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Radio Determines Which Songs People Remember

oldies76 said:
You're right, they don't because radio has stopped playing those early hits. Because of this, many have resorted to other media for their music. Radio isn't it for them, which is unfortunate.

If it were available on radio, many would listen.
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55-64's listen to radio about as much as the two younger cells, 45-54 and 35-44.

The fact is, as I have said before, is that not all people in 55-64 listened to Top 40 when young. This may be because of ethnicity or because of other musical influences such as country and other genres. So those people are very unlikely to listen to "oldies" as they did not grow up on that kind of music.

And then there are many fans of Top 40 in the 60's who have moved on from hearing the same songs they grew up on and have migrated to rock formats, AC formats, country and a variety of other options. And many listen to less music and more news and talk.

The listening in 55-64 is quite healthy. But since the appeal today of 60's oldies is nowhere near universal (and it never was), not having oldies stations for that music really does not seem to affect the usage of radio by those seniors in a significant manner.
 
oldies76 said:
You mean the 45-50 group would listen to early 80s. I was 16 in '83.
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A person who is 55 today was around 13 in 1972, and that is the are when musical preferences start to form.

So my statement stands... 55-64's would likely be listening to mid-70's to early 80's material. The older part of that group might also be interested in the earlier 70's but would be very happy with mid-70's to early 80's.
 
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DavidEduardo said:


A person who is 55 today was around 13 in 1972, and that is the are when musical preferences start to form.

So my statement stands... 55-64's would likely be listening to mid-70's to early 80's material. The older part of that group might also be interested in the earlier 70's but would be very happy with mid-70's to early 80's.
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I don't get this at all. For me and every one of my peers, we got hooked on Beatles, Beach Boys, Supremes etc, when we were around ten years old. I don't have much emotion for anything much past 1972. By the mid-70s, I was a young adult and by the mid-80s, in my 30s. After most of my music was ripped from the airwaves a decade ago, I tried to listen to the same 70s songs over and over and just couldn't do it. About six years ago, I went back to CHR and they can't take that away from me.
 
oldies76 said:
You're right, they don't because radio has stopped playing those early hits. Because of this, many have resorted to other media for their music. Radio isn't it for them, which is unfortunate.

If it were available on radio, many would listen.
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On weekends my wife & I like to go to clubs where live bands play '50s & '60s music. It's fair to say that the audience is primarily age 55+. Many dance (I never thought I'd see the day when 60 year-olds were doing the Twist), but some don't. They just enjoy the music. Some look like they're out of their comfort zone.......... like they would rather be at home watching TV. But they are there to listen to the music they can't hear on the radio.
 
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TheFonz said:
On weekends my wife & I like to go to clubs where live bands play '50s & '60s music. It's fair to say that the audience is primarily age 55+. Many dance (I never thought I'd see the day when 60 year-olds were doing the Twist), but some don't. They just enjoy the music. Some look like they're out of their comfort zone.......... like they would rather be at home watching TV. But they are there to listen to the music they can't hear on the radio.
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Well at least, there's still some exposure to the older hits, even if it's live bands playing them.
 
TheBigA said:
If they're married, that's not why they're there.
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You always find ways to downplay everything, don't you? And please don't tell us there's research proving otherwise, because there isn't. Big A, sometimes you just need to accept reality......just once.....in a blue moon!
 
TheBigA said:
Not according to the people who listen to those stations.
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Here's another who listens....and agrees (although I can't really think of a "bad" Oldie right off the top of my head. Even the 1910 Fruitgum Company and "Running Scared" were OK in their day and played very infrequently wouldn't tear anyone a new one.
 
What annoys me the most is, say, a classic hits station, that plays music that's unfamiliar to me or songs I just don't want to listen to anymore. As has been discussed millions of times it seems, just because a song was #1 in 1975 means I want to hear it today and just because it was a #22 hit doesn't mean I don't want to hear it.
 
eriedj said:
What annoys me the most is, say, a classic hits station, that plays music that's unfamiliar to me or songs I just don't want to listen to anymore. As has been discussed millions of times it seems, just because a song was #1 in 1975 means I want to hear it today and just because it was a #22 hit doesn't mean I don't want to hear it.
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We've gone full circle. Radio determines which songs you hear regardless of their original chart position. If the song "tested well" you'll hear it.
 
eriedj said:
What annoys me the most is, say, a classic hits station, that plays music that's unfamiliar to me.
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Hate to say this, but as a wedding DJ for nearly 20 years, you should be familiar with just about everything. You never know what requests you'll get or playlists to abide by.

Someone might actually request that 10 week, 1977 #1 song!
 
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oldies76 said:
Hate to say this, but as a wedding DJ for nearly 20 years, you should be familiar with just about everything. You never know what requests you'll get or playlists to abide by.

Someone might actually request that 10 week, 1977 #1 song!
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A request at a wedding (controlled, small listening audience, fairly captive) is not the same as a radio station (no control over their behavior, large in size, can change stations at a moment's notice).

And "familiar" with a song as a wedding DJ does not equate to "tolerate hearing on the radio" as a listener.
 
K.M. Richards said:
A request at a wedding (controlled, small listening audience, fairly captive) is not the same as a radio station (no control over their behavior, large in size, can change stations at a moment's notice).

And "familiar" with a song as a wedding DJ does not equate to "tolerate hearing on the radio" as a listener.
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Either way, as a DJ, your familiarity level is expected to be much, much higher than the average listener that is only familiar with.......(shall I say it?) ......300 or so songs.
 
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