MayRadio ga-ga: when they make or break a song.
April 14th 2008 11:47
I heard the Queen song from which this post takes it's name for the very first time today. Well, in actual fact, I heard the song twice before. But considering it was on SingStar, and it was only a snippet to allow me to make the decision whether I wanted to sing it or not, I don't think it should really count. I heard it on a local station that plays an interesting mix of popular songs from the seventies right through to today's stuff. It's a nice collection I think, with some newer songs interspersed with golden oldies (or songs that I will come to appreciate as golden oldie, and not just "some old song").
It is with amusement that following Radio Ga-Ga, the next song to be played was Bleeding Love (it may not have been that exact order as I cannot recall that far into the past with my goldfish memory, but it was in that vicinity), which was met with groans from a particular work colleague of mine. Now, I quite like this song, so I had to ask why this lady was not enjoying it as much as I did...
"Well, her voice is a bit whine-y, and they just play this song so often that I'm sick of it!"
Yes, it was the dreaded overplay syndrome many radio stations seem to be afflicted with. I have to agree that overplay is a sure fire way to kill any remaining appreciation for a song. At least Bleeding Love only gets annoying when Leona keeps bleeding (keeps keeps bleeding love...), but gosh, Sandi Thom with her outburst of wanting to be some punk rocker with flowers in her hair...we couldn't turn the radio down quick enough!
It got me thinking, surely radio stations must have cottoned on to the fact that us mere mortal listeners with little patience for repetition, would be much more willing to listen if they changed their playlist once in awhile? Unfortunately, even before I finished typing that, my other annoying little voice was volunteering an answer: sometimes repeated broadcasts work.
What!...I hear you say? Yes, I admit it. Sometimes, I get brainwashed by the music that I hear, and end up liking a song in the end, just through sheer "I heard it so often that I just started to like it!" I can attribute my fondness for Snow Patrol to this method (though they are a very good band) and Shakira (so she ain't the best singer...).
So what have we learnt? Getting songs played on high rotation a good or bad thing?
I think the jury's still out.
It is with amusement that following Radio Ga-Ga, the next song to be played was Bleeding Love (it may not have been that exact order as I cannot recall that far into the past with my goldfish memory, but it was in that vicinity), which was met with groans from a particular work colleague of mine. Now, I quite like this song, so I had to ask why this lady was not enjoying it as much as I did...
"Well, her voice is a bit whine-y, and they just play this song so often that I'm sick of it!"
Yes, it was the dreaded overplay syndrome many radio stations seem to be afflicted with. I have to agree that overplay is a sure fire way to kill any remaining appreciation for a song. At least Bleeding Love only gets annoying when Leona keeps bleeding (keeps keeps bleeding love...), but gosh, Sandi Thom with her outburst of wanting to be some punk rocker with flowers in her hair...we couldn't turn the radio down quick enough!
It got me thinking, surely radio stations must have cottoned on to the fact that us mere mortal listeners with little patience for repetition, would be much more willing to listen if they changed their playlist once in awhile? Unfortunately, even before I finished typing that, my other annoying little voice was volunteering an answer: sometimes repeated broadcasts work.
What!...I hear you say? Yes, I admit it. Sometimes, I get brainwashed by the music that I hear, and end up liking a song in the end, just through sheer "I heard it so often that I just started to like it!" I can attribute my fondness for Snow Patrol to this method (though they are a very good band) and Shakira (so she ain't the best singer...).
So what have we learnt? Getting songs played on high rotation a good or bad thing?
I think the jury's still out.
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Maybe I'm just an easily persuaded person...
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