Adding New Music: The Basics

There are two general approaches to adding new music.

First Approach: Proactive

You add a song because something suggests that your audience might like to hear it (artist reputation, your own evaluation of the song, chart performance of the song or artist, reaction to the song when performed at a concert, etc.).

You don't expect the song to do well immediately. You expose it enough to establish familiarity.

You believe that you are presenting something that will expose your listeners to fresh music and which will be, in their opinion, appropriate and interesting. That is in itself a benefit.

If the listeners decide after hearing the song a few times that they don't like it, you'll put it from your station.

Second Approach: Reactive

You test a song (usually in a weekly "callout" music study) that you are thinking about adding to your station.

You don't add the song until it "begins to test."

You rely on exposure by other media and your competitors to establish the song.

You jump on the song at exactly the right time and grab the benefits, while letting others pay the price for playing unfamiliar music.

Which is the Best Approach?

Clearly, there are pluses and minuses to both approaches.

The problem with the proactive approach is that it can be taken to an extreme. You can add a song that the listeners wouldn't even find appropriate. You can keep playing it past the point at which the listeners have evaluated and rejected it. You could have lousy taste in music, or at least different tastes than your listeners (this is a common problem for 20-something males trying to program radio stations for female audiences). You can overload the station with so much new and unfamiliar music that the listeners aren't comfortable with the station. They may have to wait longer -- too long, perhaps -- before they get to hear one of their established favorite songs.

The overriding caution here is the need for moderation.

Let's look at the reactive approach, an approach that makes record labels crazy. Unless your station's listeners have exactly the same taste as everybody else who will hear a song, the only opinions that really serve to guide you well are those of your own listeners. So you can be misled by feedback from your competitors' listeners, or by record sales, play on MTV, and other secondary sources. If your listeners do have the same taste in music as your competitor, somebody is redundant.

Finally, one thing about the reactive approach is very dangerous:

Forcing Listeners to Use Another Station

If your listeners have some interest in current music, and every time their favorite artist comes out with a new song you wait for another station to establish it, what happens? You train your listeners that they actually need your competitor in order to satisfy their interest in new music. If you believe your listeners have no need for new music, why are you ever adding a new song?

Solution?

You don't need me to tell you that there is no one solution. Many of the columns I write for this website, blog entries, and the advice I provide to radio stations address the many techniques that help us manage the exposure of music to our listeners. But I can summarize with a few of things that stand out in terms of exposing new music:

1. Focus on your listeners

If you are to create a unique station, you must take some chances, and carefully pick and expose some music because you believe that your own listeners might enjoy it.

2. Get feedback directly from your audience

You need good research to tell you how they are reacting to your new and current music from week to week.

3. Remember why you added this new song

You must treat each song as a tool -- a tool designed to increase the enjoyment felt by your listeners, so when that song is no longer the right tool for the job, set it aside and find a better tool.

4. Know your listeners' interest in new music

Understand that each format attracts people with different levels of interest in -- and even tolerance of -- newer music and unfamiliar music. One of your most important jobs is to understand how your audience feels about new music. Establish your balance between unfamiliar, new, current, recent and older favorites. Never stop questioning whether you have it right. Within that framework, put the best music you can in each category.

As simplistic as that may sound, it always works. Of course, there are many details involved, and good programmers never stop learning. But that is the craft of our profession, and helps make this fun!