Month: January 1994

1/14/1994

So I’m sitting in Le Dome with a couple of other outlaws watching the ponies run. A money-winner stops near our table briefly and searches the bar with her eyes. Being a true, Southern gentleman, I quickly recognize a lady in distress and come to her rescue… whether she wants me to or not.

“You’re obviously looking for someone,” I say as I stand up and give her a bow. Then, making a grand, sweeping gesture with my hand, I continue, “Why don’t you join me for a drink until your companion arrives?”

She, of course, agrees (what woman wouldn’t) and sits down at the table.

My friends were speechless. I, of course, wasn’t, as I find myself in these situations quite often. I began to impress the lady with a glowing recitation of my pedigree, being careful to mix in enough information on current events to let her know I’m intelligent. Spotting a Warner Brothers logo on her jacket, I jump quickly into a monologue on how tight I am with the record moguls. She tells me she works for the movie company. I shift gears smoothly and explain how I have a movie deal with Warner Brothers on my book, “Payola!” Her eyes brighten up; I think I may have gone over the line (besides, she could check up on it) so I quickly amend my statement to say I have a deal pending. She, unfortunately, isn’t stupid and knows the key word in that sentence is “pending.”

About the time I figure I’m making real headway (which also coincides with the arrival of her drink) she stands and says, “There’s my date.”

I look across the room and see the ugly gnome this beautiful woman is meeting. “You’re leaving me for this guy?” I say incredulously.

She tosses her head back and gives me a quick look over her shoulder. “Call me when you’ve got a deal.”

Don’t you just love L.A?

Which brings me to the point of this Editorial. (If there every really is a point.) In our business, we seldom hear the word, “no.” We hear a lot of other words combined in different scenarios that mean the same thing, but rarely do we hear “no.”

In an industry that thrives on information like almost no other, where insider knowledge is almost as important as it is on Wall Street, where all people really want is an answer… even it it’s the wrong answer, we don’t hear “no” a lot.

No doubt we get the same result. But it’s often more painful. And certainly more drawn out.

Are we afraid of hurting someone’s feelings? Are we afraid of making a decision? Are we afraid of an argument? Are we so used to dodging and dancing that we just don’t know how?

Come on. If Nancy Reagan can just say no, can’t we?

But we are innovative, aren’t we? Do any of these ring a bell?

Callers you don’t want to talk with get the following no’s.

He’s in a meeting. He just left for lunch. He was here just a second ago; now I can’t find him. He’s in the bathroom. He’s in production. He’s in with the general manager. He’s not taking any calls. He was just taken to the hospital.

How about the program director run-around when you’re looking for an add?

It looks good for next week. I don’t have a copy of the CD. It’s a little slow and I’m really ballad-heavy. My general manager is really giving me a hassle about Rap product. I’m sure it’s not going to be a problem. The consultant is giving me a hassle. Let me listen to it again. I’m not getting good feedback. Let me think about it and get right back to you. I’m freezing this week. Call me back at two o’clock. I’m concerned about the stationality. I can’t talk now, I have to go to the hospital.

If you’re the head of promotion and you’re trying to get an answer from your LPM, you’ve certainly heard one of the following:

I really think we’ve got a shot. The guy’s a real asshole, but he said he would listen to it one more time. He’s only going to add two records and two other companies are offering him trips to Paris and thousands of dollars in cash…and a time buy. He’s trying to get his general manager to approve it. He really likes the record. I know I’m in the mix, but the indy will probably bump it. He’s in the hospital, I’m trying to get through to the emergency room.

If you’re a program director and have asked a favor from a record company, have you heard this?

The CDs haven’t arrived…there must be a problem at the plant. I don’t know what happened…I left the tickets at will call. I’ll overnight you a copy. I never got the message. My assistant must have fucked it up. I’m sorry, I’ve been in the hospital.

Damn, we’re a verbose group. We’ll always use a sentence when a word would suffice. Not me. When someone asked if last weeks Editorial about independent record promoters was the last one I would write on that subject, I gave them the answer.

No.

1/7/1994

Question: How many independents does it take to get a record on a major radio station?

The answer in the 1980s was 11. One to get the add and 10 others to call it in.

The answer in the 1990s could be: What’s an independent? With few exceptions, record companies are changing the way they’ve been doing business with independent record promoters. Already gone are the automatic payments that begin when a radio station attains parallel status. Going is the seven-four-three equation that has been in place for the better part of a decade. Calling in the add just ain’t gonna cut it anymore.

Record companies aren’t going to accept someone else’s criteria of which stations are important any longer. The record companies will be making those decisions…and treating the stations and the independent representatives accordingly.

Paper adds will be a thing of the past. With the advent of BDS and Plays Per Week, playlists won’t be a deciding factor in record in record company remuneration.

Play for pay is back…with a vengeance. And the emphasis is on play.

If it’s not on the radio in a decent rotation, record companies won’t care. Isn’t that the way it should be?

Anyone interested in maintaining the status quo is living in a subjective dream world. Change has begun. Already. Be a part of the future or you are doomed to become a relic of the  past.

So, how does this change in record company relevance affect you? If you’re in radio, you may not feel it…unless you’re a station that gets promotional and marketing dollars from independent record promoters in exchange for providing early adds. Or unless you’re a radio station that adds songs to your playlist without playing them. Or unless you’re a radio station in a smaller market that keeps a tight list and doesn’t influence record sales.

To quote that great line from the movie Planes, Trains And Automobiles, if you fall into one of these categories, “you’re fucked.” And quite frankly, if this is the case, you should be.

Why did we come up with a plan for independent record promoters to pay radio stations for the privilege of getting their adds early? In the strictest sense of the word, it might be legal, but it certainly isn’t right. And why have record companies paid independents for this information? In almost all cases, the independents involved don’t have any direct influence over the record adds on these stations. They just get them early. In the future, it’s not going to be enough.

Independents are going to be held accountable for their input. If they can get records played, they will be paid. And they should be. But just getting information early won’t wash. What will count?

Yank.

Before BDS and PPW, in independent could influence a record’s success by kee;ing it off a station’s playlist. It was an easy call for the program director. He could help the independent by not reporting the record. It didn’t hurt the PD because he could play it anyhow. The only way a record was measured was by its position on playlists. Not anymore. Keeping a record off a playlist doesn’t matter any longer. BDS and PPWs count airplay. And record companies are depending on BDS and PPWs. Not playlits.

If you’re in a BDS market, your airplay is an open book. What if you’re in a non-BDS market and don’t report PPWs? You can run, but you can’t hide. Record companies are not going to provide promotional or independent dollars to stations that don’t report PPWs. It’s not a threat on their part. It’s a fact. The simple train of thought is that if you don’t report PPW, your playlist must not be accurate. If you’re playing games with your list, record companies are not going to support you or your independent in the long run.

If you aren’t in a BDS market and you aren’t providing your PPWs, you should do so immediately. Once a record company makes a decision to downgrade your importance based on your inability to provide accurate information, it will be that much harder to convince them you’ve changed by providing PPWs after the fact. Do it now.

Before R&R’s parallel system (that made small stations with no impact on record sales as important as larger stations that impacted sales heavily), record companies looked to smaller markets to break acts. Radio stations in smaller markets were quicker to react to promotions and releases by new artists than those in the highly competitive major markets. In the parallel system, many of these stations become more interested in their status than the music and relationships with record companies. Lists shrank and adds tightened as much as on major market stations. Record companies were forced to find ways to break acts on larger stations in larger markets. Now, they need smaller stations less and less.

If you’re in a smaller market, it’s up to you to make yourself important to the record community again. Not by being claimed by an independent, but by committing to an open relationship with record companies. Remember the old saying, “Be nice to the people who are paid to be nice to you?” It’s going to be even more important in the future. Because these people are going to control the promotions and the audiences these promotions can attract.

As record companies change their way of doing business, independents won’t be able to afford to augment station budgets in return for early adds. In the 1990s, it won’t be the relationship with the general manager, but the program director that will matter.

To survive and prosper, independents will have to become involved in the msic they promote and the stations they work. No longer can they just take on projects. They might even have to know whether specific records are right for particular radio stations and their formats. Perish the thought!

Good independents will always be welcomed by both radio and records. But the day of the auctioneers are gone. Independents will have to influence the radio stations they claim. And the radio stations will have to have influence…with larger stations who watch what they do, with their audience who will purchase the records they play and with record companies who trust their lists because the provide Plays Per Week.

Simply put, for both independents and radio stations in the 1990s: No yank? No yen!