Programming Via Voodoo

Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville.

The economy ... public tastes ... voodoo science all play a part in our lives in 2010.

Anyone read that excellent Alan Burns report on women and their radio needs? It was good ... maybe over the heads of many programming genius-types working in radio today.

Is it fear or survival that created a Country music format today that is basically the Top 40 format of 1972? And songs repeating every three hours in small markets? Come on. Crazy.

How do you with a straight face play an artist like Uncle Kracker and say you are tired of Taylor Swift? PPM fear ... weak physical sales ... programming by the seat of your pants.

You know good radio when you hear it ... artists are important in the Country and Pop format. You think my 13-year-old doesn't want to know everything possible about Jason Bieber? Is Country developing stars and superstars or just playing radio records? A little of both, yes, but the balance often gets very out of whack. I am not even brave or stupid enough to give some real examples of the crazy.

If women power the format, can you say they love a lot everything in this week's Top 20? After all, aren't you only playing15 to 18 new songs? Insane. Is the pool that shallow? No diving, please....

I just know Taylor Swift has been overplayed and is a major asset to the Country Music format. Figure out the balance.

See where the Tim McGraw movie changed names? "Country Strong" instead of "Love Don't Let Me Down." Does anyone ever do market research on titles for multi-million-dollar films? Did anyone actually love the title "Country Strong?" Jeez. Sounds like a spot remover or deodorant. Or a brand of paper towels.

The obvious is anything but in this world today. You wonder who is flying the plane sometimes.

Pop radio has label- and radio-built stars. GaGa, Bieber ... two dozen others get airplay and deep coverage. Pop has plenty to talk about.

Look at Country music today. Taylor gets the most coverage with Carrie right around her. Many of our stars are in the witness protection program. They don't tweet ... don't Facebook. Don't work YouTube. Some tweet but its fakey. Assistants doing the tweets and fans know the difference.

Come on, folks ... get with the 21st century. Make the social media real and feed the audience. We must hip up the dinosaurs and educate the rest how THIS MINUTE the whole business is now. You rise and fall faster than ever.

It's only going to get faster. Better get on the superhighway or just go to bed. That goes for radio people, too.

You keep up and evolve. Radio must do the basics and be there for the audience, be it weather coverage or music news. People are not stupid. Being old news readers isn't real smarter, either ... The Tennessean is always doing stories that I had on radio two days before, if not longer. The audience knows. Be on the edge, not in the attic.