Song Tags

WBEB/Philadelphia and Jerry Lee get credit for this innovative tactic. Their researcher and consultant is the well-known father of The Research Group, Bill Moyes. Former McVay Media consultant and current PD of WLTW/New York City; Chris Conley was PD of WBEB when they launched the tactic. WBEB PD Chuck Knight continues to hone this tactic. Song tags are recorded announcements of song titles/artists that air immediately following every song on the radio station.

WLTJ/Pittsburgh (Q92-9) is another radio station that was quick to grab onto the tactic. WLTJ varies a male voice and a female voice on their song tags. McVay Media client WJYE/Buffalo is a new convert to the tactic. Chuck Stevens brought the tactic from WLTJ/Pittsburgh. WBEB states the name of the radio station and uses the actual "song tag." WLTJ and WJYE do not. The name "song tag" is based around the iPod; iPod users can "tag a song" to see the artist and title.

Regardless of whether you state "song tag" or your station's name/frequency when executing the tactic, it is clear that, based on the research we've seen over the years, listeners want to know the name and title of every song that is played. Announcing it live, recording it or utilizing an RDS to tell the audience the name of your songs and titles isn't important. What is important is that you identify every song with title and artist.

We're monitoring and researching this tactic. Will there be burn-out of the voices if they are not changed on a monthly basis? We don't know the answer to that yet. Does saying "song tag" with the tactic improve its impact or increase the burn level of this feature? We don't know the answer to that yet, either. These are things that will be analyzed as time goes on.

While I am not ready to add the "song tag" tactic to every radio station we consult, it does bring to light the need for regular identification of the music we play. It's always been a benefit to utilize the artist in the songs that we play as a way to image our station and reinforce the position of what it is you do on the air. More on "song tags" as time progresses.