There are two main cop-outs radio programmers use to get out of playing a popular song. One is ‘I don’t like that song’ which is irrelevant, it’s never about whether we personally care for a song. The other is that ‘it doesn’t fit the sound of our station’. This one is used more often and is much more effective. That’s because there’s some truth to it. Everyone involved with the radio station, from the owner to the part-time on-air talent and everyone in-between, has a sound in their head of what songs on that station should sound like. However, sonically choosing songs to fit a particular sound can be very dangerous and cause us to play songs that aren’t connecting with the audience but fit the sound and pass on songs that are connecting but don’t fit that sound.

All music scenes evolve regardless of format, country sways between pop and traditional every few years, rock alternates between leaning heavy or soft, hip-hop flows between funny and serious and pop strategically takes from other genres in intervals. Since all music scenes evolve it’s imperative that all programmers constantly evolve and grow as well. Those that do will lead stations to survive and thrive for a very long time, especially if they can pass that understanding down to the next generation of programmers.

The reason music scenes constantly evolve is simple. True artists are ever-evolving and refuse to be bound by the restrictions imposed by radio genres. Like heritage stations every music scene that stands the test of time is alive and dynamic. They are living, breathing things that are made of a long series of slow incremental daily changes, followed by fast and deep fundamental changes every decade or so. The latter is only brought on by one or two iconic artists or bands. The ones they make biopics about that people actually watch. Like, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Loretta Lynn, Ray Charles, Sinatra, The Doors, Tupac & Biggie, Amy Winehouse and one day Janis Joplin, Nirvana, Willie Nelson, Taylor Swift, The Dixie Chicks, George Strait, Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish.

How do we stay on top of these ever-evolving music scenes here at RSC? We combine our years of radio programming experience with market-level song data broken out by formats and overall. This allows us to never miss an emerging musical trend, upcoming artist or when a superstar’s career is fading. We believe that what people listen to on their own is far more telling than what other radio stations are playing and now we have the tools to see what literally everyone is listening to on their own. Looking at this data is time-consuming, expensive (for us), and can be overwhelming at first. So, our focus is training radio programmers on how to utilize this data to know exactly what they should and shouldn’t play in their local markets, because every market we look at has varying levels of regional differences. Understanding those differences and how to strategically use them will always work better than a one-size-fits-all national approach.

What do you think? How have you evolved as a programmer over the years? Comment below or email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.

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