Of course, in Rhythmic hit radio I mean!
DO NOT LET THE TITLE OF THIS POST FOOL YOU. While the title itself was designed to be catchy and peak curiosity, this is not some fool off the street telling everyone to expand the playlists or only play what he thinks he wants to hear on his walkman after watching nick @ nite. These are some serious issues and points being made here that I strongly believe needs to be discussed or thought about.
BEING THE BEST YOU CAN BE, ALL THE TIME:
"Why can't everybody be like B96 WBBM"; In other words, Why can't everyone go above and beyond all they really have to be and at least ACT like they have a passion for their radio station? Not even only in Rhythmic, but in top 40, pop, and even some urban formats. Yes, I always hear the same ol' same ol' sorry excuses about why radio has to be lame and boring and how nothing in the world will work successfully except for sticking strictly to the basics and the rules. I also hear the excuse about how "radio is not the same as it used to be" with the strong indication behind those words always being "so there's no point in even trying to make it more fun anymore...". I hear all these excuses and things - ALL MEANWHILE many stations like WKQI, XHTO, WPOW, KPWR, WBBM, and quite a few others are all SUCCESSFULLY being the best they can be and doing more than they really have to to make their stations sound more live, fun and interesting.
Of course, you must keep a basic playlist and perform the task of providing all the hits and nothing but the hits, and that is probably the most important rule of all over the airwaves, for obvious reasons. HOWEVER, this does not mean you cannot go ABOVE AND BEYOND the basics and do simple things to spice up your station and make things more interesting, like... ADD IN SOME or MORE mixshows. Out of all formats, I believe chr top 40, rhythmic, dance, and even urban have a loophole when it comes to "breaking the regular playlist rules" and providing more of an interesting, fun, and party atmosphere - by simply probably adding in a few weekend night time mixshows and AT THE LEAST a 20 minute or so workout style mix daily during the week. This is especially good for those stations that tend to stray away from playing exclusive hits, stray away from many of the traditional hits that normally get played outside of their town, or those who don't like to break or premier exclusive new hits for their listeners.
I know in radio, there are many mandatory rules to follow and things that "must" be done in very precise and specific ways. However, there is still no excuse for why a station cannot be MORE than it necessarily has to be when it comes to being more fun, live, and interesting with the way they deliver their music, and there's no excuse why anybody couldn't simply provide an exclusive specialty show featuring new or different styles of music that fit the format, even if it's ONCE A WEEK for any limited amount of time during the afterhours or something. Over a few years of observation, I've come to notice something things about radio (and business in general);
*Some people choose to find a way to make their stations extra fun, edgy, exciting, and interesting.
*Some choose to be mundane and just get by with the strict basics, and possibly may not even have any true passion for the job.
The second choice may be for a number of reasons (the programmer doesn't know any better, is scared to try something different, or simply just doesn't care or have a passion for their specific job title...etc.). I'm very well aware of all the excuses that exist for why things "can't be better", however it's hard for me to just sit back and accept "that's just the way it is" with stations like WBBM, WKQI, WPOW, KPWR, and quite a bit of others going ABOVE AND BEYOND what they have to do when it comes to being more interesting, live, and fun. As I type this, I'm listening to WKQI live in the mix ON A SUNDAY NIGHT, playing the hits, remixes, and even exclusives. THIS DOES NOT EVEN INCLUDE theirdance specialty show they have on the weekends FOLLOWING the already live & interesting regular mixes they have going on. Of course, they don't HAVE to provide all those extra perks & stuff, but they CHOOSE to, and this is what makes them more than they have to be (in a town where they have quite a bit of direct competition, I should add).
How great it would be for everyone (who has (or feels that they may have) control of a station that's not all that it can be when it comes to providing a more fun, live, and interesting atmosphere) to simply look into doing simple little things to spice it up a bit. Time to bring back the passion, and it's also time to let those who have no passion for the job go. Business is business, but that is still no excuse to be boring and mundane and do enough just to get by or only care about what YOU get out of it, personally. A lot of things are discussed on these boards, but this is just another one of those things that should be mentioned that most don't think about it. Hopefully those who feel targeted by this message will spend more time simply considering what has been said and possibly acting upon it rather than getting upset with me for pointing it out.
ENJOY YOUR DAY, FOLKS!
DO NOT LET THE TITLE OF THIS POST FOOL YOU. While the title itself was designed to be catchy and peak curiosity, this is not some fool off the street telling everyone to expand the playlists or only play what he thinks he wants to hear on his walkman after watching nick @ nite. These are some serious issues and points being made here that I strongly believe needs to be discussed or thought about.
BEING THE BEST YOU CAN BE, ALL THE TIME:
"Why can't everybody be like B96 WBBM"; In other words, Why can't everyone go above and beyond all they really have to be and at least ACT like they have a passion for their radio station? Not even only in Rhythmic, but in top 40, pop, and even some urban formats. Yes, I always hear the same ol' same ol' sorry excuses about why radio has to be lame and boring and how nothing in the world will work successfully except for sticking strictly to the basics and the rules. I also hear the excuse about how "radio is not the same as it used to be" with the strong indication behind those words always being "so there's no point in even trying to make it more fun anymore...". I hear all these excuses and things - ALL MEANWHILE many stations like WKQI, XHTO, WPOW, KPWR, WBBM, and quite a few others are all SUCCESSFULLY being the best they can be and doing more than they really have to to make their stations sound more live, fun and interesting.
Of course, you must keep a basic playlist and perform the task of providing all the hits and nothing but the hits, and that is probably the most important rule of all over the airwaves, for obvious reasons. HOWEVER, this does not mean you cannot go ABOVE AND BEYOND the basics and do simple things to spice up your station and make things more interesting, like... ADD IN SOME or MORE mixshows. Out of all formats, I believe chr top 40, rhythmic, dance, and even urban have a loophole when it comes to "breaking the regular playlist rules" and providing more of an interesting, fun, and party atmosphere - by simply probably adding in a few weekend night time mixshows and AT THE LEAST a 20 minute or so workout style mix daily during the week. This is especially good for those stations that tend to stray away from playing exclusive hits, stray away from many of the traditional hits that normally get played outside of their town, or those who don't like to break or premier exclusive new hits for their listeners.
I know in radio, there are many mandatory rules to follow and things that "must" be done in very precise and specific ways. However, there is still no excuse for why a station cannot be MORE than it necessarily has to be when it comes to being more fun, live, and interesting with the way they deliver their music, and there's no excuse why anybody couldn't simply provide an exclusive specialty show featuring new or different styles of music that fit the format, even if it's ONCE A WEEK for any limited amount of time during the afterhours or something. Over a few years of observation, I've come to notice something things about radio (and business in general);
*Some people choose to find a way to make their stations extra fun, edgy, exciting, and interesting.
*Some choose to be mundane and just get by with the strict basics, and possibly may not even have any true passion for the job.
The second choice may be for a number of reasons (the programmer doesn't know any better, is scared to try something different, or simply just doesn't care or have a passion for their specific job title...etc.). I'm very well aware of all the excuses that exist for why things "can't be better", however it's hard for me to just sit back and accept "that's just the way it is" with stations like WBBM, WKQI, WPOW, KPWR, and quite a bit of others going ABOVE AND BEYOND what they have to do when it comes to being more interesting, live, and fun. As I type this, I'm listening to WKQI live in the mix ON A SUNDAY NIGHT, playing the hits, remixes, and even exclusives. THIS DOES NOT EVEN INCLUDE theirdance specialty show they have on the weekends FOLLOWING the already live & interesting regular mixes they have going on. Of course, they don't HAVE to provide all those extra perks & stuff, but they CHOOSE to, and this is what makes them more than they have to be (in a town where they have quite a bit of direct competition, I should add).
How great it would be for everyone (who has (or feels that they may have) control of a station that's not all that it can be when it comes to providing a more fun, live, and interesting atmosphere) to simply look into doing simple little things to spice it up a bit. Time to bring back the passion, and it's also time to let those who have no passion for the job go. Business is business, but that is still no excuse to be boring and mundane and do enough just to get by or only care about what YOU get out of it, personally. A lot of things are discussed on these boards, but this is just another one of those things that should be mentioned that most don't think about it. Hopefully those who feel targeted by this message will spend more time simply considering what has been said and possibly acting upon it rather than getting upset with me for pointing it out.
ENJOY YOUR DAY, FOLKS!