10 Questions with ... Sam Weaver

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I am the Editor for Urban/UAC and owner of a radio talent coach/strategic advisor business (Radiocoach.biz) for terrestrial/Internet radio personalities and programmers.

I have been in the business for over 40 years as a programmer and air personality. My format background includes Top 40/Mainstream, Urban, Country, Sports, Talk, and Rock. I have worked in Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Memphis, Greensboro and Kansas City. My list of 12 stations programmed includes WDIA/Memphis, the oldest Black-operated property, and KPRS/KPRT Kansas City, the oldest Black owned-and-operated stations.

Besides numerous programming awards, other career highlights include teaching in the Broadcast Department at Columbia College in Chicago, comedy writer for the late Jerry Boulding's Highlights radio show, and hosting Westwood One's Superstars of R&B Concert Series.

1) Why Are you are you doing 10 questions?

Starting with this year, I'm going to kick-off each new year by giving an overview on various things pertaining to Urban radio and music in various areas. A new tradition of sorts.

2) What do you think of the Urban charts?

In terms of what's on the charts, I think the Urban Mainstream and Urban AC (UAC) charts should be renamed and reflect the demographics and lifestyles closer to the realities of today's audiences. I am not sure what the name should be for Urban Mainstream, but I do know that, except for grandfathered artists (Usher,Beyonce, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Rihanna, John Legend (Occasionally), Mary J. Blige, and The Weekend), it is hard for a non-Hip-Hop artist to not only chart, but to have any consistency on the Urban Mainstream charts. Oh, and The Weeknd owes "50 Shades of Grey" for his place on Mainstream. These days Hip-Hop/R&B-ish hybrids like Drake and Rae Sremmurd have enjoyed much success. However, there have been only a few new R & B artists to jump on the scene like Bryson Tiller and Tory Lanez. Bruno Mars via Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" might have a future in consistency on Urban Mainstream, but I am not sure; it will depend if on how he is labeled by Urban radio decision-makers. "Uptown Funk" was one of those across-the-board chart phenomena that only come along once in a blue moon, it can't be formulized. But there are also be room for other young artists at Mainstream such as Kevin Ross and Major. Again, it's the typecasting thing for R&B acts.

Too many Urban radio decision-makers are locked in on reflecting the Mainstream promotionally marketed charts and the follow-the-leader artist typecasting that has occurred over time. It's a catch 22 for record companies; only about half of the Mainstream radio panels will seriously deal with a young R& B act ... it's a never-ending cycle. The record companies could start artists on the Urban AC chart, but the odds of breaking back over to Mainstream are not good. It gets worse if the R&B act begins at the Urban AC chart; they will probably get branded and be regulated to that chart only. The Urban AC has the taint of being labeled as the elder statesmen in the room, which is far from the truth. Ironically, many of the decision-makers see the 18-34 demo research and are responsible for both the Urban Mainstream and Urban AC; but once an act is marketed to Urban AC, the percentages are low for that act to ever consistently make it to station playlist to air on the younger targeted Mainstream stations.

I am hoping Hip-Hop will start being reflected a lot more on the Urban AC stations and charts for the 25-49 demo (34 is the top end for the Millennials) It's 2017 and you would think it would have happened more with the aging process of the format and the ever-changing listeners within the target demo. The people who have grown up into the demo have wider musical tastes and that includes the Drakes and Jay Zs of the world. But decision-makers in radio seem reluctant to make the necessary adjustments. In 'off the record' conversations many in the music and radio industries agree, but here we are still doing the same old thing. Maybe the Urban Mainstream sticks with the same name and Urban AC loses the stigma of being 'older' and becomes simply Urban; incorporating Hip-Hop artists and mainstream R&B acceptable to the audience who have entered the target demo; including current performers. I just think the whole Urban chart thing and the musical taste of the listeners growing up into the demographics should be examined and adjusted on several levels.

3) How do you view Music Services?

As part of the landscape for listener. People today get their music in a variety of ways. It's up to terrestrial/traditional radio to incorporate some of those ways into one of the platforms, as many are beginning to provide listeners.

Regardless of the musical political propaganda of who is better, every paid and no-paid form of audio entertainment is viable. Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Tidal, You Tube are all vital. I think iHeartMedia's two new streaming services are going to pave the way for other radio companies and stations to join in on expanding their brand and reflecting musical consumption by listeners.

4) Do you think voice tracking is good for radio?

Voice-tracking has been around forever; it used to be called "Record and Playback." I am not against it but I am against those who don't make it sound live and in the moment. I hear too many voice-tracked shows that sound phoned in with minimal effort. It takes practice to make voice-tracking sound in the moment. And I wish more of the personalities who voice-track other markets would be provided info to localize. You're not trying to fool anyone, just communicate a little better. I should not be able to listen to a voice-track and tell it's a recording. I used to know an air talent who would record the 3a hour of his overnight show and no one was the wiser because it sounded in the moment. I found out it was recorded by accident, when I went back to the station real late to drop off some memos before leaving for vacation and found no one in the studio. You could not tell it was recorded; I never busted him on it with management, but did let him know I knew. He confessed he did it every night to pick up take-out from a Denny's restaurant; it was his breakfast and prevented him having to eat at 6a and head straight to bed.

5) Do you think Boom and Throwback stations have been good for Black Radio?

I mentioned earlier that people are aging and bringing along with them the music they like and grew up with. For example, a person who was 15 in 1990 is now or soon to be 42. Everything is subject to opinion, but I have always agreed with the Urban ACs (UAC) who recently began incorporating old school Hip-Hop. Those 1990s listeners grew up with R& B and Hip-Hop; we just used to daypart the Hip-Hop to evening or late afternoons and evenings. It's a mistake for anyone to have an Urban AC and a Throwback Hip-Hop within the same cluster. It's the same demo; why fragment yourself with the same listeners? By the way, because that 42-year-old Urban AC listener grew up with Hip-Hop, they are open to some of the current songs on the chart, too. And yes, there are plenty of female-friendly Hip-Hop songs, past and present. Research-wise, if your company or cluster had an Urban station in the '90s, dig through the files and look at the weekly feedback of respondents concerning Hip-Hop songs from back then.

6) Who are some of your influences past and present?

List of influences by category:

PDs: Charlie Lake, Jerry Boulding, Buzz Bennett, Lee Logan, Joel Denver, Tony Gray, Ken Dowe, Quincy McCoy, Jerry Clifton and Bill Bailey

GMs: Chuck Scruggs, Drew Horowitz, Nancy Cooper, Marv Dyson, and Charles Mootry

Music Industry: Gerald Busby, Neil Bogart, Bert & Ilene Berns, Ronnie Johnson, Joey Bonner, Wes Johnson, Clive Davis, and Russell Simons

Owners: John H. Johnson, Mrs. Mildred Carter, First Media, Skip Finley, Mike Carter and Reese Poag.

Morning personalities: BJ Murphy, Tom Joyner, Dr. Don, Donnie Simpson, Jeff Fox, Scott Shannon, AC Williams, Larry Lujack and the Deadly Dr. Bobby Brown

Non-morning personalities: Jo Jo Kincaid, Ernie C, Bill Lee, Ron Chavis, Walt Love, Yvonne Daniels, Bob Uecker, Cat Daddy, Chuck Geiger, Johnny Rabbit, Doug Banks and Kitty Neely.

Production Directors: Terry Fox, Jerry Vigil, Robert 'Hollywood' Rhodes and Pat Garrett.

Imaging and VO: Roberta Solomon

Promotions Directors: Rich McCauley

MDs: Myron Fears, Art Goewy and Rosalie Trombley

Sales Managers: Bart Horton

Radio Icons: Dick Clark, Frankie Crocker and Jerry Boulding

Influences on programming thought: Richard Nixon, Phil Jackson, Malcolm X, Lyndon B. Johnson, Dr. Martin Luther King, My Grandfather, David Letterman, George Steinbrenner, Harry Carey, Richard Pryor, Tony Soprano, Barrack Obama, Red Foxx, e.e. Cummings, George Carlin, Flip Wilson, Ken Dowe, Bill Veeck, John Wooden, Dave Chappelle, James Thurber, Vince Scully, Johnny Carson, Eddie Holland, and Vernal Beckman (8th grade speech teacher)

7) How do you see the future of Urban and radio in general?

The "Y" generation (Millennials) has grown up with computers, blogs, Facebook, podcasts, Smartphones, Twitter, Macs, chat rooms, P2Ps, YouTube, iTunes, LinkedIn, Instagram and iPads; radio is being used differently. Instead of a new music fad, the Y generation received new audio and communication delivery systems. Music is being sampled in a variety of ways. Traditional and new media are finding ways to merge and appeal to this generation. Y's represent radio's version of "Custer's Last Stand," and will be the determining factor for the fate and future of both industries. Branding through new ways of looking at things is happening right now. The "Z" generation is already making its presence felt. They will use terrestrial/traditional radio only if it continuously updates its approach to reaching listeners on other platforms.

Branding and new thinking are keys to the future of terrestrial radio. For the younger X and the entire Y Generation, instead of regurgitating the terrestrial station, program the online station independently to reflect the tastes of the consumer utilizing it. Add to old formulas and utilize streaming platforms like Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube. Also use Shazam as a research tool to help make music decisions.

8) What are the biggest differences between programming in a PPM or Diary market?

The only difference is the methodology and frequency of releasing information. Presentation and programming is the same as it has been for years. The best stations are focused, the personalities are concise, cater to the perceived target audience, and market the station. What I have just listed should be how a station is programmed regardless of whether it is a PPM or a diary market. PPMs methodology provides information weekly and monthly; I have always said it's a great research tool to be used with media monitor to help shape a station. It should always be pointed out that research is never the problem, it's how it's interpreted and implemented.

9) How has the Urban Audience changed?

It hasn't. There are new people aging into the target demos and bringing along their musical tastes. The artists making the journey are different than what the Urban audiences of yester-year listened to. It's not Luther, Whitney, and James Ingram ... it's Drake, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled and Rihanna. Hip-Hop has arrived at the point of splitting off with a generational divide for formats. The Urban audience is still trend-setting with new audio delivery systems such as streaming.

10) Do you think artists and record companies are in sync with audiences?

More artists, managements and record companies need to focus in even more on the new emerging music consumer and all the ways they get music. Every platform radio uses to reach its listeners is important; it all works together. Art and commerce has always clashed and for artists, the clash is still there. I hope artists, producers, and song writers coming up, take a look back at musical history and re-apply it to what they are doing today. For example, I have noticed songs and I include Hip-Hop, with too much verse and not enough chorus/hook. And what is with the tendency for so many writers to title songs without regard to the chorus/hook. Consumers walk around singing the chorus and hook; earworms make music memorable, sells music product, and fills concert seats. I did mention music sales, although percentage wise, it is not as much as it once was, but we are still talking millions and millions of dollars world-wide. Catalogs and publishing are still big business.