|
Post by matt on Jan 27, 2012 17:07:08 GMT -5
I disagree about blackbowl's assertion that "radio airplay is not really a gauge to determine popularity". There are arguments that sales is a more accurate indicator of popularity, but then again, I know a lot of people who like to listen to the radio, but don't like to spend money buying albums or songs.
One thing to keep in mind about radio airplay, is that it is largely driven in commercial radio by advertisers. The business model is: radio stations sell advertising slots to businesses, but businesses are not going to pay radio stations with low ratings to play ads that won't be heard by much of an audience. And ratings for music-playing stations are going to be driven by the popularity and appeal of songs played.
So in order to keep ratings up to maximize ad revenue, stations are going to program more popular songs more often. Therefore, radio airplay is a viable indicator of songs' popularity.
|
|
|
Post by blackbowl68 on Jan 28, 2012 6:07:39 GMT -5
IMHO, radio airplay is not really a gauge to determine popularity. It is merely a promotion tool used to give a record exposure to the masses. I disagree. I think radio AirPlay is the best way to judge popularity. People don't always have the $$$ to go buy a 45, casette, LP, etc. but they can always call and request what they want to hear. You're underestimating the power of the American dollar. If people really like what they see and hear, THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO BUY IT! People they call and request what they want to hear so they have a reason to go out and buy it. Sometimes it takes more than one listen to convince them to get it, but eventually they do. That's how the record industry works!
|
|
|
Post by blackbowl68 on Jan 28, 2012 7:40:27 GMT -5
wahoo, I hate to tell you this, but you just CONFIRMED my original statement. Radio advertisers will go to the stations where they feel they have the greatest chance of generating sales. But like the records those stations play, the advertising means nothing if nobody buys THEIR product! The other side of the coin is that radio stations make money through the dollars advertisers are willing to pay them to run their ads. One thing you may not be aware of is that most advertisers deliberately avoid radio stations that play alot of Soul, Disco, Hip Hop, or Dance music because they feel their audience is least likely to purchase their product. Therefore, stations will try to conform their playlists to match the audience they feel will best respond to these ads. Much of this audience do not buy record singles. THIS DOES NOT REPRESENT SONG POPULARITY! wahoo, another thing to keep in mind is radio airplay does not really reflect the popularity of songs that get banned! I'm sure no matter how many requests they get, such a record would not get airtime on many stations. SO THEY HAVE TO GO OUT & BUY IT IF THEY WANT TO HEAR IT! One example of where this was clearly the case on both issues was "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. Its radio airplay was cited as one advertisers used as a gauge for what stations NOT to seek promotion from. ( ) It was also cited for its "offensive lyrics" as to why it got banned from many radio stations. Yet by the end of 1992, it was the year's BIGGEST SELLING SINGLE at over 2.5 million copies sold via Soundscan! (And, yes, I bought a copy of the original 7" vinyl single! ) This is rock solid proof that "radio airplay is not a real gauge to determine popularity, but more a promotional tool."
|
|
|
Post by Sforzando on Jan 29, 2012 13:11:18 GMT -5
wahoo, I hate to tell you this, but you just CONFIRMED my original statement. Radio advertisers will go to the stations where they feel they have the greatest chance of generating sales. But like the records those stations play, the advertising means nothing if nobody buys THEIR product! The other side of the coin is that radio stations make money through the dollars advertisers are willing to pay them to run their ads. One thing you may not be aware of is that most advertisers deliberately avoid radio stations that play alot of Soul, Disco, Hip Hop, or Dance music because they feel their audience is least likely to purchase their product. Therefore, stations will try to conform their playlists to match the audience they feel will best respond to these ads. Much of this audience do not buy record singles. THIS DOES NOT REPRESENT SONG POPULARITY! wahoo, another thing to keep in mind is radio airplay does not really reflect the popularity of songs that get banned! I'm sure no matter how many requests they get, such a record would not get airtime on many stations. SO THEY HAVE TO GO OUT & BUY IT IF THEY WANT TO HEAR IT! One example of where this was clearly the case on both issues was "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. Its radio airplay was cited as one advertisers used as a gauge for what stations NOT to seek promotion from. ( ) It was also cited for its "offensive lyrics" as to why it got banned from many radio stations. Yet by the end of 1992, it was the year's BIGGEST SELLING SINGLE at over 2.5 million copies sold via Soundscan! (And, yes, I bought a copy of the original 7" vinyl single! ) This is rock solid proof that "radio airplay is not a real gauge to determine popularity, but more a promotional tool." Remember in the late 80s early 90s when the Hot 100 had the phrase "When you play it, say it"? That was a promotional campaign due to the fact the several radio stations were actually playing songs like "Baby Got Back" but weren't reporting them in order to fool advertisers. Billboard did a long article and some of the songs cited as being artificially hampered by the chart rides were: "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa (Billboard stated that the song probably would have been a top 10 hit had all stations truthfully reported it.) "24/7" by Dino (Billboard stated the song easily would have made the top 40 had all the stations truthfully reported it.)
|
|
|
Post by matt on Jan 29, 2012 15:43:15 GMT -5
wahoo, I hate to tell you this, but you just CONFIRMED my original statement. Radio advertisers will go to the stations where they feel they have the greatest chance of generating sales. But like the records those stations play, the advertising means nothing if nobody buys THEIR product! You're missing the point here--of course, everyone is in business to sell their product or service, but somebody advertising toothpaste or jeans or psychic services probably isn't too concerned about how many singles or albums of the songs being played are selling--they only care that stations are playing the songs their listeners want to hear. Sure, there is somewhat of a correlation between the airplay a song gets due to listener popularity and that song's sales, but there are plenty of "radio hits" over the years that didn't have overwhelming sales. The other side of the coin is that radio stations make money through the dollars advertisers are willing to pay them to run their ads. One thing you may not be aware of is that most advertisers deliberately avoid radio stations that play alot of Soul, Disco, Hip Hop, or Dance music because they feel their audience is least likely to purchase their product. Therefore, stations will try to conform their playlists to match the audience they feel will best respond to these ads. Much of this audience do not buy record singles. THIS DOES NOT REPRESENT SONG POPULARITY! OK, but then you have to ask yourself why that is that advertisers discourage soul, disco, hip hop and dance--perhaps it's because more of the audience that chooses to get it's music experience from the radio doesn't care as much for these genres. Doesn't mean that that audience's tastes count any less that those that choose to purchase the music they listen to. Common sense says that if those genres were popular across all audiences and demographics, advertisers would be more than happy to have stations play those songs, because of that word again...ratings! wahoo, another thing to keep in mind is radio airplay does not really reflect the popularity of songs that get banned! I'm sure no matter how many requests they get, such a record would not get airtime on many stations. SO THEY HAVE TO GO OUT & BUY IT IF THEY WANT TO HEAR IT! You make a good point here--but then again, if those songs didn't get banned, there are a significant number of listeners that would tune away from stations that play those songs...which again, would affect ratings. And how much true popularity among the masses can their be for songs that the average commercial station can't play due to explicit lyrics? Doesn't mean those songs don't have an audience, popularity for those songs will be based only on sales and rightfully so. Which all brings me back to my original point: radio stations' ratings are what determine how many ads they sell and thus how much money they make...and ratings for music stations are going to be driven largely by the popularity of the songs they play.
|
|
|
Post by dukelightning on Jan 29, 2012 15:54:49 GMT -5
I can't help but notice how this issue applies to the years after the classic AT40 period. Proves just how classic that period was where explicit lyrics and such were not an issue and stations were able to play more or less what was on the charts. Ah, all good things have to come to an end.
|
|
|
Post by matt on Jan 29, 2012 20:31:24 GMT -5
One thing to add--I am surprised with all the talk about stations being told to avoid R&B, hip hop and dance music--seems like with the younger crowds these days, this is ALL I hear. So if anyone is being told to avoid those genres, it's not the popular music stations of today (like maybe back in the early 90's). Our local station here that plays all of "today's hottest hits" (KDWB 101.3 - who also plays the Seacrest AT40 shows) plays R&B, hip hop and dance music every time I flip past them on the dial.
|
|
|
Post by torcan on Jan 31, 2012 12:41:11 GMT -5
A lot of this has to do with which single from the album you're on. I remember reading in Billboard that sometimes a fourth or fifth single wouldn't get a much radio play because of over-saturation of the artist, and without as much airplay, it wouldn't have the exposure and therefore not as many sales. Also, in most cases by the fourth or fifth single, the best songs have already been released.
|
|
|
Post by 45rpmmike on Feb 2, 2012 21:22:02 GMT -5
As I recall "when you play it, say it" was a push by the record companies for DJ's to identify songs they played. I believe this was for the listeners to help them when they went to buy a current song at the music store. Having worked in retail at the time, the majority of record buyers never had the correct title or knew the artist of the song they were looking for. Made for some humorous moments of guessing what song they were looking for. As for "push it" I bet the airplay numbers weren't there and "24/7" although decent, was just a poor mans "nite and day". Btw link to a recent article about the "say it" issue. www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/media/30radio.html?_r=1
|
|