Why radio still works (and sucks)

Kid Rock's album "Rock N Roll Jesus" was released on Oct. 9, 2007 -- nearly 10 months ago. The first week of its release, according to Billboard, "Jesus" was the best-selling album in the United States: 170,000 copies sold.

Like every album these days, "Jesus" gradually slipped down the charts and out of the Top 10. This spring, Atlantic Records "released" the album's third single, "All Summer Long," a mashup of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and lyrics from Kid Rock.

Labels don't "release singles" anymore, not like they did in the days of 45s; they just shift focus to another song and start "working" it at radio. In this case, because of the song's crossover potential, Atlantic worked several radio formats: Hot A/C, Pop, Rock and Country. Its plan  worked. On the strength of that single, the album has steadily climbed back up the charts. This week -- 42 weeks after its release -- "Rock N Roll Jesus" is the No. 4 album, ahead of Lil Wayne, Coldplay and Nas.

What's mystifying about all this: The single "All Summer Long" has been available all year long. No one has to wait for a label to "release" a single anymore. You only have to go to MySpace or Amazon or the label's Web site, before or after the official release date, and stream the album and decide which songs you like and which you don't. Then buy the album, on-line or in-store.

Kid Rock (and a few other bands) have boycotted iTunes and other digital media because they don't want to sell their music at 99 cents a pop. But you can still stream his music (and watch the videos) before you think about buying it.

So the catalyst in all this re-booting of "Jesus" is commercial radio (and some TV, like CMT and VH1, which have put the video in rotation).

"Jesus" was certified platinum (1 million) in late May. But it has had some of its best sales weeks since then. Its numbers last week were 93,000 (up 26 percent from the previous week) -- good enough for fourth place.

These aren't gargantuan numbers, especially compared to 10 years ago, when groups sold a million the first week out.(Album sales in the digital era are like home-run figures in the post-steroid era). And they don't defy the trend, which is still obvious and irreversible: away from full-length CDs, toward digital singles.

However that number represents the 93,000 full-length CDs sold in brick-and-mortar record stores in one week for an album nearly 10 months old in an era where songs and CDs are available at the click of a mouse. In the past two weeks, Kid Rock as sold as many albums of "Jesus" as he did the first week of its release.

Rock (and a few other artists) boycott iTunes because they don't want to sell their music four quarters at a time. Still, anyone has access to stream his songs, via YouTube or the label's site. It's obvious, lots of people still aren't doing that.

Trends tell us which way things are headed, but sometimes they skew the truth.The truth in this case: Commercial radio still has the power to boost album sales. It is not the sole power; it's not even the mightiest or most effective power, but it is still a big player.

If you're one of those who "discovered" the song "All Summer Long"  when Mix 93 started playing it 10 times a day seven or eight months after it was already out there, waiting for you to hear it, that's good news for you, I guess. Radio is still influencing your tastes.

But if you're an artist without the resources behind Kid Rock or an adventurous  music fan subject to commercial radio all day where you work (or when your kids are in the car), it means the same-old: It's up to you to take care of yourself. 

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[indie snob]

very prescient. i think there is a huge chasm between listeners who love the art of music and seek unique things vs. listeners of mainstream radio. i don't know a single person other than my parents who listen to mainstream radio.

if you're a music lover and are waiting for the corporate gears to turn and deliver good music to your ears via the radio, you're definitely looking in the wrong place.

the great thing about the internet is that it allows independent artists to market themselves how they see fit and connect with fans organically - a marketing effort more akin to the classic way of doing things, i.e. playing a zillion shows and building a fanbase.

myspace, blogs, itunes, websites, etc. have served as launching pads for many independent artists. most of them aren't making millions (or even thousands), but they are getting their art to more people than ever.

side note: these internet outlets can serve as taste-makers/deal-breakers as well. case in point: Pitchfork. i am an unabashed Pitchfork lover b/c my musical tastes are very much in line with some of their better writers (dominique leone, mark richardson, etc), so i don't find them "elitist" or snobby at all - or at least not any more or less "snobby" than the college radio DJ's i worked alongside at KCOU in columbia. they are all music-geeks with strong opinions. so it goes? however, i can definitely understand when people are a little perturbed at Pitchfork's ability to anoint the next "it" band - or, perhaps more troublingly, seemingly stop would-be "it" bands in their tracks.

glowing Pitchfork reviews catapulted the careers of Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - and, recently, possibly "ended" in some sense that of the Black Kids, or at least stripped them of all their indie "cred."

tastemaking is a nasty art that i don't support, but god bless the internet for the big wild wide open stream of information and music it is.

[Tom]

As someone who bought the CD in Week 1 and saw Kid Rock at Sprint Center earlier this year I'm glad to see All Summer Long has become a hit. A trip to Mid-Missouri this summer proved it's the "red state" song of the summer, over "I Kissed A Girl". The really interesting thing about Kid Rock is that his album isn't available online or via i-tunes. By not selling All Summer Long as a single is he increasing his album sales? Is that better or worse? That would be an interesting angle to look at.

[Tim Finn]

I don't think his iTunes boycott hurts him too much. I suppose he'll milk the CD sales as long as he can. what surprise me is this seismic jump in sales because of radio airplay. when someone I like has an album coming out, I visit their MySpace or other site to stream it, sample it. You'd have thought most of his fans would have bought a copy long before this spring. Typically, what goes down doesn't come rocketing back up, with some exceptions (like country; see crossover acts like Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts).

[kmoon]

What an artist KR is! Using the music from not one but TWO great classic songs, and changing the words... brilliant! (ugh)

[Steve]

Kid Rock did the same thing with "Cocky" with the song "Picture" with Crow years ago. Considering he owns the label he's on (I think), he knows how to market better then most.

And how much does a sample for a BIG song like "Sweet Home Alabama" cost anyway?

[Sailor]

Why radio and Kid Rock sucks.
A talentless hack and talentless radio programmers deserve each other.

That sad part is that 'we the people' own the radio spectrum and put up with it.
Thank god for KJHK, NPR and SOMAFM.

[Zod]

Don't much disagree with Sailor, but you can hate the result all you want, but mixing Werewolves and Alabama was bloody brilliant.

And the video: Smokin'.

[Geordan]

"mixing Werewolves and Alabama was bloody brilliant??"

.......First of all, unless you're British, lose the "bloody" nonsense. It's pretentious, and "mixing" two tired Classic Rock songs into his own song shows that Kid Rock has simply run out of ideas. Not that the he ever had any. I saw this Upper-Middle class 'slummer' for what he was when I first heard of him ten years ago. He's a fake, both musically and personally. Why his fans can't see right through him probably pleases him all the way to the bank.

[wadkc]

I just love the 2 camps of music lovers. Indie vs. Popular. Hook vs. Sinker. Melody vs. uh, Noodling? And I love how music as "art" is mentioned. Music became popular to get chicks, get money, sell records and to become famous. Anyone can create "art" and it doesn't mean it's good, just as popular music isn't all good. But give me the perfect tone of Karen Carpenter over Bjork any day.

I'm quite humored over the fact that indie snob was once a KCOU dj because SO WAS I! I was the rebel at the station because while they were all playing The Shoes and other indie bands, I was playing Squeeze U.K. and The Tubes. I also had a morning drive show with comedy (poor actually) with a buddy of mine which they hated, not because of the material but because we didn't sound like we were whispering and stoned. Every other dj hated us which made us proud. The picture is becoming clear... Mizzou-rah Snob man!

[Zod]

Oh, sweet zombie Jesus, Geordan. Lighten up. I didn't want to get the boot for dropping the f-bomb.

Mixing Werewolves and Alabama was fucking brilliant.

Happy?

And it was.

I'm no fan of Kid Rock, believe that. But taking those two tried and true -- and, yes, tired -- classic rock songs (Warren Zevon didn't even like Werewolves) and mixing them up is some savvy shit in this era of music-free radio and Guitar Hero.

Look, I've got two kids (8 and 12) who love "All Summer Long." And while the song and the singer are not personal favorites, the track has opened them up to hearing the originals. Soon after we first heard it, I pulled out Warren's Genius CD. And they love it. Mr. Bad Example. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. Searching for a Heart. All have found their way onto their MP3 players, bumping out Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. Now, you can debate my parenting all you want, but you can't deny that it's opened them up to better music.

Bands have been mixing and appropriating sounds since the Carter Family. There's Elvis, to say nothing of the Beatles, who were the greatest appropriators of all time. And they weren't always about making art. They were about making rock 'n' roll, earning money and getting chicks, as wadkc points out.

I don't think there needs to be two camps, to be honest, though I know it's human nature to brand something "cool" and that which is not cool awful. I think Tim once wrote something like "some of my favorite bands are average, and some of yours are, too." It's so true.

[wadkc]

Zod, As those poor saps at all the PGA golf events would say to Tiger & Phil... "You Da' Man"!

[ZOD OFF!]

"Mixing Werewolves and Alabama was fucking brilliant.

Happy?

And it was."

No, it clearly wasn't. It just shows lack of imagination. Kid Rock had to put the drugs, booze, and groupies away for about a half hour to write some "new" music and this is the best he can come up with?? What's "brilliant" about a lack of imagination?

[Tim Finn]

If it wasn't brilliant, it was savvy. It pretty much assured that it'd get played on rock radio and country radio; but even I'm surprised it made it into rotation on Top 40 pop radio. I've seen the guy live four times; he's an entertainer, straight up. He's not trying to be anything else. This is sacrilege in the Pitchfork world, but: Given a choice between seeing Kid Rock and some shy, static indie band (the Shins), I'd take the Kid Rock tickets any day.

He doesn't call himself an "artist," like some pretentious rock stars. He likes all kinds of music and he puts it all into his own sounds. I don't listen to him at all, but I respect his way of succeeding, at least modestly, in so many genres. How many rock stars hang with Rev. Run and Hank Jr.?
PS: This post wasn't supposed to be a referendum on Kid Rock. It was supposed to be about commercial radio and how, even in the i-Pod/satellite radio/digital age, it can influence listeners' tastes. Wouldn't it be nice if it started breaking bands again instead of "breaking" songs on year-old albums?

[Zod]

TV commercials are the new radio.

[Tim Finn]

And TV shows. That's how I got temporarily sucked into watching that godawful "The Hills" pseudo-reality show that my daughters watch: I heard Against Me! coming from the TV and went into see what it was. (And I sunk into the quagmire for a few weeks.)

[indie snob]

i would love to see radio break new bands again, though in the age of corporate monopolies in radio and music, i don't really see it happening soon. radio exists to sell advertising, not break artists or advance music - hence, you still hear 90% of the same songs on many radio stations today that were played last year and the year before.

mainstream radio has been perhaps irretrievably perverted and may not ever serve this purpose again, BUT there is hope for emerging artists and bands. they can gain exposure via the following ways:

* tv shows
* commercials
* film soundtracks
* satellite radio
* college radio play
* play on legit stations like KCRW
* myspace
* iTunes
* blogs and other websites (i.e. pitchfork)
* alternative retailers such as (gasp) starbucks.

radio is dead.

[Zod]

Radio is dead.

Long live Radio Paradise!

http://www.radioparadise.com/

I love that station.

[wadkc]

What is KCRW some Ham radio call letters? If radio is dead how did the thousands of LISTENERS get out to Rockfest?

[indie snob]

no, KCRW is a great station from L.A. (an npr affiliate) that has broken quite a few new artists in its day. many awesome artists have recorded sets on its "morning becomes eclectic" show.

Rockfest? no comment.

[Jeff]

Yes, radio still sucks.

Take even a station like 96.5 that touts itself as "alternative". We are deluged with the same old two or three dozen "mainstream" songs by The Killers, Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, White Stripes, Blur, Oasis, Green Day, and Nirvana, over and over and over again.

Yet, you never hear any Neko Case, Flaming Lips, Wilco, Radiohead (sorry, 'Creep' doesn't count), Rancid, or Sigur Ros (gasp!) on that station.

Sorry, guess they don't qualify as alternative, as defined by 96.5.

[Danny]

I actually like Kid Rock and a good portion of his work. Unfortunately, he has chosen not to get with the program and allow digital sales.

I actually find that pretentious. I subscribe to Rhapsody so I can program a station to my vision at the cost of 1 CD a month. The musicians get paid by these services, so what's the issue?