Smooth Jazz Making a Comeback, Yeah Right!!!
Christmas Day left radio with one less major-market Smooth Jazz outlet, as Clear Channel's WLVE (Love 94)/Miami returned from all-holiday programming at 10 a.m. with a Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format, called "93.9-FM MIA, Move to the Music." WLVE's former Smooth Jazz programming will soon be available on 93.9's HD2 subchannel.
In the past year, Smooth Jazz has died in Denver for Sports radio, CD 101.9 in New York for WRXP-Triple A format, in Washington, DC 105.7 WJZW to Oldies, and WJJZ in Philadelphia for Soft Hits Now 97.5.
However despite what seems to be obvious, here are some recent quotes from Smooth Jazz radio people:
"The marketplace is crying for a different, bolder sound. Smooth jazz is way too tame. It needs to be bigger and more courageous." - WNWV Cleveland, General Manager Elyria Loraine and market manager Lonnie Gronek
[Our listeners are...] "about 50-ish, we have to make sure we're not playing music that turns them off. On the flip side, how can we grow our younger end if we don't play music that appeals to them? We definitely have to select library vocals carefully to keep from sounding like an oldies station, but I'm not so hung up on era as I am on fit. To my ears, 'What's Goin' On' feels as relevant and contemporary today as it did in 1971." -- KIFM/San Diego PD Mike Vasquez
In the immortal words of Mister Señor Love Daddy in Do the Right Thing,
"Wake up! Wake up! Up you wake!"
"To my ears, 'What's Goin' On' feels as relevant and contemporary today as it did in 1971." -- KIFM/San Diego PD Mike Vasquez"
ReplyDeleteTHAT is what's wrong with the smooth jazz format. I'm in my early 40's and everytime I heard a song like that, which I feel should be on an oldies station, I switched the dial. As a club deejay, I have played smooth jazz that sounds contemporary and appealed to 20 somethings and older, so why can't these station programmers find and air the same music? Because this generation of programmers are formatting for advertisers first and listeners second, when it should be the other way around. As long as I hear oldies on stations that claim to play smooth jazz, the format will never recover.