Adult Radio Was Once The Butt Of Jokes. Now It’s the Hottest Radio Format Writes Rolling Stone

Hip To Be Square?

ROLLING STONE deep dives ino the world of Hot AC Radio, writing "On a warm, hazy MONDAY in AUGUST, tucked away in a nondescript office park in MILFORD, CONNECTICUT, KEITH DAKIN, KEVIN BEGLEY and ALLAN LAMBERTI were deciding the sound of [CONNOISSEUR MEDIA AC WEZN/BRIDGEPORT, CT] STAR 99.9, a radio station that plays what’s known as 'Hot Adult Contemporary'.

"Each week, DAKIN and his team examine what’s being streamed and SHAZAM’d in their town, neighboring towns and the whole country; they also consult a custom-made panel of 'nine Hot AC stations, all owned by different companies, five alternative stations that lean female, and five Top 40 stations that are successful.' The trio comb through this data in search of songs that are likely to resonate with their target audience: 'A mid-30s mom, a working mom that brings her kids to school, likes to listen to relevant music, doesn’t like sleepy-time songs,' DAKIN explains."

The article notes, "Adult contemporary radio is easily the least-covered airwave format outside of radio trade publications. It doesn’t have 100 million listeners like Top 40, doesn’t respond to viral sensations like Urban, doesn’t make people dance like Rhythmic, doesn’t keep commercial rock’s hopes alive like Alternative, doesn’t have the liberal-arts cachet of Triple A. Several artists historically associated with the format, like MICHAEL BOLTON, are the butt of jokes in popular films (BOLTON famously in Office Space) — the “cool factor” here is low.

"But AC’s popularity remains undeniable, and its importance seems to be growing."

Read the full article here.

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