Greetings fans… One of my greatest frustrations with this blog is the lack of back and forth. I KNOW a LOT of people read it from the rankings but the fact that urban radio people don’t participate in ANY of the radio sites or blogs has been a bit disturbing to me in the past. I understand the “Corpse” demand that you maintain a level of loyalty by not talking to the press and not promoting yourselves but this makes it very hard to produce a radio industry trade. Thank God I was born with a high creative capacity, otherwise I would have quit this a long time ago…. OK, actually it’s the MONEY that keeps me doing it. Hey, why lie. If Radio Facts actually had competitors, I’d be concerned…. OK, I’d be THRILLED, I’d love to find the younger version of myself to take over the reigns… why lie.
Over the last few months, I have been invited to a few media events (movie premieres, album release parties etc) and with 25 years in the business I actually had to call to get on those lists. One of the media promoters finally admitted to me, they knew me and what I did but that marketing companies see very little value in radio. Their product is not promoted because of restricted and monitored on-air delivery and DJs and radio announcers are at the bottom of the list for their events and invites YIKES. As I looked around the room I was the ONLY radio person/site/blog there and I was not surprised to hear this and I thought this is really upsetting because you would THINK that radio would be at the TOP of the list but she was right. The Corpse monitor the stations so heavily that a jock could not only be fired for promoting a product (not advertised on the station) since there are so few radio corporations out there he could also be blackballed. It’s too bad there are no national radio organizations that care about today’s radio (especially urban) who could monitor, address and attempt to negotiate these issues with corporations on behalf of radio people. It frustrates me when organizations that COULD address these issues hire black people so out of touch with the black community they think The Running Man is still the latest dance. They want ass kissing yes men and are afraid to bring people like me on board because they know I don’t play. Radio people don’t have much of an opportunity to advance in their careers these days, I am totally against that. Whenever we do a story, Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey, Kevin Liles, Coco Brother and LA Reid are always the most read. Any story about radio people, no matter how big in the industry, are the LEAST read (excusing the industry readership). In today’s digital and technological age, it is BEYOND a shame that radio and industry people are not taking full advantage to marketing themselves and what they do. Once again, urban radio people don’t have a voice to speak for them.
At any industry party these days (on the coasts) you will ONLY see a lot of celebs. The marketing companies value tweets and FaceBook and coming from a celeb it’s going to carry a LOT MORE weight than a radio person. Times have surely changed but celebs are fun, they interact, they dance and they have personalities (unlike industry people) so I like the new industry too (lol).
The Top 45 DJ contest nominee list is ALMOST done. Winners announced July 11
I’m giving it a few extra days. While this contest has gotten the MOST votes, I can just hear the backlash now… “Why wasn’t so and so on the list….” etc. It is extremely evident why mix jocks are so successful these days, the Corpse are still ignoring them because the older execs are not into the clubs or the music and it allows them to expand and grow their OWN industry independent of the politics and BS that on-air jocks face. At this point, there will be a LOT of mix jocks in The Radio Facts 2011 Top 45 DJs because THEY are the ones who are getting their fans to vote. So I don’t want to hear SHIT when the list is announced on July 11. I have changed the date because industry changes are supposed to take place the week of July 5 and the industry will be paying full attention to that.
LA Reid
Glad to hear the news on LA going to Sony to head Epic, which will absorb Jive. His focus on more urban music is a great idea and I’m glad that news on the proposed industry changes is out of the way. People are wondering where Sylvia Rhone will end up.
format
Kevin,
Thank you, bro, for bringing truth to light. The Urban side to this industry (radio/records) has always surprised me. I have been in it since 1982 (WEHB, WKWM, KSOL, Q-104.7, Power 106 L.A., Hits Magazine, Urban Network, LCM337).
I was always surprised that blues, reggae and gospel were only found on community and A.M. radio stations in secondary and smaller markets. I never understood why we couldn’t have an Urban version of AOR. I was also surprised when black radio did not fully embrace Hip-Hop. But, they sure stomped their feet when they couldn’t get big promotions like tix to a Janet concert because the “rhythm crossover” or pop stations in the market got them. That was because they played hip-hop artists. I thought, we already lost blues and reggae, now we are about to lose Hip-Hop as well. Why? Why let everyone else prosper and increase cash-flow AND popularity on something we should be playing and regulating from the start. I believe there were two reasons for this. One, Black radio felt a responsibility to the community and wasn’t in line with what hip-hop represented. And two, It was “Too Black Too Strong,” and they thought they would lose their core listener.
As you stated, some programmers were just too out of touch with what was really going on to program accordingly. My thing has always been, if you don’t know your market i.e., live there, get out to clubs, parks, record stores (back then) to see and hear what folks were dancing to, playing in their cars, at BBQs or to see what they were buying in the stores, then you had no business programming. You also should be able to program from your gut! If you are spinning at a club, are you gonna stand out front and ask everyone as they come in “Hi, I’m doing research to better serve your dance needs this evening. Do you have a moment to listen to some hooks? I’d like to see what songs you like.” That’s how I felt about auditorium and call-out testing. Research? Getting out into the community and knowing good music should be research enough. That is why I never was in favor of consultants. The same list of songs for every market? Nah…
I would get a song in the mail and if I felt it was hot, we would throw it in immediately, with commitment, not 3 plays a week. We’d promote the “You heard it here first” or “Exclusive Premiere” aspect and get feedback on the request lines. That was as close to research as we got. I didn’t wait for a label rep to hound me. If it was good, it got played. If not, they could offer tix and a room to Jack The Rapper, Impact Super Summit or the Urban Network conferences all day long, it wasn’t getting played.
I am also surprised that AC hasn’t really been re-defined. It cannot mean the same as what it once was. I am approaching 50 (yikes) but I grew-up with hip-hop as did everyone else my age, right? But I do not ever hear an AC station playing anything I would consider an accurate and effective AC playlist. That’s just me. Just once I’d like to hear some Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Brand Nubian, Common, Mary J., Rufus & Chaka, Teena, Rick and others mixed in with Erykah, Ledisi, Leela James, etc.
The art of programming in lost, as is the “On-Air” personality. No one wants anyone to shine. Programmers won’t even let their mix-show DJs have “gimmies” anymore. Maybe they are afraid the DJ will get a new 4G phone before they do? What is the real reason? Are they afraid that the one to three gimmies will be so bad the listeners will turn the dial? It’s bullshit, many records came from “mix-show.” Programmers should take the time to talk to their DJs, set the course and the standard for what’s to be played and what is expected. Listen to your DJs, THEY are out entertaining the very listener you are trying to reach. Coach and train your DJs and on-air personalities, that is where your next MD should come from, in-house. Unless of course the programmer is about ego and doesn’t want anyone else to be cooler or get the credit for a great sounding station. What ever happened to “each one teach one?”
So many issues to address, but I don’t want to ramble. Kev, keep doing your thang, proud of you.
Your boy,
Lee Cadena
Lee Cadena Management
Lee Cadena Media
lee@leecadenamedia.com
Your comment about the lack of comments from radio personalities was so correct..most air personalities are so concerned about keeping their jobs speaking out would jeopardize their employment. If they would speak out on the issues affecting our community like the dropout rate of school students,the spread of HIV and the senseless violence
maybe the message would help curtail some of these things.
I read and totaly agree with all the statements that were made considering the (dj)… what happen i’m in the Las Veags market where now if your not on MTV or in some club on the Las vegas strip… u will get no love… tru talent has been replaced with smoking mirrors of what a dj is suppose to be aka look like … what happen to the music ??? when I listen to the radio now all I here are the same 10 songs over and over within the same hour… Local talent is being brought in from other areas that have no clue what is going in this area… It is really sad, I remember not to long ago when I was glad to get something new that was hot so I could play it in my mix so that the community could at least here it… now all we are stuck with is a 10 song selection over and over again… and so called P/D or M/D that hold creativity back… Maybe one day someone with (common sense, which is not so commom now adays) will realize that leading is not called micro-managing and if you believe enough in your team at the end of the day you (P/D – M/D) will get the chance to recieve the benifits of a correct business process… (education)