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Maybe by returning to their roots and playing, exposing, promoting and generally cherishing new rock music, these stations would arouse the passion in the audience once again—a passion which is still there, but has moved to the Internet, and other outlets, in search of satisfaction.

CAN ROCK & ROLL RADIO SURVIVE?

Spitzer Campaign, Falling Ratings, Shifting Demographics Plague Programmers
Even as esteemed an authority as N.Y. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer recognizes radio’s role in breaking records and bands.

As he told the N.Y. TimesJeff Leeds, the actions of record promotion executives "speaks to the understanding in the industry that radio play is the best way to motivate sales, and folks would do what needed to be done to get the airtime."

So what have the man’s actions wrought? At least at Active Rock and Alternative radio, an almost complete lack of playlist adds—not just for new music, but all acts. His campaign against so-called payola has resulted in less, not more, new music, being exposed to the public, which has a trickle-down effect on nervous station PDs, as well as overwrought label promotion staffs. And, finally, this has slowed down the system, making it harder than ever to break new rock acts, which have always been, as the age-old saying goes, “the lifeblood of the music industry.” If that’s the case, the record business is on “lifeblood” support.

These days, victims of plummeting ratings, rock stations around the country have been forced to jam their playlists with familiar songs, making it that much more difficult to break new acts. Many weeks, these stations have either frozen their playlists, or added, at most, one or two songs, rarely from new artists. However, even with a policy of playing oldies, recurrents and only a rare selection of great current rock music, their ratings have not rebounded.

Maybe by returning to their roots and playing, exposing, promoting and generally cherishing new rock music, these stations would arouse the passion in the audience once again—a passion which is still there, but has moved to the Internet, and other outlets, in search of satisfaction.

There are still many rock stations throughout the U.S. that start records off. Among those in the Top 50 U.S. markets are: KROQ, KCRW and KDLD L.A., KBZT and 91X San Diego, KNDD Seattle, KNRK Portland, Live105 San Francisco, KROX Austin, KRBZ Kansas City, 99X Atlanta, Q101 Chicago, WFNX Boston, WPBZ W. Palm Beach, CD101 Columbus, WGVX Minneapolis and WROX Norfolk.

Said one industry observer: “There is a real climate of fear out there. Not just from Spitzer’s investigation, but sagging ratings for rock radio in general. No one wants to step out and take a chance anymore.”

Another prominent programmer feels that playing too many currents hurts a station’s ratings, but playing the “right” currents, like, say Arctic Monkeys, Panic! at the Disco or Blue October, could result in big radio hits and album sales.

Some stations, like KRBZ Kansas City or KNRK Portland, can still position themselves as the “alternative,” and succeed by NOT playing the big Active-leaning Modern Rock records, but that is usually the exception. Part of the ratings problem is that the new generation didn’t grow up on the radio, so there isn’t a constant influx of new listeners. Also, the directive to skew older to guarantee beer revenue has had a detrimental impact on attracting the younger demographic.

These are just some of the factors causing headaches at the top of the record company pyramid. Presidents convey their frustration to marketing heads and promotion heads without an understanding of the “new rules of the marketplace.” And those new rules are simple:

  1. Everything takes longer
  2. Taking longer isn’t necessarily a bad thing
  3. Today’s promotion executives must be better than ever at their jobs because of the difficulty and the patience needed to convey to programmers that their music deserves to be heard
  4. The rewards are still big when a job is done right, taking time and incorporating touring, Internet, licensing and all of the new tools available to help break bands

These rewards can create great careers and important catalogs for labels and end up as a big win for all. New artists can still score big. Island’s breaking of The Killers and Fall Out Boy led to an increase in sales which has led them to the top of the current marketshare list. Reprise’s two-year campaign yielded tremendous results for My Chemical Romance. These new artists from last year and more are now the lifeblood for many stations.

Rock promotion execs can still deliver big results for record companies, but they must be supported from above.

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