i AIRPLAY FEBRUARY 22, 2002 Country Airplay Monitor Debuts AIRPLAY The Story p. 3; The Airplay Adds Page p. 9 ftCOUNTRY We Listen To Radiosr VOLUME 1 0 NO. H $6.95 NO. 1 THISWEEK.. STEVEHOLY Good MorningBeautiful(CURB) GREATEST GAINER GARTH BROOKS DUET WITH TRISHA YEARWOOD Squeeze Me In (CAPITOL) AIRPLAY ADDS "DON'T WASTE MY TIME" ALAN JACKSON Drive (For Daddy Gene) (ARISTA NASHVILLE) AUDIENCE STEVE HOLY Good Morning Beautiful (CURB) Today's Promotion Landscape Rising Costs, Syndication Hinder New Music by Angela King As the landscape of working records to radio continues to evolve, label executives express a growing number of frustrations. Some say the cost of launching an act is significantly higher than ever-at a time when radio is taking fewer risks-and the rise of syndicated shows is decreasing their opportunities as well. BNA VP of promotion Tom Baldrica thinks everyone is being careful. "It's too expensive if you're wrong," he says. "The landscape has changed based on the size of [radio] owner- ship and based on the fact that for these large companies, a tenth of a share in rat- ings points costs you /tit tens of thousands of dollars." Baldrica says PDs won't take a chance that they may be "stepping on toes. CRENSHAW You've got a gig [and are] making money; that's what it's all about. The landscape has changed because profit - and -loss statements are on everyone's mind; it's not the playlist anymore." But being safe is not just the purview of the radio stations. "At the labels, how many new acts are out there that are really risky? Every- q THE ADDS! body wants something unique and different, THA iK5 but nobody wants to be too unique and differ- WKXC AUGUSTA WSM NASHVILLE KEEY MINNEAPOLIS ent," Baldrica says. "For the first time in the his- tory of the business, the bottom line and budg- WSTH COLUMBUS. OH KIXZ SPOKANE WPKX SPRINGFIELD ets and projections are at the forefront. You WRBQ TAMPA WYYD ROANOKE/LYNCHBURG don't have people who are willing-or [even] get-the chance to follow their gut instincts." That labels have trimmed their rosters ARRIVING EARLY FOR IMMEDIATE AIRPLAY. can make it tougher to take chances as well, Baldrica says. "A smaller, manageable ros- WWW.SONyNASHYILLE.COM Continued on page 5 6tT NeR YobliseiF get out of your routine get into the song getoveryourself impacting march 11 "It's kiwi of fin to do the impossible-- Wa tDisney Because Airplay Is The True Commitment A kuerfromAirplay Monitor publisher Jon Guynn. to become top 10 hits in Monitor. As the indus- COUNTRY CONFIDENTIAL try's standard-bearer for accuracy, we knew we .. This week, Country Airplay Monitor is thrilled could improve on that. BY WADE r_SSEN 615-321-4291 [email protected] to debut a new feature focusing on the earliest Our answer? Airplay Adds. stage of a record's life at radio-new airplay. Airplay Adds differ from reported adds in that For years the industry has relied on reported a record must have been detected by BDS at least Airplay Adds: How They Work playlist adds as an indication of a record's hit six times during the chart week to qualify. While potential. Many readers have asked whether Air- reported adds have historically been thought to ,11(mitor is pleased to unveil the new Airplay Adds section that debuts on page 9. We play Monitorwould ultimately print "adds." While reflect a station's commitment to a new title, Air- hope this exciting new feature will further a decade -long mission of providing the most accurate we recognized the interest play Adds reflects the ultimate information possible and spotlighting new music that garners the most real airplay. and that the promotion commitment-real airplay. The Airplay Adds page will highlight new titles (by station) that have been played at least six world still revolves around AIRPLAY Our newAirplayAdds page times during the past seven days. The focal point of the page is the Most Airplay Adds breakout adds to a great degree, the lists every Airplay Add that that ranks songs that receive the most new airplay each week, along with the total number of new idea of charting reported week for every station on our stations. Additionally, the Most Airplay Adds layout will include a list of the new stations that show adds seemed like a step back- panel. The hottest of the new airplay adds on the highest-ranking records. It will be accompanied by the total number of sta- ward for Monitor. records are reflected in the tions that register at least six detections for a given record during the tracking period. Nearly a decade ago, Bill- "Most Airplay Adds" box at the Likewise, our Country Hotline fax, which hits programmers' desks every Monday morning, has boani, and later Ai/play Monitor, were the first top left of the page. Additionally, you can now see been expanded from two pages to three in order to quickly disseminate our Most Airplay Adds data. trade publications to break away from radio how airplay breaks down by daypart for new titles. Among the most compelling traits of the new Airplay Adds page is the "total detections by day - playlist reports as the basis of our charts in favor Airplay Monitor is proud to be the leader in part" data. This percentage -based tally will map the transition from test spins, daypart adds, and of the dramatically more accurate Broadcast providing information that helps our readers climbing the rotation ladder with revolutionary precision. These percentages are based exclu- Data Systems -monitored data. Accuracy was our make better, more informed decisions. Airplay sively on raw detections and are not influenced or weighted by the audience figures that steer primary concern then, and it still is. While the Adds-now the industry's most accurate gauge activity on our Country Audience chart. add game helps create initial excitement on a of a future hit record-is another step toward Comments and feedback regarding the new Airplay Adds feature are always welcome. record, "most added" doesn't always equal a hit. that end. We hope that Airplay Adds will give Repeated research has shown us that, across all our programmer and record industry readers a NASHVILLE REBEL: In the late afternoon hours of Feb. 13, news the formats we chart, less than 50% of the better barometer of which records are the ones of Waylon Jennings' death spread faster than the fleeting bad times records that are designated most added go on to watch. We look forward to your feedback. he sang about with his beloved wife Jessi Colter in their 1980 duet "Storms Never Last." As the song says, those who loved Jennings fol- lowed him down his many roads, whether the path was smooth or filled with snares. In the course of an iconoclastic life and career, Jen- nings certainly did it his way and inspired millions to be themselves. I can scarcely remember a time in my own life that didn't involve the RADIOACTIVE man's music. As a youngster in the late 1960s, my parents brought home Jennings' Love of the Common People album. I recall being cap- BY PHYLLIS STARK77I615-321-4284 [email protected] tured by the rueful tide track and how the song forged for me an & ANGELA KING 615-321-4286 akinqPiairplaymonitor.com enduring image of an impoverished but proud family getting by on lit- tle more than love. I memorized all the words. As a teenager who picked cotton in Texas, Jennings certainly knew what he was singing about, CC Parts With Dixie, Carter and that primal authenticity remained a hallmark of his music throughout his career. That career Clear Channel/Panama City, Fla., OM Tom 1969 and remains No. 2 in the market, despite began at age 12, when he landed a job as a DJ at his hometown radio station near Littlefield, Hanrahan segues to Clear Channel/Birmingham, being an AM music outlet. Texas. Later, he worked as an itinerant radio personality in the Western states. Ala., for OM duties at country WDXB and AC sis- Jennings provided much of the soundtrack for my teen years, which dawned about the time ter WM11, effective March 18. Hanrahan oversaw a MANAGEMENT: WESTHOFF UPPED he finally won creative control over his recordings. By then, music had gone mobile. Eight -track five -station cluster in Panama City that included Citadel/Bloomington, Ill., OM Dan Westhoff tapes were the rage, and Jennings' Lonesome, On'ry & Mean; Honky Tonk Heroeg and The Ramblin' country WPAP. He replaces WDXB PD Tex Carter, adds station managerduties for bothWBWN and Man were in heavy rotation as I cruised the back roads without a driver's license in my wallet. as the station repositions from gold -leaning "Dixie top 40 sister WBNQ. By the time I had my first taste of hell -raising and beer drinking, the commercial fulfillment of 102.5" to the more mainstream "Country 102.5." the outlaw promise was at its zenith with such albums as 01' Waylon, I've Always Been Crazy, and Morning -show producer Shane Wilson replaces PROMOTION WINNERS NAMED Waylon & Willie_ It was country music gone off its rocker. Who in their wildest dreams ever thought the syndicated Tun & Willy show in mornings. The Country Radio Broadcasters has announced country music would include such songs as "I Can Get Off on You" or have the drive of "Don't station also ends its affiliation with NASCAR. the Radio Promotion Award winners who will You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand" and "I Ain't Livin' Long Like This." Meanwhile, Jimmy Vineyard from Enter-be recognized during Country Radio Seminar Looking back, it's unfortunate that Jennings ended up being such an outspoken critic of mod- com/Greenville, S.C., joins the cluster as GM.