We Know What You Did Last Summer

Trying to Opt Back In -- The Season's New "In Crowd"

Radio historians will likely see this summer as a season of change. They recorded what you did last summer and recognize that many are doing the same things this summer ... nothing. Or, at least, nothing new. This frightening failure to embody the necessary shifts could mean that your era may pass with you. More demands and more pressure coupled with less time and fewer resources have simply increased the need to create solutions. And last summer's solutions will not solve this summer's problems.

A new social graph links us all. As we all move into and are affected by the digital fast lane, radio is not only being affected, it's in danger of being left behind. Much of what we learned and applied last summer has already changed ... or is in the process of changing. From executing station promotions to online research to music scheduling, the business model is constantly evolving. For a while, Urban radio was the place where its listeners discovered new music. Unfortunately, for many markets, that is not the case any more. The audience may still be listening to Urban or Urban AC radio, but they are discovering and finding new music elsewhere.

Summer is when a lot of radio pre-sets get changed ... often permanently. The question becomes, can our formats ignore these trends and survive? If a station prides itself on playing new music, where can its PD find the next trends in music and recapture the magic that radio used to have?

Passion & Non-Traditional Trends

Before we attempt to answer those trend questions, here are a few thoughts we'd like to share with you. Some of the fastest-growing new artists are suddenly coming out of the indie scene.

These new artists are not being discovered on commercial radio, but often in places like the Internet, non-traditional radio outlets, including satellite and college radio and through word-of-mouth. Some are still being influenced by what happens in the clubs and through mix DJs.

To be a true player in 2010, you've got be aware of trends in music, research and business. Some studies we've seen recently show that media in general -- and terrestrial radio in particular --- seems to be in decline. These studies attribute at least part of the reason for the decline to a lack of passion.

However it is displayed, most of us in radio are almost always passionate (when permitted the freedom necessary for that passion to pump). If we weren't passionate, we wouldn't have chosen a life and career that rarely offers rewards beyond those gained in the practice of our crafts. Some people think passion itself guarantees quality, but one has less to do with the other than we assume.

It's easy enough to point out some successful person as an example and say he or she has such passion and that it naturally led to success. But you can be sure that there are dozens of others just as obsessive and just as talented who never make it. It all comes down to the appreciation our industry has for talent, creativity or the lack thereof and timing.

Speaking of timing, why has the audience been leaving radio for the past few years? They left because radio hasn't made enough innovative moves to keep them. While 95% of U.S. households still tune to terrestrial radio, the average time people spend listening has dropped steadily even since last summer.

Playing The Blame Game

Unfortunately, in some respects, radio is still behaving like it did last summer. This year will see even less research, which means we still won't know what our listeners want. This, coupled with more cuts in staffing, means less time for programmers and managers to think about new ways to connect with the audience. So who's to blame for all these problems? While it's not all their fault, a major part of it is.

So with that in mind, let's start "the blame game" with the owners. These radio owners made a grave mistake when they gave the power to make programming decisions to salespeople. No matter how successful they were at sales, these "bean counters" don't fully understand programming. They have tunnel vision and even the best of them can only see to the end of the quarter. Given the high costs of developing talent and the low costs of distribution, it's easy to see why radio executives turned to syndication and voicetracking in an attempt to stretch their on-air talent budgets across as much of the broadcast week as possible.

In every other business the decision-makers at the top recognize the importance of the product. For radio that's the talent. It's obvious that the sales mentality is destroying radio. Innovation isn't a part of radio today. It wasn't last this summer. It isn't this summer and it probably won't be next summer. There is little room for new concepts, because anything new that costs money scares these sales-driven "suits" who occupy the corporate suites of most radio companies.

While we can certainly blame many of the problems that have caused us to fail or fall behind on the managers, we also have to blame ourselves. We've been disabused of our naiveté and arrogance. Many of our business models are now in retreat, if not being routed. The Internet is stealing our audiences and our ad dollars.

We're angry that, like everyone else, we're now subject to business and financial pressures. Increasingly, decisions about how formats are programmed are now simply tailored to appeal to advertisers. Often they're designed to cut costs. Splintering media markets have weakened the economic base for Urban formats. The changes involve more than economics. Now programmers are expected to be multimedia utility players, feeding websites, juggling several stations -- all this while finding new ways to engage their audiences and adjusting to a new audience measurement system called PPM.

Perhaps we didn't do enough or fight harder to make owners and managers see that it's still passion and its application that makes the difference. You're probably wondering how this relates to summer and programming. The point is that the same problem exists in our industry and in our niche culture that we worked so hard to develop. It isn't a seasonal malady, but one that resurfaced this summer when a lot of passionate programmers were forced to spend a significant amount of time and effort revising their systems.

Musically, programmers attempted to use their research tools and Mscores to validate their original premonitions on songs. Often, when they hit the nail on the head, they would see it right away with the first hundred spins. Many decisions came down to gut and intuition at the beginning of the life cycle of a summer record. The other problem is when programmers are looking for someone or something to blame, they blame the research. We've gone through a period where programmers have been trying to tell listeners what they want to hear rather than listening to audience preferences. Programmers need to use their research, but also rely on their gut and open their minds to the people consuming their product.

Listener-Focused Content

Summer is a great time to experiment ... and one thing that can force some fickle fingers to focus on your frequency is listener-focused content. It's more than a relatable break where an air personality raps about something he/she hopes is of interest to a listener. In fact, they need to avoid breaks that are somehow just tied to themselves. I call them "ego breaks." There's nothing worse that having a jock who is ill-prepared, who has done very little or no show prep, trying to make up for it by talking about themselves.

The prevailing mentality now is to cut all breaks to the bone because of PPM monitoring. There is still a way for great jocks to use celebrity gossip, combined with back and front-sell over a 12-second intro or on the fade position of the last record. This kind of thinking seems to have become almost a lost art along with live, local morning shows.

Listener-focused content can set your station apart from being just another "cookie-cutter sound-alike." There are lots of listeners with radios on their desks or wrapped around their torso, who don't want to just hear continuous music all day. They would love a little human contact to break up the monotony and make them feel less lonely and more connected. They still want someone to make them laugh, chuckle or think.

Yes, I would be the first to agree that, especially with Arbitron's PPM, there are natural advantages to continuous music for long-term conventional in-office, on-the-job listening. But once that position has been successfully staked out, the way to compete is to try something else.

There are many air personalities, programmers, consultants and managers who are very serious about what they do for a living. Additionally, of course, we have plenty of companies that seemingly care deeply about the products and services they create. Still, none of them taken together is a guarantee of quality. You can have all the enthusiasm and passion in the world, but if you work for a company that only cares about profit, you will continue to be forced to operate on a shoestring. And all you can really do on a shoestring is trip -- and not the way you want to.

In spite of all this, you can't get discouraged. You have to continue to develop that passion. And yes, 2010 will see a continuation and even a greater dependence on research as a tool that determines what gets played and for how long. But maybe this summer will also mark the beginning of a new attitude and some who have a feel and an ear for the music that will please their audience. Hopefully, they will work for a company that will encourage them to step forward. And when that happens, no longer will we be reduced to undermining musical works of art by reducing the jams we play to just those "safe summer songs" that pass through the "research filter."

The reality is that the contemporary structures of broadcast media ownership and regulation, as well as recent patterns of consolidation of newspapers and other media ownership, have combined with the pressure on all media to turn ever increasing levels of profit. These will continue to undermine the passion in our industry and, ultimately determine who wins.

Seasons change. And the things you did last summer can't just be plugged in and recycled. What are you doing for this summer? What are your plans for the fall? How is your station utilizing new technology social network platforms? Are you using the station's Twitter as an extension of your entertainment platform? That's an amazing way to keep the conversation and the buzz going with those P1s. If you or your station has just 2,000 friends on Facebook and one of them has a meter, or gets a diary and you can remind them that you're on the air, it's legal, acceptable ... and it works.

How do you wrap yourself around the multi-platform experience that you know most of your listeners and potential listeners are dealing with? The future is meeting aggregating audiences. There are many ways to reach listeners and you have to take full advantage of all these platforms. Technology has enabled us to personalize our relationship with the audience. It's a lot like low-hanging fruit.

Increased competition for listeners' attention will always be an issue, regardless of the season -- whether it's on radio, the satellite or the web. Those of us who are involved with Urban formats on terrestrial radio must continue to drive innovation with the right music, compelling personalities and great content. The good news is that our format isn't collapsing; it's merely changing. Change takes time. And even though everybody's in a hurry, some things shouldn't be rushed. Take the time to do it right. Remember when fools rush in, the joke's on them.

Word.