Please Explain The Logic to "No Soft Music on AC Anymore"

[Gregg]

In a thread on B98.5 in Atlanta, several posters praise the station for getting rid of its softer, older titles, and suggest a move to more rock-oriented music is a good one.  I don't understand the logic to this.

Shouldn't an AC station be the spot on the dial where you DON'T hear songs that are too upbeat and rock-oriented?  Isn't that the reason AC exists?  Past generations wanted a spot on the dial where they could relax, not have distracting music whether they were at work or maybe at home reading or eating dinner.  Has that need evaporated today?

Most markets no longer have a Smooth Jazz station or a commercial Classical station.  At one time there used to be a format called "Soft Rock" that played only the softer songs from rock CDs.  These stations includede KNX-FM Los Angeles and both WKTU and WYNY NYC before they switched to other formats.  They are all gone now as well.  Shouldn't there be ONE last station on the dial that isn't too upbeat?  Don't you ever need relaxing music or are today's brains hard-wired in a different way?

As David Bowie asks in Young Americans, "Ain't there one damn song that can make you break down and cry?"



Gregg
nh153@mail.com

[borderblaster]

Just because people are adults doesn't mean they want music that puts them to sleep at their desk at work

[Seltzer]

And until someone proves all these stations wrong..by putting on a soft Adult Contemporary station that is still somewhat current in nature, the move to harder titles will continue. It used to be "relaxing, stress free" were AC benefits. Apparently not anymore.

[RBRadioWaves]

KTWV Los Angeles does a good job at this. A mixture between Smooth Jazz and Soft Rock hits from the 70s to Today. I also like WFEZ Miami and WIOP Charleston, recent launches which play soft rock hits and a few smooth tracks.

[cd637299]

Even WFEZ has bizarre tunes....

I agree with the OP, but then again, I'm in a minority; advertisers aren't looking for folk like me.

It's the state of radio today.  There are still a handful of super-soft ones out there cough-WAVV-cough.....but radio in the 70s isn't radio in 2012.

There are always Internet alternatives.....

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[imhomerjay]

For starters, "soft" is in the ear of the beholder. But beyond that, no, AC shouldn't be the place on the dial where you don't hear such-and-such, it should be the place on the dial where the target demo hears what they want to hear, broadly speaking.

[carolinaradio]

Even IF AC's were 'soft', how much new material is there that fits that bill?  Not much.  Occasionally an Idol winner or a once-popular musician will come out with something, but it never gets anywhere.  There is more overlap on the AC/Hot AC/CHR charts now than ever, especially in the 15-30 positions on the chart.

With a lot of Hot AC's sounding more like Adult CHR's (especially those owned by CBS)  I expect Mainstream AC to begin sounding even more like Hot AC did until recently.

[Gregg]

But do the charts reflect the music that is offered or the music the stations WANT to play.  Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?  If AC stations play more ballads and avoid harder edged songs, that's what the charts will reflect.   

And many stations ignore segments of the charts depending on what's going on in their individual markets.  WLTW NYC always played more Urban AC crossover titles than other AC stations in other parts of the country.  They'd go early on a rhythmic AC song and add rock-oriented songs late. 

I think Norah Jones is a great example.  A few years ago she won all those Grammy awards. AC stations, even Hot AC stations, were playing Don't Know Why, Sunrise and Come Away With Me.  I remember WPLJ, a Hot AC in NYC, playing Come Away with Me and its processing really having a hard time with the song due to all the silent pauses.  Then last year, Jones releases a new CD with a great single, Chasing Pirates, and virtually no AC stations played it, even though it was a bit bouncier and slightly uptempo compared to Jones' other hits.  Sade released a CD last year and it went to #1.  Yet I didn't hear ANY songs from the CD on AC stations.

They clearly are NOT playing new soft music, even those songs from hit CDs and from multiple Grammy winners.  AC stations are also re-writing history, going back to songs released only a few years ago, such as Norah Jones hits, and deleting them from their playlists.  Meanwhile they are adding songs from a few years ago they never played as currents.

One poster above said AC stations don't want their listeners falling asleep at work.  So only a few years ago, AC stations could play Norah Jones and other soft music and those people managed to stay awake.  Today's AC listener can't stay awake?  I thought the opposite is true.  Life is more hectic today, bosses make more demands, traffic is heavier, women are trying to balance careers, family and other responsibilities... yet they NEVER want to relax to soft music?

Gregg
nh153@mail.com

[cd637299]

I agree....but apparently radio stations have had their feelers out, and have consultants to recommend what songs would reflect the ad dollars.

It's not that soft music is bad.  There sure are times when I don't want music that can give me a headache....but to me, I have to pretty-much go online to hear it.  I can give you a few stations if you wish.  Some are outside the US/Canada.

From personal experience.....I felt that it was around 1983/84 when I even said to myself, "Where are the 'MOR' artists/songs nowadays?"  At that time, maybe 5-7 songs in the Billboard top 40 would qualify....maybe.

In 1992, I'd say maybe *one* would qualify!

Didn't Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why" only reach the Billboard Top 40 *after* the award sweep?  I knew the song before the awards, I think, but it's possible that the awards sparked the spike.  (And it stalled at #36 or so....maybe it topped @ #1 on the Adult Contemp. chart.)

If your library reference section has Joel Whitburn's "Top Adult Contemporary 1961-1993" or any more recent revision, be sure to take a peek.  Interesting to see the changes over the years, and where the songs peaked on MOR stations.  (1961 was the year when Billboard debuted the Easy Listening aka Adult Contemporary chart, with Brook Benton's "The Boll Weevil Song" as the first #1.)

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[firepoint525]

I can agree with nearly all of what has been said here so far, but it's interesting to note that Mix 92.9 here in Nashville has actually added a couple of Air Supply songs back into their rotation in recent years.