It's sad that New York radio cannot honor the dead superstars in rock.

TheBigA said:

No not at all. His last commercial solo hit was in the 70s. My point is how much airplay does Soundgarden get today?

Click to expand...

I hear them on the local mainstream rock station all the time. But then, this is Seattle. Perhaps in other parts of the country Soundgarden and Audioslave do not get much airplay. A California mainstream/active rock station that I listen to frequently doesn't seem to play them as much.

I think a lot of the frustration the OP is expressing is a sign of the passing of rock music as being relevant in the 2010's. It seems to have been relegated to the past.

Who are today's current rock "superstars"? Off the top of my head, I can't think of any.

boombox4 said:

I hear them on the local mainstream rock station all the time. But then, this is Seattle.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have specified. This is the New York City board, so my question was about airplay in NYC.

And I think the OP was comparing NYC vs. Philly. Philly has more rock radio than NY.

boombox4 said:

I think a lot of the frustration the OP is expressing is a sign of the passing of rock music as being relevant in the 2010's. It seems to have been relegated to the past.

Click to expand...

It's alive but hopelessly fragmented, which is why no consensus format comparable to AOR in the '70s and '80s has been able to gain enough listener and advertiser support to maintain a presence in some markets.

Also, rock has been losing share with white, suburban teens and 20s for at least two decades, as hip-hop and other rhythmic genres have gained favor across the racial and ethnic spectrum. If you grew up on rap in the late '90s/early '00s, why in the world would you be interested in rock in 2017? It's not "serious music" like classical or jazz that people "age into." It's always been a younger person's genre.

When the people you hear lamenting the death of a genre are largely in their 60s and 70s, and there's solid evidence of a sea change in musical preferences in younger age groups, then the genre's actual death is probably near.

I would imagine the suits in charge are pushing Rap, Hip Hop and surpressing Rock and Alternative, simple as that. If more Rock/Alternative/Metal acts were promoted like other brands of music, they would do pretty well. When Metallica and other Rock acts play in the area, they are sold out in seconds. That music is sure alive and well. Heck even MTV Classic is devoting more time to Metal, Rock and Alternative videos. It's been said that WRFF does not bill well, but ratings show the audiance is there, and what can we say about constant powerhouse ratings of WMMR, WMGK and now WRFF HD2 sneaking in.

Gunsmoke said:

I would imagine the suits in charge are pushing Rap, Hip Hop and surpressing Rock and Alternative, simple as that.

Click to expand...

They have absolutely no reason to. They get paid the same regardless of the music they play.

DavidEduardo said:

Yes, but they are unable to monetize that audience to the extent that operators of AC, Hot AC, Urban, Urban AC, Country, Classic Hits, CHR and other formats can.

Click to expand...

Has Urban AC been gaining in billing lately? It seems that not long ago you were describing the format as an underachiever and not a viable choice for a big signal in a big market. What's changed?

How long before some broadcasting company debuts the "All Dead" format......"only the hits of all singers who have passed away". {no, an "oldies" or "classic hits" or "classical" format doesn't count since a lot of the artists are still alive, except for the classical format, Bach, Mozart, etc. pretty sure all of them are dead.} Could have themed shows.....Top Ten songs by all artists who died of natural causes; or "This hour, all the songs by artists who died by overdoses"....

DavidEduardo said:

How many people fit in the venues that those acts play? 20,000? 15,000?

Click to expand...

Metallica does fill stadiums. I believe they filled the Centurylink football field here in Seattle last time they were here.

But your point is well taken. Compared to 2.5 million people, it's small potatoes. Rock seems to be fading as a key format in radio. But for those of us who like rock (even the newer stuff), thankfully it's still alive in many places on the FM dial.

It's just kinda sad when GenX music is beginning to be relegated to the music of has beens. I didn't think that would happen so quickly... And I suppose that says more about me than it does about radio itself...

boombox4 said:

Metallica does fill stadiums. I believe they filled the Centurylink football field here in Seattle last time they were here.

But your point is well taken. Compared to 2.5 million people, it's small potatoes. Rock seems to be fading as a key format in radio. But for those of us who like rock (even the newer stuff), thankfully it's still alive in many places on the FM dial.

It's just kinda sad when GenX music is beginning to be relegated to the music of has beens. I didn't think that would happen so quickly... And I suppose that says more about me than it does about radio itself...

Click to expand...

I compare gen x rock to freestyle. Back in my day, is was huge in South Florida, New York, LA and in other markets. There were a few crossover groups artists (Expose, Stevie B, Noel), but not enough to make it a nationwide trend.

Every once in awhile you get a station that tries to bring it back (such as WMIA in Miami), but it is usually short lived, and with the exception of markets like Seattle gen x music (rock) has had the same results. Metallica was fortunate to be around in the classic rock era, and got a new push when "Enter Sandman" got mainstream chart airplay.

Groove1670 said:

I compare gen x rock to freestyle. Back in my day, is was huge in South Florida, New York, LA and in other markets. There were a few crossover groups artists (Expose, Stevie B, Noel), but not enough to make it a nationwide trend.

Click to expand...

Here in Connecticut Freestyle has been relegated to specialty shows on the different Spanish language radio station. For the most part the specialty shows have disappeared tho they do on occasion mix freestyle in during the mix shows on the Spanish language radio stations. That said however, Mega 101.7 (WLAT/910) has added a 2 hour free-style show every Sunday Night. Hosted by "The Bad Boy" Richie Rich Ojeda it's airs 7PM-9PM and he simulcasts the show on Facebook Live. Richie Rich also mixes in Freestyle during the last 20 mins of his Friday Night Show. They have a Freestyle concert every year at Fox Woods Casino. This year they're having two. One was the week before Easter. The second is in October. Richie has also done on-air interviews with Freestyle artists - One was with a guy from TKA and the other was this past Sunday. (I forgot who he interviewed).

Some of my friends think Freestyle is garbage. And others don't understand why a 35 year old white guy likes freestyle. I became a fan quite by accident. About 13 years ago I was sitting in a friend's car and freestyle music came on when he turned on the stereo. I immediately liked the music. I said to my friend. "What is this music? I like it?" He told me "The Show is called The Freestyle Explosion" and it airs every Saturday afternoon on SuperMax 990." I was hooked ever since.

DavidEduardo said:

Not to be contentious, but to follow up on the point... even a full stadium is insignificant when we consider that such concerts are usually the only ones for hundreds of miles around, drawing people from areas well beyond the coverage of local radio stations.

And those mega-concerts happen are rare. Radio needs daily usage.

Click to expand...

How many of those tickets were bought by radio stations to give away?

The key thing is that paying for a concert ticket to see your favorite artist is a very different process from listening to a song on a radio station.

One thing has nothing to do with the other.

Ask yourself if you'd be willing to go to a free concert by an artist you don't like, or aren't interested in.

TheBigA said:

The key thing is that paying for a concert ticket to see your favorite artist is a very different process from listening to a song on a radio station.

One thing has nothing to do with the other.

Ask yourself if you'd be willing to go to a free concert by an artist you don't like, or aren't interested in.

Click to expand...

I, for one, have. Years ago won tickets from a station to a concert of a group that I normally wouldn't have gone to see [and ended up not seeing them anyways]. Went to the venue and presented my "free" tickets and was told "Oh, since you won these tickets, you have to pay to park, and you'll have to pay a 'service' fee also." [they weren't charging anyone else for parking]. Objected very loudly, said why wasn't this disclosed when I won these tickets and demanded to talk to someone in charge and got the same BS statement and told them no way in hell was I paying for anything and left. Next day, called the station [the days when you could actually reach someone when you called] and gave them a blistering earful. They were Incredulous and said EVERYTHING should have been free and later that day I received a call from the venue apologizing and offering me free tickets to any show in the future. Told them to stuff it and have never been back to that place since. Also received a follow up call from the station GM and they apologized all over the place and offered me free tickets to anything I wanted to see that they had tickets for. Was still steamed so basically told them to forget it, wasn't interested in anything they had to offer. I can't even remember the name of the group 30 years later.

Yabadabado1 said:

Next day, called the station [the days when you could actually reach someone when you called] and gave them a blistering earful. They were Incredulous and said EVERYTHING should have been free and later that day I received a call from the venue apologizing and offering me free tickets to any show in the future. Told them to stuff it and have never been back to that place since. Also received a follow up call from the station GM and they apologized all over the place and offered me free tickets to anything I wanted to see that they had tickets for. Was still steamed so basically told them to forget it, wasn't interested in anything they had to offer. I can't even remember the name of the group 30 years later.

Click to expand...

OMG Fred I feel so sorry for you. That whole episode must have been very painful for you. I can relate, I just went to the Rose Bowl Sunday night to see U2. Prior to going I accessed the Rose Bowl chat line to ask about what was permissable to bring in. I specifically asked about bringing in 17 oz bottles of water but frozen. I made sure I let them know I wanted to bring frozen bottles. They indicated it was OK. (It was a super hot day Sunday 90 degrees), when my wife and I got to the gate, the security guy said no way for frozen water bottles. They could be used as a projectile. I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo mad I almost walked back to the car, my night was ruined!!!