WRFF

[chrocket87]

Considering Harry Styles history, I was kind of surprised, but also not that his music was pushed to Alternative. Surprised, because he came out of a purely pop driven reality TV contest. Not surprised, because he came at a time when the Alternative format was on a heavy pop curve, driven in part by Audacy stations. I truly believe that the pop phase existed to attract females, and also try and broaden the idea of what listeners think of when they hear "Alternative"...

I agree that part of this crossover came from the pop-focused direction Alternative took with Audacy leading the way. Interestingly, though, Audacy’s Alts had shifted away from the Alt-adjacent pop in late 2021. I can only imagine how much higher songs like “As It Was” and “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy would’ve gotten on the charts had Audacy kept that focus.

Harry Styles is definitely an odd choice for Alternative given his boy band history and solo pop star success, but I think this specific song fits on a format where Imagine Dragons, AJR, and Glass Animals get a lot of airplay.

In 2014, my wife couldn’t understand why One Republic’s “Counting Stars” wasn’t getting played on Alternative alongside Imagine Dragons, Bastille, Lorde, etc

 

[Miguelito]

If tests of the target demographic shows the station that songs by Nirvana do not test well... why play them? Just because they were 25 years ago a major Alternative rock name?

That would be like saying Q102 should be playing Elvis because he had a bunch of #1 hits at Pop radio before.

Totally. Around that time, in the Pop arena, Paula Abdul had a string of huge hit songs that you couldn't get away from. (And I mean this literally: In 1990, you couldn't go from one end of the dial to the other without hearing one of her songs. I remember testing the theory and finding one of her songs every single time!) But does Classic Hits or AC today play anything other than "Straight Up"? Nope! They're playing what tests highest in 2023 because it's now 2023 and it doesn't matter what happened 25 or 30 years ago.

 

[Radio Wreck]

Totally. Around that time, in the Pop arena, Paula Abdul had a string of huge hit songs that you couldn't get away from. (And I mean this literally: In 1990, you couldn't go from one end of the dial to the other without hearing one of her songs. I remember testing the theory and finding one of her songs every single time!) But does Classic Hits or AC today play anything other than "Straight Up"? Nope! They're playing what tests highest in 2023 because it's now 2023 and it doesn't matter what happened 25 or 30 years ago.

Apples and oranges. The reason that these stations typically only play “Straight Up” and have tossed her other hits into history’s dumpster is because pop music ages terribly whereas rock music more often stands the test of time. This is why Classic Rock stations are still playing songs from 45-50 years ago while today’s Classic Hits stations are mostly focusing on the late 80’s, 90’s and now even the 2000’s.

 

[Miguelito]

Apples and oranges. The reason that these stations typically only play “Straight Up” and have tossed her other hits into history’s dumpster is because pop music ages terribly whereas rock music more often stands the test of time. This is why Classic Rock stations are still playing songs from 45-50 years ago while today’s Classic Hits stations are mostly focusing on the late 80’s, 90’s and now even the 2000’s.

Sure, but I think the theory works the same, regardless of the format. If a Classic Hits station and a Classic Rock station are focusing, say, on music from 30-40 years ago, they're still only going to play the songs that test well now; not what tested well 30-40 years ago.

 

[RStacey1990]

Apples and oranges. The reason that these stations typically only play “Straight Up” and have tossed her other hits into history’s dumpster is because pop music ages terribly whereas rock music more often stands the test of time. This is why Classic Rock stations are still playing songs from 45-50 years ago while today’s Classic Hits stations are mostly focusing on the late 80’s, 90’s and now even the 2000’s.

Nailed it!