ByrnesMedia

THE MUSIC CHECKUP

Chris Byrnes

On most radio stations music makes up 75 to 80 percent of any hour. The big question is, is there someone spending the time to make sure your station is playing the right songs, in the right rotation, and the right frequency?

 

One thing I notice about Canadian radio is the disproportionate amount of time spent making sure the Canadian Content requirements are being met, while all the other fundamentals of sound music programming come second. Clearly living up to the conditions of a radio station’s broadcast license is critical and must be adhered to. However PD’s and Music Directors also need to find the time to massage the music log to ensure that what comes out of the speakers is perfect in order to make the station contagious.

 

So here are some suggestions that may help you give your music a “checkup”

 

  • Play the Hits: You need to identify and play the right music for your market, and your audience. Budget the money and conduct local music tests in your market, which will tell you which songs are hits, stiffs or burnt.

 

  • Library Size: Calculate the ideal number of songs within each category that will best serve your TSL, and trim your library accordingly. The Disney Corporation have a system they call “low ride out” which they apply to their theme parks. When they add a new ride, they remove the ride that is not performing, in order to make room. But they never make the park more congested. The same should apply to your music library, and the active songs in rotation should be no greater that 800 songs, and even less in some formats and competitive situations.

 

  • Music Software: Today music scheduling software is very powerful, and setup right can take most of the grunt work out of scheduling music. But often radio stations don’t check their software to ensure it is performing properly. This could be in part, because often the only “expert” on staff is the person who uses the software each day, and they don’t bother to check it out, they’re too busy, or perhaps they don’t know what to look for. 

 

Kevin Miller of RCS Canada says the most common mistakes radio stations make with music scheduling software is starting without a game plan. “They want the music scheduler to make the station sound great but don't have any idea of how to get to that point. Any music scheduler is a tool to help the PD and/or MD with their job, not as a replacement tool. If you don't have any idea of where you want to go, it is impossible to get there. Kevin says the most important elements a radio station should look at when setting up a music software system is to first think about what rules you want to use and how to set up categories before diving into a music scheduler. You need a clear idea of how you want the station to sound before starting to use the software”.

 

Millar says “RCS provides basic training for the system and can help in getting a user to where they want to be, but for fine tuning it's best to work with your with your consultant. Most consultants have experience with music schedulers and can provide you an in depth analysis of your data. RCS can also provide on-site training can be arranged at very little cost”.

 

  • Clocks: Look at each clock, and make sure the placement of each song achieves your stations programming goals. Look at where your drop songs are, what songs come out of stop sets and what songs you are using to drag your cume across each quarter hour. Look at where the talent talks, and where the sweepers are, so that each hour flows smoothly.

 

  • Balance: Check your music logs to make sure you have a good balance of song type, era balance and music flow. It’s now 2001 and you should look at the ideal music years that best appeal to your audience. If you’re targeting 25-49 year olds the important music years for this audience is 1970– 1994.

 

  • Recycle Your Music: The gold you play between 9am-4pm should be recycled overnight and play between 1am-5am. This will slow your rotations significantly, allowing you to have a tighter library to increase your hit power.

 

  • Add the Right Songs: Remember the song is more important than the artist. Just because Rod Stewart releases a song, does not mean it will be a hit. So listen to the song and make sure it fits the image of the station and is likely to appeal to your target audience. There is a fine line between waiting too long on a song, and going with it too early.

 

  • Listen To the Station: When you’ve done all this, print out a days music, and go sit in a hotel room and carefully listen to the station. You’ll get a better feel for how each hour flows, and you’ll even get to find out what songs your talent drops, inserts and replaces. You may be surprised to find that the small changes your talent makes, affects the overall sound of your station.

 

Clearly we don’t give away all our secrets for free, but I hope you have a good starting point. One of the services offered by ByrnesMedia is to check over your music system. Call (905) 332-1331 for more information.

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