A Safer Reality

June is not only Black Music month; it is also a month of graduations. We dedicate this chapter to this year's graduates and their rites of passage. We invite them to join us as examine our newest musical generation -- hip-hop -- and look at the impact it has had on society in general and radio in particular.

Throughout the history of music business, black music has been associated with various artists who have defined the music of their generation, providing a soundtrack for the myriad of social and cultural changes of each decade. For many, we are now in the hip-hop or rap generation. And perhaps because we have lived with it and understand it better, even if we don't completely agree with it, we fear it less. For that reason, much like hard rock, today's hip-hop has become a "safer reality."

As we continue our celebration of Black Music Month 2013, we recognize that America in 2013 is not the same America that it was in the '80's, '90s or '00s. In those years and decades, we experimented, we learned and grew. This growth process continues. More than ever, we ...

As we launch the first of our current series for Black Music 2013, we take a brief look at the current state of the music and radio industries. Then we’ll focus a little more on Black radio this time because it determined so much of the success of the music. If ...

A Boarding Pass For The New Generation It's pretty well-established fact that people will listen to, remember and stay with what they like - what works for them. This fact transcends generations. Part of the Generation Y or "the bling generation" -- one that has grown up ...

The experiences we have each day are shaped by our senses -- what we see, smell, touch and hear. A delicious meal, a beautiful sunset, the scent of flowers, favorite songs on the radio ... they're all simple pleasures that cause us delight and help make a difference in ...

Begin With A Different Spin We're approaching the halfway point of 2013 ... a perfect decompression time to glance back and then look ahead. If you're running as fast as you can and still struggling to keep up, welcome to the club. In a time-starved work world, we need ...

Subtraction Is Not Addition For some time now, studies have shown increasingly that one of the most irritating things that listeners have always complained about was the fact that their favorite station had too many commercials. When we further examined the research ...

As we slide deeper into the important Spring Arbitron ratings sweeps, one of the key questions we're hearing over and over again speaks to the fact that in many markets, Urban radio is in a confused state. Allegiances are being thrown about, and listener apathy toward ...

Urban Uncertainty When we stop to think about it, we all need and want to know if the job we're currently in represents a fresh start, a dead end or something in between. Here are some facts that may help us to sort things out. Recently there have been tremendous ...

Urban Funk In The Fast Lane Everyone in Urban radio agrees that things are not the same as they used to be. People are smarter, technologies are faster and competition is fiercer. It's really "life in the fast lane -- everything all the time." The road to better ratings ...