CRS In Action: Don’t Hate Us Cause You Ain’t Us

Freedman, DeLong, Smoov, Stevens (Photo: Courtesy of CRB/CRS | Kayla Schoen)

COUNTRY RADIO SEMINAR (CRS 2022) offered up a reminder to attendees that learning from other formats isn’t a bad thing. iHEARTMEDIA Region VP Events/Strategic Partnerships and Alternative KTCL (CHANNEL 93.3)/DENVER PD/air personality JEB “NERF” FREEDMAN, iHEARTMEDIA TOP 40 WDCG (G105)/RALEIGH air personality ERICA DeLONG, iHEARTMEDIA SVP/Programming and WUBL (94.9 THE BULL)/ATLANTA PD MEG STEVENS and CUMULUS VP/Urban and WQQK (92Q)/NASHVILLE PD KENNY SMOOV shed some light on what is happening in other formats, and how the Country format can use some of those tactics to improve.

The common theme throughout the passion-filled discussion was accomplishing goals with common methods, regardless of format. “There’s not so much that is uncommon, but what we have in common,” mentioned STEVENS, saying that's "compelling, sharable content.”

STEVENS led the way, asking each panelist their perception of what Country radio is to them. NERF gave Country radio the compliment of mentioning how close the artists and stations really are. “The collaboration with the artist is in lockstep," he said. "The artists directly talk to the program directors. That’s something that I wish we had in Alternative.” He went on to describe the similarities, and one other interesting observation about the format. “There’s not a lot of difference between Country and Pop is my perception," he said. "Oh, and third thing, you have the prettiest artists in the industry. It seems as though everyone has to be a model.”  

“The reach you have with your artists, this event specifically, the access you have to your artists, is remarkable,” added NERF.

FREEDMAN, DeLONG, SMOOV (Photo: Courtesy of CRB/CRS | Kayla Schoen)

SMOOV described his perception of Country as “personable [and] patriotic.” He also brought up a great point on the topic of deciding which songs to play, how to properly package which artists to play and the order in which to program different categories of your playlist. In Urban AC, he referred to that process as, “A fight for the soul of the format," similar to Country with the ongoing line to walk of not leaning too “classic” or too “new.”

Throughout the three days of the annual conference, multiple panels focused on creativity and being a bit more open to new sounds from new faces. NERF was no different in giving the Country format a suggestion from the Alternative world. “Take risks. Yes, we still play RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and COLDPLAY, but we also take some ‘baby bands’ from zero to hero.” His compelling examples of “breaking” groups by playing their music on his station played into the recommendation of making your station “unique," making your Country station, in your market, sound a bit different than one across the country, and giving reassurance to all that that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  

The talk of socials centered on Top 40 personalites doing one of the best jobs within the industry of taking their listeners along on their social media journey. DeLONG, who is based in RALEIGH, mentioned her social media story telling her listeners to follow her as she headed to CRS. “I’m coming to NASHVILLE follow along," she told them. "This is something new. You can come with me.”

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