Part 2: Music "Basics"

Last month I wrote about the "MPR’s" of Programming....a "nuts and bolts" checklist for prioritizing a programmer’s responsibilities in an efficient fashion which can help lead to better ratings. I believe the first "M" on the list is THE most important programming element of the "MPR’s." Therefore, short of programming a News or Talk station, the "Music" programming is critically important to the success of a radio station.

My focus this time around will be on the many factors involved in playing the
RIGHT music. There are many decisions to be made. In keeping with my original "MPR" premise, here is a simple "basic" checklist which can be used as a programmer’s primer in helping to focus attention on the "Music" programming priorities necessary to keep your radio station on track.

This checklist is intended to be used by programmers of all market sizes as a fundamental overview of music programming. With this concept of the "basics" as our foundation, the key question in programming the right music for your radio station might well be...where do you begin? With such a vast universe of music available to choose from, programming the music can be overwhelming.

Your format and target demo will obviously narrow the musical playing field. For the purposes of this checklist, let’s focus on an Active Rock station whose primary target is 25-34 Men. What resources need to be used to develop a music list that reflects the tastes of this core demographic? What musical artists will be the foundation of the playlist?

The Artist Benchmark List

A great place to start your focus is to create your radio station’s Artist Benchmark List. Simply put...these artists are the "cornerstone" of your radio station. A typical Active Rock Artist Benchmark List might include AOR stalwarts AC/DC, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Metallica, and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as key 90’s acts like Creed, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, and Tool. This Artist Benchmark List should also include Classic AOR artists like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

You can do this exercise with any format you choose. Typically you should start with about 20 to 25 artists in creating your station’s Artist Benchmark List. These are the artists you need to consistently showcase to your listeners. Once you’ve created this "Mt. Rushmore" of core artists, it’s time to organize them so they can effectively go out and perform for your audience.

Clusters, Categories, and Clocks

Your radio station’s Artist Benchmark List will usually cover a wide range of musical styles within your format. The next step is to organize these artists by creating music clusters. A typical Active Rock station might feature current and library music clusters which include Mainstream, Hard Rock, Hard Alternative, 80’s AOR, 90’s Grunge, and 70’s Classics.

Let me illustrate the sample current and library music clusters of an Active Rock station whose primary target demo is 25-34 Men:

Currents . . .Mainstream/ Hard Rock (70%)...currents from Mainstream and Hard Rock artists like Aerosmith, Candlebox, Metallica, and Creed. Hard Alternative (30%)...currents from Hard Alternative artists like Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Pearl Jam, and Eve 6.

Library . . . 80’s AOR (50%)...the best rock from 80’s AOR artists like Van Halen, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, and Guns’ n’ Roses. 90’s Grunge (25%)...the best rock from 90’s Grunge artists like Bush, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. 70’s Classic AOR (25%)...the best rock from classic AOR artists like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd.

The overall playlist of the station noted above would include 75% Library material per hour with the remaining 25% coming from the Currents. Once you’ve determined the appropriate music clusters or formatic styles within your main format, the next step is to create categories and clocks which will
further manage and direct the display of your station’s Artist Benchmark List
and subsequent music clusters.

In keeping with the Current to Library music ratio noted above, a typical music clock might schedule eleven songs per hour and break the music clusters down like this:

Currents...(three per hour): two Mainstream/ Hard and one Hard Alternative

Library...(eight per hour): four 80’s AOR, two 90’s Grunge, and two 70’s Classics

This way you’ve effectively controlled the display of your station’s music clusters within your clocks and categories.

Rotations and Scheduling

How many songs and what songs to fill each category with are usually determined by music research. These music clusters should be filled with the best testing tunes from your Artist Benchmark List in the categories you’ve set up for your station.

Scheduling the music effectively is a skill in itself. Whether you’re adept at Selector, Music Master, or any other music scheduling system, the more you effectively execute the special policies and tricks of your scheduling system, the smoother the ebb and flow of your music which directly leads to
longer Time Spent Listening (TSL).

Another important but often overlooked element of scheduling music is the art of programming the proper rotations of high testing music. Beyond the power testing currents, effectively rotating the power "recurrents" can be a true secret weapon in the programming of high rotation stations like CHR, Active Rock, Alternative, and Modern AC’s.

These former power testing currents shouldn’t fall off the map once they’ve moved out of the regular current rotation. Many times these songs are still very hot with the audience even though you and the jocks may be tired of hearing them. At the very least, these power "recurrents" should definitely rotate higher than the regular medium testing currents.

Current Music Decisions

If your station plays current music, the responsibility of determining what new music to play presents even more of a programming challenge. An astute Music Director is an invaluable asset to a programmer and the radio station. If your age as a programmer puts you outside of your station’s target demo, hopefully you’ve hired a Music Director or a music assistant "in the demo" to help you make music decisions using their feedback as a barometer of the musical tastes of your core audience.

I believe there are three important areas involved in the current music decision process. I’ve listed them below in order of importance:

1) Gut / Station Sound...the first step in making decisions about what current music to play on your radio station has to be based on gut. Having a "great ear" for finding new music isn’t usually something you can train someone. A great music programmer has a knack for following their "gut" instincts as an initial reaction to playing new music that will usually pique listener interest.

Of course, as a prerequisite, the song needs to fit the sound of the station. Beyond the station sound, a programmers "gut" feeling about a song’s potential to get a positive reaction with listeners is the first step in deciding what current music gets played on the radio station.

2) Callout Research.....after a song has been played on the radio for awhile, the callout research is used to gauge the success of the new music being played. There are many intangibles involved in this process as well. What is your screening criteria for the listeners? Are you testing the right hook of the song? How many times have you tested the same person before discarding their input?

Some type of music research is necessary to support your continued airplay of current music. Requests and sales are also important factors in the researching of new music. Overall, callout research is the most effective form of determining how well your new music is performing because it’s an arbitrary process that deals with the 80% of your audience that will never call a radio station with a request or purchase a new CD.

3) Trade Charts and Record Label Priorities....beyond simple gut and callout research, the trade charts and record label priorities are also important factors in helping programmers make current music decisions. The trade charts are based on spins which are obviously a good barometer of a song’s success on it’s individual radio station. Most of the time a station’s spins are based on their OWN positive callout research, sales , and requests.

A record label’s commitment to a new artist and song is another important element in a programmer’s decision to make a commitment to play a current track. A record label needs to champion their artist with radio promotions like concert tie-in’s, product, merchandise and other forms of non-traditional support. This sends a simple message to a programmer that this artist matters to the label.

A record label’s support of a new artist breeds confidence in a radio programmer to step out on current music they have a gut feel about. Once the new music is on the radio the audience has the chance to cast their vote of approval or disapproval thru callout research, requests, and sales.

Music Quantity

All of the steps noted above are in place to help you pick the RIGHT music to play on your radio station. While these music "quality" decisions help create positive Cume and Time Spent Listening (TSL), the final step of an effective music programming process is determining the right "quantity" to display your music.

Whether you program "Music Marathons" or "40 Minutes Non-Stop", these music quantity benchmarks have proven to be effective "enhancements" of a radio station’s TSL. The combination of great testing music displayed in long music sets is a powerful one-two punch that should ultimately lead to ratings success.