Re: Tight Play Lists

[FMradio1@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/19/98 11:37:09 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu writes:

<< Not really.  What is closer to the truth is that people do in fact
 want to hear lots of variety -- but a very /particular/ variety.  In
 other words, there is a small core of tracks which are well-liked by
 most people in a format's target demo, but for any title outside of
 that intersection there are relatively few people who like it to the
 same degree.  >>

I've heard this arguement before but I'm not so sure it is still relevant
today.  Five years ago, a tight list for an oldies or rock station was 500-600
songs.  Today it's half that number.  CHR and Hot AC stations which played
300-400 songs back then are now playing 150-250 titles.  In addition, current
songs which used to spend ten to twelve weeks as a current, then were rested
or moved to recurrent status, are now sticking around for six months or more. 

The result?  The gold titles get burned out very quickly--same goes with the
currents.  The research may show that these songs are "familiar and likeable,"
but if that's the case, why has TSL throughout most music formats declined
over the past few years as playlists have tightened?  The TSL drop can be
attributed to many factors, but its possible that the listeners may be right.
Maybe we do play the same songs way too often.  It could be that programmers
and consultants are using "research" as gospel, instead of as a tool to help
them make programming decisions.  

In the past, listeners havn't had much choice but to stick with radio, no
matter how poor the product, particularly in the car or in the office.  In the
next few years this will change dramatically.  As I've mentioned before,
multiple disc CD changers and soon DBS will challenge radio for in-car
listening, the peak listening periods for our medium.  Many offices are
starting to pipe in their own music services, such as Muzac, which cuts into
at-work listenership.  Radio simply cannot expect to survive if they continue
to play by the "old" rules.

Do I see the day of 1000+ song playlists again?  No.  But I do think if we
want to keep our listeners from straying to other music medium, we just might
have to give them what they are asking for--more variety.

Mike Thomas
WXLO & Premiere Radio Networks 

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