Month: February 1998

Louder

2/20/1998

 

I spent Valentine’s Day with Greg Fry. As two of L.A.’s most eligible bachelors, we can’t have dates for Valentine’s Day because, invariably, the ladies get the wrong idea and we run the risk of breaking hearts. (This is, of course, a nice way of saying that two losers couldn’t score companionship on the most romantic night of the year, so we wound up hanging out with each other.)

 

Two guys discussing radio…Greg in his earl 30s, me nearly 40. (Why do you have to be in your late 30s to be “nearly 40?” If you’re just past your 40th birthday, aren’t you as “nearly 40” as if you were 38? I think so and since it’s my Editorial, I’m nearly 40.) Anyhow, after several bottles of beer and as many glasses of wine, what did we wound up doing? All together, radio geeks:

 

Listening to airchecks.

 

Only people in radio understand. It’s a disease. When two or more radio freaks are gathered together at someone’s house with alcohol involved, we wind up listening to airchecks.

 

Afterwards, the discussion turned to high-energy radio and why stations abandoned that delivery. The next day, between three-putts, I posed the same question to Scott Shannon and Dan Kieley. Nobody had a definitive answer.

 

Top 40 radio abandoned its high-energy approach several years ago…not because it wasn’t working, but because PDs just opted to go another way. No high-energy Top 40 was beaten in the ratings by a more “mellow” approach. So, what happened?

 

Blame the consultants. It’s an easy out…and not exactly accurate…but close enough. Consider my reasoning: Most consultants are hired by management. Very few managers are comfortable with high-energy radio. Too many negatives are associated with that delivery.

 

Consultants don’t program, they consult. They don’t listen, they analyze research. Most consultants try and reduce negatives from their client stations. Subjective research says the audience hates too much clutter, too much talk and screaming deejays who rap over the beginning of songs.

 

When the consultant suggests eliminating these negatives, the biggest fan is the manager…who doesn’t like these things either.

 

There you have it.

 

Subjective research is extremely dangerous and basing decisions on this information should only be done by the PD. Allow me to shed light on some subjective research: When KIIS, Z100 and KFRC were dominating their markets, what were the biggest complaints from listeners? Too much clutter, too much talk and stupid deejays who rapped over the intros to records.

 

However, these same listeners were the core audience They like those stations because the stations were fun to listen to.

 

It’s an interesting point to note that clutter…meaning too many commercials…was always the first thing mentioned, yet no manager cut the commercial load because the audience didn’t like it.

 

To their credit, consultants also insist that their client radio stations should sound “fun.” But a consultant isn’t programming the station. It’s up to the PD to take the advice of a consultant, then make programming decisions based on what makes the radio station sound best.

 

Be careful of subjective research. It’s dangerous…particularly when used by the wrong people. Consider subjective research used by NBC for the top-rated Seinfeld show. Sixty-two percent of the television audience doesn’t watch the show because they don’t like the jokes and can’t identify with the characters. Thirty-eight percent watch the show because they think the jokes are funny and identify with the characters. A consultant might suggest changing the jokes and characters to attract a larger audience. The head of programming might tell the consultant to get bent.

 

It’s interesting to note that KIIS and Z100 began losing listeners about the same time high-energy was abandoned. I know other factors were involved, but humor me for a second. Both of these stations employed the top consultants to no avail. Both stations began regaining listeners when Kieley and Tom Poleman re-energized the sound. It’s also interesting to note that WXKS Boston and WFLZ Tampa have continued to dominate their markets over the years by never wavering from their high-energy approach.

 

Does it work today? Our panel of “experts” says, “Yes.” To those consultants and managers who moan that older demos would desert, may I point out the most successful 25-54 station in the country: KRTH Los Angeles. KRTH is filled with hih-energy promotions like “The Big Kahuna,” stupid phrases like “King Kong Cash” and jocks who talk up every vocal and hit every post. It isn’t just the music, or every Oldies station would share KRTH’s billing.

 

The audience wants to identify with a station. They…and the station…want to have fun. Consider these factors when you’re studying subjective research. Every successful station has negatives associated with it. The more successful, the more negatives…also the more positives. Weigh the criticism against your programming judgment.

 

Remember, if 90% of the available audience doesn’t like your station, you’ll have a 10 share, a bonus, a new contract and your choice of teams at the Network 40 Summer Games in Lake Tahoe June 25-27.

 

Go home, break out some airchecks, then return to the station and kick it up a notch!

Stupidity Is Timeless

2/13/1998 

I got a note from Mark McKay last week. We worked together at KFRC San Francisco, B95 Kansas City and Y106 Orlando. Mark is on the air in Kansas City and told me he was listening to old airchecks of KFRC to find bits and breaks he could use because, as he said, “…stupidity is timeless.”

 

It’s the best phrase I’ve heard yet to describe the radio and record business. Nowhere is stupidity more relevant than when analyzing conventions. 

Forever, all of us in our industry have been making the tiresome trek to one convention or another that promises to deliver speakers, workshops and hardware that will make our industrial lives easier. In the entertainment business, where hyperbole is next to Godliness, no statement falls as far from its promise.

 

Stupidity is timeless. Witness last week’s Gavin convention. Now don’t get me wrong, my good friend Dave Sholin does a great job. The convention is well-attended. It certainly is the only large convention you should attend. R&R’s convention (speaking of stupidity being timeless) will be worthless. But large conventions are becoming more of a pain in the ass instead of brain food that is promised. 

Gavin does a good job. But its success is the very thing that serves to its detriment. It’s just too big.

 

And can we please have a moratorium on panels? When is the last time anyone said anything worthwhile during a panel discussion? If one of the panelists happened to drop a pearl of wisdom, would anyone in the audience be awake to hear it? 

The Top 40 panel was by far the most interesting, but my legs still went to sleep. And it wasn’t because of the speakers involved. All are knowledgeable programmers who have wisdom to share. But when five people are vying for air time, you wind up with a lot of dead air. Besides, stations and markets are so different now, what is perfect for one successful station in a major market won’t work for another station in a different place. Instead of listening to Tom Poleman and Dan Kieley on the same panel talking about apples and oranges, wouldn’t it be better to listen to Tom Poleman speak for 30 minutes about what makes Z100 successful, then have the opportunity to listen to Dan Kieley take us through the same routine with KIIS? Having both on the same panel (with two or three other successful programmers) doesn’t serve the audience…or the PDs who are involved.

 

Panel discussions are kind of like programming by committee: There are a lot of good ideas, but by the time the ideas get out, they don’t matter any more. 

The chief complaint about conventions is that panels are boring. Yet most conventionas schedule more panels. That’s like doing call-out research and upping the rotation on songs that are showing the most burn.

 

Gavin manages the best large convention in our industry. But is it too large to serve the needs of those who attend? Do you not wind up seeing everyone, but spend quality time with no one? 

Can you tell I’m leading up to a point? Ah, yes: The 1998 Network 40 Summer Games in Lake Tahoe June 25-27.

 

There are no panels. No boring speakers. No meetings you have to doze through. And even more exciting…no awards ceremony that lasts longer than it takes to download The Beatles library on the Internet. 

There are only 200 people…100 from record companies…100 from radio. It’s a ration you can’t find in most radio station lobbies…much less the conventions.

 

Does that mean you learn less? Hardly. What other setting provides you the opportunity to forge relationships with your peers on a one-to-one basis? Where else can you compete in games of skill and fun with and against others in our industry? 

Would you rather listen to a boring panel discussion or ask specific, face-to-face questions to the PDs and radio executives you only glimpse from a crowd at a convention?

 

It’s a slam dunk. (We’ve added that to the competition this year!) 

Stupidity is timeless. For two years, we did our research to find out what the industry wanted. Last year, Network 40 took the positives, ditched the negatives and dared to do something never before attempted.

 

Guess what? It worked. The inaugural Network 40 Summer Games were the most successful and talked-about event of 1997. And we’re “stupid” enough to do it again this year. 

The Network 40 Summer Games is the most exclusive gathering of radio and record people in the history of our business. It’s exclusive for a reason. You can’t be all things to all people. We don’t try. By offering one-on-one opportunities with those in our industry, you have the opportunity to forge new, personal relationships that will last long after the Summer Games become history.

 

Those who believe relationships are made through casual dinners with 50 or more people are deluding themselves. And if there’s someone more important than you at the table, you’re totally out of luck. 

The Network 40 Summer Games provides the intimate setting that will make it easier to expand your relationships. Plus, we’ve all heard the stories about your athletic prowess. You can talk the talk…but can you walk the walk?

 

Stupidity is timeless. 

So is brilliance!

Shout At The Mirror

 2/6/1998

We live in a strange world…and it’s getting stranger by the minute. Baseball players spit on umpires. Basketball players try to kill their coaches. Everyone seems intent on blaming their problems on someone else. 

In the history of society, never have so many bitched about so much. Passing the buck has become the national pastime.

It’s difficult to find an individual who will admit to a mistake. When is the last time you heard someone say: “I’m sorry. I screwed up.” 

No. It’s never our fault. It’s the mail. It’s our assistant. It’s the other guy. It’s never us.

This concept of blaming someone else has always been part and parcel of the radio and record business. There are too many easy targets. The GM can always blame the PD. The PD can blame Arbitron or the Sales Manager. The record company A&R department can blame the promotion department. Promotion can blame A&R. When all else fails, record companies can blame radio. 

But it’s a fact that somebody is responsible. Identifying that person (or group of people) and getting the person to take responsibility is another story.

The entertainment industry, be it motion pictures, professional sports, records or radio, is filled with those who are quick to blame others for their own inadequacies. Accepting responsibility and affecting change to make ourselves better isn’t something that’s done often. Failure is something that’s always someone else’s fault. These feeling of inadequacy usually take the form of loud griping. Sometimes, lawsuits are threatened or instigated. In a few instances, someone steps way over the line. 

Which brings me to the subject of this Editorial.

Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil and Mick Mars, the four mediocre musicians who comprise the group, Motley Crue, have never been hesitant to cross the line. As a matter of fact, this group of posers has gone so far over the line that they’ve almost become an invisible blur across some distant horizon. 

Recently, they’ve set a new record for jumping over the line…and this time, it could be impossible for them to jump back.

Motley Crue was big for about a minute. It’s too bad the group couldn’t just fade away like one of their mid-chart records. But no, they must go kicking and screaming into their good night continuing to be “as bad as they want to be.” The difference is, Dennis Rodman can still rebound. Motley Crue can’t even bounce.

In a recent tirade, Nikki Sick blamed all of the band’s problems on Elektra Records Chairperson Sylvia Rhone. When describing Sylvia, he also used the “C” word. 

Nikki, boy, get a grip.

The Crues latest album, which Nikki predicted would sell around three million, is stuck at the 250,000 mark…a feat considered remarkable by most in the record industry, given the lackluster songs that litter the CD. The majority of those sales came in the first week, stimulated by thousands of dollars in marketing money spent by Elektra. Diehard fans wanted to see if Motley Crue could make a comeback with Vince Neil’s return as the lead singer. 

It seems no one was impressed.

Nikki pretended to be the Pied Piper (who had a better voice) and led a recent audience in a half-full concert venue in the singing of “Fuck Elektra.”

Nikki has never been approached to become a member of MENSA. 

Nikki Sixx has lost his mind. Blaming the record company for lack of sales is past ridiculous. Record companies are in the business to make money. I’ve never heard a label head say, “We’re investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on this CD an we’re really hoping it doesn’t sell a copy. We want it to stiff.”

Nikki wants to blame someone for the lack of sales of Motley Crue’s latest album. So he calls the president of his label a derogatory term and asks his fans to “Fuck Elektra.” I’m sure it made everyone at the concert want to rush out and purchase the CD. Trouble is, Nikki’s fans spent all their money on booze, drugs and bail money. So they fuck Elektra (and Nikki) by not buying the album. 

Through it all, Elektra Chairperson Sylvia Rhone has reacted in her typically classy fashion. As usual, she has remained above the fray. However, let me give Mr. Sixx a warning: I know Sylvia a lot better than you do. Keep using the “C” word and the “N” word and one day you’ll find you’ve made a huge mistake.

Hey, Nikki. Here’s a news flash: Sylvia Rhone and Elektra Records aren’t your problem. Instead of blaming her, why don’t you look in the mirror and at the others in your group and ask why you don’t write better lyrics and play better songs? No record company in the world can prevent a hit from happening (why would they want to?)…anymore than it can make a stiff sell…as illustrated by the latest Motley Crue record. 

Please give all this ranting at the moon a rest. You’re boring. Go back into the studio and cut a hit record. Instead of putting Sylvia Rhone down, seek her input. She knows what she’s doing. And despite what you’ve said, she would love for you to have a smash.

You’ve got two choices: Update your tired act and become a part of the future…or be buried with your mediocre past.Â