Radio News

[ms-bracken.livejournal.com]

XFM ditching all DJs between 10am and 4pm

Most of this post is from an email I sent to infov0re (who sent me the above link) yesterday, so for one person in this community this is a cross-post.

This looks a catastrophically bad idea; if their target demographic want to listen to the radio without DJs they have ample better options. Also, presumably they will still have adverts - so essentially that's all the downsides of Radio 1 (same songs over and over) without the upsides (no ads, chatter) and all the downsides of last.fm (bit cold and impersonal) without the upsides (no ads, ability to skip / love).

Presumably this is based on some kind of "but this is how the kids listen to music! On their iPod Shuffles! Get with the programme, grandad!" research, but it seems to be ignoring the fact that THE UNIQUE SELLING POINT OF RADIO IS MUSIC PLUS COMMENTARY and not music alone which is pretty much everywhere.

XFM does seem to be noticeably going down the pan, and I don't know if that's just the music taste of the current breakfast DJ or if it's policy - but the music, whilst already heavily playlisted, seems to have become a lot more homogenous in sound as well. I do remember this happening before, with Radio 1 - once Chris Evans left there was a big management shake-up which moved things in the opposite direction, towards (more) WOAH PERSONALITY DJs who, curiously, followed playlists more slavishly. This was, obviously, equally horrible as a look.

So, whatever you think of XFM as a station generally, what do you think about the idea of ditching DJs entirely during the day? Am I justified in the above horrified squealing, or is this the way, if anywhere, music radio is heading? Incidentally miggy mentioned The Nation's Favourite in a post a couple of weeks ago, and this has got me thinking that that would be a very interesting book to read given the changes in how music has been delivered and consumed since it was written.

Comments

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Xfm is an interesting case. When it started in 1997, it was really different to the existing radio output available in London. It didn't have big name DJs - Claire Sturgess was probably the most well-known having come from Radio 1, but alongside her were the relatively unknown Paul Anderson, Ian Camfield, John Kennedy and Ricky Gervais. They weren't helped by the death of Princess Di the day before launch, but they still managed to gain over 300,000 listeners by the following spring.

Early in 1998, Capital failed in a bid for Virgin and decided to purchase Xfm instead. The founders of the station mostly left, those that stayed were forced to play a stricter music policy of soft-rock (Alanis Morrissette was famously played on the first morning after the takeover), big name DJs were recruited (Bob Geldof, Zoe Ball), and the listener figures plummeted. Capital were trying to use the Xfm listener base to compete with Virgin, but since Virgin already existed, this tactic was doomed to fail.

In late 1999/early 2000, Capital changed its policy towards Xfm and reverted back to the previous format of a daytime schedule with a tight yet alternative playlist, and a specialist evening output. It worked better and some of the original Xfm policy makers were persuaded to return. And the current incarnation isn't all that different from the 2000 version. The big name breakfast show has managed to hold its position in the ratings, although it is still too early to see what the loss of Lauren Laverne will do the RAJARs... personally, I think Paul Tonkinson is terrible, although Alex Zane should do a good job. The evening schedule still revolves around Music Response and X-Posure, with specialist shows like The Rinse, The Remix and The Rock Show drawing decent audiences. But the daytime output has never been very successful, and the key ratings winner has always been the X-List (the lunchtime request show).

Personally, I can see where Xfm is coming from. You say that if their target demographic want to listen to the radio without DJs they have ample better options, but I think that the Xfm listener base will probably produce a relatively diverse sounding station, much more so than an individual's taste-driven radio on Last.fm or Pandora or their competitors. I disagree that you'll hear the same songs over and over... on the contrary, I expect you'll probably get a healthy mix of the latest alternative sounds alongside an enormous variety of golden oldies. If you listened to the X-List daily for a week, I doubt you'd hear the same song requested twice, so I see no danger of the output sounding same-y. Personally, I think this is a ensible move by Xfm. They don't get many daytime listeners anyway, so they've not got much to lose by trying it.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

It was all going so well... I was sounding eloquent, articulate... like I knew what I was talking about. And then I said it was a ENSIBLE move by Xfm and destroyed all credibility in the above post!

[ms-bracken.livejournal.com]

It makes a bit more sense if "you listened to the X-List daily for a week, I doubt you'd hear the same song requested twice" - I only hear the breakfast show and some of the weekend shows, and when there are requests they frequently seem to be for things that are on the playlist already...