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theoldguy
Guest
i am referring to music radio in general.i figured this was as good a place to ask.if the telecomunications act of 1996 was not passed what would the state of nusic radio stations probally be like?
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I question whether "music radio" was directly affected all that much by the Communications Act. I would argue that radio news and radio community involvement were affected much more than was music. But maybe I see it that way because my "wagon has always been hitched" to those areas of radio.
I would argue that the Communications Act had a BIG indirect affect on music radio. The Communications Act affected the MUSIC industry when people like Clear Channel got into the concert promotion and production business. Over in that "arena" they probably affected what consumers were exposed to and ended up wanting to hear. All of this in concert with the arrival of the mp3 player and the iPod had a big influence on the direction of the music market.
So here is my theory: Music Radio has been whip-sawed around by the arrival of little strap-on-your-arm music hardware, and a nationwide industry of concert producers and music radio has had to run like hell to keep up with where it's audience wandered off to, and the hardware the audience was riding to get where it wandered off to.
I would argue that the Communications Act had a BIG indirect affect on music radio. The Communications Act affected the MUSIC industry when people like Clear Channel got into the concert promotion and production business. Over in that "arena" they probably affected what consumers were exposed to and ended up wanting to hear. All of this in concert with the arrival of the mp3 player and the iPod had a big influence on the direction of the music market.
So here is my theory: Music Radio has been whip-sawed around by the arrival of little strap-on-your-arm music hardware, and a nationwide industry of concert producers and music radio has had to run like hell to keep up with where it's audience wandered off to, and the hardware the audience was riding to get where it wandered off to.
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stevensonair
Guest
Consolidation removed a lot of the "quirky" people from radio. The local music directors/programmers that had input into their playlist. Increased amounts of centralized playlisting. So in that sense, it did reduce the amount of titles/artists being exposed, even in specialist programming that often got cut when a station was acquired. Much more conformity.
You can't ignore that the music industry consolidated before the radio industry. That consolidation put radio programmers at a huge disadvantage. Record labels aren't much different than advertisers. They're content providers. They care about numbers. Small market radio stations don't matter to them...UNLESS they're owned by someone that matters.
The other aspect, when talking about music radio, is the splintering of formats, which started in 1990, 6 years before radio consolidation. Radio stations were already struggling with the splintering of rock music, caused by the battle between straight rock and grunge. Lots of rock stations refused to play grunge music at all. Then you add the rap influence, the alternative influence, and the metal influence, and you needed a lot more radio stations to cover a single format, because each sub-genre appealed to a different demographic.
I agree that music scheduling software made it easier. Consultants were already controlling the music choices in the 80s. By the 90s, you could buy a curated music library from a consultant, and not have to worry about scheduling. So you can't discuss the affect of the TCA without also talking a bout all the changes in music that happened before 1996. In my view, sooner or later, what we have now was going to happen anyway.
The other aspect, when talking about music radio, is the splintering of formats, which started in 1990, 6 years before radio consolidation. Radio stations were already struggling with the splintering of rock music, caused by the battle between straight rock and grunge. Lots of rock stations refused to play grunge music at all. Then you add the rap influence, the alternative influence, and the metal influence, and you needed a lot more radio stations to cover a single format, because each sub-genre appealed to a different demographic.
I agree that music scheduling software made it easier. Consultants were already controlling the music choices in the 80s. By the 90s, you could buy a curated music library from a consultant, and not have to worry about scheduling. So you can't discuss the affect of the TCA without also talking a bout all the changes in music that happened before 1996. In my view, sooner or later, what we have now was going to happen anyway.
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Oh, you mean the way top 40 spread once KOWH proved it worked and folks like Gordon McLendon jumped on the moving bandwagon?
Stations used to play the more "peripheral" songs in their format for fear that if they didn't, their competition would, and listeners would associate that hot new song with a competing station. Nowadays, stations own their own "competing" stations, so that really is not an issue anymore.
I also miss the "local flavor" that stations used to have. Anyone who lived in or around Memphis in the late '70s/early '80s heard Keith Sykes played on a fairly regular basis on the OLD Rock 103. The current incarnation of Rock 103 probably wouldn't touch Keith Sykes now. They aren't cool enough.
Oh... that was good for a laugh. Are you telling me there are no "quirky" people in radio any more? Boy! It must be a boring industry to work in today.
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stevensonair
Guest
I think there are a lot less of the risk taking, maverick PDs and MDs than there used to be. As radio became more consolidated, there were fewer places for them to do their thing unimpeded. A lot more Seacrest, a lot less Beaker Street (KAAY.)
Admittedly, its colored through one's own experiences and some degree of nostalgia. But things just seemed less uniform, less sterilized. You walk into some stations and it feels more like a bank than a place where "show business" supposedly happens. It's hard to have pre-recorded spontaneity.
Admittedly, its colored through one's own experiences and some degree of nostalgia. But things just seemed less uniform, less sterilized. You walk into some stations and it feels more like a bank than a place where "show business" supposedly happens. It's hard to have pre-recorded spontaneity.
It depends. It's easier to take risks when you're at a losing station. I've thankfully never had that experience. I was always at a winner, and we were always very careful not to blow up the battleship. I've spoken with other folks who worked at small stations in small markets with no risks, and it was a different experience. I'd say there are a lot of those stations now, but no one even knows they exist. I once met Thom O'Hair who worked at KMPX and KSAN in San Francisco. He told me when Tom Donohue took over programming at KMPX in the 60s, the station had almost no listeners. So he started playing local rock bands, and the ratings went up. Then the owner got greedy, so Tom took his staff and format to KSAN, where they had great success. But the more successful they got, the fewer risks they took. By the 80s, they became just another corporate rock station with consultants and predictable music. I think that's what happens when you become successful.
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theoldguy
Guest
bump.
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