HOMOGENIZED RADIO LOSING ITS FLAVOR; IT'S HARD TO TELL STATIONS APART ANYMORE.Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer Don't bother touching that dial. There's just no point anymore, since the local pop and rock music stations appear to be sharing the same playlist A file that contains an index to a selected group of music files on the computer. Using digital jukebox software such as iTunes and Winamp, playlists are created by the user by dragging and dropping titles from a master index. The software may be able to create a playlist automatically. . This week, you can hear Jewel, Chumbawamba, Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20, Olive and Meredith Brooks, to name a few, on KIIS KIIS Kansai Institute of Information Systems , Star 98, KROQ, KBIG, Y107 and KLOS KLOS Kill and Loot on Sight (gaming guild) . Remember when radio stations had identities? When a station could brag that it ``owned'' an artist or song? That was before alternative went mainstream. It was also before President Clinton signed the Telecom Bill into law early last year. Previously, broadcasters could own up to 20 FM and 20 AM stations nationwide. The bill eliminated national ownership limits, setting a cap in big cities of eight stations, with no more than five on either side of the AM/FM AM/FM Amplitude Modulation / Frequency Modulation AM/FM Auto-Mapping/Facilities Management dial. The law created a buying, selling and trading frenzy. Individuals that owned stations for decades sold out for millions. Major corporations such as CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. and Chancellor Media spent fortunes to get the biggest piece of the pie in major markets. The results: radio that sounds the same everywhere, less local programming and little sense of region. When the dust cleared locally, only a handful of individually owned stations remained, including classical KKGO-FM (105.1), Glendale news-talk KIEV-AM (870), country KIKF-FM (94.3) and urban/dance KACD-FM (103.1). Most of the others are owned by CBS Corp., Chancellor Media Corp., Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Co., Heftel Broadcasting Corp. and Cox Broadcasting. Those five companies rake in rake in Verb Informal to acquire (money) in large amounts Verb 1. rake in - earn large sums of money; "Since she accepted the new position, she has been raking it in" shovel in about 82 percent of all local radio advertising revenues, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. analysts. The same songs ``These stations don't think they're playing the same music,'' said radio analyst Allen Klein Allen Klein (born December 18, 1931) is an American businessman and record label executive. He is best known (and somewhat notorious) for his tenacious management of rock and roll performers in the 1960s, and the subsequent hostile acquisition and control of their works. of Encino-based Media Research Graphics Inc. ``They go through a great deal of effort to give themselves a label that's different from their competitors. But that label is based more in the head than in reality. You have so many gradations of the rock and adult-contemporary formats that sometimes it's hard to tell them apart.'' Many stations target the money demographic - listeners in the 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 age groups. Those are the demos earning the disposable income disposable income Portion of an individual's income over which the recipient has complete discretion. To assess disposable income, it is necessary to determine total income, including not only wages and salaries, interest and dividend payments, and business profits, but also advertisers crave, especially in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , the biggest market in the nation. ``The lines are blurred everywhere,'' said Dennis Constantine, program director at Portland's KINK-FM, the oldest adult album alternative  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. (triple-A) station in the country. ``Today's music has crossed over to a lot of different stations. Artists like Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born January 10, 1956 in Vermillion, South Dakota) is a Grammy Award-winning American musician. Childhood and early careerColvin's formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. or Paula Cole This article has multiple issues: * It may violate Wikipedia's policy on . * Its neutrality or factuality may be compromised by weasel words. * It needs additional references or sources for verification. , who were once exclusive to one format, have now spread to other formats. In L.A. in L.A. In is a compilation of studio recording by Various Artists. It was originally released in 1979 as an LP by Rhino Records. Track listing Side One The Kats particular, stations are trying to cover ground that other stations once covered. The idea is to attract disenfranchised listeners.'' So, why are so many stations playing a song like ``Tubthumping,'' an admittedly catchy number that is currently a staple of at least four formats - Star 98, KIIS, KROQ and Y107? They want hits Steve Leeds, senior vice president of promotion at two-year-old Universal Records, which released British band Chief Black Hawk's Band of 1832, commonly referred to as the "British Band", was a group of Native Americans which fought the Illinois State and Michigan Territory militias during the 1832 Black Hawk War. Chumbawamba's across-the-board smash, said a hit is a hit "A Hit Is a Hit" is the tenth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It was written by Joe Bosso and Frank Renzulli, directed by Matthew Penn and originally aired on Sunday March 14 1999. . ``People want to hear hits on radio regardless of genre and format,'' he said. ``When John Q. Public walks into Tower to buy the Chumbawamba album, he's not saying, `Where's your alternative section? Where's your adult-contemporary section?' Those are niches that make it easier for us in the business to promote and market music. The public just wants hits.'' Leeds, who previously worked at the PolyGram and Island labels, said a single like ``Tubthumping'' is a phenomenon that comes along once every five years. ``It's atypical,'' he said. ``A lot of radio programmers consider it a standard. They measure other records against it, which may not be fair. But it's a very unique song. This is a song that's being played at sporting events, in bars. You can't escape it.'' Another explanation for homogeneity across the dial might have more to do with radio conglomerates protecting their properties. For example, Chancellor Media, which owns the lucrative urban station KKBT-FM (92.3) - the Beat - recently flipped formats at another Los Angeles property, KIBB-FM (100.3), to a music mix very similar to that of the Beat. That way, analyst Klein said, KKBT is protected from a competing station switching to a too-close-for-comfort urban music format. This is especially true in an industry like radio, which runs on tiny increments of ratings points. ``There's a chess match going on that's fascinating to watch,'' Klein said. ``Eventually, there will be three or four owners of all the radio stations. The thing that distinguishes some of these formats above all is the age of the listeners. You can call yourself anything you want, but the question is, who is your biggest unit of listeners? That's what it all comes down to.'' KROQ inspiration The shared playlist could also be a result of the graying of the population, plus a desire to appropriate bits and pieces of the alternative-rock format's flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship station is the station which originates a broadcast network, or a particular radio show or TV show, primarily in the United States and Canada. This includes both direct network feeds and syndication, but generally not backhauls. , Burbank's highly influential KROQ. ``The people that grew up in the early '80s era of KROQ are raising families now, but they're still into music,'' Universal's Leeds said. ``They might have graduated to Star or KIIS, and maybe they don't have the passion they once had for new music, but they still want to hear exciting sounds.'' But what of a station like KROQ, which spent a decade as the city's best-kept secret while slowly building listener loyalty by refining a sound that belonged exclusively to the station? ``The kind of music KROQ has played for years has become a little more mainstream with the breakthrough of Nirvana and others,'' KROQ music director Lisa Worden explained. ``Yes, you can hear somebody like Jewel on KROQ and KIIS. Alternative music isn't college music anymore. It's become the mainstream.'' What's happening on FM dial Many of the top pop and rock stations in Los Angeles share the same songs and artists. Here are samples from the playlists of those stations. KIIS-FM (102.7) - contemporary hit/top-40 ``Foolish Games,'' Jewel ``Tubthumping,'' Chumbawamba ``Fly,'' Sugar Ray ``Walkin' on the Sun,'' Smash mouth ``Push,'' Matchbox 20 ``You're Not Alone,'' Olive ``Bitch,'' Meredith Brooks KBIG-FM (104.3) - adult-contemporary ``Sunny Came Home,'' Shawn Colvin ``I Don't Want to Wait,'' Paula Cole ``Foolish Games,'' Jewel ``You Were Meant for Me,'' Jewel ``Still Waters,'' Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb — that became one of the most successful musical acts of all time. They were born on the Isle of Man to English parents, lived in Manchester, England and moved to Brisbane, Australia during ``Candle in the Wind 1997,'' Elton John KYSR-FM (98.7) - Star 98 - hot adult-contemporary ``Walkin' on the Sun,'' Smash mouth ``Tubthumping,'' Chumbawamba ``Foolish Games,'' Jewel ``Fly,'' Sugar Ray ``Criminal,'' Fiona Apple ``I Don't Want to Wait,'' Paula Cole ``There Marlenas,'' Wallflowers ``Semi-Charmed Life,'' Third Eye Blind ``Sunny Came Home,'' Shawn Colvin ``Bitch,'' Meredith Brooks ``Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?'' Paula Cole KLOS-FM (95.5) - rock ``One Headlight,'' Wallflowers ``Counting Blue Cars,'' Dishwalla ``Push,'' Matchbox 20 ``Anybody Seen My Baby,'' Rolling Stones ``The Next Voice You Hear,'' Jackson Browne ``Come Down,'' Toad the Wet Sprocket Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American folk rock band consisting of singer Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss. Early career ``Just Another Day,'' John Mellencamp KROQ-FM (106.7) - alternative rock ``Everlong,'' Foo Fighters ``Mouth,'' Bush ``Walkin' on the Sun,'' Smash mouth ``Bitter Sweet Symphony,'' Verve ``Sex and Candy,'' Marcy Playground ``Tubthumping,'' Chumbawamba ``Criminal,'' Fiona Apple ``Fly,'' Sugar Ray ``You're Not Alone,'' Olive ``Push,'' Matchbox 20 ``Bitch,'' Meredith Brooks CAPTION(S): Drawing, 6 Photos, Box Drawing: (Cover--Color) Same old songs With deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. , radio stations are beginning to sound alike Jorge Irribarren/Daily News Photo: (1) `This is a song that's being played at sporting events, in bars. You can't escape it.' Steve Leeds senior vice president of promotion at Universal Records, which released Chumbawamba's smash hit `Tubthumping' (2) Smash mouth's ``Walkin' on the Sun'' single is hot, hot, hot. (3) Sugar Ray's ``Fly'' is a staple on the FM dial. (4) Meredith Brooks reveals her changing moods in the hit ``Bitch.'' (5) ``Semi-Charmed Life'' has given Third Eye Blind maximum exposure. (6) Everclear has a hit with ``Everything to Everyone.'' Box: What's happening on FM dial (See Text) |
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