July 17, 2020
Other than TikTok and other social media platforms, what traditional radio formats do you feel influence Top 40 (and you) the most when searching for cross-over prospects?
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Jagger WKSS: Definitely Rhythmic / CHR and Country, then HAC, especially for artists like Katy Perry. Erik Bradley, B96: All of them, but I like to look at worldwide Shazam charts to see if I can find any nuggets (like how Topic recently broke).
Valentine, WBHT: I look at Rhythmic / Hip-Hop records. I think Rhythmic has (kind of) become the new Pop. When they work, they work big. Even if they don’t test, they still add a flavor that’s needed right now. Josh Wolff, WAEB: It depends on the lean of the station. For instance, with WAEB and WLAN which both lean adult, we may pay more attention to the HAC chart and secondarily the ALT chart (maybe a bit more for LAN). I don’t regularly look at the Country charts but because the Lancaster market has more of a Country influence in general, we may be more receptive to Country artists at LAN than at B104. |
Drew Heyman, Y100: It’s still Instagram stories that’s a good gauge for us. Also, Snapchat and TikTok are an important gauge as to what’s really going on with our audience.
Matt Johnson, KSLZ: It one hundred percent depends on your competitive situation. I’ve been in some markets where, it’s ALT, others where it’s Urban, Rhythmic or Dance. You have to know the make-up of your station and your own tendencies and act accordingly depending on your main competitor whether it’s in-format or non-format. Buster Satterfield, Q102: Hip-Hop, Alternative and believe it or not, Country. Bob Patrick, WXLK: Rhythmic format especially in the summer. It’s move active in the streaming space and we’ll find some records there. Brian Mack, WXXL: I don’t really feel I need to look that far because the songs usually come to us from several places and when it meets our criteria for new music, we move on it.
Jon Zellner, iHeartMedia: As far as traditional radio formats, Top 40 has been most successful when it pulls from a variety of formats: Hot AC, Rhythm, ALT, Country and Hip Hop/R&B. |
Rich Davis, KDWB: I’ve been paying attention a bit more to Rhythmic records because there’s been a few that have successfully crossed over this year. They get a foothold on TikTok and then Rhythmic quickly joins in and that’s when I start to feel them. Mike “OD” O’Donnell, WKRZ: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tends to be more of a Rock/ALT-driven market, so we’ll look at songs that are starting to break from the ALT charts. Those records that we choose tend to be great balance records for KRZ. I don’t necessarily look at the Country charts, but I think Country in general has moved more toward CHR than CHR has moved toward Country. The right Country records seem to come to us and they typically perform well. I think both Country and HAC artists are making Pop records, so we choose the best from those formats.
Chris Michaels, FM100: The Alternative chart does influence some Hot AC records when looking at crossover prospects. |
Jeff Hurley, iHeartMedia: We’re in a ‘cherry-pick’ phase for CHR right now. We’re pulling in the best records from multiple formats. Rhythm is driving a portion of the chart with artists like Da Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Mosey and many more. But we’ve found great records at ALT (AJR, Billie Eilish) and Country (Maren Morris, Kane Brown), as well.
Jonathan Shuford, WRVW: I mean Top 40 is supposed to be the best of every format, right? Certainly we pull from Rhythmic and Hip-Hop formats, but especially here in Nashville we look for the biggest hits from Alternative and Country as well.
Jammer, WEZB: Streaming formats and sales. Reaction rules in our format.
Java Joel, WAKS: Some of the biggest consumption records come from Hip-Hop/R&B radio… and yet we still feel compelled to daypart them out of middays… 1992 called 🙂
Rick Vaughan, KENZ: For us first it’s Dance, and then Alternative. For the format, most songs are crossing form Rhythmic and Rhythmic/T40 to Pop on a pretty regular basis.
Dom Theodore, Radio Animal Media Strategies: Rhythmic and HOT AC primarily, and occasionally Urban and Country.Next Week’s Question Of The Week:
What’s the strongest message radio can send its listeners regarding its ongoing entertainment value to them?
e-Mail your responses to: jodorisio@deanemediasolutions.com or bburke@deanemediasolutions.com
