Joel Raab

Joel Raab has virtually lived and breathed Country radio since he was 15 years old, as a DJ at WTHE/Long Island, NY. He continued to land on-air gigs in Chicago while going to school at Northwestern University. He soon would "graduate," as it were, to programming gigs in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and New York. By 1990, Raab tried his hand at consulting - and he's been successfully offering his advice to Country stations for a plethora of radio stations. Here he offers his advice on the current radio environment.

What's your take on the current Country radio environment?

I think it's as good as it has ever been ... although to be honest, I'm somewhat of an eternal optimist. There are a lot of great competitive battles out there. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there are fewer companies waging those battles, but they're doing well nonetheless. There are times I wish we had more resources. We have to use more of our ingenuity to make things happen.

Of the 25 stations you currently consult, what in general is their biggest concern?

It really varies by the station. Lately there has been a lot of emphasis on making sure the morning shows are properly positioned and executed as we enter into a PPM world. The PPM has even changed how programmers in non-PPM markets work. It has made me listen to radio a lot differently than I did two years ago. We're now over-sensitive now to any mistakes being made on the air because there's so little margin for error. We have learned how short a period of time people listen to radio during a given occurrence. What PPM is doing is teaching us the way we do radio is what I've always believed that we should do -- keep the music flowing, be entertaining at same time ... and not waste words.

There are those who believe that since the diary and PPM are two different "games" where you often need to do different things to succeed, that diary markets should ignore the things you need to do to succeed in PPM.

I'd like to compete against someone who thinks like that. The PPM is behavioral research, while diaries are perceptual research. Yet the more we know about how people really listen and the more we program our stations that way, the better chance we have to get more listening, I think PPM-influence programming is going to help diary programmers because PPM stations are by-and-large doing better radio. There's more meat and less fat ... more of what listeners actually want.

Has the PPM made an impact on how Country programmers choose and rotate the music?

To some degree, yes. Again, we have to be more sensitive about playing the strongest music all the time. Beyond that, I'm not going into details because that's what I get paid for.

If I was working at a label, why wouldn't I would infer from that sentiment that programmers are going to rely more on the hits and new records by familiar artists and offer fewer slots to new records by the new and/or unfamiliar artists that they're trying to break?

I never said they should play less unfamiliar music. My stations are still playing about the same amount of new music than they did before PPM. Of course, the exact numbers vary by situation; we have stations that play no currents because they're gold-based, while other stations play five or more new records an hour.

There are programmers who are more conditioned to play unfamiliar songs regardless of who the artist is. They have the instincts and knowledge to discern whether that new, unfamiliar song is going to be one that will last, something they'll be playing a year from now, as opposed to just taking up space for four weeks to get on the spin charts. They are choosier about unfamiliar songs.

How does one gain that instinct and knowledge about predicting long-term hits?

Time and experience. Granted, your batting average isn't going to be right all the time. It's basically an opinion, a subjective evaluation. This is entertainment -- and sometimes you're right and sometimes you're not. But for myself and the stations I work with, we make the best decisions we can, using our experience as to what has been successful before and what the listeners like to hear.

Has the PPM impacted the way direct-format stations program or counter-program against each other?

Be it PPM or the diary, I don't think you should ever ignore your competition. One of cornerstones of warfare is knowing and understanding your enemy. At the same time you need to have your own strategy -- and hopefully they'll be responding to you.

When consulting stations, do you spend time working with the sales staff, or at least question them about what they could use, programming-wise, to succeed?

I get into some of those sales discussions; I will try to provide a sales angle to promotions. In many markets we have to sell the promotion before it's put on the air. Through these discussions, I have gotten some good lessons in Sales 101.

Has the tight economic times forced you to scale back some of your recommendations?

Sure I have, but there have been a number of instances where I encouraged my clients to spend money to make money. In many instances they have, For example, some stations were voicetracking daytime shifts; they're no longer doing that -- and are getting better ratings. Part of what I have to do is when I see opportunities that cost money, I have to demonstrate to the stations how they can make money. If I feel strongly enough about it, hopefully they'll take my advice.

It sounds like you're anything but an advocate of voicetracking.

I'm not a big fan of it, although I understand we have to do it sometimes. In a perfect world, I'd like to hear all stations live 6a-7p ... but I realize that it's not a perfect world, The main reason I want live air talent is that it helps the radio station be in the moment when something happens. When Michael Jackson died, how many stations were caught tracking and broadcasting like nothing happened? Being live as much as possible enables stations to be in the moment as much as possible. I'd rather cut corners somewhere else - but not the consultant, of course.

Are the digital emphasis and website strategies for Country as important to you as it seem to be for the Top 40, Rock and Alternative stations?

I don't know about the rock guys to compare, but I do know that our audience is checking out the stations online -- and they're becoming Facebook fans, interacting with stations more through Facebook than the stations' websites right now.

Is that a problem ... or a good thing?

It is what it is. We can't control where they go; we just have to be where they are. I'm a believer that we go to where the social networking is instead of creating our own network. Right now Facebook is best vehicle to do that.

Have you created Facebook-only promotions for your stations?

A few stations are doing Facebook-only promotions, but I prefer not to exclude anyone in the audience ... including listeners who don't happen to own computers. Believe it or not, there are still some of those. It's funny; I see them in focus groups and as soon as people start talking about Facebook and online, two or three will have this blank stare, then say, "I couldn't enter because I don't have a computer or access to it." If you're clever, you can do online things that still includes your entire audience.

Is there still a problem with "concert presents" and such between two Country stations in the same market ... and how you do deal with such a situation if one of your stations is involved in it?

Boy, that's a whole 'nother interview. That hasn't changed over the years. If you're not a reporting station, with some exceptions, you seem to be dead to the label. They will deny it and I do want to state that some labels have been extremely helpful to non-reporting stations, but obviously it has its challenges. When both stations report, it's "May the best station win." In most of my markets where are two reporters, the shows are usually neutral and the station with the best onsite presentation and best on-air promotion will win the perception of being the station that presented the show.

In a posting on your blog, you spoke highly of a new generation of young Country talent, which is something Rusty Walker also noted. How do you counsel your stations in regards to playing new talent versus relying on established stars?

It's always a balance. In the early '90s when Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks hit the scene, Crystal Gayle and Kenny Rogers fell on hard times. There will always be new replacing the old, but I see that as a positive. There are some tremendous new artists out there; Zac Brown and Luke Bryan come to mind. I'd like to add that I think the heritage artists have to be come with that much stronger music as a result of the new artists.

Is this also an opening for Classic Country stations to adopt a younger generation of heritage artists?

Absolutely. Classic Country today doesn't mean Classic Country 10 years ago. Classic Country now means older George Strait music, Clint Back, Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson --basically the class of '89 with some '70s and early '80s stations thrown in. Just as Classic Hits stations evolve, so have successful Classic Country stations.

Are you at all concerned that the crossover success of Country's young stars will see them absorbed into the pop mainstream?

Not really. I feel really optimistic about it because we have new pop-oriented artists like Taylor Swift, Steel Magnolia and Lady Antebellum. Pop-oriented artists are relatively new, but we also have more traditional sounding new artists like Chris Young, Luke Bryan and Billy Currington. What we like about these acts is that they're not getting too far away from our roots. Every time our format gets too far away from our roots, we get into trouble.

But how can Country stop that from happening ... much like what happened when Shania Twain ruled?

What happened then was that everybody else was trying to be like that. Not only were there Shania Twain knock-offs, but traditional artists were trying to make pop/country music -- and it didn't work. In the mid to late-'90s, the format really suffered from that. Nowadays, it seems that these new artists aren't chasing the latest trend; they seem to be looking more for their own identities. I don't see anyone chasing a sound right now. Maybe I'm being naïve, but I hear a lot of variety within our format.

Taylor is walking a fine line, but back in late '90s Faith Hill walked that line pretty successfully for a couple of albums, too. Taylor Swift's future rests on how good the music is, and if it's really good, she will able to continue to straddle the line between pop and country. I love the fact that she goes on TV and says she's a country artist. I also love the fact that Carrie Underwood -- another artist who walks that fine line -- won't remix her music for pop radio. They don't take out the steel guitar ...and that's great.

Are you as energized about the job you do, in terms of your future, as Country music seems to be?

I still get excited when I walk into a radio station I've never been to before. I went to the Brooks and Dunn farewell concert in Philadelphia; I stayed for entire show and loved it. Hopefully I'll never lose that passion and the feeling of walking into a radio station or going to a concert and saying hello to the artists. As long as it's still fun to make a living at it, I'll keep going.