Why Radio Is Boring

[scooty430]

Here is a list of songs that are currently on K-Earth, KLOS, and JACK.

(And many of these are also on KOST and The Sound...)

America - Horse With No Name
America - Sister Goldenhair
America - Venutra Highway
AWB - Pick Up The Pieces
Beatles - Get Back
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Beatles - Back In the USSR
Beatles - Let It Be
Beatles - Twist And Shout
Beatles - Revolution
Doobie Brothers - China Grove
Doobie Brothers - Black Water
Doobie Brothers - Long Train Running
Doors - Light My Fire
Doors - People Are Strange
Doors - Love Her Madly
Doors - Touch Me
Doors - Hello I Love You
Doors - Break on Through
Eagles - Take It Easy
Eagles - One Of These Nights
Eagles - Lyin’ Eyes
ELO - Livin’ Thing
ELO - Evil Woman
ELO - Sweet Talkin’ Woman
ELO - Don’t Bring Me Down
David Essex - Rock On
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Fleetwood Mac - Don’t Stop
Fleetwood Mac - Say You Love Me
Fleetwood Mac - Rhianon
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac - Gypsy
Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun
Free - All Right Now
Peter Frampton - Baby I Love Your Way
Peter Frampton - Show Me The Way
Marvin Gaye - Heard It Through The Grapevine
Grand Funk Railroad - We’re An American Band
Grand Funk Railroad - Some Kind Of Wonderful
Grand Funk Railroad - Locomotion
Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
Hollies - Long Cool Woman
Billy Joel - Piano Man
Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young
Elton John - Crocodile Rock
Elton John - Bennie and the Jets
Elton John - Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Elton John - Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
Elton John - Tiny Dancer
Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom
John Lennon - Imagine
Huey Lewis - Do You Believe In Love
Kenny Loggins - Footloose
Los Lobos - La Bamba
Lynard Skynard - Sweet Home Alabama
Manfred Mann - Blinded By the Light
Don McLean - American Pie
Steve Miller - Jet Airliner
Steve Miller - Joker
Steve Miller - Rock N Me
Steve Miller - Take the Money and Run
Steve Miller - Jungle Love
Steve Miller - Abracadabra
Steve Miller - Swingtown
Eddie Money - Baby Hold On
Eddie Money - Two Tickets To Paradise
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden
Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
Rolling Stones - Start Me Up
Rolling Stones - It’s Only Rock and Roll
Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women
Rolling Stones - Miss You
Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
Rolling Stones - Angie
Rolling Stones - Jumpin Jack Flash
Sanford / Townsend - Smoke From A Distant Fire
Santana - Evil Ways
Santana - Black Magic Woman
Santana - Smooth
Santana - Oye Como Va
Bob Seger - Old Time Rock and Roll
Bob Seger - Mainstreet
Bob Seger - Hollywood Nights
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You
Steely Dan - Reelin In the Years
Steely Dan - Do It Again
Steely Dan - Hey 19
Steely Dan - Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
Rod Stewart - Do You Think I’m Sexy
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Supertramp - Give A Little Bit
10cc - Things We Do For Love
10cc - I'm Not In Love
Toto - Hold The Line
Wings - Silly Love Songs
Wings - Maybe I’m Amazed
Wings - Band On The Run
Wings - Live And Let Die
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Stevie Wonder - I Wish
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
Gary Wright - Dream Weaver

 

[davideduardo]

Here is a list of songs that are currently on K-Earth, KLOS, and JACK.

(And many of these are also on KOST and The Sound...)

So?

You have named 5 stations out of 87 licensed to the LA metro. That is about 6% of the stations.

Many songs cross into multiple formats. Some artists are broader in appeal than others. There are Jack listeners who like America, but don't like Motown or the Beatles. So they would never listen to KRTH... but they enjoy hearing that artist on Jack... and that is one example. One station is not going to stop playing songs its core likes just because another station with a significantly different format plays those songs, too.

Think of those stations as 5 circles that overlap just at the edges. Most of what they play defines the core, but there is a point of obverlap, too.

This is a log better than what we had in the 50's and 60's... where three or four stations in a market played the same 40 songs as each of the others did, and where three or four more played the same MOR songs.... and in lots of markets, except for a Black station or two, that was the sum total of all the significant signals.

Cleveland, Ohio in the late 50's to early 60's.... 3 Top 40, 3 MOR, 2 Black stations. That was what you could get then... 8 AMs in the market, and 3 formats.

 

[oldies76]

Radio would be boring if only this list were played, give or take. Add in an additional 500 to 1000 that CBS-FM plays, then your cooking!

 

[TheBigA]

I'd simply suggest adding two words to the subject line: "To Me."

Everyone is different. Radio attempts to satisfy as many of them as possible. To do that, they do thing that you might find boring. Radio is not your personal listening device, and doesn't attempt to be that.

 

[briancraig]

Radio is boring to most people who frequent the radio-info boards because most of us (myself included) don't find today's contemporary pop music to be exciting.

I have no interest in hearing the same 300 best testing oldies or classic rock songs. Unfortunately to those of us who truly love music, many people seem satisfied with stations with boring, repetitive playlists.

At the same time this wouldn't be an issue if most of us didn't find stations playing new music to also be boring. Back in the day when KHJ added 3 or 4 records a week, I probably liked 90 percent of them plus each week there was good new music to look forward to. Even the adult oriented stations like KMPC or KGIL added good new songs to the playlist every week.

 

[oldies76]

I'd simply suggest adding two words to the subject line: "To Me."

Everyone is different. Radio attempts to satisfy as many of them as possible. To do that, they do thing that you might find boring. Radio is not your personal listening device, and doesn't attempt to be that.

To me or anyone or all, the point being made is that a playlist of 300 to 500 songs, repeated and repeated with no variations, is flat out BORING. Anyone can tell you that. Solution...don't overkill your "well-tested" songs and add variations, like true weekend specials to give the station some kick. Also stick in a few non-tested songs in the mix. Certainly, someone would appreciate them. EVERY song is someone's favorite among the masses.

 

[TheBigA]

EVERY song is someone's favorite among the masses.

Programming a radio station is a lot like playing poker. You know the odds of getting an Ace. That's what gamblers do. They play with the odds to decide if they'll play the hand.

Same with songs. You know the odds that playing Crispien St. Peter's "Pied Piper" or Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" probably won't matter to 85% of the potential audience. So you don't play it. Because every time you play a song that only 15% of the people like, you risk the possibility of losing 85% of your audience. Which is not what you want to do.

Me...I like both those songs, and when Miriam died recently, I dug up her record and listened to it...by myself.

 

[oldies76]

Same with songs. You know the odds that playing Crispien St. Peter's "Pied Piper" or Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" probably won't matter to 85% of the potential audience. So you don't play it. Because every time you play a song that only 15% of the people like, you risk the possibility of losing 85% of your audience. Which is not what you want to do.

Agreed, but I would not ignore them totally either. Why not throw them in on a 60's weekend, or a Sunday countdown featuring 1967. This is the great thing about weekend specials, an alternative to the otherwise daily regime.

 

[scooty430]

EVERY song is someone's favorite among the masses.

Programming a radio station is a lot like playing poker. You know the odds of getting an Ace. That's what gamblers do. They play with the odds to decide if they'll play the hand.

Same with songs. You know the odds that playing Crispien St. Peter's "Pied Piper" or Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" probably won't matter to 85% of the potential audience. So you don't play it. Because every time you play a song that only 15% of the people like, you risk the possibility of losing 85% of your audience. Which is not what you want to do.

Me...I like both those songs, and when Miriam died recently, I dug up her record and listened to it...by myself.

I'll put up with someone else's "favorite" song (that I don't personally like) in order to get my OWN little thrill in a song or two. Rather hear a few duds than be bored by safe (or burned out) songs.

Here's another point: Not every song is either "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Pied Piper." There are hundreds of songs that aren't super obscure, but also aren't overplayed. People arguing for smaller playlists always use extreme examples.

 

[scooty430]

Here is a list of songs that are currently on K-Earth, KLOS, and JACK.

(And many of these are also on KOST and The Sound...)

So?

You have named 5 stations out of 87 licensed to the LA metro. That is about 6% of the stations.

Many songs cross into multiple formats. Some artists are broader in appeal than others. There are Jack listeners who like America, but don't like Motown or the Beatles. So they would never listen to KRTH... but they enjoy hearing that artist on Jack... and that is one example. One station is not going to stop playing songs its core likes just because another station with a significantly different format plays those songs, too.

Think of those stations as 5 circles that overlap just at the edges. Most of what they play defines the core, but there is a point of obverlap, too.

This is a log better than what we had in the 50's and 60's... where three or four stations in a market played the same 40 songs as each of the others did, and where three or four more played the same MOR songs.... and in lots of markets, except for a Black station or two, that was the sum total of all the significant signals.

Cleveland, Ohio in the late 50's to early 60's.... 3 Top 40, 3 MOR, 2 Black stations. That was what you could get then... 8 AMs in the market, and 3 formats.

You love to bend statistics, don't you?

Sure, this is 6 percent of the market, but you are including every tiny station in town. Plus Spanish-language.

But for those seeking old music, these are the top (and only real) choices.

The net effect for the listener is driving around in your car, and hearing "Light My Fire" on three stations at once.

For forty years....

 

[TheBigA]

I'll put up with someone else's "favorite" song (that I don't personally like) in order to get my OWN little thrill in a song or two.

Here's the problem: Statistically, you're not typical. So once again, in playing the odds, I can risk the big nut to make you happy, or I can make the larger group happy while leaving you bored. Experience tells me that the serious music fans will never be satisfied. A station can play one "thrill" a day, and if you're not listening when I play it, you're still bored. And when you try to be fair to everyone, you end up being unfair to someone. That's just what happens.

MY point of view is that radio has to be more than just songs. I think we're witnessing the problem when radio builds formats around songs, and not around presentation.

 

[ajc_trw]

Here is a list of songs that are currently on K-Earth, KLOS, and JACK.

(And many of these are also on KOST and The Sound...)

I can put a post titled "Why Television is Boring" and start it

Here is a list of shows that are currently on KCET, KOCE, and KDOC

You need to hit the "SCAN" button more. Then you can pick up stations like ..

92.3, KTWV, KLSX, KYSR, KGB, KIIS, KBIG, KROQ and maybe KCAL. There are more, but my memory fails me and you may get others in your area. And that doesn't include AM which isn't that bad. :-X

Seriously, scan around and you'll find something good before you have to go round the dial again.

 

[LA_Guy]

Let's get real!

Let's get real!

Radio IS boring! It's boring because there hasn't been a new innovative idea or promotion in over ten years.

Radio is stale.

The main reason for this is the consolidators.

At first, the conventional wisdom was to not try anything new or different-because it might hurt your (huge) investment in the stations. Besides, the money to be made in radio wasn't in OPERATING stations, it was in buying and selling them (the bigger sucker theory). These days, the biggest suckers now own the stations, and they simply don't have the desire or money to innovate. They don't WANT the stations they own-but they can't even break even selling them, so they run them bare bones. THAT's the reason that there are so many layoffs in radio right now-the biggest suckers are desperately trying to cut their losses.

Unfortunately, today's business climate doesn't lend itself to innovation either (it's the direct opposite of a boom market), so radio will continue to be (yawn) boring.

The trouble is that unlike times of yesteryear, today other media are nipping at radio's heels...and many of them AREN'T boring!

 

[RicoGregg]

There is one stone that is being left unturned in this discussion - the recording industry hasn't exactly been very helpful to radio in recent decades. There's a lot of performers and genres that frankly should have been mothballed years ago that the industry is still promoting.

New blood, new styles, and new concepts are needed, badly, but the RIAA seems to be stuck somewhere in the early 90s.

It used to be that young adults wanted something that they could call their own, and not something that they're sharing with older siblings, or even their parents.

My own generation of teens was lucky enough to get the British Invasion. We were damned if we were going to be Elvis-ites. That belonged to our older sibs.

Every decade seemed to have it's own look and style, which always seemed to be prompted by the pop culture of the times. Looking around the Hollywood environment, I'm seeing the same styles, the same look, and hearing the same types of music that I heard in the early 80s.

Trendsetting used to begin with the music industry. When it happened, pop culture would re-energize and re-invent itself. Radio would always benefit greatly when the changes occurred. Everybody won when new trends started.

Where is the trendsetting now? Where the hell is the music industry?

 

[davideduardo]

Sure, this is 6 percent of the market, but you are including every tiny station in town. Plus Spanish-language.

Why wouldn't I include Spanish language station? 42% of the market is Hispanic, and close to 80% of them listen to Spanish language radio. [/quote]

But for those seeking old music, these are the top (and only real) choices.

Wrong. There are stations that are not current based in Spanish, too: KRCD, KHJ, KLYY, KLVE.

And a large number of stations play no music at all.

What you are saying is that there are 5 or so stations playing mostly older rock/pop music. That is a good number of stations, all things considered. Not everyone likes rock/pop, young or old. There are probably close to as many people who like hip hop, and they have fewer choices.

The net effect for the listener is driving around in your car, and hearing "Light My Fire" on three stations at once.

And probably that is because the core listeners still want to hear it.

 

[scooty430]

Utterly ridiculous.

Spanish-language radio is irrelevant to an Anglo listener such as myself. Not saying it shouldn't be here (it should) or that it's not good radio (or bad - I have no idea, and no basis on which to judge it.)

But a white guy over 30 driving around in his car in Los Angeles (or any other big city) is going to have KRTH, KLOS, and JACK on his presets. He has NO other choices for old rock and roll. None. And he is going to hear Light My Fire. And he will be bored. Because he is really sick of that song.

I am NOT the only one bored by radio. Ordinary people are too. Open your eyes, radio people.

PS:

Just heard Hotel California on JACK. Go ahead and add that to my list of songs played on ALL THREE stations.

 

[TheBigA]

I am NOT the only one bored by radio. Ordinary people are too. Open your eyes, radio people.

Or your ears. You realize that radio people listen to more radio than you. A typical DJ sits in a control room five hours a day waiting for the music to end so he can do his job. I think DJs know exactly what songs are getting played, and how often. They're not doing it because THEY like it, but because the AUDIENCE likes it. Their jobs depend on it. If what they're doing is boring to a majority of the audience, that's not good for them. Their stations loose money, fire people, and ultimately go out of business.

So before you lecture radio people on what they should be doing, at least try to understand that they have a lot more to lose than you.

 

[scooty430]

I am NOT the only one bored by radio. Ordinary people are too. Open your eyes, radio people.

Or your ears. You realize that radio people listen to more radio than you. A typical DJ sits in a control room five hours a day waiting for the music to end so he can do his job. I think DJs know exactly what songs are getting played, and how often. They're not doing it because THEY like it, but because the AUDIENCE likes it. Their jobs depend on it. If what they're doing is boring to a majority of the audience, that's not good for them. Their stations loose money, fire people, and ultimately go out of business.

So before you lecture radio people on what they should be doing, at least try to understand that they have a lot more to lose than you.

I don't think ANY radio fan has anything against DJs. I wish people other than Steve Jones (recently fired) or Jim Ladd got to be creative on the air.

Radio people means the people who actually make the decision to play the same songs for decades, and then scratch their heads when people listen less.

 

[scooty430]

There is one stone that is being left unturned in this discussion - the recording industry hasn't exactly been very helpful to radio in recent decades. There's a lot of performers and genres that frankly should have been mothballed years ago that the industry is still promoting.

New blood, new styles, and new concepts are needed, badly, but the RIAA seems to be stuck somewhere in the early 90s.

It used to be that young adults wanted something that they could call their own, and not something that they're sharing with older siblings, or even their parents.

My own generation of teens was lucky enough to get the British Invasion. We were damned if we were going to be Elvis-ites. That belonged to our older sibs.

Every decade seemed to have it's own look and style, which always seemed to be prompted by the pop culture of the times. Looking around the Hollywood environment, I'm seeing the same styles, the same look, and hearing the same types of music that I heard in the early 80s.

Trendsetting used to begin with the music industry. When it happened, pop culture would re-energize and re-invent itself. Radio would always benefit greatly when the changes occurred. Everybody won when new trends started.

Where is the trendsetting now? Where the hell is the music industry?

Great point.

Many kids today will say their favorite band is....the Beatles. Or The Ramones.

Who headlined Coachella (supposed to be cutting edge) last year? Roger Waters.

And who is headlining this year? Paul McCartney. And The Cure.

This is like Benny Goodman headlining Woodstock.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Many kids today will say their favorite band is....the Beatles. Or The Ramones.

Who headlined Coachella (supposed to be cutting edge) last year? Roger Waters.

And who is headlining this year? Paul McCartney. And The Cure.

This is like Benny Goodman headlining Woodstock.

ROFLMAOFF!! ;D

Or Rudy Vallee etc.

BTW to your earlier points about duplication, this past week I heard "Like a Rolling Stone" that 7 minute (?) masterpiece by Dylan on The Sound during the noon hour around 12:35. Later the same hour I switched over to KLOS and they started playing the same song around 12:50. This is NOT an uncommon occurrence. Also, I have heard the exact same song played on these two stations at almost the exact time. Thank God for someone 'inventing' Internet streams!!