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Could an all psychydelic format work in a major market?

V

vibe

There are a lot of great artists and songs from rhia period; the problem is that a lot of great songs were also LOONG-15 min or even longer like Innagadavia. The Doors had a lot of great songs you almost never hear like "The Soft Parade" and "The End." You can go on an on;when was the last time you heard some early Grateful Dead or Quicksilver Messenger Service in any abundance? My question to the radio pros is "what about me?" Any I suspect there are a lot of other me's out there.
I do understand the economics of radio and it's apparent reluctance to play long album cuts but many stations offer stuff like 10 in a row so what's the difference?
Are there ANY markets with such a format? Are they streaming?
How are they doing in terms of attracting/retaining listeners?
If a station was near the bottom of their market (ratingswise) could this format work for a few years until us aging former hippie baby boomers lose their hearing?
Are there enough of us aging baby boomers for this to be a viable operation?
Thanks, vibe
 
Although I'm technically not a "boomer baby" (born in 1960), I do love this period of music (66-71, give or take?). However, I don't think it's a viable format. Two reasons. First, the advertising community has made it abundently clear that 55+ is not a desired market. Second, I don't believe you could come up with a song rotation that you wouldn't burn through within 30 days of launch. Think it over and see if you could come up with a playlist of 300 or so prime cuts that you would say define this format. Your best bet to find or create this format would be on Internet Radio. Check out Live365.com and scroll through their format listings. I'm sure you'll find something close to what you've been craving.
 
Thanks-I'm aware of other options incl satelite-you would have to have a huge playlist-not the same tired old songs like Light My Fire and Purple Haze, several songs heard ad nauseum. Just because the song didn't play as a single doesn't mean it's not a great cut, the song is simply much too long.
It's been said that advertisers don't target the 55 and up market (of which I've recently am a part of) but perhaps the advertising folks aren't a part of my age group and cannot relate to the passion that some of us have for the music from this era. Their loss..
 
You're a "baby boomer". I always heard that people born during the time period 1946 to 1964 were the baby boom generation. So since you were born in 1960 you're in the last half. I was born in 1954 so I'm in the middle of it.

I find it surprising that that the advertising community isn't interested in reaching the baby boomer market because of the huge number, the BOOM of people that are there. Do they think that people 55+ have fixed buying habits? Perhaps the parents of baby-boomers did due to their experiences of having gone through the Depression and World War 2. They probably HAD to develop buying habits. But does that mean that the boomer generation has fixed buying habits just because they're 50-something and their parents did? I say no.

As far as the music by groups like Iron Butterfly, Cream, Blind Faith, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Mothers Of Invention, etc., it's probably going to have to be relegated to a special weekend type of program.

fang39 said:
Although I'm technically not a "boomer baby" (born in 1960), I do love this period of music (66-71, give or take?). However, I don't think it's a viable format. Two reasons. First, the advertising community has made it abundently clear that 55+ is not a desired market.
Click to expand...
 
Fang was born in 1960, me in 1950-interesting comment about the music maybe being relegated to the weekend; at this point i'd settle for that as the classic rock station in my area don't even do that.
In retrospect I was too overly optimistic about an all psychedelic format; there are some great songs from that era that I NEVER hear such as Melanie's "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) that would be a part of a format that is mid 60's to early 70's. What's amazing is that her song was a flower child protest of the Vietnam War with a great back up group, a huge hit in 1970 and all I hear is Elton John's tribute to ONE person in his "Candle in the Wind." So yes, it doen't have to be ALL psychedelic.
The point is that although the 1965-72 era was short couldn't a station heard in multiple markets, perhaps a station that is already floundering (or lagging behind in the ratings) adopt this format and see where it goes? I'm sure there are people from other eras that would embrace such a format (at least for a few years). But enough of them??
As Dylan said "when you got ain't got nothing, you got nothing left to lose."
 
Okay, so I'm a "late" boomer! LOL! Regardless, the advertising community dictates the demos that radio target. It's the tail wagging the dog. Sad, but true. Only someone with foresight (and deep pockets) would be able to put a format like that on the air--a real maverick. Unfortunately, the management side of the radio business is made up of people who are followers and not leaders. That's why formats like Oldies, Standards, Classical and even Classic Rock, to an extent, are slowly becoming obsolete. Advertisers dictate who the target listener should be and the radio stations go after them. Unfortunately, they're chasing a younger demographic that doesn't want them. Where people like us still see Radio as a primary (or at least secondary) source of entertainment and information, they've found other means like iPods, mp3 and PC's and Radio doesn't rank very high in their preference. What's funny is that Television seems to have gotten the idea, where more and more ads are targeting Boomers. I'm watching "Law & Order" (prime time) as we speak and just saw commercials for Fidelity Investments and Metamucil during one break. Why Radio can't understand this, I'll never understand.
 
I agree w/ you; I grew upin Conn and remember when WHCN (105.9) Hartford CT had a HUGE following playing long, deep album cuts BUT the listeners were a LOT younger. I wholeheartedly agree w/ you when you say it would take a maverick or innovative operator to even try this.
But we have census data which gives the demographics of the potential audience out there plus some of the music from that era is on the TV commercials of today (cm'on people, smile on..) that attracs listeners from other age groups. Good music knows no limits when it comes to age/demographics of the audience but mediocre classic rock and oldies that have been heard ad nauseum certainly has a very limited (an ever decreasing) audience.
There WAS one potential market in my area (central Mass) that was never tapped. WAAF 107.3 had a monster signal when they broadcast from Paxton, MA. They had the Boston suburbs (W,N,S, some of downtown Boston (the signal was iffy due to all the tall buildings) Providence and most of RI, central and a good chunk of western MA, Conn east of the river, and good chunks of so VT and NH and probably other areas that had either elevation and/or a good antenna.
They are corporate owned and actually moved their stick closer to Boston and have a much smaller area to cover while competing with similar rock stations. An example of corporate radio at it's worst.
In short they had a HUGE area untapped for this type of format. One thing about this era of 1965-1972 music is that many of the potential audience are in their 50's or early 60's, too young to fully retire in most cases where they move south for the winter. The oldies format, by contrast, must have a LOT of seasonal listeners in many areas. And by it's very nature this area of New England has a lot aging former hippies (now called capitalists). So many of us think outside the box that we have our own box.
I'm just suprised some station competing for an ever decreasing share of the pie doesn't take the shot and see where it goes using "jocks" from the same period of the music. Would it succceed? Who knows?
 
I think it has some potential. Last month KTRB was stunting with the "San Francisco Sound". The music was from the late 60's to early 70's, around the time I was born. Just don't play the same damn fecal matter over and over! QSMS had more hits than just "Fresh Air" and I can say the same about countless other artists who had many hits but only one or two of their songs get played.
 
I would love a format that would paly old psychadellic music but then mix it in with modern alternative acts like "Apples In Stereo and Elf Power. There's tons of underground bands today doing the psych thing. Realisticly though my friends and I owuld be the only listeners.
 
great

then after the first 12-15 hours or so what would U play? *psychadelic* isn't a format any more than *urban cowboy* would be
 
psychydelic format

It appears the Hartford radio market has survived.

Answer: still "no".
 
After listening to "L.A. Woman" by the Doors for the 256777th time without having heard "The End" or "The Soft Parade" probably no more than 10-20X in the last 30 years, I thought of this post. It seems there is a short period of time (but with a lot of outstanding music) that doesn't fall into either the oldies or classic rock format and I can't be the ONLY person out there who feels this way. In a major market particulary with a station that can reach into 2 or 3 markets, I thought it would be a good format. I still do.
 
psychydelic format

I guess many of us aren't understanding that with an obviously limited library why still think this could be a good format? The very audience who would like it the most would the the quickest to abandon you because of the repetition.

So, what would be the point?
 
all psychydelic format

Disagree that it would take 1,000+. And, there isn't even half that number that could be considered legitimate "psychadelic" hits. There may be a couple hundred, max--MAYBE.
 
There are a lot of great songs that were never hits but very popular with the folks that bought the albums. For example, Blind Faith didn't have any "hits" but every cut on that album kicked ass.
 
vibe said:
There are a lot of great songs that were never hits but very popular with the folks that bought the albums. For example, Blind Faith didn't have any "hits" but every cut on that album kicked ass.
Click to expand...

Again, "kick ass" song does not equal "song people want to hear on a somewhat regular basis on the radio". Hey, I love "Sausalito Summernights" by Diesel but I'm smart enough to know it wouldn't be so popular among most average radio listeners. An eclectic concept like a Psychadelic format is perfect for one of 500 satellite or HD radio channels. It is NOT mass appeal enough to generate much ratings or revenue success.
 
But how would anyone know unless they tried particularly a station that already has low ratings? When you ain't got noithin, you got nothing left to lose.
 
psychydelic format

That's now how successful radio is done- you can't just throw darts and hope you hit a bullseye. This would be a super-ultra niche format and that's now mass-appeal commercial radio is done.

You start by doing a format search with radio listeners in the market-this can be done more scientifically than you might think. Then, you find the hole and fill it. This hole you're suggesting would likely not even be detectable. If I have a radio properly worth millions, I'm doing my homework before I do any format flip.
 
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