10/18/1994
There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake. I waited for the add on Tuesday…you were late.
In an industry where tensions between record companies and radio stations increase every week, there are definitely misunderstandings. Unfortunately, the chasms of misunderstanding, in to many cases, are turning into canyons. The symbiotic relationship that exists between the record and radio industries causes more strife and turmoil than any other.
Record companies depend on radio to expose their product and stimulate sales. Radio depends on record companies to provide the product that causes people to listen. Yet these two industries, which depend so much on each other, couldn’t be further apart in the objectives. The ties that bind are stretching to the breaking point and there seems to be little, if anything, that can be done about it. For both industries, the old maxim, “Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em,†is the most accurate description.
Misunderstandings exist on both sides of the coin. In most cases, rather than trying to understand the other, each side tries to “use†the other for its own benefit. Both industries spend much time and money on charities and causes that promote understanding, caring and togetherness. We should devote just as much time to those same propositions as they relate to our day-to-day operations and relationships.
This misunderstanding starts from the very beginning. The vast majority of those working at record companies originally seek their employment because they have a deep passion for music. It’s extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to find a record company staffer who is not passionate about music. This passion is reinforced by their daily environment. Although record company employees spend a lot of time in meetings concerned with budgets, cost-effectiveness and waste control, their world spins around music.
Record promoters are excited even before a band is signed by the energy generated around the activity. A&R heads share their excitement about new bands they’re chasing. When a band is signed, the entire company is elated. Often, before a new group enters the studio, staffers hear the band live at showcases. They are involved in the entire projects.
As the band prepares a forthcoming release, promotion people hear bits and pieces and the excitement builds. Much time and effort is spent within the halls of each record company to generate more excitement as the project builds. A record’s success means success all the way down the line in a record company. Breaking a new artist is like winning the Super Bowl.
A successful act makes a record company. The record company makes more money. A lot of people make more money. Promotions are awarded. Everything is right with the world.
It’s just a bit different in radio.
Radio programmers usually begin at the same point as their record company counterparts. Most get into the business because they are passionate about music. However, that passion is dimmed quickly by radio reality.
Unlike those in the record business, programmers’ bosses aren’t driven by a passion for music. In over 20 years as a programmer, I never once had a general manager tell me how much he liked a record we were playing. Few of them are aware of the music. Most don’t care.
About the only time a general manager comments on music is after a meeting with a big client who complains about something his daughter was listening to when he took her to school.
Radio isn’t concerned with building an act. Radio isn’t concerned about a new artist. Radio isn’t moved by the excitement within a label.
Programmers are concerned with keeping their jobs. PDs are concerned with the next rend. They are concerned with positioning. So when passion meets positioning, what to you get? Pissed off. A bigger question is, how do we get past this hurdle? The answer isn’t easy. Hard work, more understanding and lot of tender, loving care.
Record companies must be more understanding of the plight of individual programmers. Record promoters must move past the high-pressure hype and auctioneer attitudes and work with PDs toward a common goal. Programmers must rediscover the passion that moved them to get into the business in the first place. Not, of course, at the expense of the ratings, but for the greater success that lies beyond. As more entertainment entities compete for the audience, unique programming abilities may be the only thing that separates one from the pack. Those abilities should include your proclivity for selecting music your audience wants to hear.
Record companies should involve programmers earlier in the life of an artist. Too often, the only thing a programmer knows is that the record is out and has to be added this week. And when a programmer does step out and play a record early and the act winds upu being a huge hit, what does the PD get? Congratulations from his general manager? A raise? If he’s lucky, maybe a Gold record.
Record companies need to involve programmers at the beginning of projects…and at the end. How many artists visit programmers to say thanks? Few. How many record companies spend as much time and money saying thank you for a successful project as they do for the add?
PDs must be concerned with breaking new acts and new ground. The future of all formats lies in fresh artists and sounds. Playing it too safe may earn short-term gains, but it will spell the death of the format in the long run.
Those in Country Music have done this since the beginning. They involve programmers from the start and, in most cases, also involve the artists so a connection can be made. It makes the process more than a hyperkinetic Tuesday frenzy. The programmers become passionate about the music and careers of the artists involved.
If we all spend a little more time acknowledging that we’re in this thing together…and more effort in involving each other with our own problems and passions, perhaps both industries could begin working together toward a common goal.
Success for both.