[NewMusic] Can't Get Enough of the 80s

[Sarah - 21 Grand]

Matt D. asked:

Which reminds me - wasn't there a time when radio playlists were
determined by the indivudal stations, rather than a central hub?

- Yes, a lot of the Clear Channel clearcutting happened in the past 10
years. When I was a dj at a commercial station in the mid 90s, the station
did select its own playlist, though what went on it - and those goes back to
the 60s and beyond - was determined primarily by:

what other stations in its format were playing (and how often)
chart placement of songs
label affiliation and trade payola (put this godawful one hit wonder in
heavy rotation and we'll give you exclusive rights to giveaway tickets to
everyone's favorite band's stadium show in your area)
a certain amount of demographic research on the local population so there
were a few token local bands made big in rotation - (I was in Rhode Island -
the station played more Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Pixies than the station
I listened to at home broadcasting out of SF)

The early-mid 90s also saw the computerization of radio playlists, with the
computer program spitting out an exact schedule of what was to be played
when and in what order according to parameters such as tempo, level of
rotation, and so forth, whereas before then the Music Director or DJs
followed basic rules of thumb to determine this. It was drilled into us from
Day 3 (Day 1's drill was: Never say anything bad about the music or the
station; Day 2's drill was how to pronounce stuff - this was Rhode Island) -
do not play a slow quiet song after a fast loud song.

sl