Z100 Observations

[TheMusicMan]

So I was able to listen to the Z over the past few days, and have a few observations.

1) The music. This is NYC we're talking about, and things are different there, but some of those songs just seem a little...out there, even for this market and station. Why am I hearing T.I. "Bring Em Out", Amerie f/ Eve "1 Thing" and Fugees "Ready Or Not", all pretty much flops, during the 4PM hour? And these reggaeton/dancehall songs, too. Like I said, this is NYC, so I can understand some, but sometimes I wonder if all that they do is too much.

2) Those little clips where they talk over the songs at the top of the hour...annoying. They need to go.

Other than that, not bad. Joe Rosati and Cubby both sounded good, heard only one break of Shelley Wade. The imaging was pretty good too, aside from my comment in #2.

 

[CHRles]

> So I was able to listen to the Z over the past few days, and
> have a few observations.
>
> 1) The music. This is NYC we're talking about, and things
> are different there, but some of those songs just seem a
> little...out there, even for this market and station. Why am
> I hearing T.I. "Bring Em Out", Amerie f/ Eve "1 Thing" and
> Fugees "Ready Or Not", all pretty much flops, during the 4PM
> hour? And these reggaeton/dancehall songs, too. Like I said,
> this is NYC, so I can understand some, but sometimes I
> wonder if all that they do is too much.
>
You've pretty much answered your own question here - "This is NYC we're talking about, and things are different there". This is what CHR radio is all about - playing the hits, and tailoring the music to fit a particular market. Too many programmers sadly DON'T follow this rule anymore.
Once upon a time almost every city you ever went to, you'd turn on your radio to the local CHRs and hear certain records that supposedly flopped nationally, but were hits regionally. Nowadays half the CHRs play the same 10 nationally tested Recurrents day and night. Z-100 has managed to avoid this mistake, in part due to the fact that it has one of the best Music Directors in the world.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by CHRles on 06/28/05 02:12 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[WaGaGa]

> > 1) The music. This is NYC we're talking about, and things
> > are different there, but some of those songs just seem a
> > little...out there, even for this market and station. Why
> > am I hearing T.I. "Bring Em Out", Amerie f/ Eve "1 Thing" and
> > Fugees "Ready Or Not", all pretty much flops, during the
> 4PM hour? And these reggaeton/dancehall songs, too.

It's Z-100...they can break rules. The Fugees song didnt chart high, but it's become a minor classic. The T.I. doesn't make sense, but the Amerie record should've been a hit and has that undefinable NY sound.

I want to hate them, but I can't. If Z100 aired an hour of non-stop flatulence, they'd still sound better than 95 percent of the CHR/Mainstreams out there.

IMO...they're the only music station in NYC worth listening to.
(not counting the great WFMU, of course!)

 

[icybluelake]

> I want to hate them, but I can't. If Z100 aired an hour of
> non-stop flatulence, they'd still sound better than 95
> percent of the CHR/Mainstreams out there.
>

I couldn't have said it better. Just returned from a trip through middle America. Heard several CHR stations that really need help. I've never been a big Z100 fan, but gotta agree that they don't follow formulas (like much of the rest of the industry) that wouldn't make as much sense in NYC.

> IMO...they're the only music station in NYC worth listening
> to.
> (not counting the great WFMU, of course!)
>

I respectfully disagree with the first part of that, but as for the second part, you rule. Have we met?

 

[TheMusicMan]

I think y'all have pretty much nailed it, but hearing Backstreet Boys "Crawling Back To You", a song that may not even become a single, into Narcotic Thrust "I Like It", a dance song which was a total flop, is just kinda weird. I know that dance and reggaeton/dancehall work in NYC, but sometimes it almost seems like they overdo it, and that the segues are kind of all over the place at times. But Cubby is obviously not an idiot...you don't become Music Director at one of the world's most famous stations through that. I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

 

[MassMusicMan]

> 2) Those little clips where they talk over the songs at the
> top of the hour...annoying. They need to go.

To me, that comes across as very cluttered. You have the jock talk, then the jingle, then the record starts. That should be it. You don't have to run a sweeper over the record. I won't bother with commenting on #1, since everybody else already has the idea.<P ID="signature">______________
"If I had a son, I would show him my penis - just once - when he was 6 years old. And for the rest of his life, he would swear his father had the biggest dong in North America." - Adam Carolla</P>

 

[Power91]

Narcotic Thurst has not been a flop in NYC...and it's been pushed nationally on syndicated shows....Premiere Radio's "Hot MIx" has included Narcotic Thrust in it for a while...why other stations haven't given it a chance is beyond me...

~RM

 

[lalumia]

> > I want to hate them, but I can't. If Z100 aired an hour of
>
> > non-stop flatulence, they'd still sound better than 95
> > percent of the CHR/Mainstreams out there.
> >
>
> I couldn't have said it better. Just returned from a trip
> through middle America. Heard several CHR stations that
> really need help. I've never been a big Z100 fan, but gotta
> agree that they don't follow formulas (like much of the rest
> of the industry) that wouldn't make as much sense in NYC.
>
> > IMO...they're the only music station in NYC worth
> listening
> > to.
> > (not counting the great WFMU, of course!)
> >
>
> I respectfully disagree with the first part of that, but as
> for the second part, you rule. Have we met?
>
New York has always been a center of regional hits: look at 'freestyle'which never happened nationally, but ruled the tri state area.T.I."Bring Em Out" was a Hot 97 influence,and a VERY BIG NY record,as was AMERIE;Narcotic Thrust is a regional hit in the same fashion as those freestyle records once were;the Backstreet Boys CD is the #2 Soundscan selling CD in NY this past week,which might be a good reason to add another track,after moving 300,000 units nationally in it's first week.I know all about being a 'regional' hit.

 

[MoldaMania182]

> I want to hate them, but I can't. If Z100 aired an hour of
> non-stop flatulence, they'd still sound better than 95
> percent of the CHR/Mainstreams out there.


I live a little north of the city...so I get a little larger amount of stations.
To me 104.7 WSPK does just as good a job as Z100 does without being owned by a monster corporate company.

Though I agree when I do travel, there are many CHR stations nationally that aren't even half as good as the two above.

Maybe its a regonal thing.

 

[PilotMan1]

> > I want to hate them, but I can't. If Z100 aired an hour of
>
> > non-stop flatulence, they'd still sound better than 95
> > percent of the CHR/Mainstreams out there.
>
>
> I live a little north of the city...so I get a little larger
> amount of stations.
> To me 104.7 WSPK does just as good a job as Z100 does
> without being owned by a monster corporate company.

K104 is a good station. I feel Z100 still has that touch that makes them that wee little bit better, but thats up to the listener. K104 is owned by a large corporation, Pamal Broadcasting. Nothing compared to Clear Channel, but still a large company none the less. Corporate owners shouldn't stray you from listening to a station. CC owns KC101.3 in New Haven and I've been listening for close to 15 years, consistantly.

 

[MoldaMania182]

> K104 is a good station. I feel Z100 still has that touch
> that makes them that wee little bit better, but thats up to
> the listener. K104 is owned by a large corporation, Pamal
> Broadcasting. Nothing compared to Clear Channel, but still a
> large company none the less. Corporate owners shouldn't
> stray you from listening to a station. CC owns KC101.3 in
> New Haven and I've been listening for close to 15 years,
> consistantly.
>


27 stations (Pamal) or 1200 stations (CC).....Come on. Pamal isnt even remotely close to being a "monster corporation" as I put it. Check your facts. And yes Corporate owners should stray me when their name is clear channel and most of their stations "local" to me are terribly managed, have little to no local interaction (DJs, remotes etc...), and limited signal distance. It's so obvious they do not care about the listener. If it's not Z100...it shows.