Roots Music Report

[Chris Hanners]

Due to the influx of 'NEW' country that has invaded commercial radio, From the unscientific poll I have gleened one overwhelming opinion from country radio listeners: 'If I hear that song one more time, I'm gonna punch somebody!" The most influencial music charts are Billboard and R & R. The basic principle of a song making it on these charts is the amount of 'spins' or plays the song gets on the radio air waves. The more plays, the higher the song climbs on the charts, and subsequently the more money the artist, song writer, publisher and record company makes.

The so-called experts in the music industry say that the relationship between record companies and radio has always been strained(?). Now with the flood of 'syndicated programmers' such as Jones Network, ABC Network, etc., the majority of commercial radio is becoming a memorex of a show taped in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Dallas. We've all heard of the thievery of 'PAYOLA', where a promoter or record companies bribes a program director at a radio station to play 'HIS' song. What they haven't told you is that, in todays world, record companies pay for air-time in blocks to these syndicators and conglomerate broadcasting networks - and it is perfectly legal! It is no different than Harry's Hardware buying air-time to advertise on the radio station.

If the station is only 'LIVE' (an actually DJ on the air giving local news) 4-6 hours a day, where is all this 'no repeat workday' music coming from? How in the world is a radio station making money when you hear no advertising for an hour or longer? Shows like 'Crook and Chase Countdown', 'Danny Wright All Night', 'Real Country', 'The Big time with Whitney Allen', and the likes are steamlined into the radio station, vurtually making the disc jockey obsolete. These syndicators now have 24-hour programming specifically geared toward the smaller, locally owned radio stations, whose budgets cannot hire full time disc jockeys. Remember the days when you could call the radio station and request a song? Check the number, my friend, you are probably calling into another state.

Now, let's go back to the charts and the so-called 'strained' relationship between record companies and radio. One of the jobs of the promoter is to get airplay for the artist he is hired to promote. Gone are the days when a promoter stays on the phone for 8-15 hours a day, calling program directors and music directors at individual radio stations to sweet talk them into spinning an artists' new song. You will be hard pressed to find a program director who listens to songs and decides whether or not he wants to add it to their rotation of songs that are played on the station. Due to the promoters network of contacts, all he has to do is place two critical calls, and the song is placed on upwards of 100 syndicated shows (Can you say "I have a tee time at eleven"?). If this song is now loaded on 100 syndicated shows, which is broadcast to upwards of 500 radio stations per day, can you see how it makes it onto the major music charts? How can this be a 'strained' relationship between record companies and radio?

Which is why I concentrate on locally owned and operated radio stations for possible airplay of my songs. These 1,000-30,000 watt stations are the heart and soul of the communities in which they serve. They are the stations the community relies on when severe weather threatens. These are the stations that mom and pop stores advertise on to get their patrons to shop at their business instead of WalMart. These are your neighbors, your family, your friends; people are all too willing to work hard and get a little, if any, recognition or compensation in return. These are the stations that sponsor the local schools, the local festivals, the local churches. And, these are the radio stations I listen to to hear my old time favorite country songs and the highly talented, independent music from my neck of the woods.

I would like to point out that, while commercial radio has seen a significant drop in revenues within the past year, independent radio has continued to see a steady rise in revenues for the same period of time. And finally, all indicators and musings coming from the program directors at the syndicators say they watch the independent and roots charts for the music stars of tomorrow. (Things that make you go, hmmmm...).

'Nuff said.