Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site stat-l Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!vax135!houxz!houxm!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!CS-Mordred!Pucc-H:Pucc-I:Stat-L:ab3 From: ab3@stat-l (Rsk the Wombat) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Re: How radio stations work Message-ID: <91@stat-l> Date: Fri, 8-Jun-84 04:15:55 EDT Article-I.D.: stat-l.91 Posted: Fri Jun 8 04:15:55 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 9-Jun-84 07:43:29 EDT References: <480@hou2h.UUCP> Organization: Pucc Unix Systems Group Lines: 43 > The cut stays on the Billboard chart because it gets alot of air play. > The cut gets alot of play because it's on the chart, and so on. Precisely. The limiting factor is that Billboard charts are, I believe based on playlists *and* sales. Translation: Once everyone who's going to buy the single buys it, it begins dropping off the charts. Less airplay follows, and so on. > Mr. Lewis' article answers some questions but raises a few others. > What makes an album hot? How are the certain cuts selected? Most albums that radio stations receive come with a sticker on the front cover titled "Suggested Cuts"...this has a listing of all the cuts on the album, along with their timings and other information. Where I worked, Friday afternoon was our traditional time to sit around and listen to bits and pieces of new records; if something sounded interesting we'd put a check mark by that cut's name on the sticker. Some jocks would write comments on the sticker, or on the jacket as well... One thing that makes it harder for new artists to break in is that music directors, jocks, and whomever are much more inclined (usually) to listen to some cuts from, say, The New Steve Winwood Album, than, say, the debut from Omaha Sherrif. Or Thunderhead. Or Tata Vega. This is why you get to hear "Arc of a Diver", and not the other stuff. Some of us tried; some still are...but it's difficult to get listeners to open their ears to new stuff. This may explain why (for instance, in Chicago) WMET and WLUP, which both play sort-of-top-100-album-rock, attract more listeners than WXRT, which plays new stuff, blues, jazz, old obscure stuff, and anything they can get their hands on. > Occasionally, several stations will play the same oldies. Is this a > coincidence or are they playing "me too"? Or is the decision on what > oldies to play made outside the station? Sometimes it's coincidence...sometimes a jock hears something on another station and decides to play it...sometimes it's an external factor, maybe the band has just announced a concert date in town, or was just featured on page 1 of Melody Maker or Rolling Stone or whatever... -- Rsk the Wombat UUCP: { allegra, decvax, ihnp4, harpo, teklabs, ucbvax } !pur-ee!rsk { allegra, cornell, decvax, hplabs, ihnp4, ucbvax} !purdue!rsk