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Why did AC stop being soft?

This is what I'm referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSNV
Right now, they play 60s, 70s, 80s, music that appeals primarily your 60 and 70-year-olds. Will those stations dump the 60s, 70s, 80s for music from newer decades?
 
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Music Lover said:
This is what I'm referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSNV
Right now, they play 60s, 70s, 80s, music that appeals primarily your 60 and 70-year-olds. Will those stations dump the 60s, 70s, 80s for music from newer decades?
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You'll find that stations that say "hits of the 60's 70's and 80's" generally play more 75-82 with lessened proportions of early 70's and a smattering of '65 to '70 pre-1970 songs.

Those songs will primarily appeal to a 35-64 audience. Only the 35-54 can be easily monetized, though.

Remember that someone who was a teen in the late 70's or early 80's heard plenty of early 70's and late 60's songs as gold on CHR and on many AC stations. So the average person is very familiar with the really big hits of the decade to 15 years prior to that time.
 
nkd said:
Just a decade ago, many AC stations were still soft. They played many soft rock songs by the likes of Neil Diamond, the Carpenters, Rod Stewart, etc. And just a few soft currents such as Coors - Breathless. But in the late 2000s, they started sounding more upbeat and current. Now, it's rare to find an AC that plays the staples AC played just 10 years ago. And songs such as Blurred Lines would have been taboo on AC 10 years ago.
Why are AC stations sounding hotter rather than softer?
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When I look for streams of such stations, these are the sources I use:

http://tunein.com/
http://www.streamlicensing.com
http://www.radionomy.com/en
http://www.internet-radio.com/
http://www.shoutcast.com/
 
The thing I find funny with these stations is still labeling themselves as EZ and Soft yet playing stuff like Nickelback, which is the opposite of soft.
 
Yep. Whenever I hear a "Lite" station playing "Far Away" Nickelback it's like, yeah right. Disgusting. I'd rather hear a groovy smooth jazz cut.

-crainbebo
 
nkd said:
Just a decade ago, many AC stations were still soft. They played many soft rock songs by the likes of Neil Diamond, the Carpenters, Rod Stewart, etc. And just a few soft currents such as Coors - Breathless. But in the late 2000s, they started sounding more upbeat and current. Now, it's rare to find an AC that plays the staples AC played just 10 years ago. And songs such as Blurred Lines would have been taboo on AC 10 years ago.
Why are AC stations sounding hotter rather than softer?
Click to expand...

2006-2007 was when I first noticed the change. I'm a Josh Groban fan. He had a new album and new singles out and he started receiving less and less airplay. Only time I ever hear him now is at Christmas. It made me so mad to see a young popular artist thrown in the vault like that.

If you ever go to his concerts, you'll be surprised at the amount of 20-40 year old women in attendance. It breaks the myth that his music is just for old geezers. I feel sure that if AC still played his music, those young women would tune in.
 
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Music Lover said:
If you ever go to his concerts, you'll be surprised at the amount of 20-40 year old women in attendance. It breaks the myth that his music is just for old geezers. I feel sure that if AC still played his music, those young women would tune in.
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At a recent Moody Blues concert my wife and I attended, I was amazed at how many 20-somethings had bought rather expensive tickets. I was even more amazed at how many of them were mouthing the lyrics along with the band.
 
The number of people who attend concerts are a fraction of the number of people who listen to radio station. A fraction of a fraction, in most cases. Radio stations would go out of business programming to that audience.
 
DavidEduardo said:


You'll find that stations that say "hits of the 60's 70's and 80's" generally play more 75-82 with lessened proportions of early 70's and a smattering of '65 to '70 pre-1970 songs.

Those songs will primarily appeal to a 35-64 audience. Only the 35-54 can be easily monetized, though.

Remember that someone who was a teen in the late 70's or early 80's heard plenty of early 70's and late 60's songs as gold on CHR and on many AC stations. So the average person is very familiar with the really big hits of the decade to 15 years prior to that time.
Click to expand...

I've seen on Amazon's music forums boomers upset about 50s and early 60s music being purged from Oldies playlists.
 
Avid Listener said:
Nope. What we're looking for are AC "newies" that have the same general sound as the AC Oldies.
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Probably the best bet would be indie labels. I've noticed artists I liked from the 80s and 90s have released new material on indies. Some move off to labels that specialize in adult music, such as Verve Records. Of course, they don't get the promotion that someone like Gaga (or Gag-gag, as I call her) gets.
 
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Music Lover said:
They play artists you don't hear as much anymore like Celine Dion, Vanessa Williams, Phil Collins and Rod Stewart. From the 80s, they play hits by artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. The 70s selections include groups like Chicago, Fleetwood Mac, America and Bread; the soul sound of Earth, Wind & Fire, Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, The Spinners and Al Green; the Southern California soft-rock movement and singer-songwriters, like James Taylor, Carole King, The Eagles and Jackson Browne. From the 60s, you'll hear artists such as The Righteous Brothers, Temptations, Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin and, of course, The Beatles.
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A lot of these artists are on Dial Global America's Best Music, which is standards, not soft AC. Celine Dion and Vanessa Williams are played. Some Phil Collins, and the softer Rod Stewart classics along with new recordings of much older songs. Nothing by Madonna that I'm aware of, or Bruce. Michael Jackson's "Gone Too Soon" and the duet with Paul McCartney "The Girl Is Mine" are played, but I can't recall any others; "Ben" . Some softer Chicago, lots of America and Bread, and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac. Lots of Roberta Flack, some Spinners, "What's Going On" and "Mercy Mercy Me" by Marvin. I can't recall and Earth, Wind & Fire in recent years but I used to hear "After the Love Has Gone" on similar stations. I can't recall Al Green. James Taylor is one of the top artists in the format. I heard Carole King's "So Far Away" this morning and there is also "It's Too Late". Some softer Eagles, no Jackson Browne. The Righteous Brothers, softer tunes by The Temptations, and Van Morrison are played. No Aretha that I'm aware of, lots of softer Beatles tunes.
 
Majority of contemporary vocalists that appeal to me come from the Classical Crossover genre. Those artists don't get any airplay in my neck of the woods. Classical stations snub them, considering them "too pop". They're "too easy listening" for Pop and AC.
 
Well, that does sound strange. My guess is they decided standards was the closest format. Several years ago people tried to claim Timeless Favorites was standards, and while there was a lot of overlap with the standards format, very few of the actual standards were left.

My standards station has had "Born in the U.S.A.", "Physical" and "Material Girl" on the local morning show. Sometime there's just no logic to music choices.
 
Avid Listener said:
The idea that younger people only listen to what is new and current was a valid paradigm in the 50's and 60's, but those days are long over.
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In the Soft AC forum, there's a discussion about that: http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?649624-Softer-Music-for-25-54

One of the posters, Chuck, said this:
"It beats me... I try to do it with an odd (but listenable) mix of Standards and Oldies. As you would expect, it appeals to an older audience, but I'm constantly surprised at the number of "thirty something" folks who tell me they listen too. The ratings don't usually acknowledge those listeners, but our sponsors tell me that these younger listeners do respond to their ads. They are pleasantly surprised to find younger people coming in their doors as a result of their spots. They must be listening."

Like he said, while the ratings don't reflect it, thirty and forty somethings will tune in to something soft when they are in the mood to.

In my opinion, before the soft formats began disappearing from most areas except retirement areas, radio was more reflective of people's range of moods.
 
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Music Lover said:
Like he said, while the ratings don't reflect it, thirty and forty somethings will tune in to something soft when they are in the mood to.
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If they did listen in any significant amount, that listening would show in the ratings. And that is even more so in PPM markets.

But that does not happen.
 
DavidEduardo said:


If they did listen in any significant amount, that listening would show in the ratings. And that is even more so in PPM markets.

But that does not happen.
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Duh. That's why he mentioned about the ratings don't acknowledge them part in his post.
 
Music Lover said:
Duh. That's why he mentioned about the ratings don't acknowledge them part in his post.
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But to have credibility, you need to have SOME acknowledged studies or facts to base a statement on. Otherwise, it's just BS.

If you want to overlook ratings, which are based on acknowledged studies and facts, then come up with some survey that shows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a large number of 30-something and 40-somethings are looking for something soft. Because if a market exists, there will be a product for them. But unless we have facts, we can't dedicate a valuable frequency to music that less than 1% of a town will listen to.
 
TheBigA said:
But to have credibility, you need to have SOME acknowledged studies or facts to base a statement on. Otherwise, it's just BS.

If you want to overlook ratings, which are based on acknowledged studies and facts, then come up with some survey that shows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a large number of 30-something and 40-somethings are looking for something soft. Because if a market exists, there will be a product for them. But unless we have facts, we can't dedicate a valuable frequency to music that less than 1% of a town will listen to.
Click to expand...


What part of Duh do you not understand?
 
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