Victims of Formatting

This is my first entry with content. Read my VERY first entry below to get a feel for what this blog is all about!

Wanna know why the radio sucks? Clearchannel and formatting. But that probably doesn't mean much to most people. So you can watch this video, or read this, its pretty much the same thing, but PLEASE do at least one!! Educate yourself!!

Here, watch this:

Here's a quick breakdown of Clearchannel: There was once a car dealership in Texas that gave a loan out to a guy to buy a radio station and he defaulted - so now this car dealership owned a radio station. They found that they could sell time slots on air, and having a background in sales and wall street, they started just thinking how much they could get to sell these advertising slots. SO the business started growing and they started buying more and more radio stations - having no background in music whatsoever.

Well now Clearchannel owns over 900 stations. Anything that is KISS FM or some major radio station that has national DJs and broadcasts, is owned by Clearchannel. Its pretty much a monopoly.

The brilliant business aspect of radio is the product that they create is free and their clients (advertisers) come to them. The more listeners a radio station has, the more advertisers will pay to reach those listeners. What's the key here? Garnering listeners. Here's where formatting comes in.

People are used to a certain song format, they like an intro, a verse and a catchy chorus they can sing along to and probably gets stuck in their head. We have been programmed to listen to music of this format. If a song ventures too far away from what they are used to the average person will just change the station and find something they are familiar with... Something that sounds exactly like what they are used to... RADIO STATIONS DON'T LIKE THAT! The last thing they want you to do is change the station!! That decreases the amount of listeners and how much they can sell their air time for! So what do they do? Only play music of a certain format that they know people are used to and will like and be familiar with!!

So radio stations and DJs aren't playing music because they care about it and want you to find new artists and new cool songs. No, they are playing music of a specific format to keep the numb minds of listeners satisfied so they won't change the station as they drive home from work wondering what they should do this weekend when they hear a commercial for the summer's best action thriller that has audiences around the country "on the edge of their seat!!"

Oh and have you ever wondered why the radio version of the song is different than the one you have on iTunes or on a CD? Why is that radio version 2:30 while the one you have is 3:45 and has that cool instrumental section? Well sorry, the dumbed down masses of listeners might become bored and change the station when they stop hearing someone singing and actually have to listen to music. Oh, and that 1:15 could earn a lot more money sold as a commercial spot rather than playing music.

Ok, this is getting long, I hope your still reading, i have a lot more to say, but i want to try and keep these things short and easy to read... questions, comments? Let me know!

Blog Mission Statement

I have been urged by several people to write a blog about music and I'm finally doing it. So if you were one of those people, congratulations, you win. I'm starting this blog to inform and bring good music to people and just put my thoughts on music AND the industry out there. I'm not trying to amass as many followers as possible, I suspect most people that read this will be people I know and that's ok.

Here's what you can expect to see on my blog:

1) Music that I love and explaining why I love it and then posting it for you to listen and download.

2) My thoughts on music that is popular (not just pop music) and my breakdown of the song structure, songwriting and production aspect. What I want to be unique about this is that it will not just be my opinions on songs and music, but facts about production and how the song was made and who wrote it so that readers can have a better understanding of how the industry works and what they are listening to.

3) Insight on the inner workings and practices of the music industry. Example: Most people think music today isn't what it used to be. They are fed up with the radio and all the crap it plays. Why does radio play so much crap? How does it get there? How has it gotten to this? Well I'm here to tell you.

As a student of music, a musician, a producer and songwriter with a diverse musical background, and as a music business student, I have learned a lot and formed a lot of my own thoughts about music today. I just want to share some of that now. I hope you enjoy and learn something too!