| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/4/2008 8:21:20 AM | OK, this drives me nuts. Is it pure politics that dictates that a station (like Q107 in Toronto Canada) play certain songs/artists excusively? Maybe a dumb question, but I'd appreciate an answer, if someone is kind enough to explain.
I'll give an example: 'Stones, Honkytonk Woman, Sympathy for the devil, Jumpinjack Fash, over and over and yet seemingly other songs like Far Away Eyes, Waitin' On A Friend, Mixed Emotions, simply do not get airplay. They do own the entire contents of the CD's don't they?
So, is there a MUST PLAY list and do not play list? On Sundays that station does have a program called Psychedelic Sunday. They do play rarities then, but not during the week. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/4/2008 8:43:51 AM | I have a bit of an understanding of the music biz (from working in studios etc)
There is a set playlist, and some record companies etc will pay the radio station a certain amount to play a track over and over again, and to plug the hell out of it. As usual it all comes down to money. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/4/2008 9:12:47 AM | | Yeah, and most are owned by the same conglomerate, multinationally (so I bet your playlist is the same as ours here in Colorado). We have an AWESOME station here--new, and locally owned, KUCV--that plays what they want. And that rarely means what others are playing. I like listening to the populist music, too, but this is by far my favorite station. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/5/2008 11:01:05 PM | I've heard the radio stations all use preprogrammed lists.If you want that to change,start requesting the songs you want to hear more.I've all but given up on commercial radio for that reason.If more people complained about this to the right people(any body know who they may be?)things may improve.Until then,we're screwed | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/6/2008 8:14:21 AM | I'll give an example: 'Stones, Honkytonk Woman, Sympathy for the devil, Jumpinjack Fash, over and over and yet seemingly other songs like Far Away Eyes, Waitin' On A Friend, Mixed Emotions, simply do not get airplay. They do own the entire contents of the CD's don't they?
How about living in Wis and hearing the Stone's "Start me up" more than I care to listen to. The song is played at the beginning of every Greenbay Packer game and it must be da Packer fans requesting the hell out of it - 'cause it reminds dem der of da Packers hey.
Now wut will we do witout Brett Favre hey? Play "Did you ever know that you're my hero" ? (hand me the vomit bag) | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/6/2008 9:04:25 AM | | Good answers about why (payola and corporate killing of radio) things stink on the air are above. OP, the best bet here in the states is to listen to public radio. I am sure Canada must have something similar. If not, you can "stream" audio while at home or work on your computer from a U.S. public radio station that will play a wide variety of contemporary and older music. My personal favorite is one of our three NPR local outlets, WNKU. Check it out! | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/6/2008 2:00:03 PM | | It's because they've become classic rock radio staples. Look at any random covers album, and guaranteed you will see atleast one of these songs. It's called playing to the masses, the average person isn't aware of the more obscure songs, and is content to hear the classics over and over again. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/8/2008 6:26:12 PM | When I was 13 I came home with a Top 40 chart for the week. My Dad looked at it and shook his head. "I've ever heard of any of these groups." he said. So we went through the list together. Dad still was not convinced that any of the songs were familiar despite being an avid radio listner.
He then pointed out "How can a song by an unknown become #1 on the charts less than a week after it was released? "
"Think about it he said." I did and ever since I've never followed any "Top 10 whatevers" as my method of looking for entertainment. It truly is all hype and promotion. Nothing you see on mainstream entertainment is truly based on real quality. It's all just what the promoters want you to buy.
Hip -hop Rap whatever you want to call it. Is it music? Is it good? Is it really worth listening to? So why does it sell?? HYPE!!!
Is it odd that I now prefer to listen to a station that carries nothing but old music from the 30's 40's and 50's and has actual live announcers who talk about each song and it's perfomer? I don't think so. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/8/2008 7:11:06 PM | | I agree with you. I live in South Jersey and get Philadelphia radio stations. I listen to a classic rock stion, and they play the same songs also. I met a producer and part time dj from that station. I asked him why they play the same song from the artist every day, and mention why when they say a song from Yes is comeing up next it always Seen All Good People Your MOVE? They have more songs then that one. He replied that is what the program director wants done. I listen to more sports talk now. When I want music I play my cds. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/9/2008 5:28:42 AM | | Most radio programmers are deathly afraid that listeners will change the station if something comes on that is remotely unfamiliar to them. So the playlists are heavily "focus grouped" to make sure the songs are as safe and generally popular as possible. Commercial radio caters to the blandest majority of those who just want some predictable background music for their daily job or commute. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/12/2008 5:38:28 PM | | ok here is the truth..... i used to work in radio and a call center what happens is the call centers call your area and survey so many people on what they like and want to hear and thats whats played also the radio station goes by requests too. if 100 people out of 100 want to hear paint it black by the rolling stones thats what you will hear so call in and email your local radio station that or start investing alot in cdz or an mp3 player hope this helped | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/13/2008 12:03:55 PM | "Most radio programmers are deathly afraid that listeners will change the station if something comes on that is remotely unfamiliar to them. So the playlists are heavily "focus grouped" to make sure the songs are as safe and generally popular as possible. Commercial radio caters to the blandest majority of those who just want some predictable background music for their daily job or commute."
That is the main reason. People don't know what they like, they like what they know.
For the record, it is the same reason cover bands in the bar circuit play the same old stuff.
.......and people think they are "unique".....haha!
110% | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/14/2008 5:22:15 AM | | As the checkin' shite so called DJ's surround themselves in a safe layer of scum, the cognitive function of entertainment falls far behind how many commercials they can force feed the mindless drones stuck in traffic needing their Pat and Vanna fix. Video killed the radio star? More like castrated. What would Johnny Fever say? Wolfman? Alan Freed? (I know) but he broke a lot of barriers, payola or not | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/14/2008 7:03:04 PM | Every radio station has a playlist as well as a do not play list because each have a genre of music they play.
KQRS in Minneapolis plays only classic rock but they have a no repeat policy every day. And they have a huge library so a lot of what you hear today you might not hear again for another few days. In fact at the end of every year they play their entire library of songs and it takes a couple of weeks.
When I was a kid all I could get in my area was Top 40 so that's the only music I knew of. Then after HS I discovered classic rock and now I can't stand that top 40 or 100 or whatever it's called now. That music is so phony, corporate-like, teeny bopper, electronic. The best music is progressive music. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/15/2008 2:17:38 AM | It's been said already several times already, but again, popular music radio stations are paid to play certain tracks a certain number of times a day (someone earlier said plugging it). Labels choose which will be singles off an album and in what order they should be played on radios, and those radios that play popular music are then put in the loop and paid accordingly if they comply with playlisting the track(s) selected.
Personally a lot of albums have far better tracks on them than the ones selected but popular music radio stations usually limit audience participation in playlist selection because it would cut into their profits (aside from commercial advertisements).
Personally I gave up on popular music back in 2001-2003, I was running a live365 radio station and I had a lot of these smaller labels and promotional managers sending me music to play on it, I remember getting a CD from sevendust and default's promo managers before they were big and playing their tracks. I just got sick of hearing the same track 50 times a day. One local station, Z95 used to play the "top 6 at 6" "top 8 at 8" and "top 10 at 10" so in a 4-5 hour span you were guaranteed to hear 6 tracks 3 times.
I listen to mostly edm and 80s-90s rock and alternative. I'm also a edm dj and a former producer. It's not an easy industry to get into, the music industry. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/15/2008 10:46:02 PM | quoted from Wired Magazine: Things that suck....
<div class="quote">Why Things Suck: Radio
By Brendan I. Koerner Email 01.18.08 | 6:00 PM
Unless you enjoy hearing the same insipid Fergie song a dozen times a day, chances are you loathe mainstream radio. And for good reason: The FM band between 92.1 and 107.9, where commercial stations reign, is mostly a desert of robo-DJs and pop pabulum.
The sad decline of conventional radio is an Econ 101 lesson in the consequences of artificial scarcity — and a B-school case study on the limits of scientific management. The scarcity is the fault of the Federal Communications Commission, which decided in the mid-1940s to confine FM broadcasting to its current frequency range, roughly between 88 and 108 MHz. The FCC's spectrum-allocation rules, designed to prevent station signals from interfering with one another, further limited the number of broadcasting licenses it granted in any one market.
By the '70s, thanks to a fecund period in popular music, a generation of audacious DJs, and cheap radios, FM had become wildly popular. That made stations valuable properties — so valuable, in fact, that only large companies could afford to buy and manage them. "The legal cost alone of getting on the air is enormous," says Jesse Walker, author of the radio history Rebels on the Air. The government could have eased this situation by allocating more spectrum for radio use and increasing the number of licenses, Walker argues. Instead, Congress chose to relax the rules regarding the number of stations any one entity could own.
That's where the scientific management comes in. The biggest barriers to building a radio audience are the polarizing power of music and the plethora of choices on the dial. So, when corporations like Clear Channel started buying up stations in the late '90s, they set about building a lowest-common-denominator product that would be attractive to the most listeners. "There's this idea of the perfect playlist," Walker says. "Find it with research and attract the perfect audience." But it turns out that the most lucrative audience is really just "people who will not change the channel during the ads." The result: watered-down programming designed primarily not to offend.
So bored consumers are just tuning out. Listenership among 18- to 24-year-olds is down 20 percent over the past decade. Stations have responded not with bold programming but by cutting costs. They've also expended considerable resources to squelch competition from low-powered FM stations and Internet radio. Not that it has helped — 85 percent of teenagers now discover new music through sources beyond the FM dial. Even the biggest radio fans envision a grim future for the medium. One bright spot: The inevitable shift to digital radio could create more room for more types of content. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/24/2008 6:18:11 PM | | the larger /popular radio stations, esp down in south florida with respect to rock, seriously suck. they play the same crap and its not even good. ive given up on mainstream sadly ..although i must admit the college radio stations at least play some variety with respect to genres and whatnot.. its a little bit better than their corporate counterparts..i think satellite radio is where its at these days | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 4/25/2008 9:37:35 PM | corporations have discovered a way of making you like a tune. or better yet type of tune.. .. drum it into your head so that you find yourself singing along weather you hate it or not.. eventually you developed an acquired taste to this brainwashing and the corporations have an easier time of predicting which "sounds" will appeal to you in th future the most by making you like it... rather than the old method.. "taking a chance on an artist after spending millions of recording and marketing dollars only to sometimes find out that the song tanked.
so basically if they thought that maybe you might be enc inlined to become accustomed to and eventually like the sound of Chinese pang pang music.. they would find a way of incorporating its feel into music give it to an up and coming nobody with a pretty face and a great voice to sing. without giving them any creative license.. eventually the artist becomes famous and eventually it happens where no matter what this artist sings.. you like it.. mostly because of familiarity to that persons style/voice. then pay radio stations money for more airtime of these songs and successfully brainwashing you till eventually you would find yourself dancing around a large paper dragon and lighting fireworks because after all its what everyone else is doing. | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 5/1/2008 10:45:04 PM | I figured! **stards! The Radio will stretch a band's album out for a good year, which gives the band time to come up witht the next one. My local rock radio keeps playing
Big hot sun I think it's called...the Eddie Vedder version...I'm going to arrange a petition for it's discontinuance!!! Nice song, but holy crap guys!! | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 5/1/2008 10:47:46 PM | | So True!!! Wrestling does the same thing...pre fabricated product. My sons show me all these girl hit singers that are like 13 yrs old, like little manufactured dolls...but they sell out shows~!!!! WTF?>>>>>>>????????????????? | |
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| Why Do Some Radio Stations Play The Same Songs?
Posted: 5/5/2008 8:03:53 AM | | record labels paying off the station. if you shove the music enough into people's face, they'll eventually buy into it. how else would britney spears have a career? | |
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