderation inferior to what happens here. Unless you meant Radio Info and Scott Fybush's board - in which case I agree.

 

[Chuck_igo]

just to clarify "these boards" - i was aiming for the general term of online services provided for the exchange of ideas and such on the broadcast industry, not comparing any two in particular. (newsgroups, message boards, usenets, etc)

as to the autonomous nature of R&R and Billboard - in as much as R&R does feature charts (based on reporting stations and the like), they tend to gravitate more towards the broadcast industry than to the music industry. there are more discussions and articles particulary relating to radio in R&R (hence the Radio before Records?) compared to Billboards label and music industry overall focus. yes, R&R will put music industry news above the fold, when warranted, but i fondly recall the day that ONE front page of R&R (early's 80's) featured 3 separate stories on 3 separate radio pd's who were all fired and then hired at the others' stations - an almost geographical rotation of jobs. 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 1. first time i knew that there were 278 jobs in radio with 277 currently employed. ;-)

as to Steve's fate: i wish him the best as he is a true radio guy who has survived some pretty interesting times in the biz - footnoted here - the great WBCN strike.
28+ years on the job, at one station, in a major market, is not something to which i would turn up my nose. he checked in to 'BCN as a Grahm College intern, and moved through the station's ranks, all the while comporting himself in a most professional manner.