Backspacer: Songs We Won't Hear on the
Radio
I have never been a big Pearl Jam fan. Not that they are not talented, nor I was unaware of the band's name. I just felt like I "missed" it growing up. So when Pearl Jam's newest album, "Backspacer" fell into my hands I became curious.
How can a band have such a huge following, and not have heavy airplay?
Lets backtrack:
Working in radio, I have been learning about ratings and working with a program that tracks listenership. All day I look at songs and watch a graph. When the graph spikes, people tune in. A dip means listeners leave. Listeners will go in and out for many reasons: commercials, the DJ is boring, they have to get out of the car, or they do not enjoy the song.
Basically, the more listeners, the more air play.
So why would Pearl Jam, with all its success and glory, not get dominate airplay? It seems "Jeremy" is the good ol' stand by for Pearl Jam. However their fan base so big, why isn't the graph jumping when PJ songs air?
My only conclusion is that the listeners that dig Pearl Jam, aren't the type to listen to radio. Perhaps PJ fans are more likely to listen to "Backspacers" on their ipod, or using satellite to hear their favorite tune.
There is one major difference between radio users and media music/ipod users: choice. While a radio listeners waits for the radio to give them what they want, the media music user demands their entertainment.
Perhaps we are ending this age of the man telling us what is good, or what is cool. Maybe this next generation will have organically cool music.
Oh, and "Backspacers" is worth a spin.
I agree with the whole listeners are more demanding now and have the resources to make their own play list. I also think it's due to too many top 40 stations. It's the same songs over and over all day. I frequently change stations only to hear another station playing the same song! What happened to the days when you requested songs!? When radio dj's had to actually be a DJ and pick the songs.
ReplyDeleteMy brother who is much more into music than I am and he's always saying there's never any stations that play the music he likes. There's no stations for the struggling artist or the classics. Where did all the good radio go?