Dear Friends:
When I first started out in the working world I was drawn to broadcasting and eventually became a rock and roll disc jockey for some major radio stations in Toronto, Vancouver and Windsor (Detroit) .....until I was in my mid-twenties..... and then went to join the family business and became a Volkswagen dealer.
This kept me busy until about the year 2010 at which time I became semi-retired, semi-employed, semi-working, semi-busy and semi-sane enough to go back to my old broadcasting days (which I had never really left anyway) to became a consultant for a few radio stations here in Ontario!
As a final hurrah to my broadcast career, I have been developing a programming concept for an audience of adults aged 39 and up! (Radio for Adults!)
The reason I say 39 is because every other radio station around caters to the youth market (Gen Y and Millenials) of ages 12-39 or sometimes 18-49....... like the "all hit" stations, or "Virgin" radio!
BUT: There is no format that specifically addresses the 'Gen X' and 'Boomer crowd' (me) .....so after a lot of thinking and study..... I put together a package that would appeal to "ADULTS." (Which is where the money is anyway)
Aside from a lot of stuff about general information, traffic and weather, local or community involvement, product placement, demographics and a whole bunch of other things designed to appeal to that portion of the population that was no longer "Hip" or "With-It" ......I realized that the major draw for these ageing hipsters like me and my friends..... was the MUSIC. (I put that in capitals because that's what everything else revolves around folks!)
Now comes the reason for this rather lengthy narration of my aims and purpose.
Since the format was aimed at a crowd that was more settled in their ways and didn't like hard rock, heavy metal, hip-hop or RAP...... it would be called "Lite FM" and showcase songs that didn't have a big "tune-out" factor. (A lot of statins call themselves Lite FM but they think 'Lite' means playing more oldies.....whether they're Lite or not!)
The target audience would relate best to songs from the '70s to the '90s with an occasional "classic" song from the 60s and some stuff from 2000+ (As long as it wasn't too irritating! .....See below)
In other words: An audience that was much like ME and my friends!
With all this in mind I came up with this:
-Instantly recognizable popular "pop" songs with a good hook and no "tune-outs" like screaming guitars or vocals, and no drum machines and/or repetitive vocals (Like most songs since 2000)
-No black music except well-known r&b and disco. (But not too hard or heavy) After all the demographic for this format is mostly white, middle class and middle-aged!
-ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION:
-No songs with heavy synthesizers or electronic shit.
-If it's a 'boy band' record..... it had better be a BIG hit..... and not too whiny!
AND:
-Never-ever play a song where anybody says "yow" "listen here" "bitch" or "know what I'm saying!" (Black music and hip-hop music has taken a disgusting turn in the past twenty years or so!)
PLUS, these general rules:
FAST & MEDIUM SONGS FOR DAYTIME
MEDIUM & SLOW FOR NIGHTTIME (7 P.M.) - "THE LOUNGE!" (MUSIC FOR LOVERS!)
NOW comes the raison d'être for this whole article kids:
When I was checking out various songs to see if they were suitable for this "Lite" format,.... and to make sure they were popular enough..... I noticed that the songs for my target audience had "hits" in the tens of millions on the Internet. (And the bigger the number the more popular the song.)
BUT:
When the music started to change with hip-hop and rap, etc. around 1995 the number of "hits" went from the tens of millions to the HUNDREDS of millions on Google... and generally the bigger the numbers were...... the worse the song was! (Thanks to the Internet I was seeing songs with half a billion, or even a billion or two hits...... and they were terrible!)
SO......, I guess that all of this goes to show that I am no longer "hip" or "with-it" folks........ but I know what we like!
The way I see it anyway!
(I was a Radio D.J. when I was younger!)
When I first started out in the working world I was drawn to broadcasting and eventually became a rock and roll disc jockey for some major radio stations in Toronto, Vancouver and Windsor (Detroit) .....until I was in my mid-twenties..... and then went to join the family business and became a Volkswagen dealer.
This kept me busy until about the year 2010 at which time I became semi-retired, semi-employed, semi-working, semi-busy and semi-sane enough to go back to my old broadcasting days (which I had never really left anyway) to became a consultant for a few radio stations here in Ontario!
As a final hurrah to my broadcast career, I have been developing a programming concept for an audience of adults aged 39 and up! (Radio for Adults!)
The reason I say 39 is because every other radio station around caters to the youth market (Gen Y and Millenials) of ages 12-39 or sometimes 18-49....... like the "all hit" stations, or "Virgin" radio!
BUT: There is no format that specifically addresses the 'Gen X' and 'Boomer crowd' (me) .....so after a lot of thinking and study..... I put together a package that would appeal to "ADULTS." (Which is where the money is anyway)
Aside from a lot of stuff about general information, traffic and weather, local or community involvement, product placement, demographics and a whole bunch of other things designed to appeal to that portion of the population that was no longer "Hip" or "With-It" ......I realized that the major draw for these ageing hipsters like me and my friends..... was the MUSIC. (I put that in capitals because that's what everything else revolves around folks!)
Now comes the reason for this rather lengthy narration of my aims and purpose.
Since the format was aimed at a crowd that was more settled in their ways and didn't like hard rock, heavy metal, hip-hop or RAP...... it would be called "Lite FM" and showcase songs that didn't have a big "tune-out" factor. (A lot of statins call themselves Lite FM but they think 'Lite' means playing more oldies.....whether they're Lite or not!)
The target audience would relate best to songs from the '70s to the '90s with an occasional "classic" song from the 60s and some stuff from 2000+ (As long as it wasn't too irritating! .....See below)
In other words: An audience that was much like ME and my friends!
With all this in mind I came up with this:
-Instantly recognizable popular "pop" songs with a good hook and no "tune-outs" like screaming guitars or vocals, and no drum machines and/or repetitive vocals (Like most songs since 2000)
-No black music except well-known r&b and disco. (But not too hard or heavy) After all the demographic for this format is mostly white, middle class and middle-aged!
-ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION:
-No songs with heavy synthesizers or electronic shit.
-If it's a 'boy band' record..... it had better be a BIG hit..... and not too whiny!
AND:
-Never-ever play a song where anybody says "yow" "listen here" "bitch" or "know what I'm saying!" (Black music and hip-hop music has taken a disgusting turn in the past twenty years or so!)
PLUS, these general rules:
FAST & MEDIUM SONGS FOR DAYTIME
MEDIUM & SLOW FOR NIGHTTIME (7 P.M.) - "THE LOUNGE!" (MUSIC FOR LOVERS!)
NOW comes the raison d'être for this whole article kids:
When I was checking out various songs to see if they were suitable for this "Lite" format,.... and to make sure they were popular enough..... I noticed that the songs for my target audience had "hits" in the tens of millions on the Internet. (And the bigger the number the more popular the song.)
BUT:
When the music started to change with hip-hop and rap, etc. around 1995 the number of "hits" went from the tens of millions to the HUNDREDS of millions on Google... and generally the bigger the numbers were...... the worse the song was! (Thanks to the Internet I was seeing songs with half a billion, or even a billion or two hits...... and they were terrible!)
SO......, I guess that all of this goes to show that I am no longer "hip" or "with-it" folks........ but I know what we like!
The way I see it anyway!
(I was a Radio D.J. when I was younger!)
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