Why Local Music Belongs on Local Radio

You could always spot the pioneers in the Old West. They were the ones who bravely charged over the hill and took the arrows to the chest! Not much has changed when it comes to new ideas in radio.

I know this firsthand because I've been on the front end of creating more than a dozen new radio formats over the past 25 years. Some of these new formats were obvious opportunities that radio was late on, such as the Alternative format in the late '80s and Hip-Hop in the mid-to-late '90s. Other new formats were well hidden within the quilt of compatible music styles, such as Modern AC in the mid-'90s. Some new formats were absolutely unfathomable when we launched them. That was the case with the first Jack FM station that bowed in 2002 in Canada, which led to a new format called Adult Hits that relies on a mix of incompatible music styles.

In each case, these new format approaches were met with great skepticism from the radio community. I've come to realize there is a reverse relationship with new ideas for radio: the more radio folks hate it, the more the listening population loves it. In each case, these formats are still around many years later, so ultimately it is the listener's voice that is loudest.

As new formats filled in available opportunities, the fragmentation effect has made it harder and harder to find new formats. Now, some of the new opportunities on the horizon are taking on new dimensions; even a compelling format ingredient can help define the station brand and separate it from other stations in a market. In the future, this will be the case by playing local music on local radio.

Many decades ago, local music was once a cornerstone of radio's growth. As time went on, radio became bigger than local music. For the past few decades, if there was local music on a radio station, it was relegated to a Sunday night specialty show.

Welcome to 2009, when many things are coming full circle. Recently, a radio trade publication ran a story about my public radio client, "RadioMilwaukee." Here's the trade story in their words:

Top local bands and DJs will be honored later this month, 2/26/09, at a party and networking session sponsored by a local FM station. The event is the 2nd Annual Milwaukee Music Awards, and the station running the show is WYMS-FM, a property of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors operating on the far left of the old-fashioned dial next to the steering wheel at 88.9 MHz. The station's celebration of the local music scene goes much deeper than once a year - it makes a point of airing work originating from close to home at least once an hour. Being local is radio's biggest selling point. We'd be doing as much of this kind of thing as we possibly could, especially if a competitor is importing the same old same old from one of the coasts off a satellite dish. We certainly would not concede this field to a noncomm.

Two years ago when we launched RadioMilwaukee, I could not find more than three local band songs to play on-air, but we made a commitment to launch with local music inside the format anyway. Today, RadioMilwaukee is inundated with great quality music ... from both the Urban and Rock worlds. Now there are over 100 local songs in active rotation that air within the Rock/Urban Progressive format. Local musicians, local bands and music fans have heartily embraced and recognized the radio station for its unusually proactive stance with local music. In its first 18 months in existence, RadioMilwaukee won three "Best Station" awards.

Similarly, Minnesota Public Radio's KCMP-FM "The Current" in Minneapolis plays local music within their format every single hour. In 2008, KCMP received two of their highest ratings periods ever.

A year-and-a-half ago, I stood up at the AAA Summit in Boulder and said, "In the very near future, local music will be the key to being a vibrant local music station. You need to start playing local music in format." Thud. I knew I was on to something. (Remember my axiom: "The more radio folks hate it, the more the listening population loves it.")

One year ago, I helped Emmis launch rockin' AAA WRXP in NYC, "New York's Rock Experience." We launched WRXP with local music embedded in the format. In fact, a local song (The Bravery "Believe") was one of the first songs played in the first hour on air. WRXP continues to play local music in regular rotation every shift, every day, every week and every month. It's not a shell game; there is no local music show. Local music really is part of the format. As it turns out, local music is one of the biggest calling cards WRXP has. It's created a lot of attention among musicians, bands and local music fans in market #1. Still, most radio people think it's crazy.

It's funny how desperate times turn crazy into chic. The Rochester Institute of Technology just released a thick research report called "Effects of Local-Market Radio Ownership Concentration on Radio Localism, the Public Interest, and Listener Opinions and Use of Local Radio." I encourage all radio programmers to read this study that details how most people find very little "local" in local radio. On page 47, under "Conclusions," it states that one of the primary reasons people don't think radio is local is because, "The small amount of locally-created music aired on local radio stations is the overwhelming opinion of respondents across markets (confirming a widespread suspicion held by many radio localism advocates)."

This opportunity is very obvious. When the only thing left for a local music radio station is to be local, what is more local than playing local music?