Muse - Madness

[werecat]

Yeah, X98.5 is on a translator so it is pretty much Greenville proper. Although I understand they did recently apply to up from 200W to 250W. Not sure how much difference it'll make.

So, guess for the rest of the market outside of Greenville, it still is CHR and Hot AC (well, not now, because it's all-Christmas) to find anything remotely alternative.

I imagine (I haven't looked it up) that the city of Greenville, being in the South, has at least one full-signal hip-hop radio station. So it would be a disservice to the listeners, in my opinion, if the top 40 station was to go back to having a rhythmic lean while rock-leaning formats are on weak signals or non-existent.

I've only heard "Madness" a couple times. With that bass, it's probably one of the most electronic dance-leaning songs on the alternative chart at the moment.

 

[atlantaboy]

So it would be a disservice to the listeners, in my opinion, if the top 40 station was to go back to having a rhythmic lean while rock-leaning formats are on weak signals or non-existent.

Right now, WFBC has a slight Hot AC-lean to it - but given the history of the station, I feel like it's going to continue to go back and forth every six months (i. e. lean HAC for six months, then lean Rhythmic for six months)

The reason X98.5 is able to program themselves like they do is that a lot of Alternative tracks (90's-present) literally have never been heard on Greenville radio, so even stuff from the 90s sounds "new" to some of their audience

 

[justpassingthough]

So it would be a disservice to the listeners, in my opinion, if the top 40 station was to go back to having a rhythmic lean while rock-leaning formats are on weak signals or non-existent.

Right now, WFBC has a slight Hot AC-lean to it - but given the history of the station, I feel like it's going to continue to go back and forth every six months (i. e. lean HAC for six months, then lean Rhythmic for six months)

The reason X98.5 is able to program themselves like they do is that a lot of Alternative tracks (90's-present) literally have never been heard on Greenville radio, so even stuff from the 90s sounds "new" to some of their audience

Some stations tend to lean Hot AC/alternative in the fall and winter months and sound more rhythmic in the spring/summer months- like they're trying to correlate the weather to a more upbeat rhythmic friendly sound. Do you think thats what is happening here?

 

[atlantaboy]

So it would be a disservice to the listeners, in my opinion, if the top 40 station was to go back to having a rhythmic lean while rock-leaning formats are on weak signals or non-existent.

Right now, WFBC has a slight Hot AC-lean to it - but given the history of the station, I feel like it's going to continue to go back and forth every six months (i. e. lean HAC for six months, then lean Rhythmic for six months)

The reason X98.5 is able to program themselves like they do is that a lot of Alternative tracks (90's-present) literally have never been heard on Greenville radio, so even stuff from the 90s sounds "new" to some of their audience

Some stations tend to lean Hot AC/alternative in the fall and winter months and sound more rhythmic in the spring/summer months- like they're trying to correlate the weather to a more upbeat rhythmic friendly sound. Do you think thats what is happening here?

Wow - that'd be interesting if that's what they were doing - only thing is we're talking about South Carolina, which really doesn't have a winter at all

BTW on the original topic of the thread, "Madness" had 13 CHR adds today! I still think it would do a lot better on CHR with a remix getting the instruments going sooner in the song and putting some reverb on the vocals

 

[justpassingthough]

South Carolina may not have much of a winter but it seems like some CHR stations all over the country tend to follow this pattern. Understandably, it seems like the rhythmic "party" songs are released in the spring months in anticipation of summer, while some of the slower material like ballads tends to do better in the winter anyway. Maybe its a chicken/egg argument as some stations just seem less rhythmic during the winter months.

Does a song like LMFAO "Party Rock Anthem" have as much resonance in January as in July? (Actually, does it have any resonance at all but thats an entirely different question)

 

[atlantaboy]

^Labels tend to release songs about "partying" for summer radio airplay, but I don't think that affects when "Rhythmic" songs are released - the CHR chart first became rhythmic/dance heavy in the Fall/Winter of 2009-2010 (Iyaz/DeRulo/Kesha/GaGa etc.), and I'd say that it opened back up to Alt/Rock in the Summer of 2012

Also, it's true that Party Rock Anthem peaked in July, but Sexy And I Know It peaked in December, and I'm not sure that one song is more "Rhythmic" than the other

 

[carolinaradio]

So it would be a disservice to the listeners, in my opinion, if the top 40 station was to go back to having a rhythmic lean while rock-leaning formats are on weak signals or non-existent.

Right now, WFBC has a slight Hot AC-lean to it - but given the history of the station, I feel like it's going to continue to go back and forth every six months (i. e. lean HAC for six months, then lean Rhythmic for six months)

The reason X98.5 is able to program themselves like they do is that a lot of Alternative tracks (90's-present) literally have never been heard on Greenville radio, so even stuff from the 90s sounds "new" to some of their audience

B-93.7 was definitely rhythmic-leaning earlier this year, and was playing it very safely with anything not dance/rhythmic - I'm not sure when they shifted back to the direction they're in now, but it's irritating that they don't stick with anything. You're right, they change direction a couple of times a year and it's really weird. I think it might have to do with the fact that their ratings have not been very good (around a 5 share, which isn't as well as the other CHR's in the state tend to do). Since their numbers are comparable to the Hot AC's, perhaps they are trying to keep an edge on them with newer Hot AC'ish tracks? There is no seasonal correlation that I can recall with WFBC's changes.

I got X98.5 fine in eastern Spartanburg the other week and get it well down to the south, but I do know what you mean that it's limited. Hopefully the upgrades Cox is working on will help it some. If nothing else, the power upgrade will help with penetration. Greenville did not have an Alternative station for almost 16 years (103X went away in 1996).

Greenville has a Rhythmic CHR, Hot 98.1, which is more Urban-leaning than a lot of Rhythmics, I would think.

 

[werecat]

"Madness" sounds very different from Muse's earlier songs, like "Knights of Cydonia" and "Supermassive Blackhole".

Yes, "Madness" takes a while to really get going. So I agree with the comments about how it would do better at CHR/Pop if a remix was released.

Reply to past comments: I never thought about the seasonal thing before. That does make sense, I guess. I think that a lot of Southern cities don't have a Hot AC station or an alternative station though, or they're stuck on weak signals like hip-hop stations are in some parts of the U.S. So hopefully, the pop stations in all of those cities fill in the gaps somewhat all twelve months of the year.

Does a song like LMFAO "Party Rock Anthem" have as much resonance in January as in July? (Actually, does it have any resonance at all but thats an entirely different question)

Well, I have overheard a lot of people sing the "Everyday I'm shuffling" part of that song. ;D

^Labels tend to release songs about "partying" for summer radio airplay, but I don't think that affects when "Rhythmic" songs are released - the CHR chart first became rhythmic/dance heavy in the Fall/Winter of 2009-2010 (Iyaz/DeRulo/Kesha/GaGa etc.), and I'd say that it opened back up to Alt/Rock in the Summer of 2012

Also, it's true that Party Rock Anthem peaked in July, but Sexy And I Know It peaked in December, and I'm not sure that one song is more "Rhythmic" than the other

I personally hope that harder-edged rock music comes back someday. Does anyone remember "Bring Me To Life", by Evanescence? That song actually contains a hint of screaming, growling vocals about three minutes into the song when the male vocals start. And, if I remember correctly, that song actually reached the top ten on mainstream pop radio.

[/quote]B-93.7 was definitely rhythmic-leaning earlier this year, and was playing it very safely with anything not dance/rhythmic - I'm not sure when they shifted back to the direction they're in now, but it's irritating that they don't stick with anything.
[/quote]

Something like this has happened where I live. There is no CHR/Pop station in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The first FM station started broadcasting in the summer of 2001. At first, they mostly seemed to play rock music and would edit the rap parts out of the few pop songs they played. However, they did play "Butterfly", by Crazytown and "In The End", by Linkin Park, and that "Lady Marmalade" song. I think they also left the rap parts in when they played "I Feel For You", by Chaka Khan. Other then those rare exceptions, the format was rock-leaning hot AC. Then, sometime in 2004, they slowly shifted to a more rhythmic-leaning hot AC/top 40 hybrid format. They play a lot of classic rock songs too, probably because there is no classic rock station in Yorkton.

 

[awp69]

Yes, "Madness" takes a while to really get going. So I agree with the comments about how it would do better at CHR/Pop if a remix was released.

Although much different with the heavy emphasis on the electronic elements, the song actually is comparable to U2's ballad hits in the '90s like "One" and "With or Without You". Those songs took a while to get going as well and, obviously, made it big. Times have changed, of course. I also thought "Madness" was a bit odd at first and slow to build to the last half of the song. But now that I've heard it probably dozens of times on X98.5, it grabs me instantly. It probably could use some tightening up for CHR purposes, but still think it has a shot to make it up the charts.

 

[cde876]

106.1 BLI on Long Island Plays Muse - Madness

 

[atlantaboy]

106.1 BLI on Long Island Plays Muse - Madness

They're actually the CHR format leader for that song...

I remember an Alternative station on Long Island (10 years ago, maybe?) that used to play nearly all synth, so I guess stuff like this has a history of doing well there

 

[Wildstyle K]

Well, I have overheard a lot of people sing the "Everyday I'm shuffling" part of that song. ;D

I wonder how Rick Ross feels about this? Barely anyone jumped on the "everyday I'm hustlin'" bandwagon when Rick Ross originally released that song, but then LMFAO says "everyday i'm shuffling" ONE time and it catches on.

On another note, KMVA Hot 97.5 is now playing "madness" by Muse.