• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

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

Interesting article. Funny that they kept mentioning WLNK....not quite AC, not quite Hot AC. I don't know what they should report as.

As far as 90s on AC, Cox AC's have GREATLY improved in the past 6 months. WWRM in Tampa (as well as Cox's AC's in Louisville, Tulsa, Atlanta, Miami) play 80s-now and do a fantastic job - decent 80s selection, good 90s variety (including the Vertical Horizon/Dave Matthews/Eagle Eye Cherry/Tonic/No Doubt/Semisonic/Cranberries/Collective Soul type stuff that gets ignored a lot), and fresh currents. This is extremely interesting because Cox's AC's used to be some of the most boring on the planet....only adding new music a couple times a year, never updating the playlist, etc. Maybe they'll start a trend if it works for them.
 
It doesn't need a new name.

How many times to people say "Hey, I want to listen to some AC music?"

I mean...really...outside of message borad denizens...no one gives a rat's rear end about the formal name. AC evolves--the same as CHR does. Worrying about who reports as what is of decreasing relevance--welcome to the new millenium. We don't need to worry about things that don't quite fit some decades-old paradigm.
 
imhomerjay said:
It doesn't need a new name.

How many times to people say "Hey, I want to listen to some AC music?"

I mean...really...outside of message borad denizens...no one gives a rat's rear end about the formal name. AC evolves--the same as CHR does. Worrying about who reports as what is of decreasing relevance--welcome to the new millenium. We don't need to worry about things that don't quite fit some decades-old paradigm.
Click to expand...
Well, the stations playing the softest music in their market (or maybe they aren't; I don't recall the person saying) have no business doing any kind of rap or anything by "Guns 'n Roses" other than "Patience".
 
They do if the target audience accepts it. Given we've established said target likely isn't you, that renders "should" and "shouldn't" pretty much meaningless.
 
vchimpanzee said:
imhomerjay said:
It doesn't need a new name.

How many times to people say "Hey, I want to listen to some AC music?"

I mean...really...outside of message borad denizens...no one gives a rat's rear end about the formal name. AC evolves--the same as CHR does. Worrying about who reports as what is of decreasing relevance--welcome to the new millenium. We don't need to worry about things that don't quite fit some decades-old paradigm.
Click to expand...
Well, the stations playing the softest music in their market (or maybe they aren't; I don't recall the person saying) have no business doing any kind of rap or anything by "Guns 'n Roses" other than "Patience".
Click to expand...

Nothing about the term "AC" indicates that it should be playing "the softest music in the market"

AC stands for "Adult Contemporary", meaning (1)adults have to like it, and (2)a good deal of the music needs to be relatively new

What baffles me is the Baby-Boomer obsession with "soft music", that dictated what ACs played in the 80s and 90s - I assume it was a reaction during the 70s people had against Zeppelin, Pink Folyd, Rolling Stones, etc., and the fact that there was so much soft music being recorded during the 70s

In any case, the current 40-something generation didn't grow up with "soft music", which explains why they have no desire to listen to a "soft music" AC station nowadays
 
atlantaboy said:
Nothing about the term "AC" indicates that it should be playing "the softest music in the market"

AC stands for "Adult Contemporary", meaning (1)adults have to like it, and (2)a good deal of the music needs to be relatively new

What baffles me is the Baby-Boomer obsession with "soft music", that dictated what ACs played in the 80s and 90s - I assume it was a reaction during the 70s people had against Zeppelin, Pink Folyd, Rolling Stones, etc., and the fact that there was so much soft music being recorded during the 70s

In any case, the current 40-something generation didn't grow up with "soft music", which explains why they have no desire to listen to a "soft music" AC station nowadays
Click to expand...
I can see the frusturation with stations that call themselves "Lite" playing Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga, etc., but other than that, yes, you are EXACTLY right. There is nothing in "AC" that means the music should be soft. It's music aimed at adults that contains past/familiar songs as well as contemporary releases. Just because it was soft 20-30 years ago doesn't mean that's how it should be now. That's why there's "AC" and "Soft AC", IMO.

The format has evolved, just like any other format has to remain viable.
 
You know, I was thinking, of all of the acts from the 90s that AC seems to resist, one of the most puzzling to me is the Gin Blossoms. AC stations play Matchbox 20 and Goo Goo Dolls, who I consider pretty similar- all 3 were big pop/rock acts in the 90s. Gin Blossoms had several pretty good hits - Hey Jealousy, Follow You Down, Til I Hear It From You...very few play those. Nice uptempo tracks IMO.

Strange.
 
AC doesn't "resist" anything. It's not like there's some annual gathering of AC guys where they have sessions on why to play Matchbox 20 and not Gin Blossoms. If certain songs test well, no matter how idiosyncratic it might appear on the surface, you keep them out of the heavy rotation (though I do hear Gin Blossoms on my nearest AC).
 
carolinaradio said:
You know, I was thinking, of all of the acts from the 90s that AC seems to resist, one of the most puzzling to me is the Gin Blossoms. AC stations play Matchbox 20 and Goo Goo Dolls, who I consider pretty similar- all 3 were big pop/rock acts in the 90s. Gin Blossoms had several pretty good hits - Hey Jealousy, Follow You Down, Til I Hear It From You...very few play those. Nice uptempo tracks IMO.

Strange.
Click to expand...

We're playin' Gin Blossoms on http://splash-fm.com.
 
It varies by market. WLEV in the Allentown, PA area is rather '90s-friendly. Right now as I type this, they're playing Edwin McCain - "I'll Be" (1998).
 
atlantaboy said:
Nothing about the term "AC" indicates that it should be playing "the softest music in the market"
Click to expand...
I get that, but then people try to claim AC is "Lite" and you don't need anything softer.

Just yesterday I saw a newspaper article where someone wondered why WMAG Greensboro, NC is no longer "easy listening". It never was.
 
Gee, perhaps because to the intended audience, it is light.
 
imhomerjay said:
Gee, perhaps because to the intended audience, it is light.
Click to expand...
Well, aside from the fact that this is wrong, especially based on what has been said here, the person was wondering why it wasn't any more, as if a change had just been made.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom