Why did this song fade so quickly?

[westlife]

Jet - "Look What You've Done"

This song was all over AC radio a few months ago, but now it's GONE... I don't hear it played AT ALL.  Why?

That's one thing I don't like about how most AC playlists... it seems like if a song doesn't make it to the top of the national AC chart, then it never becomes a "recurrent"; it just suddenly disappears without a trace.  I can even see that happening on the Mediabase charts; on a particular AC station, a song like Jet's will get, say, 20 "spins" one week, 9 spins the next week, 2 spins the following week, and then it's gone.  That's a quick drop!

I have the local AC station on at work, and I've heard it enough to know that there's a group of about a dozen songs which they play twice a day, every day.  Off the top of my head, here are some of the songs which they're playing every six hours like clockwork:

* Hoobastank - "The Reason"
* Maroon5 - "She Will Be Loved"
* No Doubt - "It's My Life"
* Goo Goo Dolls - "Give a Little Bit"
* Anna Nalick - "Breathe (2 AM)"
* D.H.T. - "Listen To Your Heart"
* Kelly Clarkson - "Breakaway"
* Rob Thomas - "Lonely No More"
* Carrie Underwood - "Inside Your Heaven"

It's not that these aren't good songs, because most of them are... but when you make this station your "listen-at-work station", as all their liners beg you to do, then it becomes pretty obvious when they're playing a group of songs twice a day, every day.

Some AC stations brag about a "no-repeat workday", and I think that's a great idea.  It actually requires them to -- gasp! -- flesh out their playlist with some of the songs which otherwise would've been kicked off, like "Look What You've Done".

______________

[countrykev99]

> Jet - "Look What You've Done"
>
> This song was all over AC radio a few months ago, but now
> it's GONE... I don't hear it played AT ALL.  Why?
>
> That's one thing I don't like about how most AC playlists...
> it seems like if a song doesn't make it to the top of the
> national AC chart, then it never becomes a "recurrent"; it
> just suddenly disappears without a trace.  I can even see
> that happening on the Mediabase charts; on a particular AC
> station, a song like Jet's will get, say, 20 "spins" one
> week, 9 spins the next week, 2 spins the following week, and
> then it's gone.  That's a quick drop!

That's a characteristic of any format, not just AC.  If a song is a stiff, it gets tossed.  The Jet song was just that...a stiff.  


>
> I have the local AC station on at work, and I've heard it
> enough to know that there's a group of about a dozen songs
> which they play twice a day, every day.  Off the top of my
> head, here are some of the songs which they're playing every
> six hours like clockwork:
>
> * Hoobastank - "The Reason"
> * Maroon5 - "She Will Be Loved"
> * No Doubt - "It's My Life"
> * Goo Goo Dolls - "Give a Little Bit"
> * Anna Nalick - "Breathe (2 AM)"
> * D.H.T. - "Listen To Your Heart"
> * Kelly Clarkson - "Breakaway"
> * Rob Thomas - "Lonely No More"
> * Carrie Underwood - "Inside Your Heaven"
>
> It's not that these aren't good songs, because most of them
> are... but when you make this station your "listen-at-work
> station", as all their liners beg you to do, then it becomes
> pretty obvious when they're playing a group of songs twice a
> day, every day.
>
> Some AC stations brag about a "no-repeat workday", and I
> think that's a great idea.  It actually requires them to --
> gasp! -- flesh out their playlist with some of the songs
> which otherwise would've been kicked off, like "Look What
> You've Done".

I kind of see your point, but AC's are programmed music-wise in the same fashion as other formats.  The power currents are going to get the most rotation.  Those are the biggest testing new songs, and they are the ones getting the most exposure right now.  Playing those songs 3, 4, 5 times a day is just fine.  Yeah, you might hear it twice in a workday (gasp) but no one has really complained.  We can get away with it because compared to top-40's, country, etc, you're going to get a lot more repitition.  

Adding songs such as "Look What You've Done" just to water down the music categories is not a smart idea.  Your power currents are powers for a reason...because they are the biggest songs.  Playing them more frequently will benefit you because those are the new songs people want to hear.  Adding stiffs and sacrificing your powers is not generally a good idea.

[westlife]

> Adding songs such as "Look What You've Done" just to water
> down the music categories is not a smart idea.  Your power
> currents are powers for a reason...because they are the
> biggest songs.  Playing them more frequently will benefit
> you because those are the new songs people want to hear.
> Adding stiffs and sacrificing your powers is not generally a
> good idea.

As much as I generally despise them, NYC's 106.7 "Lite FM" (WLTW) seems to have taken a different approach: rather than focusing on the burned-out recurrents, they play more currents (and add new songs more quickly than any other AC station I've observed) and more "AC Gold" -- '70s (mostly Disco), '80s, and even a surprising amount of '60s music... especially since the demise of CBS-FM has given them a large opportunity to try to capture the former Oldies listeners.

WLTW was the first AC station I heard playing James Blunt and Jesse McCartney, and they were the _only_ AC station I heard playing Gavin DeGraw and Keane.  I just wish they'd lay off on the Disco a bit.  There's only so many times I can hear Barry White, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees before it starts to get very, very stale -- even more stale than hearing "Daughters" twice a day, every day.

And if you want to talk about a "stiff", I can name one for you: D.H.T.'s pathetically slow and "mechanically"-sung version of "Listen To Your Heart".  Please, will someone pass me the Valium the next time it comes on?  It's even starting to make my office plants wilt.

______________

[BrettV]

> And if you want to talk about a "stiff", I can name one for
> you: D.H.T.'s pathetically slow and "mechanically"-sung
> version of "Listen To Your Heart".  Please, will someone
> pass me the Valium the next time it comes on?  It's even
> starting to make my office plants wilt.
>


Have you heard the dance-style mix? If you are a fan of the original Roxette version, you will like it. Then again, I like the slow version as well sooooo....

[countrykev99]

>
> WLTW was the first AC station I heard playing James Blunt
> and Jesse McCartney, and they were the _only_ AC station I
> heard playing Gavin DeGraw and Keane.  I just wish they'd
> lay off on the Disco a bit.  There's only so many times I
> can hear Barry White, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees before
> it starts to get very, very stale -- even more stale than
> hearing "Daughters" twice a day, every day.

WLTW has been on the leading edge with adds for a long time.  WLTW can get away with it a little better because it is pretty much the ONLY choice for lite rock in New York proper.  It has also been around for ages, so it has the heritage on its side.  Those are things can can give you some flexibility.  

>
> And if you want to talk about a "stiff", I can name one for
> you: D.H.T.'s pathetically slow and "mechanically"-sung
> version of "Listen To Your Heart".  Please, will someone
> pass me the Valium the next time it comes on?  It's even
> starting to make my office plants wilt.

That's a matter of opinion.  I like it.  It's currently on the charts.  It's been there for a while and probably won't fade for a while either.  It's familiar and tests well.  The Jet song didn't do anything.  


>

[westlife]

> That's a matter of opinion.  I like it.  It's currently on
> the charts.  It's been there for a while and probably won't
> fade for a while either.  It's familiar and tests well.
> The Jet song didn't do anything.  

As some people on this site suggested back when it was a current, it might have actually been a better fit on Oldies and Classic Hits stations, because of how much it sounds like a Beatles song.  (Speaking of which, IMO the gradual death of the Oldies format is happening because it became a format which only plays old music.  In the '80s, CBS-FM had the right idea of adding currents *which fit the format* as "Future Gold".  It's just like how Adult Standards stations continue to add artists like Norah Jones, Michael Buble, and Harry Connick Jr. to their playlists, because it's music which fits the format, even if the vast majority of their music collection comes from the '50s through the early '80s.)

______________

[ojmurphy]

> > And if you want to talk about a "stiff", I can name one
> for
> > you: D.H.T.'s pathetically slow and "mechanically"-sung
> > version of "Listen To Your Heart".  Please, will someone
> > pass me the Valium the next time it comes on?  It's even
> > starting to make my office plants wilt.
> >
>
>
> Have you heard the dance-style mix? If you are a fan of the
> original Roxette version, you will like it. Then again, I
> like the slow version as well sooooo....
>
LOL... yeah, don't take that valium then listen to it though! Listening to my local CHR/Rhy station and hearing the dance version (also pitched up I strongly suspect) after the slow version was weird, and somewhat unsettling. And I'm only 21. I'll get my slippers now.

______________
Owen

[Joseph_Gallant]

Probably because it didn't test well with the target audience (in the case of an Adult Contemporary format, "soccer moms").