Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Who decides what songs are played on oldies stations?

Heymatt:

Sponsored
Sponsored

By now the role of "independent promoters" in funneling record company money to radio stations in exchange for a coveted spot on their extremely limited play lists is pretty well known. But what's the deal with all these oldies stations that also only play the same 15 or 20 songs over and over, as if all of music history can be put on one album? Is Warner Brothers paying somebody to make us listen to "Moondance" 10 times a day?

--Roger Morrison, the Net

You'll be begging for "Moondance" when they switch to "Mandy." Anyway, we dialed up Huckleberry Spin, Team Matthew Alice's link with the aggravating world of pop-music radio. He claims "Moondance" is our own fault. Nobody's been paid to play it. No back-room deals to get some 25-year-old slice of vinyl on the air. We told them to play it! Of course we didn't say, "And pleeeeez play it ten times a day," but if a little is good, too much is better.

The play lists for oldies stations are determined by research with random bodies recruited from the target demographic, 25- to 54-year-olds. Round up some willing folks; play a bunch of oldies that bored us on Top 40 radio back when they were new; and then get the willing folks to rate them. From the ratings, you assemble a pool of listenable tunes. From the pool, you assemble your programming. Just another aspect of American life run by focus groups. Because the people paying for the research own a gazillion oldies stations, the same research or program tapes go to all of them. If someone in San Diego is sick of "Moondance," they can't go to Akron to get away from it. So the endless tape loops keep slinging the same songs at you. If you listen all day, the effect is like sitting on a slow-moving train, watching the telephone poles go by.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment

Heymatt:

Sponsored
Sponsored

By now the role of "independent promoters" in funneling record company money to radio stations in exchange for a coveted spot on their extremely limited play lists is pretty well known. But what's the deal with all these oldies stations that also only play the same 15 or 20 songs over and over, as if all of music history can be put on one album? Is Warner Brothers paying somebody to make us listen to "Moondance" 10 times a day?

--Roger Morrison, the Net

You'll be begging for "Moondance" when they switch to "Mandy." Anyway, we dialed up Huckleberry Spin, Team Matthew Alice's link with the aggravating world of pop-music radio. He claims "Moondance" is our own fault. Nobody's been paid to play it. No back-room deals to get some 25-year-old slice of vinyl on the air. We told them to play it! Of course we didn't say, "And pleeeeez play it ten times a day," but if a little is good, too much is better.

The play lists for oldies stations are determined by research with random bodies recruited from the target demographic, 25- to 54-year-olds. Round up some willing folks; play a bunch of oldies that bored us on Top 40 radio back when they were new; and then get the willing folks to rate them. From the ratings, you assemble a pool of listenable tunes. From the pool, you assemble your programming. Just another aspect of American life run by focus groups. Because the people paying for the research own a gazillion oldies stations, the same research or program tapes go to all of them. If someone in San Diego is sick of "Moondance," they can't go to Akron to get away from it. So the endless tape loops keep slinging the same songs at you. If you listen all day, the effect is like sitting on a slow-moving train, watching the telephone poles go by.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.