Oh, The Games People Play!

While roaming around California the last week trying to relax, I got wind of the incident involving a young singer and a radio station cancelling an in-station visit. It turns out her boyfriend is on a competing station, so no way you are singing here ... Well...

This is 2017 and the world of social media ... her fans found out and IT hit the fan!

The competing station jumped on board playing her song every hour ... The cancelling station decided they made a boo-boo. Backtracking to the max.

The Washington Post picked up the story ... The trades ... The local Nashville paper did, too ... etc., etc. ...

Big black eye for the station that was stupid and petty to cancel that show in the first place. May this be a huge learning experience for any radio folks trying to pull crap like this in the future.

Social media is a lot like radio. It's fast and flexible. Things can go well or bad very quickly! This story was changing by the hour ... The act. then the react! The apology and the nimble competitor trying to capitalize on the fumble.

If you have been on the label side or radio side, you have seen a lot of silly, petty behavior over the years. The big difference today: Social media can engage the audience as fast or faster than radio can. It's like an immediate People's Court.

So what will happen now in the age of social media when a station decides not to play a new song by an artist? It's #15 everywhere but station K***. Will the fans call that station out? What if a station invites an artist to play in the break room, but only the cleanup crew and a production guy show up?

This social media deal can and may change how stations operate. How many local stations really play what they want, when they want? Very few. If you have no corporate guidelines and can break a new artist on a whim, then good for you.

Twitter, Facebook, etc. etc. is where all too many people now get their news ... You Tube, etc., where they see and hear new music.

Scanning the dial this week ... The AM band is still there but it's thin ... The FM still playing the hits ... mostly an automated jukebox. The commercial load on so many stations is crazy. Long long commercial breaks. You simply change stations.

The cautious approach by radio programmers ... nearly six months to get to #1 ... sometimes longer ... Is that really smart these days?

Audience measurement ... chart movement ... artist interaction ... big issues that effect a lot of people...

The labels are all about streaming these days, but still for the most part, understand radio is still the widest exposure. It is hard to imagine for you city folks, but cellphone service and the Internet are not everywhere! Not everyone has 100 bucks a month for streaming services and Internet.

The moral of the story ... there's a new sheriff in town called social media. It will call you out and eat your lunch. So better think twice before some silly power play sends you to unemployment land.

Treat artists with respect, not someone you can bully around. That was never cool anyway; now it can be fatal for you, your brand and maybe career.

If social media can take the air out of the sails for a few bullies, then hail Twitter and Facebook! The great equalizers.