Hey everyone out there in Y100Rocks.com-land….my name’s Liam Static and I’m a deejay here. I actually have only lived in Philly for about a year now, so I got a full month and a half of Y100 FM. However, I’ve been a listener of Y100Rocks.com from day one!!!
For as long as I can remember I’ve been a radio geek. I recall calling in to the local Top 40 station when I was in elementary school to make requests and try to get on the air. Despite the fact that my voice was rather high pitched, at times I succeeded. Then in high school, I hosted a live local access show that featured bands, call-ins, interviews, and many on-air personalities in the area. For whatever reason, my television show started to become an outlet for some of the deejays – and I began to enjoy making frequent appearances on the same Top 40 station that I had called when I was younger. On various occasions I would be late for school because I was doing a live call-in with the morning show. Sadly, my high school didn’t quite understand the same excitement that I felt.
To top things off, after a night of partying at my senior prom, I decided to bring my date over to the morning show for a special post-prom appearance. Yes, I was certainly an aspiring deejay, or radio geek, no matter how you sliced it!
Years later, after a couple radio dj gigs of my own, I now find myself staring in the face of a radio industry in transition. Satellite radio, online radio, and C.D. players in cars have all spawned a less profitable terrestrial radio industry. Howard Stern’s departure is just an exclamation mark on the transformation that has been occurring in recent years.
For those in the rock radio industry, Howard Stern’s departure perhaps could not come at a more pivotal moment. During the past two years, of course, rock stations (particularly alternative/modern rock stations) have become a rare commodity. In
Eyeing this trend, and led by the belief that younger audiences increasingly are leaning toward hip hop music in lieu of rock, the handful of companies that control nearly all of the radio industry have opted to pull their rock stations. Infinity Broadcasting, owning WYSP and all the large market stations that carried Howard Stern, has decided to switch many of its stations over to a “hot talk” format as opposed to playing rock music.
Economically, the move makes a good deal of sense. According to the Washington Post (1/18/05), from mid-1999 to last summer, rock stations as a whole lost an average of 13 percent of their audience. While many different theories exist to explain the sharp decline, ranging from a decline in the quality of rock music to too many commercials on the airwaves (incidentally, Clear Channel has scaled back their commercials considerably in the past year), nobody has been able to put their finger on to why exactly fewer people are listening to rock stations.
As usual, the answer is far from easy. The argument that rock is dead simply does not float. During the past 5 years, for instance, rock record sales have actually increased. And since rock music has always been diverse in nature, claiming that today’s rock suffers from a “lack of identity” also seems too flimsy. Instead of the music itself being the problem, in this case listener interaction is the culprit.
The younger audiences that listen to rock music are more inclined to listen to it on their own rather than waiting to hear it on the radio. And, in a way, this makes perfect sense to me. I mean, who on earth would want to hear Nickelback played every hour? Who would want to hear a weekly playlist consisting of ten core songs played over and over?
It is my assertion that alternative rock radio listeners have come to perceive stations as uninspiring and stale. However, the good news is that there are various ways this problem can be remedied.
For one, these stations should have a more comprehensive playlist than those in CHR and classic rock formats. Many alt rock mavens like to hear a wide array of songs, and may even sit through a song they do not enjoy without changing the station. Likewise, these listeners do not enjoy hearing the same song multiple times a day.
It is for this very reason that alternative rock listeners who are technologically savvy to begin with, have found virtual means of listening to their music and have drifted away from radio. This group feels like rock stations are just playing the same cookie-cutter mainstreamed songs repeatedly.
Secondly, and most importantly, the listeners feel a lack of control in what they hear. A recent study by Jacobs Media concluded that the main difference between satellite and terrestrial radio was not the technology, but the control. “The whole issue,” they said, “was whether something is pushed to me, or if they can control it.” Note that this interesting study does not say that new technology, or new mediums of information, will lead to the demise of terrestrial radio as many others have claimed. Rather, it provides the framework for what problems the radio industry needs to address.
Radio stations have to be programmed in advance for many reasons. Legal, organizational, and practical concerns come in to play, among others. However, creating the perception of choice is a problem that the radio industry has struggled with for many years. Where in many CHR formats listeners are more fickle and certainly less focused on the music itself, alternative rock stations do not have this luxury. It is for this reason that alternative rock station listernership has suffered considerably: they must follow a similar tight-playlist and limited request format that does not encourage as much participation as it should.
The key is to have a playlist, but at the same time maximize interaction and relationships with the listener; make the listener feel that the station they are tuned in to is cool and innovative. Give them new songs to tell their friends about. And, most importantly, give people multiple reasons to listen (other than just the music) with giveaways, concert promotions, etc.. I believe that Y100 FM did a good job with their promotions, and the community responded and showed their support in tens of thousands after their departure.
Y100Rocks.com is an interesting hybrid of community-based and commercial radio. On the one hand, the station does receive money from sponsors who pay for banner ads on its webpage, works to promote concerts, and conducts regular ticket giveaways and promotional appearances. However, Y100Rocks.com also has a staff of volunteer deejays and also gives listeners the chance to support the station through interacting on email and instant messenger. The sound of the station also reflects this hybridization. Y100Rocks has decent equipment, professionally-edited station IDs and sweepers, and a smart mix of music – but it also has volunteer deejays that have the power to do wide-open breaks without having to worry about a time limit or getting a certain amount of commercials in during the hour. Furthermore, the play list is wide enough that the listener is not barraged with the same songs all day.
“Online” radio should be a model for what alternative rock FM stations could turn in to. What if one of these FM commercial stations had an online component that the listeners could help run? It would be like imagining Y100 FM with Y100Rocks.com working together. The two would not necessarily compete with one another, but instead could function as both a commercial and community outlet that all operate under one umbrella. Much like what digital cable has done to compete with satellite television, terrestrial radio could make similar technological inroads to better position itself for the future.
I don’t buy claims that new technology or changes in music quality have impacted the radio industry - they are just simplified explanations of the phenomenon. The answer lies in a revolutionary repackaging of alternative rock in a way that puts the listener first and makes them feel both cool and influential. Other players such as sponsors, record labels, and promoters need to work closely with the radio industry on this. Although satellite radio may be the exciting “medium of the future,” the precedent, immediacy, and accessibility of terrestrial radio will inexorably help the “medium of the past” reinvent itself and prevail.
Onword!!
Liam Static
