Article: Top 40 Radio Seeks to Balance Hip-hop/R&B Dominance
mochaspresso
>
>NEW YORK (Billboard) - During the past year, hip-hop and R&B have so
>pervasively dominated top 40 radio that the line between pop and
>R&B/hip-hop has become more of a blurry smudge.
>
>But as history tells, the dominant sound that defines top 40 is as
>cyclical as the seasons, and this latest trend may be showing signs of
>wear as a number of young male rock bands -- such as Simple Plan,
>Trapt and Maroon5 -- flex muscle at mainstream radio.
>
>Likewise, some programmers are eager to nurture a new generation of
>young pop artists, beginning with the likes of Hilary Duff and Stacie
>Orrico.
>
>Programmers admit that too much of any one sound is never good for the
>long-term health of the format. They insist that they're searching for
>more balance on their playlists to bring the format back toward the
>center -- if only they can find the hits.
>
>"It's easy to jump on the trend and play every hip-hop record on your
>desk, but it doesn't protect your format," says John Ivey, PD of
>mainstream top 40 powerhouse KIIS Los Angeles. "Top 40 was designed
>for kids and their mothers to listen to together. Where you create a
>disconnect is in being too hip-hop, too rough. We need to search for
>more of those mass-appeal records."
>
>POLARIZING FORCE
>
>Guy Zapoleon, president of Zapoleon Media Strategies, which oversees
>Billboard/Airplay Monitor's HitPredictor chart, agrees that the
>massive influx of R&B/hip-hop product may polarize listeners.
>
>"With 50 Cent breaking through big early year, a lot of R&B/hip-hop
>songs were given a chance," he says. "But their batting average was
>lower at a lot of radio stations, with only the more rhythmic stations
>having success with most of them, while most top 40s dayparted these
>to nights.
>
>"We're definitely in the doldrums phase, where top 40 radio is
>suffering from a lack of good music," he adds. "I think the format has
>been holding its own, just not at the heights of the glory years of
>the late '90s and 2000.
>
>"Top 40 has been coming up with fewer new ideas, and it's taking less
>chances with its talent, contesting and even music," he says. "Combine
>that with the economy choking programming and marketing budgets,
>consolidating reducing manpower, and we're seeing more lean times
>ahead for the format."
>
>DEFLATED POP
>
>The charts certainly support the theory that 2003 represented a year
>in which the pop in top 40 was largely deflated.
>
>Among 2003's top Billboard Hot 100 artists, Justin Timberlake was the
>only one among the leading five that did not also rank among the top
>R&B/hip-hop artists of the year. He joins 50 Cent, R. Kelly, Sean Paul
>and Beyonce.
>
>Further, among the top airplay songs of the year on the Hot 100, seven
>of the top 10 are R&B/hip-hop-based. Only 3 Doors Down, Matchbox
>Twenty and Evanescence (featuring Paul McCoy) broke the mold.
>
>The hip-hop bandwagon trend at top 40 is more sudden than one might
>suspect. In 2002, artists representing the year-end Hot 100 were as
>diverse as Nickelback, Ashanti, Nelly, the Calling and Vanessa
>Carlton.
>
>In 2001, Lifehouse, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, Train and Jennifer
>Lopez Featuring Ja Rule offered a varied palette of genres at the top
>of the year-end chart.
>
>During top 40's previous dominant trend -- the teen-pop explosion of
>the late 1990s -- diversity still managed to command the airwaves,
>with TLC, Goo Goo Dolls, Monica, Backstreet Boys, Sugar Ray and 702
>all in the top 10 for 1999.
>
>GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT?
>
>As well, it appears that top 40 programmers today are not necessarily
>playing what the general public is most interested in hearing.
>
>Zapoleon counts off songs he feels the format missed: Evanescence's
>"Going Under," Sugarcult's "Bouncing Off the Walls," Beu Sisters' "I
>Was Only (Seventeen)" and Atomic Kitten's "Tide Is High."
>
>"There were a lot of songs from left field that could have been hits,"
>he says. "I don't think enough programmers are using their ears to
>take chances on songs that are hits but aren't being pushed by the
>labels."
>
>Among the top-selling singles of 2003, a significant number were
>pretty much hands-off on pop station playlists, including three of the
>songs in the top five, all related to Fox TV phenomenon "American
>Idol": "This Is the Night" by Clay Aiken, "Flying Without Wings" by
>Ruben Studdard and "God Bless the U.S.A." by the American Idol
>Finalists.
>
>"Clay Aiken is such a polarized deal; people either love him or hate
>him," says Tracy Austin, PD of mainstream top 40 KRBE Houston.
>
>"If the product is there, we're always open," she says. "We've had
>great success with Kelly Clarkson, and I think she's going to be
>around to stay -- but we may be reaching critical mass very soon with
>the whole 'American Idol' phenomenon. I just don't know how many more
>of these we can sustain."
>
>Ivey adds, "You know, I always say, 'The first in a trend does well,
>the second does OK but the third one has it tough.' Kelly Clarkson is
>very good and Clay has a rabid fan base, but I'm not sold on Ruben
>yet."
>
>So while the "American Idol" tidal wave provided a wealth of potential
>pop product to top 40 throughout last year, it hasn't commanded enough
>influence to rally the national top 40 airwaves back to the center.
>
>Austin agrees that radio stations can only be as good as the product
>record companies deal them.
>
>"We're not getting a lot of good pop stuff, which makes it tough," she
>says. "What happens when Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake run
>out of singles?"
>
>AN EYE ON THE MIDDLE
>
>Like many major-market stations sensing that too much R&B/hip-hop will
>alienate core listeners, KRBE has been aiming to keep an eye on a more
>balanced playlist.
>
>"A lot of the urban stuff is really reactionary, so it's easy to put
>on the air, but you have to keep an eye on what you'll have to play
>for recurrents," Austin says. "You need to have artists like
>Evanescence, who also have adult appeal -- which will give them more
>longevity."
>
>Looking ahead, Austin sees "a plethora of guitars coming back," with
>big hits at the station from Simple Plan, Maroon5, Staind, 3 Doors
>Down and Trapt. "A couple months ago, we were knee-deep in hip-hop,
>and we were all talking about finding a balance. Top 40 still has to
>be about painting a nice picture of variety about what's available.
>It's only as good as we make it, piece by piece.
>
>"We've had great success with Liz Phair, even though it took forever;
>and Dido and Sarah McLachlan are smashes in middays," Austin says.
>"Alicia Keys could work well for us, and OutKast is on fire. So we're
>feeling hopeful."
>
>KIIS-FM's Ivey adds, "We want Justin and Britney and Hilary to work.
>It's our job to create the excitement for them. We're supposed to be
>the authorities here -- if you tell your audience that a record is a
>hit, they'll believe it."
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Mochaspresso
mochaspresso
<mochas...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>By Chuck Taylor
>>
>>NEW YORK (Billboard) - During the past year, hip-hop and R&B have so
>>pervasively dominated top 40 radio that the line between pop and
>>R&B/hip-hop has become more of a blurry smudge.
>>
>>But as history tells, the dominant sound that defines top 40 is as
>>cyclical as the seasons, and this latest trend may be showing signs of
>>wear as a number of young male rock bands -- such as Simple Plan,
>>Trapt and Maroon5 -- flex muscle at mainstream radio.
>>
>>Likewise, some programmers are eager to nurture a new generation of
>>young pop artists, beginning with the likes of Hilary Duff and Stacie
>>Orrico.
>>
>>Programmers admit that too much of any one sound is never good for the
>>long-term health of the format. They insist that they're searching for
>>more balance on their playlists to bring the format back toward the
>>center -- if only they can find the hits.
>>
Balance in programming is something that many have been clamoring for,
but I find it interesting that their idea of balance is that there is
too much R&B and hip-hop.
My idea of balance is giving Vivian Green as much airplay as Ashanti
and allowing a group like Lilix to get more opportunities for exposure
as opposed to allowing Britney to dominate everything.
>>"It's easy to jump on the trend and play every hip-hop record on your
>>desk, but it doesn't protect your format," says John Ivey, PD of
>>mainstream top 40 powerhouse KIIS Los Angeles. "Top 40 was designed
>>for kids and their mothers to listen to together. Where you create a
>>disconnect is in being too hip-hop, too rough. We need to search for
>>more of those mass-appeal records."
>>
Again, this is interesting. Did they have this concern when top 40
was dominated by grunge bands? Or when it was dominated by Boy Bands
and pop princesses?
In a way, it makes me very sad that they can't seem to see the mass
appeal in Beyonce or Ashanti but they could see it in Britney and
Christina. Am I just reading into this in the wrong manner?
Noixe, the other Adrock
> appeal in Beyonce or Ashanti but they could see it in Britney and
> Christina. Am I just reading into this in the wrong manner?
yeah that was what really bothered me about this article. I don't
really understand how Beyonce doesn't have the same universal appeal
that Britney does. she's even less raunchy.
Kuahmel Allah
>>long-term health of the format. They insist that they're searching for
>>more balance on their playlists to bring the format back toward the
>>center -- if only they can find the hits.
>>
Balance in programming is something that many have been clamoring for,
but I find it interesting that their idea of balance is that there is
too much R&B and hip-hop.
My idea of balance is giving Vivian Green as much airplay as Ashanti
and allowing a group like Lilix to get more opportunities for exposure
as opposed to allowing Britney to dominate everything.<<<<
I think it's pure idiocy to ask for something else to come to the forefront
when the way top 40 is supposed to work is the top 40 most popular joints
overall, regardless of genre. If indie rock is running things in the minds of
the average listener, that's what's up. If thug rap is running it, that's
what's up. If everyone is gripping techno records and pushing that stuff into
the top 40, that's what's up. The machine is working the way it's supposed to.
>>>>>"It's easy to jump on the trend and play every hip-hop record on your
>>desk, but it doesn't protect your format," says John Ivey, PD of
>>mainstream top 40 powerhouse KIIS Los Angeles. "Top 40 was designed
>>for kids and their mothers to listen to together. Where you create a
>>disconnect is in being too hip-hop, too rough. We need to search for
>>more of those mass-appeal records."
>>
Again, this is interesting. Did they have this concern when top 40
was dominated by grunge bands? Or when it was dominated by Boy Bands
and pop princesses?<<<
Of COURSE NOT! They like that sort of thing. Back when it was all about New
Kids and hair metal, they couldn't get enough.
>>>In a way, it makes me very sad that they can't seem to see the mass
appeal in Beyonce or Ashanti but they could see it in Britney and
Christina. Am I just reading into this in the wrong manner?
<<<
Not at all...it's quite obvious they want to take it back to the white and rock
artists running things. There wouldn't be an article like this if they were,
because to top 40 programmers, everything would be OK.
Hell, they talk about kids and their mothers being able top listen at the same
time, where's the adult contemporary stuff? I guess that stuff's supposed to
be on the smooth jazz station, right?
I mean really, if they're simply itching to be the "white teen mallrat"
station, just say so....they won't be telling the true "top 40" story if they
do though....
--Kuahmel Allah, Los Angeles
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