I hate the expression “what’s old is new.” But here we are, and I have to say it. What’s old is new. Or maybe it can be. Last week in this space, I ranted about how “new music discovery” wasn’t an image rock radio can truly own. But let’s flip that on its head and pull out a good win this week.
One of the bigger new hits at RockTernative is 12 years old — Weezer’s “Go Away.” And it leads me to wonder if radio is overlooking a massive opportunity.
Undiscovered gold. Not nostalgia Gold, undiscovered Gold.
In other words, great songs from important artists that may not have been released as singles or hammered so hard they’re permanently tattooed on the Top 200 Gold chart.
Think about it. Programmers are no different than listeners. PDs have musical tastes of their own — guilty pleasures from the Foos, Blink, and Metallica on their phones. But they don’t play them on air because they could be somewhat unfamiliar to the masses, or they fear the higher-ups may not approve. Everyone understands that.
We don’t play that. We didn’t test it. It’s not in the Top 200. Skip.
Listeners and all of radio’s digital competitors disagree. And they’re winning the argument.
To be clear, this is not a call for being the “deep cut” and “B-side” station or format. This is far more strategic: Songs from core artists that never had their moment — but should have.
Because the reality is listeners don’t think in terms of Current, Recurrent, and Gold. They don’t care what “tests,” what charted, what was once in power for 17 weeks, and their jaws would drop if they heard a PD say the library can’t be more than 300 songs.
Listeners like what they like and think selfishly, emotionally, and in moments:
- “How did I miss this?”
- “Why haven’t they played this before?”
- “This is great.”
- “I want to hear more like this.”
That reaction is the opportunity. It’s like finding that next big new hit, but it may be more powerful — and it’s largely being left on the table.
Streaming algorithms are incredible at giving listeners familiarity and funneling what’s popular to the top. But if something doesn’t hit big the first time, there’s a good chance it never gets a real second chance.
RockTernative can offer that. Strategically. Brands have the ability to reframe a song and create a shared moment around it.
My favorite Jimmy Eat World song is “Bleed American.” As one of my daughters would say, it’s fire, slaps, eats, and cooks. The song was rocketing up the charts in 2001, then 9/11 happened. Pulled. Poof. Gone. Culturally toxic.
If that song were released or rereleased today, I’d double down on it being a “new hit.”
And if a 12-year-old song from Weezer — that was nowhere near the Top 200 Gold — can feel like a great new song to a listener today, then maybe “new” isn’t about release date anymore. Maybe it’s about exposure and timing.
This opens a new lane for RockTernative to own something just as important as “new music” — helping listeners discover what they missed.
Think about all the iconic artists at the format(s), yet there are only a few songs from each in rotation. That’s a giant repositioning opportunity. It’s also a narrative change that could bring creative NTR.
And it’s the right time. Currently, many brands are stuck in purgatory — not really leading new music discovery, but also trapped by historical radio “rules” and “boundaries” with Gold libraries — when there is literally a massive catalog of relevant music sitting in front of them.
- Music from the biggest artists in the format.
- Music that fits the brand.
- Non-singles that cause concertgoers to raise the roof.
- Songs that could land today if given a second — or first — chance.
Should your brand capitalize on this opportunity? Specialty weekend, daily spotlight, limited rotation lane, etc. — that’s up to you. If so, it must be curated by someone who truly knows the music and does their digging to find missed hits and not stiffs.
But from your phone playlists to mine, maybe the next “new hit” isn’t new at all. Maybe it’s just the one that wasn’t given a real chance the first time around.
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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.
