Why don't AC stations play the WHOLE spectrum of soft rock?

[borderblaster]

No one is "banning" anything. (I guess all hip hop records are "banned" by country stations in that case). Are you building a radio station to attract the largest possible audience in the preferred demographic group or are you building a museum?

 

[Seltzer]

It's not that difficult. Most people's years that their music preferences are high school and college years...15-22...

So do the math...if I'm an AC station and I target a 40 year old female, she was in high school beginning in 1986. Her Jr High years were the early 80s. So it's safe to say, generally speaking, the music that means most to her is from the 80s and the early 90s. Also it's safe to note a 40 year old female is more likely accepting of CHR pop music from today. Understand she was listening to CHR stations in the 80s and not her mom's sleepy AC station most of the time. She grew up on mainly uptempo music. That's a big reason why AC's today are more upbeat.

The 60s are probably very foreign to her and the 70s are not that meaningful to her either.

 

[carolinaradio]

AC has always had a wide variety of music, it still does. Our local Atlanta AC station here, B98.5, refuses to play any 70s or slower 80s songs.

It's now 2012, and you want AC stations to play music which is 40 years old

In the 1980s, did AC stations play music from the 1940s?

I don't know why people want AC to hang on to the 70s so badly when that era is very well represented between classic hits, adult hits, and classic rock - it's called the evolution of the format...

I see the growing acceptance of CHR/Pop by the 25-54 female (at least 25-34) as a potential threat to the AC format. The format is going to have to be more and more competitive (which is why I argue for AC to play more currents) - classic hits, which has had a remarkable resurgance, is a threat to the older end that may not like Gaga/Katy/Jessie J/Rihanna, and the listener on the younger end may listen to CHR/Hot AC longer than the previous generation, so it may be more difficult for AC to "recruit" new listeners as the 40 and early 50-something females age out of the demo.

Honestly, I don't think AC is being upbeat enough and is not aggressive enough. There was an interesting article on here yesterday about how "traditional" AC has sort of died in Canada. Most AC's up there have taken on a Hot AC sound in recent years, while ours have remained pretty stagnant.

 

[Seltzer]

AC has always had a wide variety of music, it still does. Our local Atlanta AC station here, B98.5, refuses to play any 70s or slower 80s songs.

It's now 2012, and you want AC stations to play music which is 40 years old

In the 1980s, did AC stations play music from the 1940s?

I don't know why people want AC to hang on to the 70s so badly when that era is very well represented between classic hits, adult hits, and classic rock - it's called the evolution of the format...

I see the growing acceptance of CHR/Pop by the 25-54 female (at least 25-34) as a potential threat to the AC format. The format is going to have to be more and more competitive (which is why I argue for AC to play more currents) - classic hits, which has had a remarkable resurgance, is a threat to the older end that may not like Gaga/Katy/Jessie J/Rihanna, and the listener on the younger end may listen to CHR/Hot AC longer than the previous generation, so it may be more difficult for AC to "recruit" new listeners as the 40 and early 50-something females age out of the demo.

Honestly, I don't think AC is being upbeat enough and is not aggressive enough. There was an interesting article on here yesterday about how "traditional" AC has sort of died in Canada. Most AC's up there have taken on a Hot AC sound in recent years, while ours have remained pretty stagnant.

I really have loved the 70s part of the AC format. But it is time to move on:

Greatest Hits Stations and Classic Hits stations. The softer music from the decade by artists like Diamond and Streisand have moved on to the nostalgia stations.

 

[semoochie]

AC opted to age with its baby-boomer audience or we wouldn't be having this discussion. It used to be 25-44 but now is 35-54. It will be interesting to see where it goes but it won't be an exercise in playing 40 year old songs. The people, who like Katy Perry, are solidly entrenched inside at least the 35-44 demo and headed toward the upper end. By the way, music is not timeless. It only appears that way, for a few decades. Since popular tastes have changed so dramatically, I don't expect even Classical to make it half way through the century as anything more than a curiosity or study material for music students.

 

[landtuna]

By the way, music is not timeless. It only appears that way, for a few decades. Since popular tastes have changed so dramatically, I don't expect even Classical to make it half way through the century as anything more than a curiosity or study material for music students.

Classical will never be "pop" music but since virtually all of it is at least 100 years old, and some much much older, it is unlikely it will fade away. As long as there are orchestras there will be classical music.

Classical music is the ultimate Classic Hits.

 

[carolinaradio]

AC opted to age with its baby-boomer audience or we wouldn't be having this discussion. It used to be 25-44 but now is 35-54. It will be interesting to see where it goes but it won't be an exercise in playing 40 year old songs. The people, who like Katy Perry, are solidly entrenched inside at least the 35-44 demo and headed toward the upper end.

Agree. I don't know why AC is so hesitant to let go of these antiquated songs (for the format) like "Lights", "Black Water", "Baby I Love Your Way", "Piano Man", etc. Why do they have to age with their audience unlike their Canadian counterparts? They need to work harder to recruit new listeners to the format as those songs are aging out of even 35-54. Doobie Brothers and Jessie J on the same station...laughable, IMO. It seems like AC these days feels like they need to try to get the classic hits audience as well.
Contrary to popular belief, some AC's are still resistant to Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz, Gaga, Maroon 5/Aguilera, etc and play quite a bit of slow 70s and 80s with few currents. Would be interesting to know where they see themselves in 10 years.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, AC isn't being modern enough. If they keep trying to hang on to the audience that listened in the 90s and 00s, and shoot in the dark for the 30 and early 40-somethings with an occasional Gaga/Katy song, it's not going to always work. As more and more of the upper end of 35-54 ages out of the format, I have a feeling that they're getting fewer and fewer on the 25-34 end to replace them. 25-34 is still at CHR or Hot AC. AC needs to tighten up - say there are 12 songs an hour.....2-3 80s (upbeat), 3 90s (upbeat), 4 00s/recurrent, 2-3 currents.

 

[Seltzer]

http://www.acmusicresearch.com/ourfindings.html


Eric Norberg has been saying what many are posting here about AC for years.

 

[carolinaradio]

I absolutely agree with that, especially the "Oldies" part. I don't get why AC tries for that audience. People are critical of WSB in Atlanta, but they are doing what the format SHOULD be doing and should have been doing for a while. It's too bad more of these AC's (especially those owned by Clear Channel) can't move ahead.

I guess, though, it's near impossible to break these stations' fascination with "Brown Eyed Girl"...

 

[semoochie]

There's no danger of the AC format(as a whole)aging out of the 35-54 demo. (It already aged with its audience, to accommodate the baby-boomers.) Before it becomes a real problem, stations will react and traditionally have. If AC becomes a 35-49 format, that would certainly have a strong effect! I'm not sure what attracts people to "Brown-eyed Girl". It didn't have a second life in the 80s or 90s; it's just still there! It's always interesting to read what Eric Norberg has to say. He used to program Portland's KEX, when it was a Full Service AC.

 

[TheRob]

Interestingly, when we lost our soft music stations (KCKC and KUDL), the biggest winner was the K-Love Christian AC affiliate in the market.

I had not listened to Adult Contemporary in a long time. I last listened for long stretches in the early 1990s when, as a teenager, I worked in a fast food restaurant. The manager loved Lite 99.7. Dullsville. Air Supply, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Chicago... but KLTH did play new music too, which is why they called it Adult Contemporary. When I listened to KUDL's dying days last year, the playlist surprised me. I heard "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake-- far more upbeat than I remembered AC. Essentially the station had become a 1980s/1990s jukebox with some burned out CHR tracks from the '00s. They lost sight of the contemporary portion of adult contemporary.

But I understood the reasons for the upbeat gold tracks. I'm in the wrong half of my 30s. In the 1980s, I despised the soft stuff, like "All Out Of Love" or "Hard Habit To Break," and especially the soft music of the 1970s. I must assume my female counterparts preferred the upbeat 1980s tracks too. Those women 35+ would probably rather hear Paula Abdul than Barbara Streisand.

 

[firepoint525]

AC and "soft rock" are no longer synonymous. My local AC station, Mix 92.9, ditched the "soft rock" moniker about 15 years ago. I have a refrigerator magnet from them that I received back in '96 with the "soft rock" slogan on it, and another from '98 with "Lite Rock" on it. As far as I know, they still use "Lite Rock" although they got a little edgier after we lost our hot AC station.

 

[carolinaradio]

Essentially the station had become a 1980s/1990s jukebox with some burned out CHR tracks from the '00s. They lost sight of the contemporary portion of adult contemporary.

Sadly, that's what's become of the AC format. They've forgotten most of the "contemporary" part.

I don't know if "soft rock" or "lite rock" are even applicable anymore - especially with the CHR/Pop/rhythmic material like Taio Cruz, Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Gaga, etc that has influenced the format in the past couple of years. Magic 98.9 here in Greenville, SC played a "lite rock" liner this morning and went in to TLC.

 

[carolinaradio]

Just to add to this - take a look at our local AC, WSPA in Greenville SC (owned by Entercom):

http://wspa.tunegenie.com

They've been sounding tight lately. I think they are where an AC should be in 2012, but not enough new stuff for my tastes.

 

[fmradio1]

Many AC's don't know if they want to be classic hits stations or not. To be honest, AC's should be sounding like what most Hot AC's sound like right now. In fact, is there really a need for two adult contemporary formats anymore? My wife is 45...and listens to CHR most of the time. She WANTS new music. She doesn't care for flashbacks to the old days. She'll tolerate Hot AC, but won't even give the AC station a preset. Too old, she says. Scary thought.

 

[BRH]

Many AC's don't know if they want to be classic hits stations or not. To be honest, AC's should be sounding like what most Hot AC's sound like right now. In fact, is there really a need for two adult contemporary formats anymore? My wife is 45...and listens to CHR most of the time. She WANTS new music. She doesn't care for flashbacks to the old days. She'll tolerate Hot AC, but won't even give the AC station a preset. Too old, she says. Scary thought.

I can relate wholeheartedly. Although I'm a male, I've always preferred female focused formats, and even though I'm now 42, CHR is still my format of choice. I really can't ever see this changing. I can't relate at all to wanting to hear the same old music from your youth over & over for years on end. (maybe occasionally for a couple of hours, but other than that, I prefer to stay current). And I think this is a trend with many in my generation (Gen X, 30 & 40 something's). I think current generations are much more likely to stay up to date with trends, music, technology, etc. than previous generations. There seemed to be a large gap between a 40 year old and a 20 year old when I was a kid (1970s/80s). Nowadays, I don't see these age groups being so radically different or opposed as they were in past generations. I know many gasp & think this is horrible on the part of the older group, but I tend to view it as positive & being more in tune with the world & staying relevant longer. I don't see current generations simply ignoring the future & happily sitting in a rocking chair in Florida. Times are 'a changing.

 

[carolinaradio]

I'm wondering if there is much of a reason for mainstream AC anymore, myself. It still does well in many markets, but it seems that M/AC's are either sounding like glorified classic hits/adult hits stations these days or conservative Hot AC's (a sound I prefer). The format is becoming less and less unique. So many of them are unwilling to let the 70s go and embrace more of the 90s and currents; something that I think needs to happen for the format to remain viable.

WWDE in Virginia Beach still plays 3-4 70s songs an hour at times but mixes in GaGa. Crazy!

 

[vchimpanzee]

I can't relate at all to wanting to hear the same old music from your youth over & over for years on end. (maybe occasionally for a couple of hours, but other than that, I prefer to stay current). ... I don't see current generations simply ignoring the future & happily sitting in a rocking chair in Florida. Times are 'a changing.

I can't relate to this attitude at all.

New music is mostly garbage and this has been true for many years.

New versions of old songs, and some country, are the exceptions.

I have more to say about why this is important in a topic about my visit to the dentist.

 

[atlantaboy]

New music is mostly garbage and this has been true for many years.

If you think new music is "garbage", you shouldn't be posting on the Adult CONTEMPORARY board

I was looking back through some old year-end pop charts, and it's really simple IMO...

All throughout the 70s, the CHR chart was filled with "soft" hits - so when the 80s came around, the AC format molded itself around "soft" rock, catering to Baby Boomers who liked the softer side of 80s music mixed with the huge number of soft pop hits from the 70s they grew up with

Unlike the Baby Boomers, Generation X listeners didn't grow up with "soft" music - they grew up with 90s pop, rap, and Alt/Rock, while their parents listened to "soft rock" - so AC stations in the modern era play what Gen X listeners grew up with, mixed with pop hits from today - this isn't rocket science...

 

[dave73]

I replied to this thread back in April when WLIT in Chicago dropped 70's music. This week, they brought back the 70's music. On my way to work Thursday, I noticed songs like:

Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love?

Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Boston - More Than A Feeling

I've also heard on that day Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are, which is also 70's.

Lately, the 70's have slowly filtered back into their playlist, & they no longer use The Best Variety of the 80's, 90's, & Today. Instead, they use The Best Variety of yesterday & today. Looks like WLIT isn't ready to give up on the 70's just yet.