new rock vs. north america

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I heard Interpol for the first time last night. I was watching Yahoo!'s Launch thing and the video for 'PDA' got dropped in between Petey Pablo and Green Day. And, like, it was weird, kind of. Because I expected it to sound like Wire or something. But it sounded like The Strokes with Gord Downie vs. Ian Curtis vocals. It was pretty innocuous stuff, especially compared to, say, the new Nirvana thing.

Why do you think this stuff doesn't get any play on mainstream North American radio? The most mainstream stations, I mean. Which is the majority when you get away from major cities. Why would you never hear The Strokes or Interpol or The Hives or The White Stripes on mainstream North American corporate rock radio?

― ntrl_mlk_htl_boi_2393, Sunday, 29 December 2002 20:08 (twenty-three years ago)

because it's got too small an audience?

big radio only wants big bands most people heard of and like. There's nothing wrong with the genre, but it's just too obscure to please the advertisers?

― phil jones (interstar), Sunday, 29 December 2002 20:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Because it's relatively lacking in energy or force, tends to be dry in production and vocal delivery, and downplays musical technique? Inert in its rhythms? Maybe also shies away from lyrical statements a mass audience can relate to? Is generally retro but only insofar as it reminds people of bands they didn't like that much in the first place?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 29 December 2002 20:36 (twenty-three years ago)

So how/why is it MTV gives the current crop of retro rockers decent airtime and yet radio doesn't? Is radio more hard pressed for a sure thing?

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 29 December 2002 20:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Different people watch MTV to those that watch radio.

Mainstream N. American radio wouldn't have time to play everything, even if they wanted to. There's an overwhelming gush of new music released every week.

The big question should be 'Why does radio only ever play 'singles'?' or 'why do they play any song more than once?'

MTV of course need to play songs which have videos.

― mei (mei), Sunday, 29 December 2002 22:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Certain Washington-area mainstream radio stations actually were playing selected Strokes, White Stripes, and Hives tracks this past year. Mainstream radio is controlled by 1) audience testing and 2) a system of "independent promoters" and major-label marketing maneuvers that might as well be called payola.

― j.lu (j.lu), Sunday, 29 December 2002 22:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Radio USA = Clear Channel... they own the radio stations AND concert venues, including many theatre sized houses.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 1 January 2003 00:08 (twenty-three years ago)

mei, yeah but the same songs get played over and over again. They could certainly cover a lot more material if they wanted to. (Just listen to a good college radio station to see the range that is possible.)

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 1 January 2003 00:34 (twenty-three years ago)

The Strokes and The White Stripes are played on any radio station the powers have be have deemed "New Rock" unless the unthinkable happens and there is a massive crossover hit, then there they will stay. Which I suppose is better then having no home in the commercial arena like Tourist and Endtroducing.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 1 January 2003 01:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, but all things told, in the best of worst possible worlds, you'd think that between the 15 songs they're mandated to play every hour, they could slip in one or two that didn't suck and no one would know the difference except the pitialbe creatures who slave in places where they're forced to listen to shitty radio for 8 hours a day, and it's actually favorable to listening to what their coworkers are talking about.

― Horace Mann, Thursday, 2 January 2003 18:10 (twenty-three years ago)

The evil colossal "alternative" station here in Chicago is toying with expanding their playlist a bit, which already includes the Strokes. They're touting some show where they play "everything"--a long list printed in an ad in the Chicago Reader featured a number of bands unlikely to ever be played on Q101, such as: Momus. But perhaps it does bode well.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 2 January 2003 18:12 (twenty-three years ago)

probably because Matador doesn't spend as much getting people on the radio as the major labels do.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, it's been stated often that the basic rule for radio programming these days is to not play anything that would make listeners change the station and therefor miss advertising. Something "new" is something unknown which people might not like. I think if there wasn't another avenue to hear "new music" (the internet) then there would be a MAJOR outcry, but as it is it just doesn't seem like there's a groundswell for stations to change their playlists.

― Aaron W, Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Therein lies the problem, I think that over the last 15 years especially, anyone who "cares" about music has abandoned mainstream radio, so it's both cause and effect that radio don't care about music.

― Horace Mann, Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:21 (twenty-three years ago)

um, you guys do realize that little to no independent music gets on the radio right? The Hives, White Stripes, Strokes all got on the radio because they had major label money behind them. If Interpol gets on ANY stations, it will be impressive, cuz good music/commercial music whatever, they probably don't even know it exists.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Creed is on an independent record label. Not a moment goes by that they aren't playing on at least one radio station in every single broadcast area across America.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Creed's label Wind-Up is distributed and co-owned by MCA. At least they were when Creed got huge.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:53 (twenty-three years ago)

or else they'd be at the top of Billboards Independent albums list for hundreds of weeks.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:53 (twenty-three years ago)

North America is kicking New Rock's ass. ¥

― christoff (christoff), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:55 (twenty-three years ago)

MCA or Sony, I always get those label deals mixed up.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:56 (twenty-three years ago)

As far as I've read it is once again all about payola which explains why major labels have their strangehold on American commercial radio (and public radio, very nearly). As far as shallow playlists go, most stations can't even call themselves "Top 40" anymore as they rotate only two or three dozen songs incessantly. However this has happened before, I think. It seems to go in cycles.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 2 January 2003 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Actually, the record labels don't have anything to do with radio airplay. Independent promoters are the organizations responsible for that. Now, most record labels have deals with the promoters, and in that way record labels do hold some sway over what gets on the air and what doesn't, but it's not like there is a direct relationship between the record labels and the radio programmers.

If you are an artist that can afford the services of the independent promoters (say, Creed or Ani DiFranco), you don't need the major labels.

However, it's entirely up to the radio programming directors what does and doesn't get on the air. What it all boils down to is this: for quite some time, you've had DJs taking chances and playing stuff, but the way it works nowadays, it's all up to the programming directors, who probably aren't as willing to go out on a limb for some new up-and-comers as they are to go for the "meat-and-potatoes" stuff that they know people like/want to hear/won't turn the station when they hear.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 2 January 2003 20:00 (twenty-three years ago)

As mentioned above, in the case of CC the programming happens in an office hundreds of miles away from the actual radio station.

Anyway, what about college and NPR radio? I mean, there ARE some alternatives (depending on where you live of course).

― Aaron W, Thursday, 2 January 2003 20:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Nick: Well the effect is the same: whether its direct or by proxy (independent promoters) only the major labels have the cash to guarantee their artists will be in heavy rotation. There may be a few exceptions (although I don't hear Ani DiFranco on commercial radio in Chicago) but they prove the rule.

For a lot of people in America there are no alternatives (unless you mean talk radio or Christian radio), save for the internet. I'm very slow to appreciate the impact of the internet on radio, record sales, and musical fashions, but I'm sure that's a major factor in the decline of commercial radio as mentioned above.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 2 January 2003 20:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Hello,

I am F. Milton Schwab, official spokesbot for the Disk Jockeys of America. In my all-seeing wisdom, I have taken notice of this thread and must address several issues raised here.
1. Payola does not exist. At no time (notwithstanding when records are actually played) do radio stations receive monies to encourage airplay (notwithstanding the hours between midnight and 11:59 p.m.).
2. Playlists are not getting progressively smaller (notwithstanding those playlists which are encouraged to play only those album which meet top fourteen hit standards). Our associated stations always do their best to bring listeners new and exciting music (notwithstanding the music that we actually give airplay to).
3. Does not compute bluzz-sputter-fizzz

― F. Milton Schwab, Thursday, 2 January 2003 20:10 (twenty-three years ago)

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