Disparity between CHR and HotAC

[jedijake]

Am I just getting old or is the disparity between CHR and HOTAC just getting wider and wider?

Songs like "Light On" by David Cook and "Gotta Be Somebody" by Nickelback are getting a ton of airplay on Houston's KRBE (CHR) but barely made an impact on the pop chart. That seems insane. Those two are major hits on HotAC. They should have done MUCH better on the pop chart-at least made the top 5.

I'm thinking that there should have been more medling with the HotAC and pop chart. I think that the pop chart has a VERY narrow range of an audience. It would be a much more varied chart if there was more of the HotAC stuff that was actually being played on those stations. Seriously, it's more rhythmic than radio actually seems to be.

There should probably actually be a combined HotAC/CHR chart that incorporates both. I think more and more stations are leaning toward a combo of the two formats anyway.

[Caseyfan4everRyanfanNever]

Actually HAC (Hot Adult Contemporary) arose as a separate music format only in the 1990s. As explained in Rob's book, CHR/Top 40 was going through a crisis since many top 40 stations had begun to play more rap and heavy metal songs. As a result, longtime listeners began turning to the Adult Contemporary format instead but found the music there too soft for their tastes. As a result, the Hot AC format arose for those who liked the pop "without rap and heavy metal".

In the first decade of the 21st century, what we call Pop s defined most of all by the tastes of preteens, teenagers and those in their 20s. HAC is defined more by the tastes of those who are in their 30s, 40s, perhaps 50s. Younger people seem more willing to accept the rap music that has taken a stronger presence on the pop chart and probably consider most HAC songs to be "too old" for them. Although CHR/Top 40 is supposed to be representative of all tastes, there are more young people who are listening to those stations and therefore, their tastes are represented more on those charts.

I'm in my late 40s, but enjoy music of all types and have experimented with compiling a hybrid chart between the CHR and HAC charts. By giving songs on both charts equal weight (for example a #1 song would get 40 pts, #2=39, etc) most of the rap and heavy metal songs from the CHR chart get forced into the #25 and below range while higher ranking HAC and more mainstream pop sounding songs tend to move into the top 10. I am very satisfied with these results and such an idea would show merit in my opinion. The charts would appear more like the Radio and Record's CHR charts from the late 1990s, where all genres were represented more equally than they are now.

[easye]

I would not even listen to AT20 if it were not for Casey. They weren't allowed to play one song to avoid butchering this week's LDD?

[jedijake]

I would actually say that HAC appeals more to people 18-45. Most older teens and college aged students listen to the type of music on the HOT AC chart plus music that should be moving faster on that chart but is slow to rise. It's the mainstream form of the "coffee shop" music that stemmed from the 90's that many 15-19 year olds listened to. That has progressed into the "acoustic alternative".

Like I said, what makes me most curious is that the top CHR station in Houston plays a mix of CHR and HAC without the hardcore rap. Actually, hardcore rap is dying out finally.

Hard to say where music is heading in this economy. However, in the past month or so, two soft ballads hit #1 on the CHR chart ( "I'm Yours" and "Love Story"). Meanwhile, Lady Gaga has entered the top 20 on the HAC chart. Very interesting!