EJ204 said:
First, it is incorrect to reduce major artists such as Stevie Wonder, Prince, Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, Michael & Janet Jackson to the a catagory of music called "Dance" that we don't like anymore.
Who says I was doing that? As we discussed before, all of those artists have songs that still do fine today, and I don't believe I said African Americans only do dance music. I don't think you can classify everything those artists did as "dance," even though a substantial amount of their music would fit the dance category. What I was saying was that much of the music by African American artists in the 70's and 80's was dance music, and you can't play very much dance today if you want ratings. Of course, there will be a handful of dance songs that will still work just fine. It's just a much smaller ratio. Dance music, in general, has a burn problem, and that's true whether it was 70's, 80's or 90's dance. If doing a classic hits format without research, pick as much of the popular rock of that era as possible. You'll be more likely to win.
Second, even though the "Jammin' Oldies" format failed (for playing only ONE type of Classic Hit all the time), there are plenty of successful Rhythmic Oldies stations, especially in the West. For a while, Tuscon and Sacramento ONLY had a Rhythmic Oldies station, no general Classic Hits/Oldies station.
Different audiences. They're looking for a less assimilated Hispanic audience than what you have in New Mexico.
Third, if dance music is no longer popular, why did KABG use the images of three white artists who worked significantly in rhythmic music, Madonna, Deborah Harry and Hall & Oates? So if a white artist makes dance music, it gets played and their photo is seen at KABG. If a black artist makes dance music, we don't see their photo and they only get two spins per hour?
Again, some dance music will still test just fine. Michael Jackson is unquestionably dance, and he'll probably be getting airtime long after Blondie and Hall & Oates lose their relevance. However, you can't exactly plaster his image on your station's website since most people think he was a pedophile. When it comes to Madonna, I looked at the playlist of the classic hits station I grew up listening to (KLUV), and Madonna hasn't been played even once today. Hall & Oates received three spins while Blondie got one. Madonna's always been more image than substance. If you put her on your website, people immediately know you play music from the 80's. I also checked the classic hits station in my hometown (KONO), and it hasn't played Madonna in the previous 12 hours, though it played Hall & Oates roughly 5 times and Blondie twice. Blondie, by the way, transcended rock and dance very well. Hall & Oates also did far more than just dance music. The more versatile the artist, the more likely that artist will get played years down the road.
I also don't believe that a Program Director has no influence over the playlist, that he simply offers songs in phone or auditorium tests and the songs that get the best response get played. Of course, he has a sway. Songs he likes get into the test, songs he doesn't may never be tested. He also takes chances with songs he thinks the audience will respond to.
I didn't say that either. What I said is that a program director's music preference in the 70's and 80's doesn't matter if he has access to good research and follows it. The fact that you're not hearing lots of dance music on classic hits stations today would indicate the PD's are using their research because test after test shows you need to play more rock if you want to reach your target audience. By the way, I've never worked for a company that allowed the PD to conduct his own research. While some companies had in-house research that was done with the PD's knowledge and involvement, but it was the research specialists who compiled all the results. Most of the PD's I know couldn't create data to save their lives. Also, the key is good research. I've worked for several companies that were absolutely horrendous at research and would do research on one market and expect every other market to use the same data and get the same results.
KABG management picked the photos to use on the website and, without thinking, those in charge picked only white artists. I'm sensitive to this because I worked at a station where the same thing happened. Only white artists were included on the website. It was a different market and different format, but one where African-American artists were often played. Everyone in management at the station was white and they only chose white photos, without thinking.
I doubt it. AGM outsources its websites. The company they use to design websites also does research. Most likely, said company looked at which artists brought positive feelings to the target audience of a classic hits format. Asking the participants which artists they think of when they hear the 70's and 80's and what they think of those artists would go hand-in-hand with music research. Since that audience is 25-54 and white, white artists probably rated more positively than black or Hispanic artists to the group or groups that were surveyed.
