Written in September 2023.
That’s What the Man Said
Bob Lefsetz is a bodacious blogger about all things and culture. Primarily, he is a music guy who seems to know every living person involved in the music business or else someone who does know the famous person. His blog post with that headline hit the first of the week and, of course, has gotten a lot of attention in the biz. Here’s a link to the Lefsetz article.
For me, the money quote is the final paragraph:
But one thing is for sure, terrestrial radio is circling the drain when it comes to breaking acts. It’s never meant less. Maybe you want it to be part of your marketing campaign, but if you’re making it number one, you’re missing the target.
The preceding point of the article is that radio is no longer the music discovery medium. People do not turn to radio to find new music. So, a station positioning itself as the one that “Plays the Best New Songs First” is wasting its breath. I could riff on this topic for an hour, but no. I will say this: There is a big difference between playing records for your audience and Presenting music to them.
SW
Written by
Steve Warren
Steve Warren has programmed radio since 1964. He built MdB, the first music scheduler for the Mac, in 1987 and Music 1 for Windows in 1994, and is a founding partner of MusicOne.
