Why did radio stations stop giving DJs a say in the music?

JJKC

Once upon a time, 2fm and even some Today FM presenters were completely free to play whatever they wanted, John Clarke said that even in the tightly formatted pirates of the 80s, the DJs had a say in about 3 tracks per hour because how else wound the listeners get to know the DJs personality? That's why people nowadays can't tell the difference between the new generation of 2fm/Today FM djs

TheBMG

1986 and the arrival of supertight (and incredibly successful) playlists on Sunshine 101.

Infoanon

Nova was tightly formatted for day parts , There was an exception for Declan Meehans Brekkie Trekkie which Chris Cary put down to him not been up that early in the morning.

As the BMG said Bill Cunnigham introduced strict playlists to Hot Hits Sunshine 101 in '86 ,hugely successful and hence copied by others .

2FM remained fairly free flow until '89 , with some having a free choice in the music played .

alzer100

CHR and Hot AC (Hot AC from April 1994 onwards) formatted radio stations originated from the US in which the playlists are not a reflection of chart single sales. Radio station programming directors have a huge say as to whether an established or new artists song will be played on their station. The song has to have a certain sound which is compatible with the stations overall sound and feel. Essentially the record company pushes it to radio, the PD's will give it X amount of rotation and if it is picked up by the listener it will get increased rotation. They compile their radio airplay charts from this process whether it's Billboard CHR/HotAC airplay charts or Radio & Records.

This procedure has been implemented by US radio stations since the 1970's with "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem" been a reflection of this chart. However from 1972 to 1988 AT40 used the BillBoard Hot 100 chart and selected from 40 to number 1 as the countdown. Those 40 songs were regarded as the top 40 CHR airplay songs played on CHR stations across the country. CHR stations would only play those 40 songs on rotation mixed with older songs from that chart from let's say the previous 5 years. In other words the DJ or presenter had no input into a CHR radio stations playlist.

In Ireland (especially Dublin) up untill 1986, the DJ or presenter did have great influence on track selection. Bill Cunningham introduced this strict US CHR model to Dublin on Sunshine Radio and then later to Q102.

Both radio stations playlists largely consisted of the current Billboard chart on high rotation those of which could also be heard on AT40 with Casey Kasem and the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.

If you were in your mid teens as the time you probably would have loved it but if you were older you may have hated it as some of the DJs on both stations quit or were fired because of their dislike to it and Bill Cunningham's stringent programming policies.

Radio stations later adopted a similar approach but not based on the US current CHR or HotAC airplay charts.

flazio

It's the accountants striking royalty deals with the big record companies surely? "Play our music more often, we give your station more money, you get to pay your staff and stay on air."

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118568909#Comment_118568909

That’s the opposite of how it works. Radio pays the record companies to play their music. Radio stations have to fork out the royalties regardless.

California Dreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118568909#Comment_118568909

You don't really see that, you might get a free trip to a junket if you played certain artists there buddy!

flazio

Hadn't had my coffee, other way around of course. Pop hits are cheaper than indie stuff, hence are easier to play. Playlists are set to a budget hence why they're out of dj and public hands.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118569456#Comment_118569456

Playlists are set to a budget? Pop hits are cheaper than indie hits? None of this is true.

Ballycommon Mast

The reason both 2fm & Today FM axed their Sunday afternoon oldies shows within weeks of each other in 2014 was the ad agencies told them to

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118569934#Comment_118569934

What BMG says is true .... there is no direct charge per play and it certainly is not affected by genre.

Music royalties rates are based on a station's annual turnover (not profit). The more money you take in, the higher the fee, regardless of the type of music you play, or the profit/loss you might make. The rate also considers the percentage of music you play in your total programming output - based on how important music is to your product offering. Eg, Newstalk would pay a lower percentage of their turnover figure than FM104, because music is a much smaller part of their overall programming output and so contributes less to the generation of their annual turnover.

The cost per play is not a figure that the royalties collectors work out, they just take their percentage fee based on the amount of music played and the turnover generated. The cost per play can be calculated by stations themselves based on the number of music tracks they play, in relation to the fees they pay out. There are only so many tracks you can play in a day, so if you are paying a higher royalties fee because of your financial turnover, then that works out as a higher cost per play. The fees charged, based on your turnover, are then distributed to the artists you played, through automatically generated play stats that are compiled by the station playout system and then submitted to the royalties collection agency. The stats of tracks played will also include details of the artist, the composer, the publisher and the record company, for each track.

Then you also have to include your PPI and MCPS annual licence fees, to get the true cost for each track played. It's not as simple as most people think.

Losty Dublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118569934#Comment_118569934

I think he must have been involved in the Scottish radio Holding bid for the National franchise back in 1996 with that idea.

alzer100

Most independent radio stations in Ireland regardless of format are targeting a particular age group. The most dominant is the 35-45 + market. Particularly for music radio, the advertising agencies and the radio stations believe the most effective way to target that audience is to have a set playlist of songs that appeal to that audience with a slight deviation to add some contemporary music to that playlist which would be viewed to appeal to that particular audience. With the exception of specialised shows a DJ or a presenter playing his or her own music would alienate that process.

In the mid to late 1980's in Dublin it was about playing the most music per hour with limited talk set to the background of contemporary hits. The advertiser although considered extremely important did not control directly or indirectly a radio stations programming output. That changed with the legalisation of local radio. Like any business it is about maximum return on investment and in so doing puts the advertiser in a very strong position.

The 35-45 year old group are regarded as having the most income for spending on products that fund the advertiser and so music radio stations market and carefully select and design their playlists to that "mainstream" listener. Again in the 80s it was about playing the hottest music first and the most of it and so strict set playlists were designed. Now a generally unchanging playlist exists on music radio stations under the guise of "best music mix" etc. with no input from the presenter.

If they keep the advertiser happy they will keep themselves in the black which keeps the investor/shareholder happy.

Everybody's happy except the "genuine radio" listener.