Putting a Rock or Alternative Brand Manager in charge of finance would be like asking Keith Richards to balance your checkbook or Axl Rose to run point on timely payroll.
And if most CFOs ran R&D…
- We’d still be on iPhone 3.
- Tesla would just be a hair metal band.
- Netflix would be hyping “movies-by-mail.”
But the right CEO or Executive Team is like a great mixer — knowing when to push a fader up or pull it back. Run the board wrong, and even the best band will sound bad.
Just when you think this is another bomb-drop on CFOs or Radio, not so fast.
CFOs are essential. They help win battles. Fiscal responsibility and aligning satellites by Excel are necessary at winning brands. But there’s a difference between that and over-conservatism.
Vision.
Knowing when needed R&D may create a soft or down quarter — but then lead to a platinum record, sold-out shows, and a better product with the logo plastered across the city.
Knowing when to smartly and unexpectedly spend on something that is suddenly “right now,” because it will help ratings and revenue “tomorrow,” like:
- Digitally micro-targeting when an impactful panel change occurs.
- Sending a winner or DJ to Ozzy’s farewell.
- Spending a few hundred on sold-out tickets to give the morning show a leg-up.
- Approving some OT and merch costs so the brand can broadcast live all weekend in front of thousands at the big event.
If left to their own devices, don’t fault the spreadsheet army for doing their job. Making the quarter shine is what they do best, and sometimes that means cutting back. Ironically, though, there are times when that can leave a brand washed up on the beach.
Over-conservatism and/or lack of vision:
- Sears was positioned to be Amazon before Amazon, but they chose cost-cutting.
- Blockbuster passed on Netflix because the short-term math looked bad.
- Decca Records passed on The Beatles “because guitar groups were on the way out.”
However:
- If Excel ran SiriusXM, Stern would still be fighting the FCC on DC101-FM.
- The Lakers signed Luka, the Packers inked Michah, and American Eagle rode Sydney Sweeney’s train to stock growth.
That’s vision. Not spreadsheets.
This type of yin/yang is common throughout radio.
- If we’d paid the morning show 15% more, they wouldn’t have left and eaten us for breakfast.
- We spent money on research but were denied budget to market the newly improved product.
- The van has dents and the old logo — skip the repairs, no one will notice.
It’s easy to carpet bomb with the typical complaints. Some are fair: homogenization, regionalization, old playbooks, programming Rock WYYY with the KYYY Country staff, and scaling back on live & local have all contributed to current problems.
But in other cases, there is indisputable evidence R&D — and a vision for the future — have been in play for years. iHeart has invested hundreds of millions in technology and systems to become digitized and connected to modern day.
iHeart didn’t walk into the boardroom and claim firing Sally from the Alley was the secret to profitability. But they knew antiquated systems had to be modernized, even if it meant downsizing.
Many are digitizing and modernizing, but there are B-sides to the current album.
- Canned out-of-market DJs botching local street names.
- Out-of-demo programmers from the East thinking they’re dialed in on the West.
- Being pre-recorded when immediate live and local reaction is needed.
- Thinking PPM wins are equivalent to truly building a passionate audience.
Those aren’t paper cuts. They are deep scratches on Side A, causing skips, and making fans change the dial.
R&D is critical. Evolution and innovation are non-negotiable musts.
But when it comes down to it:
- Brand Managers or visionaries are paid to see the future and produce albums the audience will love.
- CFOs are paid to make sure studio costs don’t include hookers and blow.
A healthy marriage of both requires the Executive Team to channel their inner Dana White or Steve Jobs and know when it’s time to react, call audibles, innovate, buy time with investors, and push boundaries.
Over-conservatism or lack of vision can be silent killers. They may not show up in Q2, but by Q4 the show could be over — amps dead, fans gone, nothing left but empty beer cups.
- If you’re an Executive, forecast potential for each brand —with and without R&D. Often, the right small investment can bring big-time ROI, and that can scale up.
- If you’re on the front lines of vision — outnumbered and low on ammo — forecast the problems and call for backup.
All the noise and feedback aside, RockTernative is still in a great spot, but the mix has to be right.
The industry can’t allow real solutions for the future to take a back seat to this week’s bottom line. Otherwise … Sears, Blockbuster, Decca. That adds up in any spreadsheet.
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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.
