Most PD’s and MD’s decide on song additions based on recommendations from their consultants and/or research conducted. A handful of PD’s and MD’s may make decisions based on what they like or otherwise think will work, but “I have a golden ear” has destroyed far more careers than it has ever made.
There is no research for new songs. Even record labels have tried to find a way to determine what will be a hit in the manner by which consumer brands test new products or, even, product labels. Or the way movie producers test different edits of a new release to see which gets the best reviews.
Generally, a new music station will have more songs to choose from each week than slots to put them in. They will look at any available data on who else has added the song.
There are nowhere near the number of consultants active today that we had 30 to 40 years ago. Most of the larger groups have the equivalents of "format captains" and the is usually an internal music meeting. The download activity and the play on other stations and past results from the artist and, simply, the "feel" of the song are taken into account.
In a lot of small markets, stations that aren’t part of a large conglomerate don’t have access to the consultants and research that larger companies and markets have. That’s both why small market stations can be more adventurous musically and why the usual response to small market radio stations is, “God, they suck!”
Most small market stations looked at Hamilton and Gavin and R&R and watched stations they admired to help guide adds. Now it is BDS and MediaBase and the streaming playlists.
But still, a lot has to do with fit for the local market and the available places on the station list. .
I used to be an MD/PD. Have been out of the biz for decades. I can't believe stations are still evaluating what they add by number of slots they have available;
Formats since the 50's have had mechanics: categories and rotations based on the estimates of time spent listening.
Adding an extra song to a current category slows the whole category down... or requires adjusting the rotations of every other category. To insure proper horizontal and vertical rotations and other issues could take days of intense work... just to add a song rather than adjusting the categorization of other songs in a well tweaked and adjusted system in Selector or MusicMaster.
do I need the song; and where it is being added elsewhere (waiting to see who else adds it and waiting a week). Doesn't Spotify charts make things more obvious?
No, they do not. They don't tell us who is listening and whether they are our listeners or, even just our format's listeners. They don't accurately pinpoint the "who" of a song's listeners so matching them with our format is tenuous and can only be part of making a localized decision.
It's like giant market research.
No, it is not. "Research" is finding out what your listeners like and, particularly, dislike. A massive list from streamers does not tell us about our listeners and their preferences.
I think a PD/MD should just keep on top of new music and when there is something good, start playing it. Waiting to see what other stations do is based out of insecurity and lack of passion and creative flair.
There is no guarantee on any new song. We purposely minimize risk by trying to avoid too many new songs that might actually drive away listeners. On the other hand, the songs that "sound right" by core artists are almost automatic. Then we look at secondary artists, and then review the new artists.
Since traditional radio is "one for many" the main concern is fit and acceptance. We don't take too many chances each week. But the main issue is that we learn from research that listeners can't assimilate too many new records each week and the easiest new songs to add are by established artists.
It's a creative process. A good PD/MD doesn't need a record promoter to tell them what should be played and when to play it. The old system is antiquated in a spotify/pandora/youtube/online world with endless options. Programming is an art form. Doesn't seem like too many programmers are artists.
Programming is part art form and part mechanics. The mechanics is based on understanding how radio audience is measured and trying to play the right songs at the right frequency and in the right blend; radio is not an "on demand" service so we program as much for the set, the sweep, the hour, the overall sound as we do for the individual song.
And, of course in radio we do not need record promoters. The record companies need them to try to get their song played instead of the one from a different label. Working with record promoters often yields benefits, though, in areas like artist based promotions, show tickets, interviews, etc.
