R&R Pop/Alternative Perspective
Appeared in Radio And Records 8/97

By Tom Barnes

Beyond the broadest terms (pop, rock, R&B/Urban and country) radio is best defined by its demographic target. Pop/alternative isn't a format. It's an oxymoron. If you believe that your "Modern adult" "Pop/Alternative" or Modern A/C station is playing anything other than contemporary music for adults, you're going to fall into the same tar Rock, Country, and most recently "Alternative" have fallen into in their history. It's a trap of industry-defined musical categorizations that your audience doesn't care about. It is the comforting, yet self destructive belief that a nebulous musical genre forever defines what you are. This trap makes you a slave to fashion, a victim of hype, and historically, gives you about 2 and a half years of survival.

Formats are a means to an end, not and end in themselves. They change, evolve, fuse and fragment. Serve them rigidly and die. To survive over the long haul, these stations must serve 25-39 year old women, in their given market; not a bunch of artists or songs; credible, or otherwise. In fact, it is the true artists' mission to fuse and destroy genres. You must position yourself to shift with the tastes of your target demo.

New stations, regardless of approach, take on a lovely demographic profile precisely because they are new. Keeping that profile comes by having a must-hear morning show, killer promotions, break-through marketing, stunning production, and a keen awareness of your listener. When we helped put the first Modern A/C stations on in 1993 and early 1994, "Pop Alternative" music was only part of the formula. This still holds true today. Ignore this reality at your own peril. You've been warned.

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