Joel Raab is a Country radio programming consultant based in the Philadelphia area. Joel currently consults for media companies, including Audacy, Bonneville, Max Media, Beasley, Americom, Forever Media, Renda, Saga, VerStandig, Leighton, and others.
Raab was inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame in 2015. He has programmed and was on the air in New York, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of Northwestern University. Lastly, he is someone I have known and admired for a long time and am happy to call a friend.
We get a chance to pick his brain in this week’s “Consultant’s Corner.”
Jeff Lynn: How do you view the current state of Country Radio?
Joel Raab: Country is having a moment. Artists like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs are crossing to pop, and that’s good for us. Pop artists want to come to our party (Post Malone, Jelly Roll, etc.). The even better news here is that these songs are not warmed over pop music, but genuine Country music, sung and produced in unique ways.
JL: With things go well, what are the biggest challenges facing the format?
JR: Keeping up the momentum. Radio stations need to do great radio regardless of how strong the music is so that they can sustain and prosper when things cool off, which they inevitably do. Sales is becoming more of a challenge for all formats as we have to fight for every dollar, especially when some stations and companies whore their rates to get buys.
JL: With talent voice tracking in multiple markets, what advice do you give them to sound local?
JR: I’ve found that out-of-town voice trackers often sound more local than in-market talent, as the former doesn’t take localism for granted. The good ones spend time researching their markets, using local references, and imagining doing their shifts in real-time. It also helps if they make updates if something remarkable happens.
JL: Currents vs. Gold right now. And is there a resurgence in 90s music?
JR: Varies by market. While in general, I’d say “yes” – it’s (resurgence of ’90s) not as much as you might think. When it comes to the 90s on a mainstream Country station, a little goes a long way. All Country gold stations tend to burn themselves out after a few years, if not sooner. You can only hear “Tight Fittin Jeans” so many times!
JL: I recently monitored a large market station that went 4 ½ hours between female artists. I assume this is abnormal, but why is it still hard for female artists to break through?
JR: Some of the nostalgia for the 90s music that you asked about before may have to do with the time when considerably more females charted more regularly then. The good news here is that there are some incredibly great female artists in the process of breaking through, like Megan Maroney and Ella Langley. Lainey Wilson is a multimedia superstar. I think that if a male song is testing similar to the female song, I am likely to go with the female cut to give the station more depth.
JL: What was the last/best promotion you saw executed?
JR: As far as forced listening goes, I like contests that are fun to listen to as well as those that reinforce an image the station is trying to project. I recently know of a market where “Double Your Paycheck” has had success. Who doesn’t want to do that?
JL: What advice are you giving clients to cut through in a cluttered social media landscape?
JR: Treat your posts like your breaks on the air. No “Happy Thursday” or excess verbiage messaging to waste people’s time. Get right to the point; make them worth a fan’s time. While there’s a lot of pressure to do a lot of posts, try to go for all the quality and relevancy to your audience that you have time for. You want your audience to connect with you when you’re not on the air, and you do that by being interesting (never boring; thank you, Valerie Geller) and fun. In Country Radio, listeners are looking for a good time – an escape from the day’s trials and tribulations. The more your social media reflects that attitude, the more success you’ll have.
Connect with Joel at 215.750.6868. Or email him here.
Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
