What is up with Top 40/CHR in Atlanta?!

[mike7586]

In the interest of full disclosure, "1979" played on most of those stations during Backtrax USA. VERY different from playing in the regular gold category during weekday middays. Z100, Hot 99-5, 107.5 The River and nearly all other major market CHRs would never touch that song otherwise, and as much as I personally love the song, Q100 shouldn't either. Same goes for some of the other golds in their rotation (All Saints, Vertical Horizon, Stereo MC's...)

Thank you TheMusicMan, that's what I was trying to say.

Nyte Ryder, fine... I will sort of admit I am wrong in that Q100 is the only station playing that song. And sorry if this comes off as "rationalizing" but I think it's important to know how many times those stations played that song and why? Is it part of their regular playlist or was it some sort of "past hits" thing they were doing (for example Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte used to have myPod lunch from 12-1pm where they played pretty much anything). Unfortunately, I can't access Mediabase, so I can't look up that info. Also, the list of stations playing that song is only a handful compared to all the CHR stations in this country. I think it's safe to assume a majority of CHR's don't play it.

And... the playlist today on Q100 is sounding a little better. So do their sweepers, etc. and Brittany is actually talking more and taking calls. So I'm not impossible to please as I may come off that way. I just think Q100 would sound better if they were more discriminating with the songs they mix in during the day. There is a fine line with dayparting, because if affects the feel, flow and sound of the station. Recently, I think they have been "way over the line"... mixing in too much with no real thought to how it all flows. Sometimes, they are mixing in songs that just don't "fit" sound-wise anymore and it creates a very jumpy feel for the station.

[TheMusicMan]

Yeah, I'd like to qualify what I said before about the station not having depth after 10:00 by saying that Brittany's a really good jock, and based on what I've heard on Q and from her Seattle days, has plenty of personality. Q100's formatics, for whatever reason, don't always seem to let her display that.

While we're on a positive note, and speaking of middays, I've gotta hand it to Heather Branch on Star. She's always been great, but she has especially stepped it up over the past few months. Lots of personality and a great listen. I'm super impressed.

[Nyte Ryder]

Sounds like I should have done a 4th click.  Yup, looks like Backtrax.  Looks like I lose about 15 I.Q. points there, deservedly so.

If Atlanta didn't have a true top 40 during the Star 94 days, it stands to reason that some of these songs might still work for some upper demo midday listeners, no?  Maybe it's not about trying to be like Z100? 

[bclark71.]

Sounds like I should have done a 4th click.  Yup, looks like Backtrax.  Looks like I lose about 15 I.Q. points there, deservedly so.

If Atlanta didn't have a true top 40 during the Star 94 days, it stands to reason that some of these songs might still work for some upper demo midday listeners, no?  Maybe it's not about trying to be like Z100? 

I think Nyte Ryder has a very good point.  Just because all of us self-professed "experts" know that Star 94 was never a true "Top 40" and only played roughly half of the songs on the CHR charts, the casual Atlanta Top 40 listener identifies those songs that Star played as what Top 40 was in the 1990s, simply because that's all they knew.

[TheMusicMan]

If Atlanta didn't have a true top 40 during the Star 94 days, it stands to reason that some of these songs might still work for some upper demo midday listeners, no?  Maybe it's not about trying to be like Z100? 

This isn't a bad point. But first of all, it's not about sounding exactly like Z100 per se...or KDWB, WFLZ, KHKS, WNKS or whoever. It's about having a certain edge which I feel Q100's music lacks. Many Atlanta listeners probably don't know the difference since Q100's the only Top 40 game in town. My issue is with the station entirely ignoring perfectly acceptable currents (Ready Set and Bareilles are perfect examples) and relegating lots of pop/rhythmic material to afternoon drive or their abomination of a night show. The stations I listed above are highly successful while playing Rihanna/Drake, Far East Movement and Trey Songz all day long, and most have strong Hot AC competition. And frankly, although I understand the rationale for playing golds during the day, I still think some of those titles are pushing it a bit. Stereo MC's...really?

Like I said before, Q100 isn't the trainwreck it was in, say, 2008. But I still think their music is restrained and at times boring, and that's symptomatic of the station as a whole, in my opinion. Don't get me started on Billy Bush...

[Nyte Ryder]

Billy Bush sucks.  We can all agree on that.  Corporate move across the board on Cumulus stations.  Sadly, Entercom is using the same kind of principal on their Hot AC's and Clear Channel is looking to launch a similar show using the Ryan Seacrest template (but not Ryan) by 2012.  Distressing to say the least. 

[atlantaboy]

There have got to be tons of CHRs nationwide that play Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon - it was the #1 CHR hit of 2000 - most of the pop stations that play it daypart to "Hot AC" during the day, just like Q100 does, and most are probably medium-small market stations, but a CHR playing Vertical Horizon as a gold track is far from rare

The point about Q100 playing old hits that Star didn't play definitely isn't true (Star 94 definitely played 1979, Everything You Want, Clocks, Speed Of Sound, Drops Of Jupiter, etc.) - almost all the songs that Star skipped were hip-hop - if Q100 wanted to play CHR tracks that Atlanta listeners never heard on Star, they'd be playing In Da Club, Hot In Herre, Gold Digger, etc., and that's definitely not the way they're going

If Q100 sounded like Z100/NYC, I think the ratings would be cut in half - Z100 leans rhythmic to cater to a largely ethnic audience, and in ATL most of that audience has been listening to Urban radio for decades

[Wildstyle Kdm]

Speaking of yes dot com, I've been wondering if anyone even knew what the full purpose of that site was for? Why is there a log in feature, and what purpose does it serve? This question is coming from someone who didn't even want to open a twitter at first because I couldn't see the point in it, so you could imagine how pointless I'd think a log in feature is on yes dot com - but then again I may be wrong, so someone please let me know what benefits I'd get for signing up?

I didn't want to start a new thread to ask this question.

[Nyte Ryder]

Q100 is playing Hot in Herre, California Love, Fantastic Voyage and others.  I heard Mo Money Mo Problems this week on Q100 during middays.

[atlantaboy]

These are the gold tracks Q100 played yesterday during the workday:
Alicia Keys/Fallin'
Puff Daddy etc./I'll Be Missing You
Mary J. Blige/Family Affair
Coldplay/Clocks
Gavin DeGraw/I Don't Want To Be
Train/Drops Of Jupiter
John Mayer/Waiting On The World To Change
Nelly Furtado/Promiscuous
Maroon 5/She Will Be Loved
Pink/U + Ur Hand
Fergie/Clumsy
The Killers/Mr. Brightside

Not sure about Family Affair, but Star 94 definitely played all the others except for IBMY