Why doesn't the AC format embrace more of the 90s?

[carolinaradio]

With the Hot AC format largely moving away from the 90s except for maybe one an hour or so (if that), and Gen-X stations croaking, why is it so hard for AC to embrace the 90s more than just the Seal, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Faith Hill, Tracy Chapman, Matchbox 20, Hootie and the Blowfish, Paula Cole, Donna Lewis, etc. type artists? I guess I could include 80s artists that had some hits in the 90s in that category as well. It almost seems like most of the "sleepy" songs on the AC format come from the 90s
There are plenty of songs from that era, that IMO, the AC's should start playing, for example:

Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You/Hey Jealousy/Follow You Down
Dave Matthews Band - Crash Into Me/Ants Marching
Blind Melon - No Rain
Goo Goo Dolls - Name (seems like you never hear this one, just "Iris" and sometimes "Slide")
New Radicals - You Get What You Give
Collective Soul - Shine
The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Semisonic - Closing Time
Mr. Big - To Be With You
Matchbox 20 - Bent/Real World/Push
Tal Bachman - She's So High
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Third Eye Blind - Jumper/Semi-Charmed Life
Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want (may be 2000)
Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
...etc. etc. etc.

It just seems to me that with a lot of AC's getting the 70s out of the way, and getting more aggressive with the 80s, they could take the 90s up a notch and give that era more attention. Some of the more 'cutting edge' AC's like the Cox ones (B98.5, for example), B-101 Philadelphia, WLIT/Chicago, etc. are playing some of the songs listed above but not many more, it seems. I wouldn't buy that some of those songs are too 'aggressive' for the format, as a ton of AC's are playing 80s Bon Jovi, The Outfield, Whitesnake, etc. Do they not test well or something? Find that hard to believe. It seems to me that with Hot AC's moving songs like the above listed out of their playlists, that they would move over to the AC format.
I guess it's just frusturating to me, because 90s kinda get a bad rap with the AC format, but actually, from what I can see, there is quite a bit of good material to choose from.

 

[N1WVQ]

As a teen in the '90s, those were some of the worst years, especially for music. Let's hope the '90s stay dead & buried, especially Dave Matthews, Blind Melon, Belly, Crash Test Dummies, etc.. At least rap was decent then.

 

[Groove1670]

The music was pretty bad. Top 40 gave way to country. Many songs of the 90's have very little attachment to listeners. Top 40 Music from 1955-1989 has a special place for listeners.

The 90's in most cases...... :

The connection of a song to the listener is the key.

Hopefully music in the 00' decades will turn that trend.

 

[carolinaradio]

I find it kinda hard to believe that those songs would do well on Hot AC, but not AC. The demographic that apparently liked those songs on the Hot AC format even when they were no longer new is aging in to the AC format now. Adult Hits stations play a decent variety of 90s tracks.

The AC format is gonna have to evolve more in to the 90s as the 70s and early 80s songs are phased out - I just feel that a lot of the songs that I listed above would be good additions to the (mostly) sleepy 90s songs the format has played to death. B98.5 in Atlanta, B101 in Philadelphia, and Lite 93.9 in Chicago have been doing that. I mean, eventually AC is going to have to branch out from 90s stuff from Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Paula Cole, Donna Lewis, Sugar Ray, Shania Twain, Hootie and the Blowfish, etc....it's not that those artists are necessarily bad (although I don't care for most), but there is some pretty decent uptempo tracks to supplement them with.

I guess the best way to summarize my complaint is, how come the AC format can typically be aggressive and play a lot of different tracks from the 80s and 00s but remain so sleepy and conservative with the 90s - would seem to me that if it was popular on Hot AC, eventually it would work well for AC as listeners in that demographic aged in to the format. What makes a track like "I Don't Want to Wait" or "That Don't Impress Me Much" so much more popular with the format than "Hey Jealousy" or "Mr. Jones?"

 

[new_friends_gr]

Great questions. I miss the '90s and there was a lot of good '90s music out there. I was also a teen in the '90s, but unlike N1WVQ, I actually liked a lot of the pop/rock that was released during that time.

I've heard that much of the music from the '90s just doesn't test well anymore, and that's a shame. :-(

 

[oldies76]

Half the music in the 90's was R&B or Rap, especially the middle of the decade. Those songs cannot fit the format of AC and probably will never be played there. 1999 had some good music and a ressurgance of Latin artists, that may be a plus. The first half, there was more hair band music and the cheesy Paula Abdul type music, that many dislike today.

Stick with the 70's 80's and select 90's or early 2000's.

BTW, why "Don't Walk Away" by Jade (1993) isn't played is a mystery.....such a good song!

 

[mjb1124]

I live in Central NJ, where I get the NYC stations along with local AC station Magic 98.3 (WMGQ). And I hear at least two thirds of the songs that the original poster mentioned on a regular basis, mostly on Magic and Fresh 102.7. I guess it depends on the market.

Personally I think that 90's music doesn't deserve the flack it gets. Maybe I'm little biased because I consider it to be "my" decade. But objectively speaking I think that there was at least just as much quality music as there was in the 80's or 2000's, and conversely there's at least an equal amount of music from those decades that could be seen as cheesy and dated. And while people may associate the 90's with grunge, hip-hop, boy bands, and Michael Bolton-type ballads, there was also plenty of upbeat but adult-friendly pop/rock music, including but not limited to the songs listed above. Besides, I appreciated the variety of styles - things just seem too one-dimensional now. Still, I guess there's no arguing with research.

 

[carolinaradio]

I live in Central NJ, where I get the NYC stations along with local AC station Magic 98.3 (WMGQ). And I hear at least two thirds of the songs that the original poster mentioned on a regular basis, mostly on Magic and Fresh 102.7. I guess it depends on the market.

Personally I think that 90's music doesn't deserve the flack it gets. Maybe I'm little biased because I consider it to be "my" decade. But objectively speaking I think that there was at least just as much quality music as there was in the 80's or 2000's, and conversely there's at least an equal amount of music from those decades that could be seen as cheesy and dated. And while people may associate the 90's with grunge, hip-hop, boy bands, and Michael Bolton-type ballads, there was also plenty of upbeat but adult-friendly pop/rock music, including but not limited to the songs listed above. Besides, I appreciated the variety of styles - things just seem too one-dimensional now. Still, I guess there's no arguing with research.

Agree. The '90s were 'my' decade, as well. That's why I listed those songs above - they were Hot AC staples for ages (and still are on some, but are disappearing over time), and it seems to me that they may have a place on AC now. I also agree that the 90s aren't that bad, if you look enough - yeah, hip hop, grunge, boy bands (some AC's play the Backstreet Boys), and country dominated, but there was mainstream pop/rock, just like there is now, that would fit. I will say that songs that were HITS on the AC format in the 90s, in general, were pretty crummy. Especially the early 90s - Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, Amy Grant, etc. No disrespect to the artists, but those songs are pretty dated.

Music became very fragmented in the 90s, but I think a lot of the "adult"/pop rock/Hot AC hits from that time have potential with the AC listeners in the 2010s. I agree that a lot of the music from that decade will never see AC, and shouldn't. 90s hip hop will never get anywhere on AC (thankfully), country won't go any further than Faith or Shania, no grunge, but there was some good material underneath all of that, such as the tracks I listed.

 

[imhomerjay]

I've heard many of the originally listed songs on AC. Likely not every AC....it's got to be based on local research to figure out which ones to add.

 

[firepoint525]

Here in Nashville, our AC (Mix 92.9) and Jack-FM are co-owned, and Jack plays a lot of the types of songs mentioned here, so Jack acts as something of a "firewall" preventing these songs from crossing over to AC. They also play some '80s hair-metal bands like Ratt and Quiet Riot, that haven't been able to find their way over to AC (yet), and probably won't ever be able to do so.

 

[Seltzer]

I live in Central NJ, where I get the NYC stations along with local AC station Magic 98.3 (WMGQ). And I hear at least two thirds of the songs that the original poster mentioned on a regular basis, mostly on Magic and Fresh 102.7. I guess it depends on the market.

Personally I think that 90's music doesn't deserve the flack it gets. Maybe I'm little biased because I consider it to be "my" decade. But objectively speaking I think that there was at least just as much quality music as there was in the 80's or 2000's, and conversely there's at least an equal amount of music from those decades that could be seen as cheesy and dated. And while people may associate the 90's with grunge, hip-hop, boy bands, and Michael Bolton-type ballads, there was also plenty of upbeat but adult-friendly pop/rock music, including but not limited to the songs listed above. Besides, I appreciated the variety of styles - things just seem too one-dimensional now. Still, I guess there's no arguing with research.

Agree. The '90s were 'my' decade, as well. That's why I listed those songs above - they were Hot AC staples for ages (and still are on some, but are disappearing over time), and it seems to me that they may have a place on AC now. I also agree that the 90s aren't that bad, if you look enough - yeah, hip hop, grunge, boy bands (some AC's play the Backstreet Boys), and country dominated, but there was mainstream pop/rock, just like there is now, that would fit. I will say that songs that were HITS on the AC format in the 90s, in general, were pretty crummy. Especially the early 90s - Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, Amy Grant, etc. No disrespect to the artists, but those songs are pretty dated.

Music became very fragmented in the 90s, but I think a lot of the "adult"/pop rock/Hot AC hits from that time have potential with the AC listeners in the 2010s. I agree that a lot of the music from that decade will never see AC, and shouldn't. 90s hip hop will never get anywhere on AC (thankfully), country won't go any further than Faith or Shania, no grunge, but there was some good material underneath all of that, such as the tracks I listed.

Ask any AC programmer and they will tell you 90s music tests horribly in research. It's been that way for years and hasn't changed.

The best thing that happened for the AC format was the 00s. So much strong researched music to help you sound contemporary w/o delving into 90s stuff your audience doesn't like.

 

[carolinaradio]

I guess, then, I'm just surprised at the 90s songs that must test well with the AC format. I guess the average AC listener likes aggressive 80s (who would have thought of Bon Jovi, J. Geils Band, Whitesnake, or The Outfield on AC 5 years ago?) but sleepy 90s.

Not blaming the stations, really, but the research is rather interesting. I notice that WLIT/Chicago, which has traditionally not performed well outside of Christmas, has started adding in some 'different' 90s like some of the songs I initially listed. They dropped the 70s music and started playing more currents after 105.9 went to WBBM.

 

[Seltzer]

I guess, then, I'm just surprised at the 90s songs that must test well with the AC format. I guess the average AC listener likes aggressive 80s (who would have thought of Bon Jovi, J. Geils Band, Whitesnake, or The Outfield on AC 5 years ago?) but sleepy 90s.

Not blaming the stations, really, but the research is rather interesting. I notice that WLIT/Chicago, which has traditionally not performed well outside of Christmas, has started adding in some 'different' 90s like some of the songs I initially listed. They dropped the 70s music and started playing more currents after 105.9 went to WBBM.

I'm not sure a whole lot of the soft stuff holds up very well either. The 90s are a tough decade.

 

[carolinaradio]

I guess, then, I'm just surprised at the 90s songs that must test well with the AC format. I guess the average AC listener likes aggressive 80s (who would have thought of Bon Jovi, J. Geils Band, Whitesnake, or The Outfield on AC 5 years ago?) but sleepy 90s.

Not blaming the stations, really, but the research is rather interesting. I notice that WLIT/Chicago, which has traditionally not performed well outside of Christmas, has started adding in some 'different' 90s like some of the songs I initially listed. They dropped the 70s music and started playing more currents after 105.9 went to WBBM.

I'm not sure a whole lot of the soft stuff holds up very well either. The 90s are a tough decade.

Maybe as time goes on, we'll start to hear some more 90s variety.

Shania Twain, Matchbox 20 (select few songs), Faith Hill, Paula Cole, Donna Lewis, Hootie & The Blowfish, Celine Dion (just "Because You Loved Me" nowadays), Sarah McLachlan, Melissa Etheridge, Seal, Goo Goo Dolls (just a couple), Jewel, Sheryl Crow (once again, just a couple), Savage Garden, Tracy Chapman, and Edwin McCain must test the best, for whatever reason. Or, a lot of stuff from established 70s/80s artists. Funny thing is, I consider most of those to be pretty weak artists for AC today and the ones that aren't, the songs they play by them aren't necessarily their best.
One 90s song that is popping up more is Tom Cochrane's version of "Life Is A Highway" (the original). It's good to hear it again, much better than the Rascal Flatts remake which is just annoying.

 

[RDO]

For a really good variety of 80s, 90s and today's stuff, try http://splash-fm.com.

Although they play most of the same 90s stuff you mention. Those were the AC hits of the 90s. If not those 90s songs, what do you suggest?

 

[carolinaradio]

I suggested a handful of songs on the first page of this thread.

I know those are the AC hits of the 90s, but I don't see AC playing just the AC hits of the 80s - I highly doubt Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Tommy Tutone, J. Geils Band, etc. were big on AC back then...

 

[Seltzer]

I suggested a handful of songs on the first page of this thread.

I know those are the AC hits of the 90s, but I don't see AC playing just the AC hits of the 80s - I highly doubt Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Tommy Tutone, J. Geils Band, etc. were big on AC back then...

They weren't but I believe the reason they have been accepted at AC is because of two factors...the 80s were a strong decade and renaissance for CHR Radio and the advent of MTV. AC listeners today listened to CHR back then and were huge users of MTV..back when they played music

 

[RDO]

Seltzer is right. People who listen to AC now listened to CHR and Rock back in the 80s. That's me.

Splash-fm plays the following from your list, carolinaradio:

Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You/Follow You Down
New Radicals - You Get What You Give
Tal Bachman - She's So High
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Counting Crows - Mr. Jones

We also play Van Halen, G n R's "Sweet Child", some Pop Rap from C+C Music Factory and Tom Cochrane. Variety.

 

[carolinaradio]

Good job! That's how AC should sound (although I have to disagree with the pop rap part, but that's JMO).
Those are great 90s songs that deserve more AC airplay. "Mr. Jones" is so much better than "Big Yellow Taxi" but gets ignored by most AC's. I'll be checking out your stream more.

I think the worst 90s music on AC, though, are the late 90s country crossovers like I Need You, Amazed, One More Day, That Don't Impress Me Much - they just sound kinda dated now. I don't hear them much anymore, though.

 

[RDO]

Check out this article:

http://www.radio-info.com/programming/25-plus/the-hardest-rockin-songs-at-ac