Back in the day, just about every music radio station used superlatives to tout its music positions. They would create static positions like “The Most Non-Stop Music” or “Nobody Plays More Music.”

I remember when I was programming Hit Radio back in the 80s. We offered up “30-Minute, Non-Stop Music Sets!” Some stations even went out on the limb with “More Music—Less Commercials!” Once created, we would follow the rule of the day… “Name it, Proclaim It, Own It, and Pound it” over and over again!  

All of this worked back then when radio was competing against itself when radio was the number one source for music discovery. Today’s consumers are more savvy, and rather than responding to the old, static approach, they require greater “connection.” 

Back then, Pure Play and DSPs didn’t even exist in the brain cells of those who invented them. I mean, we had the Sony Walkman, but we purchased the music we heard on the radio. Don’t get me wrong; radio is still a source for music discovery, but I certainly don’t need to tell you that the competition has grown tremendously.  

I believe the real music revolution began in 2001 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod, which was something neither radio nor Walkman could accomplish. It was when we first heard the term “A Thousand Songs in Your Pocket.”

At no time until then could you carry anything close to it. I remember having a CD pocket on my car’s visor that held a dozen CDs, which, when you consider the capacity, would only hold a couple of hundred songs…many of which you wouldn’t listen to. 

The iPod gave consumers a chance to carry not only a thousand songs in their pockets but, better yet – “a thousand “FAVORITE songs in their pockets.

From the late 90s through the 2000s, we saw everything from streaming delivery services like iTunes, Pandora, and Spotify. Even AOL tried to stay in the game with AOL Radio.

Over the past 25 years, radio’s long love affair with consumers as the best music delivery service forced us to share our consumers. Music has always and will always be an extremely important component of radio but today – the music battle is not the fight that will cement radio as a compelling source of audio for technology savvy consumers.

Radio MUST continue to be on a quest for truly compelling content! For clarity – I am not suggesting that music doesn’t matter. But it must be wrapped inside the local, meaningful, compelling content that matters to the listener.   

Here are some great radio brands:

1010 WINS New York, NY. (The longest-running all-news station in the nation.)
Product: All News
Branding: “You Give Us 22 Minutes – We Give You the World”

WXST Star 99.7 Charleston, SC
Product: Urban Adult Contemporary Music
Branding: The People’s Station (Gives the African American listener a voice.)

K-Love National Christian Music
Product: Contemporary Christian Music
Branding: Faith, Love, Positive Encouragement

Let’s take it a step further. Let’s think of some powerful brands with which we are all familiar. How many of those great brands ever mention being the “best” or having the “most”?

Does McDonalds ever talk about the best burgers or chicken? Does Nike EVER mention that they’re the best at anything? In fact, some of the great brands never even sell their products when marketing.

Think about the Snickers Betty White Superbowl commercial that almost everyone should remember. Click here to see it.

How about this classic Amazon Alexa spot, which, again, without selling the product, puts you in a world of substitute Alexas.

The point is that while having the best product possible is always important, having a superlative brand that makes a compelling connection with the consumer is just as – if not more important.

I learned when conducting 15 years of radio research that great brands are not always the best products. I won’t list any of those for obvious reasons, but I’m sure you can get there on your own. To make great money, though – you need a great brand.  

Run your brand through this litmus test. I’ve used this for decades. “A brand is a promise, based on a relationship, wrapped inside an addictive experience.”

That is the singular mission, where everything matters, and it requires a cohesive, collaborative effort from everyone on the team. I promise it will make your product so much more relevant, important, and compelling than just being another music station with the best or most.  

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