Jacobs Media’s Fred Jacobs Asks: Has Broadcast Radio Given Up The New Music Hill?

Fred Jacobs

One of the things we are going to discuss at ALL ACCESS AUDIO SUMMIT 2022 is the concept of broadcast radio reclaiming the ability to be a driver in the process of new music discovery.

JACOBS MEDIA President FRED JACOBS will touch on this during his TECHSURVEY 2022 presentation at ALL ACCESS AUDIO SUMMIT 2022 on THURSDAY, APRIL 21^st at 9a (PT) – and as a precursor asked that very question in his column this week (2/07): “Has Broadcast Radio Given Up The New Music Hill?”

JACOBS notes: “In order to win the radio wars, ownership has relinquished turf it once owned outright. Talk about ‘cancel culture.’  In the format battles, the industry has totally 'cancelled' Soft AC, Jazz, Classical, and Oldies – abandoning radio genres that once gave the medium diversity and variety, all because none can effectively compete for a respectable share of 25-54 year-old adults.

“And you know where those formats and genres went? To SPOTIFY, PANDORA, and SIRIUSXM – platforms glad to have the revenue they generate because of the subscribers willing to pay for this music. Public radio also continues to support both Jazz and Classical, formats it has traditionally embraced.”

He continues, “On the chopping block in the next three to five years is Classic Rock and Alternative, two very different formats facing oblivion for very different reasons. For the former, it's the much-discussed 'demographic cliff.” Classic Rock has actually demonstrated amazing appeal under 50, but still, the format will continue to skew older, well beyond the ‘55-Year-Old Line of Radio Death.’

“For Alternative, the death spiral looks a little different. (Same with CHR, by the way.) The easy excuse for the format's ultimate demise is that there's not enough good new music to play. The fact is, there IS quality new music across all formats. Embracing and showcasing it with the same force, support, and emphasis in which radio supported new music and emerging bands in older decades, however, would result in strong appeal from younger listeners, with resultant decreases among those over the age of 25.  For most radio owners, that's not an acceptable risk : reward relationship.”

Check out the full column here.

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