I believe putting a gaggle of white conservative Christian women around age forty in a room to register their immediate approval or disapproval of a minute long (or less) musical clip only leads radio program directors to choose music of tomorrow that sounds just like the music of yesterday: all that’s being tested is familiarity. Different loses. Same wins.
But’s that’s my opinion.
It’s not Chuck’s.
Chuck Finney is a smart straight-forward man. A successful man. He’s a pioneer in the use of focus groups in the Christian radio business and he’ll tell you it’s working for him so he ain’t changing. I enjoyed spending time with Mr. Finney when my last album first came out – honestly, our feeble attempt to woo his power into our corner over a plate of fajitas. It didn’t work and he assured us it never would. He swore that nothing short of a great test score would ever get my music or anyone else’s on his airwaves. I believed him and I knew then the end was near for my radio history. He told us essentially that it doesn’t matter if he likes me or my music if it doesn’t test well with his group. He then suggested I cover an old song, a worship song perhaps, that would be familiar to listeners and test better.
This wouldn’t have been such grievous news for the sweating label guy sitting across from me if Mr. Finney wasn’t the man unknowingly in control of the Christian music business – at least that’s what some folks in Nashville think. He truly seems peacefully unaware of his sway over other radio stations and of radio’s sway over the industry at large. Virtually no one – except black gospel artists – stays on the top fifty best selling discs list created by SoundScan for long without substantial radio play – or wins a Dove Award or plays to crowds of any magnitude. And Chuck controls a big slice of radio real estate out there, the bit small fish model their play lists after.
He programs the highly successful KLTY in Dallas, Texas but also “green lights” singles for possible play on ALL Salem owned stations nation wide, including those going by the name FISH. Literally dozens of stations can only play songs Chuck and his team have tested and approved. A station in Atlanta, for instance, may love a song but be unable to play it because it doesn’t test well. Salem stations can choose to play anything they like…as long as it’s something from Chuck’s green list. Chuck is trusted that much. And Chuck trusts the focus group – a relatively small gathering of women listening to clips and turning a handheld knob which registers their degrees of love and hatred for hundreds of songs.
Chuck is brilliant, kind, loves God and me and his listeners and Tex Mex, but Chuck can still be wrong. But what do I know about marketing or running a radio empire? Jack squat. But here’s what I’m thinking anyway.
Focus groups are an overused source of “wisdom” continually being poo-pooed by marketers who know more than jack squat – like Seth Godin, who recently lamented…
“Groupthink is a problem, for one. Second, you’ve got a weird cross section of largely self-selected people, the kind of people willing to sit in a room with bad lighting to make a few bucks.
What focus groups can do for you is give you a visceral, personal, unscientific reaction to little brainstorms. They can help you push something farther and farther to see what grabs people. But the goal isn’t to do a vote or a census. Any time your focus group results include percentages, you’ve wasted an afternoon.”
So do we never consult a focus group? Do we marry focus group data to our own expertise and gut? What would you do? What HAVE you done with the opinions of others in your work and life beyond? How important is the herd’s perspective to you? How do you discern what the customer wants? Would you manage hundreds of prospective singles any differently than Chuck if you were in his position?
I’m not sure I would.
And that’s really the point of this rambling post. I can’t be upset with a guy who’s doing what works for him. But I can say it’s bad science. And I can say it’s not introducing the world to new artists, new sounds, and new ideas as often as I’d like. It’s up to Chuck to decide if that’s reason enough to change his ways. And if he doesn’t, well, all’s not lost. All those unsatisfied with the music he and his group picks have to do is change the station. Either way, I have a feeling, in time, a change is coming.
Actually a better scenerio if you were to dicuss Mozart or Bach or any other person commisioned by the Catholic Church would be: “Hey Mozart, would you mind writing a Mass immitating someone, try not to be yourself if you don’t mind and be sure and not write something thats sounds like you or something that you would ever enjoy to write.” The ONLY reason Mozart would have written something like this is if he was STARVING and then he would have written his family and poured over how much he hated it which he did from time to time and let me tell you,…that Mozart, whew! Luckily these commisions never came from the Church, they came from people who were anonymous and who wanted to claim the work for themselves.
The whole reason the Church commissioned anything from these guys is that they already admired their genius for what it was. The Church wanted that particular genius to express a certain scene or person in Christianity. If we are talking Bach then Bach wrote exactly what he wanted ALL the time. He wrote for the Church, which he loved, and when his contrapuntal fugal style went out, then he just kept on trucking. So if we draw a comparisson with what Shaun is doing to Bach then you would be asking Shaun to write in the way he was made to write rather than ask him to be someone different to appease a room full of moms. If they asked Bach to stop being Bach, then he would have quit that Church post. Just like Mozart did with the Archbishop who decided Mozart had developed quite enough, and Beethoven with the Aristocracy, and Brahms with the Wagner crowd, and any other artist who believes in himself and who God has created him to be.
Beethoven, well the man never did anything anyone said. If he did it usually turned out to be the biggest piece of crap and honestly, he purposed it to be that way.
I also think the tent making thing is a bit irrelevant. The parallel could be drawn if someone would have asked Paul to write Romans differently. “Hey Paul, you know, that Romans is kinda hard to get, could you simplify it a bit? maybe leave out all that fancy smancy law talk you learned from that Jewish teacher of yours?” If it was tent making then someone might ask him to make a tent with less skill and care then he was capable of. And for that matter, I hope that radio stations are offering Music and artistic expression rather than a work of art on the artistic level of a tent. Michaelangelo might have made a tent, but would anyone know it was a tent made by him? Proabably not. Because it would look like every other tent on the shores of the Nile.
I think with this mindset, you may be killing true artistry and individuality in an already hurting genre.
Shaun,
While I don’t disagree that Chuck Finney is highly respected and influential over “CCM” radio (and talented), he does not speak for ALL Christian formats. The focus here (and the audience reading) seems to come from Christian AC stations.
What about Christian CHR, Rock, and Rhythmic stations? There’s your risk-taking trendsetters. While some in the CHR format are so conservative with the chances they take (thanks to testing), the format as its meant to be programmed involves taking calculated/educated risks and trying songs that are not familiar. Part of CHR is all about being the FIRST on the next big thing…to find it first, make it familiar, and “own it” in the minds of the audience.
Christian AC would not be what it is today had CHR not been the format to take risks on former unknowns like DC Talk and Third Day. Smart CHRs use testing (focus, call out, online, and other methods) but also use their God-given guts for decisions too. (I doubt many Rock or Rhythmic outlets have the money to do quality research.)
MY POINT?
. Radio’s use of research (Christian or secular radio) is a MUST. Our frequencies are too valuable to totally assume we have our listeners figured out. We need quality research to understand them better. In Christian radio, it is simply good stewardship (in my opinion). However, using research as the end-all-be-all in music decisions leaves no art to radio. EVERY song was unfamiliar at some point!
At my station, we use research to verify whether a right or a wrong decision was made. Over time, if I see a trend, I start to know better than to add certain types of songs. For instance, if I take a chance on Gospel songs but Gospel keeps testing bad…I will hopefully see the light and realize that my audience does not want Gospel.
The next time you are in Grand Rapids you are welcome to look me up (as well as my co-horts at our sister AC station…WCSG) and bounce this (or anything else) around.
Mike Couchman, PD @ WaYfm in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI (not affiliated with the national WAY-FM network
Wow.
There is just so much I really want to say, but I am reminded of Elisabeth Elliot’s words on the neverending opinions…
So, what to say?
First, to Shaun…that I am a fan of your music. Your songs are ones I turn up. They inspire me, encourage me, and remind me of some things I need reminded of. They speak life into my moments of death. THANK YOU.
I read this blog and was overwhelmed with the word “perspective”. Other words like “wrong”, “soccer mom”, “ministry”, “money”, “artist” all came into view as well.
I do not know what the frustrations must be for a artist, a label, a manager, a promoter. I can imagine, but I’d never presume I’d get it right…at least not completely. I can only offer again, a perspective.
I do know the frustrations of a listener. I do know how it feels to find exactly what I’m craving on the radio. I know that I don’t listen to any station or format exclusively. I know what it is like to hear a song I love on the radio. I know what it is like to hear the start of a song I don’t before I hit a different preset. I know how many songs I’ve purchased and what motivates me to make that decision. And I know that I represent, to a good degree, the target listener of most AC radio (sans mother, wife, career).
Successful radio is catered to the listener. Every song, every ad, every sweeper, every piece of content that hits the air. There is risk involved in every programming decision made. To gamble additionally with song selection would seem to me to be not only poor programming, but foolishness and potentially destructive.
Certainly there ought to be balance in song and spin selection. Any station spinning the same artist or same song(!) in one hour needs to seriously consider new software and/or staff. (I contend that this is perception as opposed to reality in most all cases…one never hears their favorite enough and always hears the one they hate too much).
But familiarity is part of radio usage. It goes to how the target consumes the product. When faced with a decision in the midst of a million multi tasks, convenience and comfort will play a dominant role. That is not to say creativity does not, or should not have its place…but simply to state that place may not always be behind the wheel of a car or piped through the office.
And yes…radio stations and record labels have different goals. While one seeks to sell records, the other seeks to serve listeners. Both need money and ministry, and a balance of each.
Some people have completely different views on what the mission of this format should be. And that will be up to that person’s personal call as to how they manage that mission. I disagree that “Christian” radio is there to give listeners what they “need”, even if, especially if the listener does not want it. It might sound good in theory when sampling CDs in a changer at the desk, but it hardly seems to flesh out when it comes to a reach for seek or scan.
In my opinion, the discussion is relevant. And the perspective of artist, manager, programmer, and listener is vital.
Thanks for letting me in to share some of my thoughts as well. Or, as Elliot might say…neverending opinion.
Elizabeth
I had the pleasure of opening for Shaun in Indianna this fall. Thank you for generating this lively and civil discussion.
Just to throw one more log on the potentially tired fire of this conversation:
When I’ve talked to radio guys about this issue, they always come back to me with arguments similar to “The Coward”, saying that “we can’t play to everybody,” and assuming that I expect them to play blue grass and emo alongside Avalon and Mercy Me.
That’s just ridiculous and I don’t think Shaun, myself, or most people who protest the current state of Christian radio think that way. Focus is good, and we’re not suggesting that radio programmers not focus, we’re all just wondering aloud if the focus is misplaced or at least misguided.
I’m friends with another Groves – Sara Groves – and I know that her career has had a similar arc to Shaun’s in that her radio support has trailed off with her most recent (and arguably her best) recordings. Why her last single wasn’t a huge hit is bewildering to me. I talked to some radio guys at NRB in Dallas this year and learned that her song tested poorly, but these guys played it anyway because they believed in it and in her ministry. They found that in the end it actually performed well for them.
Maybe there IS still a place for the “gut”, or for people to be led of the Spirit.
The best songs have always had to grow on me. I’ve found that the records I loved at first listen quickly faded into the background, but the ones that I wasn’t immediately taken by usually had the lasting impact – not to mention that they are the records that have done the deepest work in me. Christian radio and their testing process doesn’t seem to allow room for that kind of thing to take place. There’s no dating or courting phase – you have to fall in love with a song and take it to bed with you the first time you hear it.
I think the most crucial issue and the potentially fatal flaw of Christian radio is in the idea of “serving” their listenership and “encouraging” them, which means giving them what they want. Are listeners best served when we just give them what they ask for? Are we encouragers only? Is there no mention of exhortation in the bible?
I think those in Christian radio have a responsibility to their listeners to give them not only what they want, but also what they need. I’m sorry if this sounds like a cliche, but I doubt that Jesus or His teachings would have tested well in our control groups (“eat my flesh… drink my blood” anyone?). At what point are we just tickling the ears of our listeners and fattening them up on Christian junkfood that clogs their spiritual arteries.
That said, and I think it’s been well-established here, I don’t envy the position of the radio programmer. They have to serve God, their listenership, the ministers/artists they work with, their shareholders, and their family (by providing for them). They need our prayers! But perhaps they also need more imagination and trust. The Christian walk requires we take risks. “He who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake shall find it” Jesus says, and that sounds risky to me.
Testing and control groups look a little bit like risk-management to me. and yes, I get that Chuck has done a great job at growing KLTY’s listenership (I’ve met Chuck, he is a genuinely kind man and I suspect he’s not in love with the power that he weilds. Here’s an easy solution: Let Chuck continue doing the good job he’s done and let everybody else determine their own playlists), and yes we want to reach more people… But I think if we only give these people what they want, then we are not truly serving them and may be in danger of only serving our own interests.
What if the model was testing and _____. what if testing was used to chart a general course, but then music director’s were required to be Spirit led or use their God-given “gut”. What if they tithed 10% of their playlist to songs they prayed over and felt were useful or important for their listeners?
Let’s face it, most of us know that the most important and compelling songs are not on the radio. And it’s NOT because they are blue-grass or emo. It’s because they are real and have substance and actually require something of the listener. There are many compelling records that would play well stylistcially on AC radio. Sara Groves’ new record is a great AC record, it’s lack of play time is largely due to the fact that it’s literate and thoughtful and requires a listener to actually engage their mind for three minutes. These factors (music that is thoughtful, challenging, intelligent) are detrimental to radio airplay, but their absence from Christian radio are an even greater detriment to the life of American Christianity.
There is a poverty in Christian music today, in my opinion, because of all this. A thought that startles me: would Rich Mullins have had the career he had if these rules of radio had been in place during his run?
One last thought. The gospels end with a commission. Yet we are notoriously reluctant to answer that commission ourselves or support those who would. We only support what we benefit from, what we enjoy, what gratifies us. The Vigilantes of Love was a compelling rock band from the 90’s that was singing the gospel in bars, clubs, street corners, and churches alike throughout the nation. They told the truth in a gut-level fashion that startled many white middle class evangelical Christians who were only versed in church-speak (therefore never inspiring their support). I watched them minister the gospel in a bar in Minneapolis and was undone by the beauty of it. They were going where most Christians wouldn’t or couldn’t dream of going and were making an impact – and yet with no support from the church, CCM, or Christian radio. Inevitably, and I think to our shame, they disbanded. At some point, I think Christian radio programmers need to understand that they play a significant part in whether a worthy music ministry succeeds or fails.
At it’s worst, Christian radio is in danger of perpetuating the creation of consumers of Christian goods instead of purveyors of Christian good. And in the end we all lose, I think.
Most people I know are turning off Christian radio. Listenership may be growing in some regards, but the lifeblood of the music industry has always been the smaller core of people who cared deeply and obsessively about music. The fans! And they are the ones checking out and being excluded while the business caters to the casual “soccer mom” listeners. There may be money to be made now in the short term, but it will play out. Christian record sales are down substantially. I think that’s happening at least in part because the music industry (including radio) isn’t putting anything out there that people can really care about and give their heart to.
“Coward” (I hate calling you that, I’m sorry
encouraged Shaun to write some songs for radio, and I get that, I really do, but at the same time, I think we need to hear the kinds of songs that an artist HAS to write, as if their life depends on it. these may not test well, but they contribute to a vibrant and vigorous and life-changing expression of Christianity. And I think that if radio programmers will dare to play them, they’ll find like those who played Sara’s new single, that they will find an audience – and it will likely be an audience who will become ardent supporters.
I’m done – sorry for being so long winded.
Hey, Shaun. Andrew Peterson here. Some folks on my message board pointed me to this topic on your blog and I felt the need to say, “ARRRRRGH.”
I echo your sentiments exactly.
The thing is to keep your head down and keep writing the best songs you can. Keep being as true to the gift God’s given you as you can. (I’m speaking of the general “you”, not you specifically.)
That’s the ideal. The reality is that it can be frustrating. It can kinda sting a little too. And it can make you wonder whether you’re barking up the wrong career tree. But on my good days I think that’s exactly what Satan would want me to do, so instead I dig in.
Here’s to keepin’ on keepin’ on.
AP