Where are the rock hits?

[wxman76]

With "Hey Soul Sister" and "Breakeven" becoming recurrents, all of the top 15 tracks on this weeks mainstream CHR chart are either pure pop or rhythmic titles. Seems like this is the first time in awhile I have seen that, or at least something that is somewhat rare. You have to go to Paramore "The Only Exception", which is cracking the top 20, to get a rock based act, and that is more of an acoustic ballad. We The Kings is getting into the middle of the charts, but is more of a midtempo ballad. The only "bouncier" rock title I see up and coming is Maroon 5 "Misery". I don't think it is their best song, but it seems like it will either approach the top 10 or make the top 10 because of their history and lack of other upcoming similar sounding titles to fill the void.

Seems like the era of great uptempo rock records ("Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", "I Write Sins Not Tradgedies", "Sugar We're Going Down", "Misery Business") is over. Now it seems that CHR has entered a phase that is mostly pop and rhythmic titles with the occasional Hot AC crossover thrown in. Even Miley Cyrus seems to be sounding more like Britney Spears and less like Kelly Clarkson. Thoughts?

 

[nightfly61]

Enough Alternative & Active Rock stations already play all that crap exclusively. It's summer- Let the beat rock! ;D

 

[XCountry285]

There are way too many Rhythmic Tracks on CHR right now its insane. I think there should be more Rock Hits on CHR. And No Rock is not garbage. All the crap rhythmic is is repeated consistantly they all sound the same and all feature the same artists. How many times am I going to hear Lil' Wayne or Pitbull on a song?

 

[sdh483]

Agreed. Let there be rock. If it wasn't for rock, there would be no (c)rap.

 

[wxman76]

Enough Alternative & Active Rock stations already play all that crap exclusively. It's summer- Let the beat rock! ;D

Thats part of the problem, I think. A lot of the stuff that makes the tops the modern rock charts is pretty crappy these days. IMO, the weakest in 20 years, if not more. A lot of the product is not CHR friendly. Phoenix "1901" and Muse "Uprising" was in the modern rock top 10 for nearly a year. Muse had limited CHR airplay, Phoenix virtually none. Not saying that "1901" should have crossed over, but it is a pretty sad state for modern rock when non-active rock titles that are still in the top 10 after 53 weeks on the charts STILL can't get any CHR spins.

I thought Weezer "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You Too" was a great pop record. Catchy lyrics, good tempo, and a subject matter that every teenager can relate to. And no CHR airplay....maybe the title was too long. ;D

 

[XCountry285]

Weezer featuring Lil' Wayne-Can't Stop Partyin' I could definately see as a single. Travie McCoy has some rock elements in his music because he is frontman of the alternative-hip hop band Gym Class Heroes. Daughtry's September needs a little bit more time then it'll probably jump up the charts

 

[nightfly61]

Yes, most alternative is crap today. Take your Nickelback "This Afternoon" & find a good skater station to mosh to. iTunes chart does not lie- no one are buying modern rock-unless you consider the new Maroon 5 or that MAJORLY ANNOYING : : : "Hey Soul Sister" by (P)ain (Train) : : : Alternative. If it's not P-O-P-U-L-A-R people will not B-U-Y it, therefore it will not hit the P-O-P-U-L-A-R M-U-S-I-C chart.
Screaming guitars, hate, misery, tattooed guys that sound like they all either swallowed a Brillo Pad or need to blow their nose, & skinhead music don't go well with beaches, cookouts or summer fun activity.

 

[wxman76]

Many say recent Daughtry, Nickelback and Linkin Park songs have sounded washed up. Some would say Maroon 5 is too. CHR needs to find some new core rock acts. Kings Of Leon was a nice bright spot, but is still a one hit wonder to most CHR listeners. Same can be said for Orianthi. Breaking Benjamin's "Give Me A Sign" sounded like it had potential along the same vein of Theory Of A Deadman's "Not Meant To Be". Saw that it was recently getting airplay at G105 Raleigh/Durham, but has since been dropped.

 

[XCountry285]

no one wants to hear the guys saying stupid stuff and cheesy lines like "I can make your bed rock" the lyrics are stupid and the beats don't rock they suck. rock they actually do have meaningful lyrics. As for new rock hitting CHR, Neon Tree's Animal looks to be hitting well it's already getting airplay on K104 in Pougkepsee

 

[MarcR]

Enough Alternative & Active Rock stations already play all that crap exclusively. It's summer- Let the beat rock! ;D

Thats part of the problem, I think. A lot of the stuff that makes the tops the modern rock charts is pretty crappy these days. IMO, the weakest in 20 years, if not more. A lot of the product is not CHR friendly. Phoenix "1901" and Muse "Uprising" was in the modern rock top 10 for nearly a year. Muse had limited CHR airplay, Phoenix virtually none. Not saying that "1901" should have crossed over, but it is a pretty sad state for modern rock when non-active rock titles that are still in the top 10 after 53 weeks on the charts STILL can't get any CHR spins.

Incidentally, the Phoenix song was afforded an active rotation on the Sirius satellite CHR/Pop channel Sirius 1, so I'm no quite sure why the terrestrial CHR/Pop stations passed on it.

 

[MarcR]

Another Alt-Rock song that deserves airplay on CHR/Pop stations is the eminently catchy "The High Road" by Broken Bells, but I don't anticipate ever hearing it on those stations.

 

[nightfly61]

XCountry, apparently they DO want to hear songs like Bedrock because they're catchy, have a good beat & charting($). YOU just don't wanna admit these songs are popular & would rather hear dark, depressing skater punk music. Like I said, find an alternative station for that where you can bask in your unpopular noise 24/7 & not wish it upon others who don't want or like it. I'd much rather hear "Find Your Love" by Drake ANY day.

 

[SilverTonicFree]

XCountry, apparently they DO want to hear songs like Bedrock because they're catchy, have a good beat & charting($). YOU just don't wanna admit these songs are popular & would rather hear dark, depressing skater punk music. Like I said, find an alternative station for that where you can bask in your unpopular noise 24/7 & not wish it upon others who don't want or like it. I'd much rather hear "Find Your Love" by Drake ANY day.

NightFly... looking at your post count, you've been around here for a while, but childish posts like this aren't going to gain you any fans or backers.

I prefer rock music over rap, but I will admit the Alternative sound has been a bit weak recently to cross some songs over. There IS an audience out there for it. Go to the midwest, where CHRs and even Hot ACs can get away with playing some of the more rocking tunes on a CHR. KBKS in Seattle is good about throwing some rock tunes even if they're not huge hits. KUDD in Salt Lake City as well. Give it time, the rock will cycle back into the CHR mix.

 

[MarcR]

XCountry, apparently they DO want to hear songs like Bedrock because they're catchy, have a good beat & charting($). YOU just don't wanna admit these songs are popular & would rather hear dark, depressing skater punk music. Like I said, find an alternative station for that where you can bask in your unpopular noise 24/7 & not wish it upon others who don't want or like it. I'd much rather hear "Find Your Love" by Drake ANY day.

I'd rather hear the staggeringly cynical lyrics of an MGMT song on some Alt-Rock station than have to hear Drake brag about his youth and his money!

 

[CHRles]

The answer's simple: CHR/Pop is doing extremely well right now and flourishing, due to a healthy amount of Rhythmic/Pop songs and artists that 18-34 year old females enjoy listening to. Lady Gaga and Rihanna are the type of artists they want to hear.
Even over on the Hot A/C panel you can see more and more Rhythmic/Pop music filtering through at stations that used to be known as Modern A/C. just look at the huge success Mix 101.9 Chicago is experiencing, and they've definitely added more Rhythmic product in the past year.

Keep in mind there's an accoustic Rock element to Travie Mccoy's "Billionaire", which pretty much takes its cues from the remixed version that came out last year to Jason Mraz's "I'm yours". There's a Rock chorus courtesy of Haley Williams on the song "Airplanes", and there's a pure Pop record from Katy Perry. Those are the Top 3 records at the format right now.
There's also an Electro/Dance/Alterna-Pop record courtesy of La-Roux, as well as Dance/Pop from Usher, pure Pop from track Ke$ha, a collaboration featuring two superstar artists (Rihanna and Eminem), a nice crossover R&B/Pop ballad from Shontelle, a hot Rhythmic/Pop record from Jason Derulo, a fine Rhythmic song from Drake, two hot uptempo Dance/Rhythmic/Pop records from Taio Cruz, a pure Pop record from Lady Gaga (whose now a core artist on CHR), an upbeat Dance/Pop record from Enrique, a youthful Pop/Rock record from 3 Oh! 3 and Ke$ha, an Alternative Rock crossover ballad from Paramore, a Teen Pop sensation (Justin Bieber), a Dance record from David Guetta, and a good Rap title from Eminem.
That's the Top 20 at CHR/Pop this week and it makes for a good mix even though you won't find a lot of Rock product in there.
Also, there are some records that do well for some stations, like "Bleed" by Hot Chelle Rae or "Animal" by Neon Tress, but they haven't reached that threshold where they're a bonafide format smash and thus a lot of stations aren't quick to add them.
We are seeing a nice story develop with We The Kings and Demi Lovato in some major markets, and especially in some of the medium sized stations.

 

[Wildstyle K]

You guys are funny. Do you remember the time when the charts were dominated mainly by hip hop and some alternative? Do you remember when it became mainly hip hop and reggaeton? Now we're in an "alternative recession". It's all a phase and this alternative recession phase will eventually pass as well. However, I do think that with all the dance and rhythmic hits being released today, a lot of uptempo alternative hits should successfully be being produced as well. It's a bit odd that with all these faster beats now being used, Kings of Leon somehow ended up being the only ones in the straight up alternative rock side breaking in with their slow songs! Nickelback seemed to have "tried" and "almost made it".

I'm also glad that the mostly 75-89 bpm hip hop production phase ended and now we're back to being able to hear some pop and hip hop in the 90-100bpm range again rather than there being that mainly 75-89 then 104-130bpm gap. With the extinction of the old school late 90's Timbaland and Missy beat style sounds, (American) slow paced hip hop and pop is no longer exciting to me. However, I do have to admit that I do like the return of positive and meaningful lyrics making their way back to the charts these days.

Now that I think of it, the disappearance of rock hits makes me wonder; Will there soon be a rock/alternative sound dominance in top 40 in the near future as a result? I will be disappointed if rock happens to "ruin it for dance" in the U.S. (well, before I go to London). Is it possible that the same way 80's and 90's electro-pop sounds have resurfaced in a modernized way, the same thing could happen with rock hits, alternative rock style - where the whole Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and Korn sound ends up being what's in again? It will be interesting to see what happens next. I just assume that with the lack of one thing taking place, that one thing will eventually come back stronger than ever, especially during its very first weeks/months of making its come back.

 

[nightfly61]

NightFly... looking at your post count, you've been around here for a while, but childish posts like this aren't going to gain you any fans or backers

Xcountry wrote:

no one wants to hear the guys saying stupid stuff and cheesy lines like "I can make your bed rock" the lyrics are stupid and the beats don't rock they suck. rock they actually do have meaningful lyrics. As for new rock hitting CHR, Neon Tree's Animal looks to be hitting well it's already getting airplay on K104 in Pougkepsee

Oh, and the above statement's real adult (including the grammar)? I wasn't looking for fans or backers, either- just pointing out the truth. Most Alternative all sounds the same any more. There's even more crossover Country on the Top 40 than Alternative which is a nice change & reminds me of early 80's Top 40. I'm not a fan of hardcore gangsta rap by a long shot, but obviously listeners aren't digging the "post grunge" sound anymore either.

 

[XCountry285]

I never cursed in mine all I said that the music was cheesy. no need to start anything bro.

 

[XCountry285]

I don't hate all of the rhythmic songs. New Kanye's always great to hear finally, Ke$ha (her love IS MY drug) (she's hot & beautiful but comes off really stupid as a person), Jay-Z's good, Pitbull's great,Ne-Yo happy he's back, Flo-Rida is excellent I do enjoy his music, Bedrock was a decent song,Usher's doing well, BoB's doing really well, I love the new Eminem song "Love the way you lie" I just am not big on artists like Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Niki Minaj

 

[butlerguy03]

KUDD, WIXX, Sirius 1, KBKS are all good examples that some mod-rock will work at CHR. I love the Neon Trees song and those crossovers from The Ting Tings was exciting to hear last year. Songs like "1901", Blue October's "Should Be Loved" and Weezer's "I Want To" all have pop sounds to them and should be (at least) tested at CHR and HotAC.

I still can't believe Weezer didn't do well at CHR. A well-known artist with cred, usually good music videos, great lyrics with a nice story, lyrics that are relateable (more so than "I have money and women and you don't")...oh yeah, I forgot, it didn't have Lil' Wayne. Crap, didn't realize Rivers Cuomo needed swagger-jacker Lil' Wayne to have a CHR hit.

Sorry I was writing something intellegent and then my real feelings came out...