You know, WHQC/Charlotte is another Clear Channel CHR that's pretty balanced. They're playing Foster The People's "Don't Stop", Train's "Drive By", The Fray's "Heartbeat" rather regularly, among other recent adult/pop/rock CHR stuff. They keep older stuff like The Killers, Snow Patrol, Fall Out Boy, Lady Antebellum, Boys Like Girls, The Script, etc. in the regular rotation as well. They seem to keep a decent balance between pop/rock and rhythmic and seem a little faster on pop/rock than some other CHR's.
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WHY IS CLEAR CHANNEL RESISTANT TO POP/ROCK?
- Thread starter atlantaboy
- Start date
^Speaking of Charlotte, I saw that Kiss 95.1 has both Gavin DeGraw and The Fray in power rotation...
I miss Fall Out Boy. Sucks they're not playing anymore. Glad to hear they're still getting airplay. I feel that the rock era for CHR peaked in 2007 and slowly died in 2008 and into 2009 completely was gone for good. I mean rock as in the emo-rock that was popular through out mostly 2005-2007. Good 2 years of music
Doesn't surprise me. Kiss has been friendly to non-rhythmic material for quite a while. Channel has become much more, as well, since Ace & TJ started last month. WHQC is really giving WNKS a run for their money.atlantaboy said:
It is funny that B93.7 was mentioned at the beginning of this thread because I'm one of the ones who think B's more rhythmic than not. Yes, they do play things like We the Kings, but I'd take Channel 96.1 or Kiss 95.1 over WFBC any day in terms of their pop/rock vs. rhythmic lean.
Then again, Greenville in general is pretty challenged as far as the rock side of pop music goes across the entire radio dial. Florence & the Machine was played for a short time on our sort-of-Hot AC station WMYI, but I haven't heard them since the initial flip. There's a lot of new rock acts that, sadly, just aren't heard around here.
Black Keys, Arcade Fire, Young the Giant...non-existent for all intensive purposes.
Then again, Greenville in general is pretty challenged as far as the rock side of pop music goes across the entire radio dial. Florence & the Machine was played for a short time on our sort-of-Hot AC station WMYI, but I haven't heard them since the initial flip. There's a lot of new rock acts that, sadly, just aren't heard around here.
Black Keys, Arcade Fire, Young the Giant...non-existent for all intensive purposes.
Yeah, WFBC used to be a lot less rhythmic. They're transitioning between PD's, and the incoming (or maybe now current) one has been a rhythmic PD (Z104/VA Beach), so that trend may continue or accelerate.awp69 said:
I like Channel 96.1 much more, as well. Just better all around, but then again, it's a top 25 market...they've become pretty balanced, at one time they were totally rhythmic
carolinaradio said:
That's kind of bad news on the B93.7 front if they were already heading in that direction with Chase Murphy as the PD. With Hot 98.1 and JAMZ, I don't see the need to go even further towards rhythmic.
I was listening to 96.1 and it definately seems a bit more balanced than B93.7. But I seem to be starting to get 95.1 in better than I previously did and have been listening to it more. Of all three stations, they seem to be the most pop/rock leaning. Doesn't mean there isn't some rhythmic in there -- it'll always be a dominant force if you're playing "all the hits". But I heard quite a few more rock leaning songs like Coldplay's duet with Rhianna "Princess of China" (not exactly "rock" but even with all the symphasizers, it's hardly rhythmic) and The Fray's new song that's more aggressive than some of their earlier hits.
I've also noticed that 96.1 plays more songs from the mid-late 2000s in the regular rotation- for example, I hear Fall Out Boy, Boys Like Girls, Panic At The Disco, etc....acts you don't hear much anymore. Makes it a little more interesting. They also play new stuff like Foster The People's "Color The Walls", a song most CHR's probably aren't playing yet...Train's "Drive By", Coldplay's "Princess Of China", etc - none of those are on WFBC yet, and I doubt they'll add the first or latter any time soon.awp69 said:
I don't really care what B93.7 does since I can get Channel 96.1 very well everywhere I go. Bottom line, WFBC used to be very balanced, but they've taken more of a rhythmic slant lately, although they don't really resist pop/rock by any means. Their last PD was always extremely good about taking risks on some pop/rock songs and even artists before them became really popular. Some never did. I'd say they're a lot less risky than before....perhaps more rhythmic is safer. Hot 98.1 actually has a lot of overlap with B as they are Rhythmic CHR.
carolinaradio said:
Definately agree there. It took them forever to play "Pumped Up Kicks" and don't think they ever even got around to playing FTP's second single "Helena Beat". And I don't really get it with the Coldplay resistance in this area. Yes, they aren't as "big" as they used to be but still think they have a pretty big following. I think I've only heard "Paradise" once at night on WFBC. They may bite on "Princess of China" just because of the Rhianna tie-in. Train...that's standard stuff as far as anything on the rock side they play.
CC never plays new Fray, Nickelback, Daughtry, even the new Foster The People song despite starting the trend for Pumped Up Kicks, they don't play Naked & Famous, Fun., Goyte, We The Kings. Cumulus isn't really that anti-rhythmic: they do play Usher but that's not really saying much because Usher's really pop but I don't like how they edit his songs. Don't artists have a say in if their work is going to be edited on the radio despite it having curse words in their songs or other controversial material?
Dan said:
Really? :
Channel 96.1 in Charlotte plays The Fray and the new one from Foster The People.
I disagree that Cumulus is anti-rhythmic, except for maybe Q100...
I disagree that Cumulus is anti-rhythmic, except for maybe Q100...
Even Q100 will play dance if it becomes an established hit. If we didn't know the artists behind the current hit music and heard the current Q100 today for the first time, we'd probably think it was a dance leaning pop/rock station.
I'd say Cumulus is resistant to having urban sounding or extremely rhythmic leaning chr's rather than dance sounds. They sound more dancey now that the uptempo sound has become big, but I don't remember them sounding urban back when hip hop was dominant and had many chr's claiming to be "hip hop".
I'm surprised that no one (that I'm aware of) is playing Outasight or Breathe Carolina here in LA, amongst other things. Never thought the day would come when I say this, but LA has become a "weird market".
I'd say Cumulus is resistant to having urban sounding or extremely rhythmic leaning chr's rather than dance sounds. They sound more dancey now that the uptempo sound has become big, but I don't remember them sounding urban back when hip hop was dominant and had many chr's claiming to be "hip hop".
I'm surprised that no one (that I'm aware of) is playing Outasight or Breathe Carolina here in LA, amongst other things. Never thought the day would come when I say this, but LA has become a "weird market".
KDM 7000 said:
That is surprising, especially for Breathe Carolina. When a station in Greenville, SC plays something like that it's usually gotta be a huge hit everyone else first. And yet, the CHR here does (and still ignores most of the "cutting edge"). Even though BC is more on the electronic/rhythmic side of rock, I was still surprised to hear it here.
Can't believe I'm saying this, but... I'm glad to be back home to my Phoenix market! WOW! NEVER in my life thought the day would come when I enjoy Phoenix radio more than L.A. radio. People in Phoenix complain about chr's sounding the same. I guess they haven't been to L.A. lately...
KDM 7000 said:
It should be a "weird" market- its demographics are vastly different than most markets. The under 25 age group is 85% non-white and over a 1/3 of the market is foreign born. Those demographics do not mirror other markets. It would be "weird" if the same songs that were hits in Little Rock or Detroit where the same exact songs that were hits in LA.
I think part of the argument that has been left out here is that CHR has found PPM success by being rhythmic heavy, while relegating the Pop and Pop/Rock hits to Hot AC and other formats. Its also found unexpected success in women 25-54, despite being rhythmic heavy. "Common sense" would dictatte that these women would gravitate towards more Pop/Rock and this hasn't held out to be true in every market. Once the novelty fades or stations PPM numbers start to drop dramatically, I'm sure there will be a realignment in the format.
Now that I think of it, I guess the LA market has always been unique. That was one of the reasons why I used to love it and look forward to going there in the past - a bunch of LA area stations played and featured certain types of things that most other places wouldn't even acknowledge. But at the same time, if I remember correctly, those days were also a time when many chr's nationwide did have their own distinct sound with more independent owners, and there was typically more "regional sound zoning" going on as well. Nowadays, with all the voice tracking, premium choice, syndication, etc. type stuff going on, the "new norm" is to expect everywhere, especially the larger markets, to sound alike and always be on "all the hits", especially if they have a bunch of chr's. One thing that puzzles me is that despite all these changes and things over time, Atlanta still manages to remain very unique, chr-wise. LA, however, has become unique in their own sense as well when it comes to both chr and urban formatting.
Interestingly enough, I return to Phoenix to discover that the only CHR here that is currently "accepting" to pop rock hits is the Clear Channel one. What irony. Has anyone ever noticed how things always seem to change in your hometown whenever you leave town? ...But I still say our overall chr / rhythmic / urban radio dial aspect is better than LA's. We have no KBIG style format because all the chr's lean rhythmic and our Hot AC leans very alternative.
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