What's with the 90s?

[bobdavcav]

What's with the attitude the industry seems to have with the 90s? It seems like stations still want to position the decade as a core part of formats but don't want to actually play anything from that decade. It doesn't annoy me as much as her, but I have a friend who believes that if you are positioned as say 80s, 90s, and more you should be a 50/50 mix of 80s and 90s. I'll just give three examples, though I'm sure there are many more that can be thought of.
1. My local AC positions as the best variety of the 80s, 90s, and today. Side rant, why is anyone still using this slogan in 2025? Today now represents 25 years of music. Even 90s, 2K and today seems to have been replaced with the more generic more music, more variety, so why does this still exist? As for the subject of this thread, as of recently they seem to be throwing in a few more 90s tracks, but still, you're likely to only get one per hour if that.
2. The classic hits station in the market I used to live in positions as variety from the 80s, 90s, and more. Again though, it's two 90s an hour with one dedicated to more, and the rest being 80s.
3. The classic hits station I've been into recently also positions as the 80s, 90s, and more, but only has one dedicated 90s slot in their clock. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in that station's clock, so in some hours you get an additional 90s cut, and some you even get something from the 2000s, but in a 14 song hour, you're likely to get 12 80s, 1 90s, and 1 more. What's going on here?

 

[TheBigA]

What's with the attitude the industry seems to have with the 90s? It seems like stations still want to position the decade as a core part of formats but don't want to actually play anything from that decade.

Huh? Maybe you can be specific. There are hundreds of stations in all formats, including country, playing 90s music. Same with alternative. I see classic hits is about 20% 90s, depending on the station. Same with active rock. There's also throwback urban. Even CHR stations are playing 90s. Lots of 90s music. So you need to be specific about markets and stations.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I have answered this numerous times in other threads (and so has David, and so has TheBigA, etc.) but for those who missed all of those explanations:

Any gold-based format -- predominantly Classic Hits -- is faced with a dilemma on this matter. These formats operate on a "consensus" playlist, where only titles which resonate positively with the majority of the listeners get airplay (with rotation/repetition based on how strongly they resonate).

This works fine until you get to 1989, when CHR began fragmenting into specialized focii. It was not unusual for a market in the 90's to have some combination of a pop-focused CHR, a rhythmic CHR, a modern rock/Alternative CHR, a hard rock CHR, and a rap/hip-hop CHR. And listeners' memories over what gold titles were their favorites are dependent on which "flavor" of CHR they listened to when the music was current.

A listener whose experience was based on one genre tends to either dismiss the others automatically, or finds the other genres' songs unfamiliar. As a programmer, this makes finding "consensus favorites" incredibly more difficult, unless the format focuses entirely on one of the "fragments".

That results in far fewer songs from the 90s that are playable, and then that category has to be scheduled less often than the core 80s categories to prevent overexposure and early burnout.

This is, of course, simplified, but I've gotten tired of giving the detailed answer.

 

[TheBigA]

That results in far fewer songs from the 90s that are playable, and then that category has to be scheduled less often than the core 80s categories to prevent overexposure and early burnout.

There's a completely different view in the country format. The classic country format being used on FM now is primarily 90s with Garth Brooks, John Michael Montgomery, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, and Faith Hill. This was the biggest decade ever for country. The few 80s songs are by Randy Travis, The Judds, and older Strait. The reason why country was so big in the 90s was because pop was so bad and diffused. We find that 90s country attracts great 25-54, but also great 18-34 numbers. Garth Brooks is still able to sell out stadiums.

 

[KilowattKat]

I have answered this numerous times in other threads (and so has David, and so has TheBigA, etc.) but for those who missed all of those explanations:

Any gold-based format -- predominantly Classic Hits -- is faced with a dilemma on this matter. These formats operate on a "consensus" playlist, where only titles which resonate positively with the majority of the listeners get airplay (with rotation/repetition based on how strongly they resonate).

This works fine until you get to 1989, when CHR began fragmenting into specialized focii. It was not unusual for a market in the 90's to have some combination of a pop-focused CHR, a rhythmic CHR, a modern rock/Alternative CHR, a hard rock CHR, and a rap/hip-hop CHR. And listeners' memories over what gold titles were their favorites are dependent on which "flavor" of CHR they listened to when the music was current.

A listener whose experience was based on one genre tends to either dismiss the others automatically, or finds the other genres' songs unfamiliar. As a programmer, this makes finding "consensus favorites" incredibly more difficult, unless the format focuses entirely on one of the "fragments".

That results in far fewer songs from the 90s that are playable, and then that category has to be scheduled less often than the core 80s categories to prevent overexposure and early burnout.

This is, of course, simplified, but I've gotten tired of giving the detailed answer.

For the future, you could always keep this on a 'note' in your computer, and just copy/paste your answer for the next time, You know this will come up again sooner or later 😁

 

[K.M. Richards]

Totally agree with you on that exception, A. I was APD/MD of a Country station in the late 1980s before the station was sold, and only a few years later a lot of the songs we had played as gold were non-existent on most Country stations. I am very much inclined to believe the decline in pop was responsible.

But the OP had asked about Classic Hits and AC, so I answered appropriately to the question.

 

[K.M. Richards]

For the future, you could always keep this on a 'note' in your computer, and just copy/paste your answer for the next time, You know this will come up again sooner or later 😁

Or I could keep a link to this thread bookmarked and copy it as a reply in the future. Then people could also see that it was your idea to save it!

 

[TheBigA]

But the OP had asked about Classic Hits and AC, so I answered appropriately to the question.

Once again it depends on the market. There's a lengthy thread on the Philly board about WOGL. They added a lot of 90s R&B. Some even suggest the format changed. We also see continual threads popping up on all the local boards about the classic hits stations playing various 90s songs. This isn't a limited thing. You might look into trademarking "The 90s Channel."

 

[bobdavcav]

I have answered this numerous times in other threads (and so has David, and so has TheBigA, etc.) but for those who missed all of those explanations:

Any gold-based format -- predominantly Classic Hits -- is faced with a dilemma on this matter. These formats operate on a "consensus" playlist, where only titles which resonate positively with the majority of the listeners get airplay (with rotation/repetition based on how strongly they resonate).

This works fine until you get to 1989, when CHR began fragmenting into specialized focii. It was not unusual for a market in the 90's to have some combination of a pop-focused CHR, a rhythmic CHR, a modern rock/Alternative CHR, a hard rock CHR, and a rap/hip-hop CHR. And listeners' memories over what gold titles were their favorites are dependent on which "flavor" of CHR they listened to when the music was current.

A listener whose experience was based on one genre tends to either dismiss the others automatically, or finds the other genres' songs unfamiliar. As a programmer, this makes finding "consensus favorites" incredibly more difficult, unless the format focuses entirely on one of the "fragments".

That results in far fewer songs from the 90s that are playable, and then that category has to be scheduled less often than the core 80s categories to prevent overexposure and early burnout.

This is, of course, simplified, but I've gotten tired of giving the detailed answer.

This answer makes a lot of sense, but why not remove the 90s from your positioner in that case? For the AC, positioning as the 80s to now would make more sense, and also eliminate the today part of your positioner representing 25 years of music. In the case of the classic hits stations, the 80s and more would be a more accurate positioner. KJEB, station #2 referenced above, actually used this for a few years before they added the 90s to their slogan. Before that, it was 70s, 80s, and more.

 

[Delete My Account]

I'll add also the music of the 90s was more sonically aggressive and raw in content, regardless of which style (rhythmic or rock) preferred. Gangsta rap, more sexually blunt lyrics, and grunge of course, was grappling with darker themes and less upbeat moods. What was left in the "pop" lane wasn't much and didn't have a lot of staying power which was why mainstream CHR was stumbling to the point where stations like Z100 were leaning into modern rock and hosting Pearl Jam takeovers and giving away Morrissey tickets. Back when he still showed up to his concert dates.

80s music overall was more upbeat and melodic and less sonically "heavy" - even if you're talking about a hair band or the Cure, it still evokes better feelings among a wider group of people. It's simply better radio music to center a gold format around, because it takes most of the listeners to a better place in their lives and memories, or for the younger audience, evokes more positive "vibes." I think a lot of the staying power of the 80s is that simple. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" doesn't have the same fresh scent.