If your radio content strategy is hoping no one misses “Seven Nation Army,” you don’t have a strategy. If you’re afraid a listener might disagree with an opinion, Pandora might be hiring.
Sometimes, skipping that Zeppelin or Beasties track won’t spark a ratings apocalypse. But what if it could spark a tsunami to sell?
Fact: Music-only platforms eventually hit a revenue ceiling.
Fact: Great talk doesn’t. It’s scalable. Non-music content travels across formats and demos.
In an era when radio stars like Heidi & Frank and podcasters like Pardon My Take, Rogan and countless others are topping the charts without playing a single song, it’s clear:
RockTernative needs to stop clinging to “music first” and start creating content that stands on its own.
That’s not a posterized dunk or me waiving the white flag on music. It’s a challenge to do better.
There are some at RockTernative doing it already: The Men’s Room, Preston & Steve, The Woody Show, Chaz & AJ. Music is present, but it’s complimentary – it ties them to the brand and comes in handy for smoke breaks. Talk drives those shows and their ratings.
This isn’t trending news. This case is closed – great talk wins.
I’m not saying abandon music. RockTernative has 24 hours a day to fill, and a great song — even in its 15,000th spin — still beats a bad talk break.
But a great talk segment? That has legs. That can drive long-term revenue. It can get clipped, shared, and remembered. Those pre or mid-roll spots — inside content — can be sold several times over.
Marrying music and talk content is the sweet spot.
Easier said than done. And it requires investment, but not as much as you may think. I’ll get to that.
The industry loves saying, “Content is radio’s secret sauce.” But what “content” are we really talking about?
“Dr. Feelgood” into “Lithium?”
Cool songs. Not a secret sauce. Even if downloading radio music segments were allowable, it’s not the kind of content that would drive 1M daily downloads, or the TSL/ATE radio would kill for.
And here’s the truth: You don’t need culinary school to make this secret sauce. You just need people who can cook.
The chart-toppers?
- They’re genuinely interesting or have that X-Factor. Not everyone is interesting. Not everyone needs to be. But their content decisions must be.
- They have clear opinions and cover familiar ground with fresh POVs and treatment. More on treatment here.
- They have management or coaches that trust them as much as they do “Back in Black.”
- Their content transcends the music appeal of the station — Preston & Steve draw fans from all formats, including Rock.
Some will say, “We can’t afford Big Cat & PFT or the big radio shows.”
You don’t have to. Shorter-form or long-form segments with strong local voices can work. But you have to find them and put in the work.
Try things. Hit the production room and test different content flavors and takes. Post it online. Find a smart group of people and let people tell you what they like and don’t.
If you can’t find talent locally? Find a national show you love — even if they aren’t syndicated to radio. License it smartly. Wrap it locally. Add your own personality around it.
You can still play Blink-182 when you need to. But creating killer non-music content makes “All the Small Things” even more sticky.
You don’t need to play a song to top the charts. Music can help, but to raise all boats, we need to give people a reason to listen even when the music stops.
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Keith Cunningham is a music industry and Rock/Alternative columnist for Barrett Media and the founder of Black Box Group, a modern-modeled creative & strategic consultancy built for brands that need strategies with teeth. He’s the former Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles for over a decade, a nationwide consultant, and has been repeatedly voted one of America’s top Program Directors and strategic thinkers. Keith has built his career by taking multi-million-dollar brands from worst to first and leading Marconi & Gracie award winners along the way. A data nerd with a rock-and-roll heart, he is an advisory council member for St. Jude fundraising, a fantasy football champion, and lover of his daughters & dogs. Reach him at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com or on LinkedIn or X.
Love this, Keith. But you’re telling everyone your secrets. Just kidding. thanks for your engaging thought-starters.