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Numberscruncher: Who Needs the Radio?

Ann Logue January 5, 2010 12

When I was a kid, I had to listen to whatever the DJ picked.

One of the odder decade-end lists was Nielsen’s list of the most-played singles on radio between 2000 and 2009.  It’s a head scratcher – “Drops of Jupiter” got more play than “American Idiot” or anything by Coldplay? Usher was bigger than Beyonce or Justin Timberlake? In what universe?

It’s a list that reflects radio programmers who are out of touch with what real people are listening to. In the first decade of the 21st century, the radio broadcasters consolidated to make more money. Led by Clear Channel, which owns 894 radio stations in the United States, the goal was to offer standardized programming everywhere. Clear Channel also promoted concerts and bands, so it offered a seamless package for advertisers.

The problem is that the listeners revolted. No matter how many times they had to listen to it, a line like “the best soy latte you ever had” never inspired drivers to sing along at the top of their lungs. Besides, Clear Channel stations were so packed with commercials that one was lucky to hear a song at all.

So what happened? People at home turned to the Internet. Why listen to yet another ad for herbal impotence preparations when one could hear good music from Santa Monica or the U.K.? It’s ironic, because in the early days of the Internet, the thought was that radio was the perfect complementary medium because you could have it on in the background while you were online. Of course, that’s when we were all using dial-up.

Clear Channel, meanwhile, is losing money, although that’s in part due to debt and restructuring charges from a 2007 merger with Bain Capital and Thomas Lee Partners, two private equity firms. Sirius XM had 18.5 million subscribers as of September 30 of 2009, all of whom were paying about $10 a month (or driving a new car) in order to avoid the dreck of some Morning Zoo DJ telling poo-poo and pee-pee jokes. Sirius is profitable, although not by much; its $500 million contract with Howard Stern cuts into results a bit.

Apple introduced the iPod in 2001 and has since sold more than 220 million of the devices. They are used with iTunes software, which makes it easy for people to listen to their own music when they are at their computer, running on the track, or in the car. Radio Shack sells cigarette-lighter adapters for people with old cars, and most new models have a USB port. Even boring corporate Blackberries have music capabilities so that a road warrior can hear her own music in a hotel room, not whatever the local Clear Channel affiliate wants her to hear.

The result is that all the decade-end music charts are screwed up. They don’t reflect what people listened to. School kids didn’t learn about Soulja Boy on the radio; their friends told them to go home and find the video of the Crank Dat dance on YouTube. Then they watched Dora the Explorer do it. Radio never entered into the equation this decade.

Back in the olden days, the Clash, the Kinks, Rush, and the Ramones wrote hit songs about the magic of radio. That sub-genre of songwriting is dead. Clear Channel is dying.  Long live rock.

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POSTED IN » Current Events, Numberscruncher
About the author: Ann Logue View all posts by
Ann Logue is a freelance writer and consulting analyst who is fascinated by business and technology. She has a particular interest in regulatory issues and corporate governance. She is the author of "Emerging Markets for Dummies" (Wiley 2011), “Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies” (Wiley 2009), “Day Trading for Dummies” (Wiley 2007), and “Hedge Funds for Dummies” (Wiley 2006), and has written for Barron’s, Institutional Investor, and Newsweek Japan, among other publications. As an editor and ghostwriter, she worked on a book published by the International Monetary Fund and another by a Wall Street currency strategiest. She is a lecturer in finance at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current career follows 12 years of experience as an investment analyst. She holds a B.A. from Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.How's that for deathly dull?

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  • JonCummings

    Actually, none of these results surprise me one bit. It's been a while, so it's easy to forget, but Usher completely dominated the first few years of this decade on pop radio — and “Yeah!” was by far his biggest hit, and one of those songs (like “Hey Ya” or “Crazy”) that radio can play forever.

    As far as “Drops of Jupiter” goes … for one thing, Hot AC has tight playlists compared to other formats, but every Hot AC/Adult Top 40 station I've encountered STILL plays the crap out of that song to this day. Besides, I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of the song — despite some severely dicey lyrics (you didn't even use the worst line, which is “Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken”), it's one of the most emotionally resonant songs of the decade, and it's “na na na” closing may be (yeah, I'm going there) the most effective since “Hey Jude.”

    While you are most certainly correct that millions of listeners have rebelled against corporate-controlled playlists, and ventured in increasing numbers toward iPods, YouTube and satellite radio to discover music that ClearChannel and the other monoliths aren't providing, terrestrial radio is still the big bully on the playground … especially among those most likely to listen to Hot AC/Adult Top 40 and country (who are also the people who are still buying CDs).

    And while a long-term rebellion may be growing, I'm pretty sure folks aren't rebelling against “Drops of Jupiter” specifically. In fact, considering the extent to which the conglomerates test-market the songs on their playlists, you can bet that any song that's still being played that heavily as a recurrent is a REALLY popular song.

  • http://twitter.com/mattsledge Matt Sledge

    In corporate radio, one phrase rules them all (besides “we need to be pleasing the shareholders”), and it's this:

    If the song doesn't research well, it's gone.

    Programming via your gut (hey, that's a GOOD song!) doesn't exist these days because everything is researched to death.

  • http://www.popdose.com Ted

    I'll add one more phrase to yours: “We don't want to play the wrong song!”

    It's a variation of “If the song doesn't research well, it's gone,” but it's all about wanting your competitors to make all the mistakes (i.e., playing the wrong song) so your station sounds better because you're playing the “tested” hits. The problem is, the climate is so conservative that very few (if any) stations take those kind of risks, and that's part of the reason why the playlists are so tight. There are tricks music programmers use (the good ones, that is) to give listeners the sense that the they play more music than other stations, but they are few and far between. In this wonderful age of multitasking, many just don't have the time to edit their playlists as carefully as they should.

  • http://www.annlogue.com annielogue

    Jon, I think you are the only person I ever met who likes that song. A Canadian friend got mad at me because she was talking about it, and I said that I had never heard it (true at the time) and that maybe it was CanCon, and she said, no, not even CanCon would be that bad, it was purely American dreck. To my horror, she was right: it was American, and it was dreck.

  • JonCummings

    Well, we may need a ruling from the compilers on this, but I'm 99% certain I'm not the only person responsible for “Drops of Jupiter” showing up at #67 on the Popdose 100 Songs of the Decade last Thanksgiving…so that's at least one other person…

  • http://www.kenshane.com kshane

    I've been an XM subscriber from nearly the beginning. It was magnificent when it was run by people like Lee Abrams. Since the Sirius merger (which was really not a merger, but a takeover), music has been the victim of Mel Karmizin's management. He seems determined to destroy satellite radio in much the same way that he helped to destroy commercial radio. We're getting much, much tighter playlists, and less imaginative programming in general. If Howard doesn't renew his contract next year, I wonder if Sirius/XM can survive. I may be gone by then anyway. And by the way, it's been a long time since I paid $10 a month for my subscription, if ever.

  • EightE1

    I don't know, Jon. The song, I believe, is credited to five writers, and to these ears, it's pure gibberish. The band is capable of some genuinely affecting stuff (“Calling All Angels,” “Following Rita,” “Cab,” “Parachute”) when Pat What's-His-Name isn't trying to be cute with the cultural references and non sequiturs, but the appeal of “Drops of Jupiter” eludes me.

  • http://www.kenshane.com kshane

    I've been an XM subscriber from nearly the beginning. It was magnificent when it was run by people like Lee Abrams. Since the Sirius merger (which was really not a merger, but a takeover), music has been the victim of Mel Karmizin's management. He seems determined to destroy satellite radio in much the same way that he helped to destroy commercial radio. We're getting much, much tighter playlists, and less imaginative programming in general. If Howard doesn't renew his contract next year, I wonder if Sirius/XM can survive. I may be gone by then anyway. And by the way, it's been a long time since I paid $10 a month for my subscription, if ever.

  • EightE1

    I don't know, Jon. The song, I believe, is credited to five writers, and to these ears, it's pure gibberish. The band is capable of some genuinely affecting stuff (“Calling All Angels,” “Following Rita,” “Cab,” “Parachute”) when Pat What's-His-Name isn't trying to be cute with the cultural references and non sequiturs, but the appeal of “Drops of Jupiter” eludes me.

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