(By Mike McVay) First and foremost, everyone appeared to be happy to be back together again in-person. In full disclosure, I serve on the Board of Directors for the Country Radio Broadcasters AKA CRB. It is that organization that puts together this conference, as well as participates in the development and presentation of the Country Radio Hall of Fame each year. The CRB provides scholarships, Humanitarian Awards and presents the annual New Faces concert at the conclusion of each year’s event.
It’s unusual to have a media conference where everyone is focused on “all things” for any music or content type/category. That’s what the Country Radio Seminar is all about. Its’ title may include “Country Radio” but, it’s so much more. It’s about Country music, country artists, country labels, artist managers, writers, musical performers, publishers, podcasters, Over the Air (OTA) Radio, DSP’s and Satellite Radio. This is a learning conference.
This conference is always one of my favorites because of the myriad of sessions, the access to decision-makers on both the radio and label side of the business, the opportunity for networking, ideation groups and access to the hitmakers and those who perform the hits. It’s also always an opportunity to see a research presentation that provides insight into the consumers interest in country music.
Nuvoodoo conducted this year’s research project and presented it on Day #1 of the seminar with a follow-up discussion that included some of the brightest minds in the business. One of the takeaway’s was that a younger audience is coming to the format, but they’re coming for older more familiar songs. They may stick around for new music, but it’s the familiar (Gold) songs that are attractive to them. That’s not to say that radio shouldn’t play current music, but rather that a mix of hits from today and yesterday, provides the variety of sound that this research project identified as a “want” by the audience.
Also noted; few of the respondents have an actual radio anywhere in their homes. If they have one, it is likely in their car, but they do listen to “radio” on their smart phones, smart speakers, online and capture some content on their favorite social media platforms. They also listen to radio on-demand (podcasting) when they want and on whatever device they want. Chartmetric’s Founder & CEO, Sung Cho, validated the need for radio to be ubiquitous when he spoke in the opening session of CRS. Be heard on every device, and in every way, that you can be heard. Educate your audience in that regard.
This year’s conference featured six Heads of State discussions. On the radio side they included Bob Pittman (CEO iHeart Media). David Field (CEO Audacy), Caroline Beasley (CEO Beasley Media), Ginny Morris (CEO Hubbard), Bill Wilson (CEO, Townsquare) and Bob Proffitt (CEO Alpha Media). On the label; side we heard from Scott Borchetta (President/CEO, BMLG), Mike Dungan (Chairman/CEO, UMG), John Esposito (Chairman/CEO, WMN), Randy Goodman (Chairman/CEO, Sony), and Jon Loba (President, BMG). I was honored to be one of the interviewers who moderated two of the sessions. I was joined by industry veterans Joel Denver (All Access Media Group), Erica Farber (RAB), and Lon Helton (Country Aircheck/Country Countdown USA) as we each interviewed on CEO from radio and one CEO from a label.
The radio executives noted the need to monetize their audiences, expressed excitement about the return of touring and that listening habits are returning to normal. Label executives expressed concern over the logjam of songs at the bottom of the chart and the slowness of the music cycle.
Hearing from these radio and label executives was a unique and rare opportunity. It underscored that they’re all looking to continue to grow the audience for their media platforms and to return the country format to its’ halcyon days. The growth of the DSP’s is a positive for music executives, although it is impossible to ignore that their growth in part is due to radios inability or reluctance, to improve the listening experience.
If anything concerned me in regard to these discussions, it was the uniformity of positives, more so than looking for solutions to the decline that country radio has been experiencing for the last four years. Some radio executives pointed to Nielsen’s inability to accurately capture listening, which I believe most will agree with, including me. Especially in regard to the need to have larger sample sizes, better screening for respondents, and a listening device that’s more appropriate than carrying something akin to a pager. What wasn’t acknowledged or considered is the four-year decline in country radio ratings, making it the second lowest listened to format in rated markets, despite having more radio outlets than any other format.
Country radio programmers need to walk a tightrope between playing familiar music, songs from yesterday, mixed with songs that are fresh from today. The core of country radio’s audience is 35+. The older the audience, the more desirous they are of music they know and sing along with when they hear it on the radio. Music they can relate to and that is about their lives. That doesn’t mean that a station shouldn’t play fresh new music. It means that you have to be more than all new music. You need to provide variety to hold an audience. That’s not a new unproven theory.
Stations need to be more than a music machine. You’re not going to be able to play as much uninterrupted music as Spotify, Pandora, or Apple Music. Personalities, that can entertain and provide meaningful information or content, make a station sticky and attractive. When Apple Music added personalities to several of their channels, my immediate question to OTA Radio was “What do they know that you don’t?” That is that on-air talent can be the difference as much as the music you play.
The two radio CEO’s that I interviewed, Caroline Beasley of Beasley Media Group, and Bill Wilson of Townsquare, spoke at length about the importance of connecting to one’s community. Being a part of the community in which you live is one way to build an audience by creating dependency, but it’s also a way to fortify your programming against an attack from a competitor, while satisfying an advertiser who is invested in your community.
The two CEOs on the label side, John Esposito (Warner Music Group) and Mike Dungan (UMG) both embraced the relationship their businesses have with radio, while acknowledging that times are changing, competition is greater than ever and will continue to grow, and that an inflection point is needed for country to stop the erosion of audience that it is experiencing.
The questions raised by that comment is “what is that inflection point and where will it come from?” The quest has begun.
Mike McVay is President of McVay Media and can be reached at [email protected]
