I don't normally listen so I don't know if this is something new for them or not but within about 15 minutes, I heard both "Take It Easy" and "Margaritaville" on KUPL, not modern versions but the originals by the Eagles and Jimmy Buffett. I haven't heard Country crossovers like that for about 30 years although lately, I've noticed that anytime I tune into a Country or Pop station, within about 5 minutes, I hear Taylor Swift!

In my eyes the "older" rock like Eagles ( take it easy, desperado, peaceful easy feeling etc..) sound more country than the mainstream country of today. Case in point, Jason Aldean "She's Country"
is more of a rock song than country. The new Miley Cyrus "The Climb" is also being pushed onto country also.

Over the past few decades, there's actually been several country stations around the nation that have tried kind of a"hybrid-ized" country format that incorporate southern-rock and pop tracks from The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Buffett, etc. with varying degrees of success.

And you're right about hearing so much Taylor Swift. Her upcoming concerts in Portland and Seattle (and around the country) sell out in no time flat; her CD sales and download figures are stunning. Any artist who can do that in this economy is a bonafide superstar, and superstars get the most airtime (and requests for that matter). So whether you personally love her or hate her, country radio is just givin' the (majority) of people what they say they want!

Any artist who can do that in this economy is a bonafide superstar,

And if she didn't get the MASSIVE amount of airplay from country stations and pop stations she would be a NOBODY!

Beano said: "And if she didn't get the MASSIVE amount of airplay from country stations and pop stations she would be a NOBODY."

I'm not so sure that's true...it's not a chicken-or-egg situation. I was working full-time in Country when Taylor first hit the airwaves a few years back - in light rotation, like all unknown artists. The phones lit up from the moment her song started playing, and PDs respond to that. She gets massive amounts of airplay because people tell us they want to hear it.

I'm as cynical as the next radio person, but most PDs I've worked for really do take into consideration what listeners are requesting.

"but most PDs I've worked for really do take into consideration what listeners are requesting."

My what a novel concept. Isn't that what it is supposed to be about? Play what your listeners want to hear so they will keep listening to your station. It should not be about what the people at the station like or want to play.......it should be about what the listeners want to hear. Who wants to listen to a station that doesn't play what you like?

One would think......

Anybody who gets a TON of radio airplay will sell records regardless if they are talented or not. Look at the talent-less hack Brittney Spears. She continues to sell records because radio continues to play her crap!

Hey Jimbo -

You're absolutely right - however, over the years I've seen a lot of bitching on this board about corporate playlists and so forth, therefore I mentioned it in case anyone wanted to try and say that Taylor's success was some sort of corporate radio/record company conspiracy as Beano seems to suggest. Her records connect with people and have since she started her career on MySpace.

Whether she's talented enough to deserve her success is another argument and very subjective. There are people who would say that Britney Spears is very talented, and if you look back at some of the early Disney videos, you will see that, despite the sound of the musically-challenged dance records she's putting out now, the little girl actually can sing.

The issue is this, for me: Country music has become something that it's not, in order to attract a certain crowd. Taylor's record sales are attributed to a swarm of 14 year old girls buying her albums- my grand daughter being one of them. That being said, I turned on a top-40 station yesterday, and heard a song by Flowrider, then Fifty Cent, , followed by a song I am not familiar with called " Gives you hell", followed by.... Taylor Swift. I then turned on a country station to hear the Zac Brown Band, followed by Garth Brooks, and then.. you guessed it: Taylor Swift.
I highly doubt you could get away with playing The Zac Brown Band, or Garth on a top 40 station. What I am I geting at? Taylor Swift isn't country- she's pop , and in a few years her fickle 14 year old fans will have grown up and forgotten about her; which is what happens to every tween idol's audience. Country really needs to start re- establishing itself to target it's original core audience: average working people. I hardly doubt that the 45 year old guy going to the mill, or the 50 year old woman getting off from working 10 hours at a diner who grew up with Willie, Garth, Waylon, etc, could care less about a teenager singing a song called " love story" that's targeted towards a 15 year old girl.

It looks like her current song(Whitehorse?)was released to Pop first.

Taylor Swift:
For those that don't know the background... her parents were HUGE Def Leppard fans, but she loved the original sounds of country. FYI, that's why she did the CMT Crossroads with Def Leppard. She started writing her country music in her teens, and pushed her parents to move to Nashville years back, when things finally happened.

All her tunes were released Country first, but the label pushed the last two Love Story and White Horse to CHR and AC. Country picked up Love Story, but it wasn't as receptive to earlier stuff. I just rolled my eyes the day I heard it on our satellite CHR when I was scheduling our new adds. Same with White Horse.

Jason Aldean:
Raised and admired Johnny Cash, Waylon, Willie and more! HUGE country boy who cares about people and still has the respect of using "sir" when you interview him.

Lynyrd Skynyrd:
Most of the boys were raised country like listening to Cash, Whitman, Miller, Flatt and Scruggs, but everyone else back then told them to go rock.

I can totally understand as I was raised on all that, plus my father had an itch for Chuck Berry and my mother loved any Motown, but would kill me with the occasional Neil Diamond "I am the Lion" every once in a while.

I've worked Country, CHR, Rock, AC, Newstalk and even Old School, but still stay in Country as it's the one format you can actually grow old with. Don't get me wrong though, because you can find a bit of everything on my laptop and there's nothing I love more than putting on a good ol' barn dance! Why? Because country boys and girls WILL know everyone else's music and DANCE to it all, but the other crowd will not dance to country.

You guys are correct about the listener input, but for those that have ever set up their own phone research (hand raised) you'll find a maximum of about 5% actually call in and request things.

It's true too that if you play something enough, you can get the audience excited about it. When PD/Mornings at KYSN in Wenatchee, WA for three years, I immediately started playing a guy Aaron Pritchett from Vancouver, BC. Heard his first tune on the great JRFM (Jaye Albright consultant) and thought, WOW this guy has a sound.

Never regretted it, but my second GM did. He thought I was pulling the old plugola thing, and no, never received anything or asked for something. Was the first in the US to play his stuff, and just before the sale of our station, offered me a $5,000 concert to cover the cost of the band and some fireworks. He goes for no less than $75,000 in Canada. All because I played his music.

Yes, many are right, unfortunately there is SOOOOOO much corporate worry now, that you can't be a "painter" who feels the music that you know will work. I tried, but many of the little market GM's would rather go by the research from Arkansas or South Carolina instead of what the community likes.

The only time I've had a bad book in programming was when the corporate folks went the paper number route, and that's like taking the rudder off the ship.

But hey, someday I'll get to my dream of owning a few stations. I just gotta find the right bodies and the funds. Excuse me, gotta go hit the can bank and put some more coins away!



The Aaron Pritchett guy is as big as Tim McGraw in Canada, but told Nashville he didn't need them.
are still a few "Hank" stations left in the US. One of our clusters are doing something like that, but it's having mixed reviews.

having programmed and only had one bad book,

I can agree with what kahtik stated. I liked country before it was cool...........
I remember many years ago when no one was playing Elvis anymore, I would start hearing his songs on KWJJ...while they were a country station..... on AM-1080. Yep. they were the only ones playing Elvis at the time. Did I mention that they were a CW station at the time?
Even KKEY played some Elvis that week after he died...in one of their talk shows. I forgot who it was, possibly Jerry Dimmit.

"but most PDs I've worked for really do take into consideration what listeners are requesting."

"My what a novel concept. Isn't that what it is supposed to be about? Play what your listeners want to hear so they will keep listening to your station. It should not be about what the people at the station like or want to play.......it should be about what the listeners want to hear. Who wants to listen to a station that doesn't play what you like?

One would think......"


This is EXACTLY why I have Rush, Sean, Glenn and Ingraham in HEAVY rotation. My listeners SCREAM if I miss 20 seconds of any of them.
I know this isn't the same as music radio....but is it?
Before blasting the politics of these folks, think for a minute why the whole Air America thing didn't work: NO ONE LISTENED OR CARED.
Why doesn't ANY format not work in a location?
Same as above.
We, you, I may think Rush is a nutjob, wacko, paycho, drug addict whatever you wanna call him, the phones light up for him just like a Taylor Swift does for that audience.
And, as has been stated above, isn't that why we are in this business? To please our listeners?

We are definitely in a cyclical uptick for country crossovers. My country sound codes on my mainstream AC have been increasing for years. In fact, I recently had to reduce the seperation due to the volume of crossovers.

Here is who I am playing...on AC!!!

Taylor Swift (2)
Carrie Underwood
Faith Hill (3)
Tim McGraw (2)
Martina McBride (2)
Rascal Flatts
Lee ann Womack
Leann Rimes (3)
Shania Twain (5)
Mercyme
Lonestar
Keith Urban
Jo Dee Messina

Don't know about Taylor Swift songs, but I do know "White Horse" is a recent Sarah McLeod song.

I know this isn't the same as music radio....but is it?
IMO, it is. The listeners are entertained.

And, as has been stated above, isn't that why we are in this business? To please our listeners?
One could also argue that radio is actually designed to please advertisers, which tell the radio station what music/viewpoints they want the audience to hear, and in turn tell the audience what to think and why they should think that way, all while everyone is convincing listeners that they're being "pleased."

Old School is a format?

29 years in the business and I don't recall ever hearing of it.

Sarah McLeod "White Horse" (Whelan & Di Scala Radio Mix) is a power for us on Energy 98 right now.

Thought this would be a good thread to post what I just ran across. This is from the 1965 Broadcasting Yearbook with information current to October 1964. Here is a listing of Oregon stations with format hours for:

COUNTRY & WESTERN PROGRAMMING
KRKT Albany, 2 hours.
KWIN Ashland, 18 hours.
KURY Brookings, 8 hours.
KFLY Corvallis, 12 hours.
KWVR Enterprise, 12 hours.
KASH Eugene, 32 hours.
KATR Eugene, 100%.
KBMC Eugene, 100%.
KWAY Forest Grove, 100%.
KRDR Gresham, 100%.
KFLW Klamath Falls, 3 1/2 hours.
KQIK Lakeview, 10 hours.
KTIX Pendleton, 100%
KOHI St. Helens, 16 hours.
KGAY Salem, 100%.