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10 Questions with ... Roy Land
March 31, 2008
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NAME:Roy LandTITLE:APD/MDSTATIONS:WXTUMARKET:PHILADELPHIACOMPANY:BEASLEY BROADCASTINGBORN:PHILADELPHIA, PARAISED:PHILADELPHIA, PA
1) Why and how did you get into radio in the first place?
Many moons ago, I was a part-time mobile/club DJ (Law Enforcement was my full time job). At the time, XTU was partners on a Country nightclub (Club92.5) and I got a gig DJing there a couple nights a week. Through interaction with various station folks, I worked my way in as an "intern" helping out with various promotions and started showing up more and more to the point that I'd do the radio thing for eight hours then head to the police thing for another eight hours daily. This worked into a "part-time" promotions job with the station. Around the same time, some major restructuring was taking place at the station, a new GM (Dave Donahue), a new PD (Bob McKay) and a new APD (Cadillac Jack) brought new life to the station and my passion for radio became evident to these three guys pretty quick. From the day he arrived, Bob McKay was brimming with information and history about everything to do with Country radio, and I took in any and everything he was willing to impart in my direction. He was impressed with my eagerness to learn it all as well as my knowledge of country music from Hank Sr. to modern day, so he absorbed me into a position that it took us a while to even develop a title for - as his programming coordinator. Finally working in the programming side officially, I did weekends for a bit. Then in what I call my luckiest moment ever, in April of 2001, XTU made the "programming coordinator" a full time job. I say lucky for the obvious reason - a full time job in my home town major market country station, but also lucky in the sense that I was able to leave the Philadelphia Police Department five months prior to 9/11/01. While many people's lives changed on that day, being involved in law enforcement in any facet took on a whole new meaning, and I was happy to be in radio instead!
2) How different is it programming a Country station from say Dallas, and what challenges do you think are specific to you?
We've become something of the Susan Lucci of Country radio stations with regards to the CMA and ACM awards. We're consistently nominated, but never called to the stage. I say this because of its relevance to your question. I'm in no way saying that Philadelphia is any more sophisticated than Dallas or any other Major Market. But we do have a sophisticated audience who knows what they want to hear. We have tried the various elements that are commonplace in most radio stations and have found that people tune to XTU for one reason - great Country music. We have a dozen great radio stations in Philly that offer people funny or irreverent morning shows, celebrity gossip, news & traffic or sports. There is one place listeners can turn to for Country music, and that's what we deliver. There's no doubt that when they want traffic - they're heading to the news station. When they want to talk Eagles or Phillies, they're off to the sports talk. When they're ready for their Country music, we're there waiting for them with that music and content that's relevant to what a Country listener wants to hear. I think when we send our airchecks to the CMA and ACM panels, our style might seem to be lacking some of the more "hokey" stuff that your average morning show might do. But we've tailored our station to be what our listeners want to hear, and thankfully, we might not see the industry accolades, but we do see some pretty strong ratings for a Country music station in a major urban market.
3) You seem to be really passionate about music. How do you choose the new songs you add, and what are some of your general goals as a music director?
If you're not passionate about the music then you're in the wrong business. I grew up in a very music intensive atmosphere, where my parents always had a radio on, and I'd love to watch them dance and enjoy the music. I saw early on how music could make people smile and touch their lives. I wanted to be a part of that. As far as songs we add, it's a matter of listening to a song (no less than three times before offering an opinion) and trying our best to gauge if it fits within the lines of what the Philadelphia Country listener will want to hear. General goals as a music director - I think the terms APD and MD really mean the same thing around here. I am the PD's right hand man. I'm not embarrassed to say that in the end, he calls the shots. We discuss things and if there's a particular title I'm really hot on, or a tune we might just not be paying attention to and should, I'll make sure we give it a listen. There are times where we debate things, but my goals are mainly to make sure I have all the new music in one place (thank you Play MPE!) and that I'm familiar enough with every new tune that I can make certain we're on the stuff we need to be and that I'm ready to discuss all the rest when it's time comes due.
4) And following up on that, who are some of the newer acts that you are high on and why?
Whiskey Falls have got it goin' on! They are not just singers - they are entertainers, and that's a term I reserve for the likes of Garth and Neal McCoy, so it's a pretty huge compliment in my book. Drew Davis Band and Emily West are another couple of up and comers. And that new gal Jewel ain't too bad either!
5) What were the highlights of the recent CRS and what was the music highlights in your opinion?
CRS itself is a highlight of my year. I enjoy getting down there and hearing what other people are doing to promote Country radio. It's probably been said so much it's becoming cliché but Garth going from an acoustic duet to a full blown mini-concert was pretty awesome. Taylor's "New Faces" performance was another highlight (I love the fact that her band were all dressed in suits - I miss those days!) And personally, seeing my boss get the number one PD award on the Sony BMG boat was the coupe de gras.
6) What would be your fantasy job if you were not in radio?
That's kind of a trick question. My fantasy job IS working in radio. I don't even consider it a job per se - we PLAY music - how many other job descriptions have the word PLAY in them?
7) iPods, cell-phones, video games, satellite radio blah, blah- how does the station cut through the noise?
To assume that our listeners aren't tech savvy because they're Country would be a huge mistake. We embrace a great deal of these technologies in the hopes of making the others seem unnecessary. We have a music store on our website that makes what we're playing available for iPods. We do a lot of text messaging to keep our cell phone audience involved. We're pretty aggressive about keeping our website and our on-air content fresh, up to date and most importantly RELEVANT! Sure you can pay ten bucks a month (I guess) to hear Country music played from a studio in Nashville, or you can tune to XTU and win your way into the studio where we bring Nashville to our listeners. Paying for something that you can get better / fresher (IMHO) for free - Have you ever read of the Emperor's New Clothes?
8) How does WXTU stay local? I know you guys are pretty community oriented.
Our listeners are our family. That sounds cliché but around here, it's true. We are constantly out and about, and our listeners regard us as one of their own. I'm sure most stations' fans know their jocks and maybe their promo folks, but here, we all get involved with our listeners. My GM, my PD, me and numerous other folks who essentially are behind the scenes are given the same celebrity welcome as our Morning Show. Everyone at XTU gets out there. Our listener appreciation shows, our anniversary show, our World Café Live Shows and our Triple Nickel Studio are ongoing events that keep all of us out there amongst our family of listeners, and I'm confident that any one of them would open their doors up to any of us as though we were their neighbors.
Community Oriented - sometimes I wonder how we fit it all in, but yes; we always make time for community stuff. Our Morning Show is heavily tied in with a local breast cancer group; our midday gal has been a huge part of a hero's scholarship program for police and fire-fighter families for as long as I can remember. Our PM Drive jock throws his efforts in the direction of Alex's Lemonade Stands, and in addition to an annual hot firefighters auction to benefit a local burn foundation, I've never known our night guy to turn down a charitable event appearance. There are several station-wide things we do in the community as well, but I take great pride in the fact that each of our primary station representatives has taken on their own causes in the midst of everything else we do.
9) You mentioned two things I've heard a bit about - The Triple Nickel Studio and World Cafe Live - can you elaborate?
The Triple Nickel Studio - Every Wednesday, from 9a to 10a, we open the morning show up to a new up and coming artist from Nashville. They come in, play a few songs acoustically and chat with the morning show. It's a really cool way for our listeners to get to know about newer acts long before they're hearing them on a regular basis on the air. Now there are two things worth pointing out here - an appearance in no way equals an add. Hopefully they are good enough to eventually get added, but we invite them in for the exposure (and occasionally a cheese steak) but that's all. The other thing worth mentioning is that while we started this as an outlet for new artists, we don't discriminate. There have been lots of artists who might be "getting back out there" or reinventing themselves or whatever the reason, we're as happy to welcome a brand new artist like Emily West (next week) as we are to have welcomed the likes of Dolly Parton or Jewel (two weeks ago).
The World Café Live - This is a very cool venue on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania. They do a lot with college radio (WXPN) as well as some nationally syndicated performances on cable TV. The room is acoustically perfect and holds about 400 people. Two years ago, Rascal Flatts wanted to come to town and do something unique to celebrate their new album, so we proposed a broadcast from this World Café Live. They were in, so we gave away a bunch of tickets to this intimate invitation-only performance. The Flatts were due to come in, play three or four songs, do a little interview and get gone. They wound up playing for a little over an hour to a very enthusiastic crowd. This has since become a unique spot to host the occasional superstar when they come into town. Since the Flatts' first appearance there, we've welcomed Big & Rich, Travis Tritt, Rascal Flatts again and most recently Martina McBride. How often can you offer listeners such an intimate opportunity - this is how we keep 'em wanting more!
10) The landscape and the way we do business is changing by the minute- imagine that you are Joe Galante or Luke Lewis- how would you react to the way things are changing?
I think the key to survival is adapting to the new mechanisms of delivery. There's got to be someone out there who can figure out how to make digital delivery a profitable and secure occurrence.
Bonus Questions
1) What cheese steak place would you take me to if I were coming to Philly?
I'm more of a hoagie aficionado, but if it's cheese steaks you want, we are lucky to live in a city where the two most sought-after cheese steaks are made across the street from one another. Pat's and Geno's literally face each other, so it's best to come hungry and decide for yourself! (Geno's wins my vote though.)
2) What tourist things are must-sees in the city of 'brotherly love'?
I love when an artist comes to town and allows enough time in their schedule to take in some of our historic sites. Some of the places they tend to be most interested in on my unofficial tours of Philly would be the Art Museum Steps - Rocky ran the steps - so everyone has to run the steps. Then of course there's the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Constitution Center, Betsy Ross's house (George Washington slept there, ya know!), some of the original cobblestone streets and the original colonial homes that are still just plain old homes in use today. We then pass right by my grade school and finish things off (of course) in search of the answer to the great cheese steak debate (above).
3) What music are you currently rockin' to on the iPod or disc player?
It's funny - despite the fact that my music collection grows continuously, I always seem to default back to a playlist that is comprised mainly of everything Blackhawk ever recorded along with a bunch of tunes from The Mavericks.
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