Radio Playlists

[whitefuneral]

I don't see how radio stations can play things about having sex, about people being hot, about peoples genitals etc. (not to mention that they have to censor some parts of video clips for TV. But the main thing I'm on about is how they don't/can't play even hard rock, metal, or even slightly heavier bands like bring me the horizon, tool, slipkot, lamb of god even iron maiden.
One of the things I hate about the music industry that it is the porn industry.

Your thoughts on this?

[MJ5150]

I listen to sports radio.

-Mike

[OldDog52]

http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/7/st...?c_let=KNRQ-FM

Well 3 out of your 5 anyway.

[Time Monkey]

As long as there are idiots out there that thing Awol Nation and Foster The People are good bands, radio will forever suck.

Rock radio is simply dead.

[whitefuneral]

I live in Australia btw and the radio is the heaviest at metalica.

[Mike N]

I listen to talk radio.

[1958Bassman]

Radio stations have bought playlists for decades and that's why radio sucks. They foist crap on us and people still listen to these stations, anyway. The best thing to do is stop listening to them, if we want change. OTOH, some college stations are pretty good and with internet radio, Pandora, Slacker, etc, there's no lack of music to replace commercial radio.

[Mike N]

My gripe with commercial radio is they beat the same songs to death day after day, year after year, decade after decade........ you get the idea.

How many times can you turn on a rock channel and not hear Crazy Train for the billionth time? Too bad the DJ's don't have the freedom to turn the record over to the B side and play something different, for once.

[superbassman2000]

Originally Posted by whitefuneral

I don't see how radio stations can play things about having sex, about people being hot, about peoples genitals etc. (not to mention that they have to censor some parts of video clips for TV. But the main thing I'm on about is how they don't/can't play even hard rock, metal, or even slightly heavier bands like bring me the horizon, tool, slipkot, lamb of god even iron maiden.
One of the things I hate about the music industry that it is the porn industry.

Your thoughts on this?

I have heard four of those five bands on the radio. Maybe you are listening to the wrong station?

Also Your issue isn't that they talk dirty and play clean, it sounds like you are mad that they are picking out songs that would appeal to the most people. The reason they play Metallica and not lamb of god is because more people want to hear Metallica. Simple as that. The music business is a business after all, and it's about the money, and it always has been. If it's such a big deal, you can always get pandora, xm radio or spotify and hear music that you'd rather hear because you are paying for it, not advertisers who want their commercial heard by the masses.

[Actium]

FM radio is for people that think of music as a commodity. They generally don't care what the station plays as long as it plays something familiar. Most of these people wouldn't even recognize "b-sides" or lesser known songs from the bands they've been listening to for the last few decades. It's because music isn't a priority in their life. They don't care to put forth any effort to explore bands and genres.

Anybody truly interested in music beyond it just being a commodity will have ways to access more specialized internet-radio stations. Or just make their own playlists.

Think of FM rock radio as the fast food of music.

[Simo98]

Sex Sells.

[Otter]

I work in radio, I am a broadcast engineer for a major Network. It's all about how to get the most amount of people to listen. The more people listening the more you can charge for advertising. If people wanted to hear cows farting, then that is what you would hear when you turned on your radio....

Repeat after me: "Least Common Denominator"

[jp58]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

I listen to sports radio.

-Mike

Mike and Mike is the only thing I listen to on my drive to work/school.

[Mike N]

Originally Posted by Actium

FM radio is for people that think of music as a commodity. They generally don't care what the station plays as long as it plays something familiar. Most of these people wouldn't even recognize "b-sides" or lesser known songs from the bands they've been listening to for the last few decades. It's because music isn't a priority in their life. They don't care to put forth any effort to explore bands and genres.

Anybody truly interested in music beyond it just being a commodity will have ways to access more specialized internet-radio stations. Or just make their own playlists.

Think of FM rock radio as the fast food of music.

I don't have the time or desire to go searching for internet radio. Not only do I not have a laptop, ipod, etc..... I don't have satellite radio nor would I pay for it. The boss usually has a radio on at the shop, and when we can actually hear it over the impact wrenches, it's the same stuff over and over...... doesn't matter if it's a rock channel, country channel or whatever. They don't want AM talk radio at work, so I'm SOL.

Originally Posted by Otter

I work in radio, I am a broadcast engineer for a major Network. It's all about how to get the most amount of people to listen. The more people listening the more you can charge for advertising. If people wanted to hear cows farting, then that is what you would hear when you turned on your radio....

Repeat after me: "Least Common Denominator"

How do you know what people really want to hear? I'm not inclined to believe that 30+ years later people really call in to request Freebird and Stairway to Heaven.

Would it be wrong to try something different rather than beating the same songs to death like every FM channel in the nation? Flip the record over, play some lesser known songs by popular bands and you might just have a whole new crop of listeners that switch to your channel because they're sick of the same old same old. I know that idea worked in the last cover band I was in...... we played more B side type of stuff instead of the same garbage every other band was doing, and we had quite a following and clubs that really wanted us to play there because we were somewhat different than the norm.

You can either be a leader or a follower.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Mike N

You can either be a leader or a follower.

But it doesnt pay to be the leader, at least not til everyone else wants to follow.

Radio, like TV & Film, and other industry, is designed to serve one purpose - make the owners money. Maybe you (and clearly others here) dont care for whats on the radio, but there are millions out there that do, otherwise they'd be playing something else.

[Mike N]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

But it doesnt pay to be the leader, at least not til everyone else wants to follow.

Radio, like TV & Film, and other industry, is designed to serve one purpose - make the owners money. Maybe you (and clearly others here) dont care for whats on the radio, but there are millions out there that do, otherwise they'd be playing something else.

I guess you won't know until you try it. Maybe someone already did and it didn't work. Too bad they didn't try it in the Buffalo/Rochester NY area....... I sure as heck would have listened.

[Otter]

Originally Posted by Mike N

How do you know what people really want to hear? I'm not inclined to believe that 30+ years later people really call in to request Freebird and Stairway to Heaven.

The science of demographics and market share. The Program Director for your local radio station is going to choose the content that is going to appeal to the greatest amount of people in your local market. It is about the $$$$! nothing more....

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Mike N

I guess you won't know until you try it. Maybe someone already did and it didn't work. Too bad they didn't try it in the Buffalo/Rochester NY area....... I sure as heck would have listened.

Funny thing... About, oh 7 or 8, maybe 9 years ago we had a new radio station appear out of the blue in the LA area, called Indie 103.1. At first there were no DJs, and it was an 8 hour loop of cool indie tunes. It turned me on to afew new acts and played stuff you just didnt hear on the radio. A few months later it had caught on, now had DJs, various shows, etc. One show was hosted by Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), another by Henry Rollins, they gave Danny Masterson a show a well as some others (Dave Navarro). Along with that came more advertising. Along with that came more and more mainstream music that was being played on their biggest rival station KROQ 106.7. Where is Indie 103.1 today? Relegated to the internet, if it still exists at all. The "owners" claimed that they succumbed to overwhelming pressure to be just another mainstream station and would be going off the air. Yup, tried, and didnt work. But by the time they went online only, I dont think they were too missed, being that they were just another mainstream clone at that point.

[MJ5150]

Same kind of thing happened here a few years ago. They got gobbled up by one of the national corporate radio stations and turned into the same lame morning shows and afternoon bathroom humor talk buffered by a top 10 song here and there between commercials.

It's a bummer to see it happen, but it takes money to run a radio station, so I understand how it has to go these days.

-Mike

[Mike N]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

Funny thing... About, oh 7 or 8, maybe 9 years ago we had a new radio station appear out of the blue in the LA area, called Indie 103.1. At first there were no DJs, and it was an 8 hour loop of cool indie tunes. It turned me on to afew new acts and played stuff you just didnt hear on the radio. A few months later it had caught on, now had DJs, various shows, etc. One show was hosted by Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), another by Henry Rollins, they gave Danny Masterson a show a well as some others (Dave Navarro). Along with that came more advertising. Along with that came more and more mainstream music that was being played on their biggest rival station KROQ 106.7. Where is Indie 103.1 today? Relegated to the internet, if it still exists at all. The "owners" claimed that they succumbed to overwhelming pressure to be just another mainstream station and would be going off the air. Yup, tried, and didnt work. But by the time they went online only, I dont think they were too missed, being that they were just another mainstream clone at that point.

16 or so years ago here one of the lame ass classic rock stations ditched their format and went "modern rock", which at the time was Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden etc..... Quite a refreshing change from Freebird, Iron Man and the like.

What happened, you ask?? The big rock station in the city lost listeners like crazy, eventually forcing themselves to mix in some of the more "modern" rock of the day. Change worked at the time, and it was good.

Fast forward to 2011- The "modern rock" channel still exists with decent ratings, the biggest rock channel is still around with dwindling listeners, and the other rock channels in the city still beat to death the same dozen songs.

I'd love to have the chance to be program director for a month, just to see what I could do.