Expanding Radio's Playlist
November 14, 2005
I've been fascinated by the increasing popularity of radio stations that are using automated programming from a very large playlist of songs. Most of these are branded as Jack FM but some areas the stations go under other names.
I'd emailed Chris Anderson about this a while ago, because he's Mr. Long Tail (see Is Jack FM the Long Tail of radio?) and because I've spent time in the music industry and helped in running an online radio station a few years ago. I'd love to see anything shake up the stagnation that plagues the terrestrial radio industry.
Chris naturally has some good thoughts here, and as more people notice the format, I'm curious to see if radio embraces any other tenets of the music experience we're used to on our PCs and the Internet.
If you're not familiar with the format, some of the best backgrounders are Time's recent piece (as well as this piece from Time Canada) and an LA Times story which doesn't show up in their archives, but has been reposted on So New York Online.
2:20 PM
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The concept is interesting. You really don't know what to expect next. It can be fun!
However, what happens in the near future when the novelty wears off? How many of those songs that Jack FM (Mike FM here in the Boston area) plays would you actually listen to if they were in normal rotation on a typical radio station?
As I write this, Mike FM in Boston is playing Bryan Adams' "Run To You." If I was flipping through the FM dial and landed on this, I would most likely skip it. Billy Joel's "My Life" is now on and I'd skip that also.
When you get past the novelty, you still have a bunch of songs you don't want to listen to and too many commercials. Is there really any future in that?
While some scoff at it, I much prefer paying $12 a month for XM Satellite Radio. If I am in the mood for hip-hop, I have four channels to choose from. Rock: even more. Maybe some latin music? Sure.
It's just like cable tv: you get a better product than whats on the majority of network television.
Remember, Jack is essentially a response -- a cheap imitation really -- of the long tail of iPods, P2P, and Satellite Radio.
Ever since the 1996 telecommunications reform act, the Radio industry was able to cnsolidate, replace local DJs, program managers, etc. That was the beginning of the end . . .
I agree it's just a novelty that'll wear off as folks get bored of switching stations with boring songs (Bryan Adams ... hell no ... you can like him though)
You need new music every now and then .... and some commentary on which artist is doing what ...
I was wondering why terrestrial radio is getting boring ... I think it is because DJs talk a lot of cr*p on stuff one doesn't really care about ... what with our much talked about short attention spans (long live the attention deficit disordered consumer).
Way out? Notice how MTV's got all this funny video fillers ... and VH1 has got those popups in their popup videos .... well, I think Radio needs something similar ...
a radio version of Jackass??
Anything to grab attention without causing car crashes ...
Note that the ratings for 101.1FM in New York fell through the floor when the format switched to Jack: the station's Arbitron ratings fell from a 3.0-3.5 range to a 1.5 for summer 2005. (Information here.)
I recently wrote about the beauty of radio as a medium and technology that is trying to keep it alive.