Here today, gone tomorrow. Cliché, but something programmers can’t ignore. Consider these recent stories that were red hot but became tired overnight.
- Coldplay’s cheating CEO.
- Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans.
- Cracker Barrel’s logo.
- Tennis’ hat-stealer.
- The Phillies’ Ballsnatcher.
Big hits. Quickly forgotten. Just like “Bobby Sox.”
Blame the internet, social media or smartphones, it doesn’t matter. Everyone’s got a little ADHD these days — including your listeners.
At Rockternative, the new music timeline has been turned upside down. A song can go from unfamiliar to burnt before the band books a gig in your city. There was a time when it might take a new radio song 16+ months to land in Recurrent.
The old cycle went something like this:
- Add a new record to Light, let it simmer, wait and see if there’s ever hope.
- There’s hope! Move it to Medium. Grow more spins and then add it to callout — maybe it becomes a Power at some point.
- It’s looked good in callout for months — move it to Power and bang it until the chart, research or the SVP says otherwise.
If that’s your system — that’s dial-up AOL. It’s time for an update.
Today’s truths:
- Streams don’t wait for callout. Instant results by shares, saves and skips.
- A new banger can get discovered, playlisted, hyped and forgotten in less than 30 days.
- TikTok can burn out a song before it’s serviced to Radio.
For RockTernative brands that require the “New Music” image and want to be in-step with today’s new cycle, it’s a tight-rope walk.
- Ratings do drive revenue.
- Unfamiliar music can be dangerous.
- New stiffs are killers.
That’s why RockTernative has become conservative.
That said, some songs sound like hits but don’t end up charting well. And some hits aren’t really hits. There’s a bigger picture here — much bigger than the chart.
- Charts can be manipulated by labels or influencer stations — hits aren’t always hits.
- Some hits go un-worked or un-serviced for budgetary or political reasons.
- The audience doesn’t have a Mediabase login — they don’t require a Top 5 slot for a song to be added to their playlist.
There’s a gray area between stiffs and hits — it’s critical territory for programmers.
Likely overheard at the Billboard Hot 100 offices:
- “When I Come Around” didn’t sniff the Top 100.
- “Tom Sawyer” peaked at #44.
- “Stairway to Heaven” wasn’t a single.
- “Welcome to the Jungle” flopped on its first release
- Nirvana had zero #1 singles.
A quick browse through Selector or Music Master and you’ll see a long list of RockTernative hits that weren’t “chart hits.”
You know the drill:
- Some much-hyped songs are just bad medicine — not worth your time.
- Others are apples & oranges — fresh, tasty, won’t kill you, worth giving a shot. Some of those fall off the tree early and others make it all the way to your fruit salad.
The skill is knowing the difference — letting a chart be a tool, not something that makes all the calls for you. Remember, the chart does include spins from stations that either have no real PD or are governed by different goals. And many successful radio brands have “local hits.” Songs that don’t look great on a Mediabase aggregator, but have become hits for the brand.
All brands deserve their own playbook and conquering the ever-changing Rubik’s cube of music cycles is never one size that fits all.
For some Rock brands, new stuff isn’t a strategic priority. Arriving late to the party is fashionable and intentional.
But for many kids at Alternative, being in-synch with “New” is as important as fries in the combo meal. Better eat them fast, before they get cold!
A Light or Medium category can still exist —but if the goal is to be truly present in “Now,” there is no longer a long runway to Power.
- If you’re a PD, you’re paid to have good ears and instincts. If you believe something can become something, don’t wait — the audience will lap you. With today’s fast metrics, you’ll quickly know if you need to move on.
- If outside-metrics are in place and humming, what are you waiting for? Swing! Get busy. Crank it up.
None of this suggests throwing caution to the wind and swinging at balls you know will likely land outside the strike zone. But if you see a CEO cheating at the Coldplay concert, don’t waste time putting it in the Light category — Power it up on the jumbotron while you still have time.
That hit may be gone tomorrow.
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.
