Hi
Ok, I see that it might be a delicate job selecting what new songs make it to the play list, especially when there is doubtless pressure from various sources to play certain stuff.
There can be a hell of a lot at stake with songs getting on a playlist. For a song to sell, people need to know about it. Getting a tune played at a keytime on a key show can make or break it. It can even make or break an act's career.
....but surely this isn't really what the beeb is aiming at by being repetitive though is it, because if it is then surely that would be iffy!?
By having a playlist means that certain songs will be repeated more than overs. That is the nature of the beast. The cause for concern is what gets on the playlist and how it gets on the playlist.
IN the 50s, during the early days of rock 'n' roll, people saw how the music was selling & making money. Everybody wanted a piece of the action. Artists, groups, record labels sprang up overnight. They all wanted to make it.
Radio stations were key in breaking records. Certain djs had big power. These djs only had a limited time on air so they could only play some many tunes. 1000s of record were released so only a few would get large air play. They had to decide what gets played.
It wasn't uncommon for label owners, artist managers, record companies, etc to offer "incentives" to play their product. In those day, what was played was usually fully or mainly down to the dj.
The playola scandel of the 50s was due to Djs getting secret payments for playing and pushing certain records. The court case killed Alan Freed's career and helped to bring in playlists that were decided by producers, program managers, station owners and not usually the Djs.
At the end of the day, a radio station has to cherry pick a playlist. There is always going to be heavy debate to decide want goes on it.
It's not the beebs job to sell records; keeping the listeners happy and entertained with a variety of popular music should be their job, not promoting a fairly small list of songs/artists. Whilst airplay obviously effects sales, the charts should dictate the playlist (for radio 1 at least) not the other way around.
Radio one has a job to entertain it's target audience. By nature of what it does, playing music, that will help to sell records. Having a play list means there will be a small number of acts getting peak daytime plays.
Charts should not dicate the playlist but playlists can help to dicate the charts. If a tune gets heavy plays then it can become popular which can lead to big sales and a hign chart prosition.
Part of radio one's remit is play new music. It defines new music as unreleased music or music that has a released less than a month ago. 45% of music played has to fit this remit. It also says that 40% of the acts should be from the UK.
The full remit is
here. It makes interesting reading.
Of course we want to hear new stuff, but I've heard dj's playing singles repetitively when the song isn't due to released for several weeks. I can't see how this reflects public opinion, until the point at which they've made public opinion reflect their own by playing the song over and over again!
It is standard practice, to play tunes well before their release date. This helps to build up the popularity & familarity of the tune. It helps first week of release sales. Nowadays, a lot of records have their peak chart positions on after the first week of release.
Radio one is trying to get the opinion of it's listeners to like the station enough to carry on listening. They decide what to play and how to present it. Thety stand or fall by these things. If they get it right, they keep or increase their listenership. Get it wrong, they lose listeners.
Obviously I'm not having a go at you here, if this is the way it's done then this is the way it's done, and perhaps this is the way it
has to be done! But, as a long term listener I've always found radio 1 a bit too repetitive and seemingly increasingly so in recent years, and I think there should be more room for variety as that helps to make it entertaining.
Anyhoo, it's all somewhat academic as my car radio has packed up! Ha ha, typical, but at least it saves me from Kid Rock
.
Sorry for all the Kid Rock fans out there, I know it's all down to taste, you either have it or you don't. Only kidding! (probably).
No I don;t see you having a go at me. This is how the business is. I don't fully agree with everything about it but that is how it is done.
To be honest, Radio one has always been repetitive. That is part of the reason it is popular overall.
There is more variety out there, you just got to find it.
Overall Radio one appeals to some and not to others.
SCIDB
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