Thank you for the chart. In that event, it still seems like the baby boom should have ended at the same level it started, which was apparently way later than 1964, instead of 1961, which I suggested. If I may ask, what year would that be? AOR didn't just expand their field of influence. They moved the core from 18-24 to 25-34, thus losing(some)listeners in the former age bracket and replacing them with new ones. That's still only ten years. Regarding Soft AC, I never intended to suggest that there should be a lot of older songs, just not an edge. My thinking was that this should please the core at least sometimes and possibly bring in some younger listeners, who also have times that they don't want an edge. By not playing older songs, this shouldn't be a problem. Nothing before 1990 should do it.
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- Thread starter semoochie
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M
Music Lover
Guest
Gotta have some lite hits from the 80's for me. I can't do without that. That's part of my childhood.
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You can't mix these. That's like oil and vinegar.
The first group looks a lot like the songs other than actual standards played by America's Best Music (which is standards, by today's definition). There are only a couple of songs in the second group mthat they would or could play, but most of that second list is quite extreme.
M
Music Lover
Guest
Maybe extreme to you but not to most 20-40 year olds. Even many 60-70 year olds I know don't find it too extreme. My 65-year-old mother, for instance, enjoys some bands, like Daughtry and Bon Jovi, from the second group. Don't let age fool you.
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The end of a boom isn't decided by the return of numbers to pre-boom levels, but by a successive number of down years or a precipitous drop in the raw number.
AOR didn't move the core. It expanded to 18-34 from 18-24.
There is nothing at present to suggest that what you refer to as an "edge" is turning off any appreciable number of younger listeners. So you're proposing the answer to a question no one is asking except for a minority of people within the demo and some people out of or very nearly out of the demo....which isn't likely to be profitable.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
And realistically, how many people cluster around the old Atwater Kent or Philco, listening intently? Most AC listeners are using the radio as pleasant background noise.
Atwater Kent or Philco, no...the JBL, Bose or Infinity audio system in her crossover SUV, yes. Intently, no...cranked up, yes.
If AC were "pleasant background noise", this thread wouldn't exist. What's got old men riled up is that 40-year-old women right now want to dance and are finding their daughters' music more appealing than their mothers'.
The "Continuous Soft Hits" phase of AC was background. The current phase, much like the genesis of the format from the late sixties until the very early eighties, is foreground.
I understand...what I meant was some listeners have specific era expectations for an AC station. They're the ones who are now complaining about the lack of certain artists that they once remembered in the format. On the other hand, there are people who grew up in the era, but also have an appreciation for more recent music (even if they don't know the artists). These are people who will listen to AAA where it's available, or maybe even today's country. Two very different groups of listeners, and they each want their own radio station.
M
Music Lover
Guest
For me, and most of my family and friends, it's both at the same time. Most of us have an appreciation for certain, but definitely not all, more recent music, yet we also complain about lack of certain artists that we once remembered in the format.
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I hadn't heard of Joy 99.5, so I followed the link. It's not a broadcast station, but an Internet stream, which is why they can do what they do...there's nothing like profit, loss or the ability to provide employment riding on the outcome.
Segregating the groups as you do above doesn't paint the picture. Looking at the "last played" in order does....Englebert Humperdinck into Creed into Captain and Tenille.
Maybe you can get the older listener who likes Englebert and Captain and Tenille to sit through Creed, but I doubt the younger listener that likes Creed is sitting still for Captain and Tenille afterwards.
What we're talking about here is an old person's station where someone said "and we'll play some things the young people will enjoy"...a phrase that hopelessly out-of-touch broadcast managers used 40 and 50 years ago when they thought a station could be all things to all people.
They're long gone, for the most part, having learned the hard way that the young people will not enjoy it because they won't be listening.
There's nothing wrong with music and radio for an older audience...I'm just a few minutes away from my favorite hours of the week, listening to Johnny Magnus' Swing Time on listener-supported KKJZ, Long Beach....there's just no model for commercial broadcast success anymore.
If you like Joy 99.5, fine. You can listen anywhere on the globe you have Internet access. A commercial station would die with that music mix.
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M
Music Lover
Guest
That's what I like about it. It's multi-generational. I can listen to such a station with my child without having to worry about questionable lyrics.
I feel sure there are others out there besides me and my family and friends who will tune in to such stations if they were available over-the-air. After all, we don't have Internet access all the time (such as traveling). The problem is, commercial radio is so stuck on money, money, money, that they are unwilling to take a risk.
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You're right, of course. There are others. Just not in great enough numbers to listen and listen long enough, consistently enough to make it work.
As for commercial radio being stuck on "money, money, money", put yourself in the broadcaster's position:
You have millions of dollars invested...even in a small station...in the cost of the license, construction or purchase, land, buildings and equipment.
You have ongoing costs that must be met...utilities, music licensing, attorney fees, insurance, taxes and a whole lot more.
And you have employees who depend on you for their livelihood and likely some part of their insurance coverage.
A risk is when there is a chance of success. The greater the chance of success, you call it a good risk. The lower the chance of success, that's called a bad risk. Past a certain point, it's called choosing bankruptcy for yourself and unemployment for those who chose to work for you over a successful business and security for those people.
M
Music Lover
Guest
I end this by saying that I agree to disagree that I whole-heartedly believe that it can work.
Purely academically, it's too bad you don't have a several-million dollar investment and employees counting on your being right that you could back that up with. In reality, of course, I wouldn't wish that on them or you.
M
Music Lover
Guest
Whatever dude! Just thinking optimistic, that's all!
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M
Music Lover
Guest
Since that one's too extreme for you, here are two others I like that are much more Soft AC than Joy 99.5.
Soft N Easy Net Radio
http://www.softneasy.com/
Lite 99
http://lite99online.com/
The Soft N Easy station was the first one I ever sought out when my family and I got disgusted at AC being too edgy. Been listening to it since 2008. I love that they include some talented performers who don't get the promotion they deserve, such as Josh Krajcik and Chris Mann.
Would love to know of some more streams like these that I can add to my iTunes playlist - ones that are mostly commercial-free with no annoying DJs and that play some soft currents that I like such as Lady Antebellum, Adele, Michael Buble, Colbie Caillat, Josh Groban, Christina Perri, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and some older artists I like who are still putting out new music (Jim Brickman, Sarah McLachlan, Richard Marx, Vanessa Williams, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Amy Grant).
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M
Music Lover
Guest
Since you would consider it to be a niche station, the most logical location would be on the AM band. Other than satellite and Internet, it seems that's where stuff you can't get on the FM dial seems to be located.
But never for very long, because most people under the age of 60 will not listen to music on AM. And to pay those bills and employ those people I talked about a couple of posts back (the one that elicited "Whatever, dude" as a response), you need people under 60. Preferably under 50. Invariably, someone tries it. There've been a couple of examples here in the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area recently. They last a year, maybe two, depending on how much money the owner is willing to lose and then there's the inevitable change to a spoken word format, either talk, sports or religion, sometimes in English, sometimes not.
The last AM music station (not counting Radio Disney) that I can recall that had any longevity was KOY in Phoenix. They were running Westwood One's Adult Standards format, which lists these as their core artists:
The Beatles
Barbra Streisand
Neil Diamond
The Carpenters
Lionel Richie
Frank Sinatra
Celine Dion
Barry Manilow
Carly Simon
Michael Buble
Diana Krall
Dionne Warwick
KOY's average listener age in its last rating period was 82. They finally dumped it a little over a year ago. They simply couldn't pay the bills with it.
M
Music Lover
Guest
Sorry for that response but I was getting tired of the negativity. I look at it like "the little train that could" rather than take the "it can't be done" stance.
Many downtown areas in various cities became ghost towns when the malls opened. But some cities have fixed up their downtown neighborhoods and have gone after a specific type of business. The “Specialty Shop.” Stuff you can't get at the mall. And as a result many downtown areas are making a comeback. I absolutely, positively believe that the same can be done with AM radio. Call it “Specialty Formats.” One such example would be a 50′s and 60′s oldies format. Yes, it is an older demographic. But they are still out there and they spend money too. No, you won’t be making Bill Gates money but if done right this kind of format would be very successful and make money. AM & FM radio have more competition now than ever before. To succeed, you MUST think outside the box. Those oldies are STILL goodies. And just waiting to be picked off the vine. Time to put on the work gloves.
Many downtown areas in various cities became ghost towns when the malls opened. But some cities have fixed up their downtown neighborhoods and have gone after a specific type of business. The “Specialty Shop.” Stuff you can't get at the mall. And as a result many downtown areas are making a comeback. I absolutely, positively believe that the same can be done with AM radio. Call it “Specialty Formats.” One such example would be a 50′s and 60′s oldies format. Yes, it is an older demographic. But they are still out there and they spend money too. No, you won’t be making Bill Gates money but if done right this kind of format would be very successful and make money. AM & FM radio have more competition now than ever before. To succeed, you MUST think outside the box. Those oldies are STILL goodies. And just waiting to be picked off the vine. Time to put on the work gloves.
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