Take the focus test. It’s pretty simple. Find the one item that doesn’t fit in the category with the other two.
Rush Limbaugh program
1) The liberals are out of their minds.
2) Democrats are bunch of hypocrites.
3) Obama has a pretty good idea for pulling out troops from Iraq.
KROQ Los Angeles
1) Tickets for Radiohead in concert.
2) Nine Inch Nails free download info.
3) A gushing interview with Carrie Underwood.
WRXP NYC
1) Clash – Train in Vain
2) Radiohead – House of Cards
3) Matchbox 2- – Long Day
Air America
1) America’s addiction to coal and oil must stop.
2) The Right Wing doesn’t know what to do about Obama.
3) George W is only our 5th worst president ever.
OK, I won’t even bother to score you. The answers were always the third item that didn’t belong in the category heading. Do you get the point? When a listener comes to you they come for who you are and what they expect from you. When you deviate from that your giving them ambiguity. Ambiguity is a vagueness they don’t want from you. For pro Obama blah, blah you go to Air America and not Rush Limbaugh. When you’re into NIN and Radiohead an interview with Carrie Underwood is insulting. And what the Hell is Matchbox 20 doing on my cool progressive album track station? Isn’t Matchbox 20 soccer mom stuff? Maybe a mlf but still!
Who you are is very important to the listener. Confusing the listener of who you are and what you stand for makes you an uncertainty of choice and possibly uncomfortable if the listener considers you a badge or fashion accessory. As an example consider WRXP. I have been very pro RXP even before one of my friends got the PD gig. (See Why WRXP NYC Matters…)
WRXP is heavily researched. Most everything on the station is accountable. So in a library that features cool tracks by the Stones, Radiohead, Wilco, REM, The Pixies, Arcade Fire, Kooks, Death Cab, Zeppelin, Beck and Beatles why would play tracks from Matchbox 20, Lifehouse and Sheryl Crow? Even if research claims these artists are compatible, are these tracks so important that you couldn’t yank them with extreme prejudice? “The needs of the many in the library outweigh the plays of the few turds in the punchbowl.”
I’m just saying focus with extreme prejudice. I’m just saying…
sd
