The beginning of a new year is a good time to review the basics. For instance, at my church our pastor takes the first two Sundays of each year to restate the purpose and vision of the church. Twice a year may not sound like a timely enough reminder but how many radio station share their purpose AT ALL? Fitness clubs and diet plans often base their marketing on people’s desire to return to the basics and embrace new habits.
A simple truth is that there are only two distinct elements to programming a radio station.
- Music
and - Words
The words we use
We learn to talk by imitating our parents. It’s so instinctive that we hardly notice that Mommy is referring to herself in the third person (“Give it to Mommy”), inverting the perspective so the child learn will learn to say it correctly.
Your station’s tribe has a language.
Music is the language of your tribe.
But perhaps not in the way you may think.
“Before recording technology existed, you could not separate music from its social context.”
David Byrne
Music is a language of culture, which is different than being the language of the music industry.
Many programming discussions focus on quantity and logistics. We have 14 of these, 5 of those, so we need 3 more of these. It’s like learning your listeners’ favorite colors and then mandating that 45% of your logo needs to be red.
Too often program directors evaluate programming using a calculator rather than a heart monitor.
When we promote music events using language like, “they’ll play all their hits and some of their all-time favorites”, we’re speaking the language of the industry not the language of the tribe. And worse, we make it more difficult for new listeners to feel welcome. “His chart topping hits” speaks to no one’s heart. Your listener asks, “What’s a chart?”
Your listener is asking, “Does your station speak my language?”. “What does it have to do with my life?”
“Radio isn’t just filling a slot with audio. It’s a chance every time to love someone in the middle of the mess.”
Sam Kelly
Our format is the only one that speaks the language of real life, from laughter to tears! But it all starts with speaking the language of your tribe. And all we have is words and music.
“There’s singing at people,
Tim McGraw
There’s singing to people,
There’s singing about how you feel…
Then, there’s singing about how THEY feel”