January 25, 2019

What are your hopes and/or expectations for the music cycle for 2019?

Raphael Opida, WIOQ: Pop is making a comeback! The swing from extremes is (hopefully) over. There will be that “artist” who changes the direction of pop once again to the “center.”

Java Joel, WAKS: More tempo, better songwriting, bigger hooks. Less “doom & gloom”/mid-tempo/slow bummer tracks. 2018 was grey… We need 2019 to have colors that POP.

Todd Shannon, WAPE: Bigger hits from established starts in the format. We need a certain artist to get back into the studio and make some magic.

Tommy Chuck, WFLZ: If the first few weeks of 2019 are any indication, it feels like this will be a great year for lots of hit music!

Jeff Hurley, WLAN: My fear is that everything’s going to continue to sound the same. I feel like we’ve been in a cycle where the algorithm is running everything and everything sounds like what the algorithm likes. We’re almost in danger right now of every format sounding the same and we need some unique voices, and I worry that we’re going see more compression than less. The ALT station sounds like the HAC station which sounds like the Pop station. It’s the same vibe with the keyboard hook in the middle, and the guest vocal, and builds for 16 beats and then there’s the big boom…it’s the same song.

Mase, CD1025: Guitars…please for the love of god, more guitars…and not the “active” kind.

 

Max Volume, KOZZ: Big hits from rock bands!

Lenny Diana, WAQY/WLZX: Hit records

Kevin Kash, WIYY: Would like to see music continue to challenge itself to create quality songs, sounds, and talent. Re-create great entertainment.

Jason Squires, KFRR: More cuts from Piledriver: The Wrestling Album.

 Otis Day, WIXX: That the big stars of the format give us more hits!

Rick Vaughn, KENZ: My hope is that we aren’t playing 6 powers from three artists all year.  2 Ariana, 2 Halsey, and 2 Khalid. Thrilling. Oh, and I expect the popularity of Billie Eilish to continue to grow while Pop radio ignores one of the most exciting artists available.

Toby Knapp, WASH: HOPES: A return of pure, feel-good, positive pop that typically comes when the economy is strong and people are optimistic about life and the world. EXPECTATIONS: It will probably be angry, a stretch for the format and off brand. At least until 2020.

Heather Deluca, WSJO: Selfishly I’d love to have new efforts from Adele and Katy Perry. In general, I’d like to see more alternative tracks crossover to Hot AC, especially during the summer months when playlists tend to get EDM heavy.Chris Michaels, FM100: That we have more music from Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, and Ed Sheeran. It would be good to have Justin Bieber and Rihanna back with some new music this year as well.

Sue O’Neil, WKSE: Rhythm and tempo!

Sassy, WKXJ: For our industry to expand their minds a bit because I really believe 2019 is going to be a pretty impressive year for K-Pop  The groups are coming over here and attracting American labels and I feel they’ going do pretty well.

Matt Talluto, WBYR: Hope to hear more bands like Rival Sons and Thrice that are doing it old school. Plugging in and whaling while making music you can feel their soul in. There’s been a lot of overproduction, especially in the last decade, where that soul gets lost.

 Kobe, WWHT: I expect to see more of the same, Rhythm and Urban records to exceed expectations, with having a few big Rock records. I think it will be a hard time for slower tempo records. EDM is the new Pop, and its influence will be on most of the traditional straight-ahead Pop records.

Fish Boy, WKRZ: VARIETY! Constant material from the same artists is getting tiresome. I don’t mind multiple hits from core artists, but when it’s 4-5 in the mix, scheduling is a nightmare. Hits are testing longer and singles are stacking up on top of each other. For our purposes, given how Dance, Rhythmic and Urban the music has been trending in general, we’d like to see more mainstream Pop and guitar driven songs…from a VARIETY of artists.

John Reynolds, WNKS: Looking forward to some new sounds, new artists who are going to become the next superstars in the format.

Jonathan Shuford, WRVW: To be better than the music cycle of 2018. We need big hits from several core artists, which was lacking last year. We need big mass appeal artists to have those big fat #1 records! We need Ed, Taylor, Bruno and Niall back in the picture in a big way…or we need that next crop of core artists to surface and deliver hits.

Matt Johnson, KSLZ: Two words: Pop. Rebirth.

Jon Zellner, iHeartMedia: Anytime Pop music comes back to the center and Pop stations have the ability to encompass multiple genres, the format performs better.

Mike “OD” O’Donnell, WKRZ: Songs that don’t peak in 5 weeks! It’s hard to tell if you have a database record 5 weeks. You need time for a record to get mature with your entire audience.

Next Week’s Question Of The Week:
What song in your life had a major impact on you and what were the circumstances surrounding that experience?
e-Mail your responses to: jodorisio@fmqb.com or bburke@fmqb.com