Redefining what people want

Here's a link to a recent NPR story:
http://www.npr.org/2014/08/07/338606558/your-favorite-songs-abridged

A radio programming executive in Calgary thinks today's songs (3-5 minutes!) are too long. He wants to redefine what listeners want by playing only songs that he/his outfit has edited for length. No, I don't live under a rock. I've heard the results of such editing done before on the radio, but to hear such blatantly Orwellian goals laid out so programmatically and undisguised was new for me. Comments?

This will push the listenership of regular radio down the level of 10 year olds who have about that much attention span. This dude needs to look at the state of the CD market to see what idiotic decisions made by so called industry leaders does to a business / industry. I moved away from radio more than 25 years ago because there was too much talk and ads and very little music, even less music of interest. So good luck with that.

On a side note maybe this is indicative of what's to come anyway. Radio stations that have nothing but ads with DJ's thanking the sponsors for their commercials spaced by 15 second instrumental blips that sound more like the THX or Dolby theme's than any semblance of a song. Just last night I saw an ad on TV for a show that watches people sit on their couch while they watch TV.

The end of the world is upon us folks

  Slow funeral dirg played here

Dean wrote: Those long songs do so get in the way of the adverts don't they. ...and of course, they pay mechanical royalties per minute.

Royalties, of course. I think they're advertising twice the music (more titles within the same total time frame), so I expect they would claim it to be a wash as to what they pay out. I suspect quite strongly that they've figured the math so that they can reduce the total time frame and still get more songs in, though.

JD pretty much nailed it up above. News like this is why I'm incredibly cynical towards the consumption of art/media via outlets like radio. Catering to people's dwindling attention spans is doing less and less to help the human race IMHO.

I can't wait to see this guy working in a radio station specialised in classical music and operas...

Who listens to the radio?

I know, let's edit down "Bohemian Rhapsody", it's far too long.

Edited by chopper - August 08 2014 at 13:01

PrognosticMind wrote: JD pretty much nailed it up above. News like this is why I'm incredibly cynical towards the consumption of art/media via outlets like radio. Catering to people's dwindling attention spans is doing less and less to help the human race IMHO.

HackettFan wrote: Here's a link to a recent NPR story: http://www.npr.org/2014/08/07/338606558/your-favorite-songs-abridged A radio programming executive in Calgary thinks today's songs (3-5 minutes!) are too long. He wants to redefine what listeners want by playing only songs that he/his outfit has edited for length. No, I don't live under a rock. I've heard the results of such editing done before on the radio, but to hear such blatantly Orwellian goals laid out so programmatically and undisguised was new for me. Comments?

Man, what's with Calgary.  First they give the world Nickelback, and now this yutz.

HackettFan wrote: ... A radio programming executive in Calgary thinks today's songs (3-5 minutes!) are too long. He wants to redefine what listeners want by playing only songs that he/his outfit has edited for length. No, I don't live under a rock. I've heard the results of such editing done before on the radio, but to hear such blatantly Orwellian goals laid out so programmatically and undisguised was new for me. Comments?