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Passing the Music Test
April 4, 2006
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Gaining Relevancy With Listeners
Of all the challenges urban radio stations face this spring, perhaps none is more formidable than finding and playing the right songs at the right times. If that challenge is not met, none of the other elements -- air talent, promotion, marketing, sales, etc. -- will matter.
It's important to capture some relevancy with our core audience. One of the problems is that we are playing less new music. Consolidation, research and risk-management have determined that our formats should concentrate on playing more reliable gold and long-term re-current titles. While these titles may be easier to find and research, they are also easier to download and share. But the larger problem is that urban listeners are far more impatient and less tolerant. They want the latest fashion, the latest trends and the newest music. They want you to expose them to it and they'll tell you if they don't like it, but they still want to hear it.
Consultants and researchers who are not familiar with the uniquenesses of the urban format can't understand this. They keep trying to convince GMs and owners that they alone have the answers and that the research techniques they have developed for Top 40, AC, country and rock can be applied to urban radio. The fact is that some can, others can't. These are the same so-called experts that fail miserably in the initial screening process when they do AMTs (auditorium music tests) or perceptuals. Often the entire sample is African-American and drawn from the same Zip code. A test based on that type of sample simply cannot be reliable. It is not representative of the total audience, therefore it can only be so relevant.
If this sad state of affairs turns around, it will probably be because the urban radio industry somehow woke up and properly leveraged the technology that now dogs us, not because urban radio got any smarter or more adventuresome.
Some of today's sharpest radio decision-makers have learned the hard way that what they anticipate their listeners will expect this spring and what listeners really expect are not always the same. This season will find our stations facing more obstacles and tougher competition than ever before. We are now not only in competition with other terrestrial, format-similar stations, satellite and Internet radio, but also with MP3 players of various types that can now easily hold more songs than most radio stations play. File sharing and cross-cuming may be slowed, but they cannot be stopped. And this spring, 18-24 year olds in particular are no longer relying on radio for exposure and guidance. To increase cume and build loyalty, our stations are going to need to be much more focused. Urban stations still need to set themselves apart from format similar stations with bigger signals and deeper pockets that can copy their music.
For example, which is better? Should a station in the spring sweeps try to keep its sound completely fresh by concentrating on only those researched current hits or should they attempt to balance the list with some well-researched jams from the past? That depends on whom we're going after.
If we're going after a young, male audience, research has shown over and over that what they crave are currents, lots of hip-hop, and the right reggae blended with the right R&B hits.
If we want young females, we have to blend in some strong ballads and image artists such as Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Mariah Carey and Ne-Yo. This all-currents approach may seem extreme, but it works. The all-currents format can produce a highly-visible victory providing the math and the other necessary, non-music elements are in place.
But pre-supposing we've decided to fill our carrier with all currents, which charts should we use? Today we really have to look at all the charts, digest their methodology, and then schedule the right rotations. We have to be aware of all the songs that fit so we don't open up a clear path for our competitor.
There is new urban competition emerging every day. Top 40 and AC have joined rhythmic CHRs and some smooth jazz stations to become dangerous hybrid alternatives to straight ahead urban stations or urban ACs. Their well-financed research shows there is a disenfranchised, non-ethnic audience out there that loves black music. To complicate matters even further, in many cases, the same company also owns Hot ACs, Top-40 rhythmics, smooth jazz and urbans in the same market
Frustrated Music Freaks
Today's music has to appeal to a generation that may be angry and frustrated in a different way than those of the generation they replaced. People of those decades were angry with optimism. Many listeners of this current generation are angry with despair. The economy may be improving, but it's still down. Young people are dying every week in a war that was supposed to be over. The job market is slowly improving for some segments of the population, but for most of our listeners, it's down. Jobs are disappearing. Prices are up and the "prophet" or voice-tracking machine is sending big voices to small markets that used to train tomorrow's talent. This past winter, many P-1s were between 12 and 24 and this on stations that thought they were mainstream. No wonder TSL (time-spent-listening), and, in some cases, cume fell dramatically. A closer look shows that there is plenty of evidence to show that the crises we face developed because of the way we reacted to the tough times as well as the good times. Many of these problems may be self-inflicted.
But the spirit of revolution is part of both generations. Revolutions that build something are often assembled from anger and optimism. Revolutions that tear something down are built from anger and despair. For adults, the mythology that shaped America is abundance and unlimited growth, but the reality is global competition and it questions unlimited growth. So now the question becomes, what does all this have to do with "passing the music test?"
Just this: All of these things affect the music that radio listeners relate to and want to hear. Studies show that in the spring, lots of angry, frustrated listeners -- particularly those music freaks living in the East and Midwest -- will have experienced a tough winter. This spring they will be ready for pure escapism. They can't wait to enjoy jams about fun, love or life. Young adult listeners -- especially those in the non-Arbitron-defined category of 18-29 females -- still want to fantasize. And it's not short-sighted to assume that as the population bulge increases, we can't snatch some serious 25-49's by staying on top of and testing new music that appears to be limited to just teens and 18-24's, simply because of the age and image of the artist(s). Passing the music test is a lot easier when you study, have a plan and are prepared.
Word!
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