Why does music suck today?

[M-26-7]

EVANSVILLE INDIANA REPRESENT!

Evansville, really? Nearly all of my family lives in Evansville.

[gangals]

Speaking of radio, or any type of simplex broadcast, how do you get your numbers on how many people are listening?

Surveys by geographical location, mind reading, etc.?

[rbcp]

Speaking of radio, or any type of simplex broadcast, how do you get your numbers on how many people are listening?

Surveys by geographical location, mind reading, etc.?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitron


I think the reason everyone thinks music sucks so bad today is because they only remember the great stuff from the various decades.  You don't remember the crappy stuff so much.  I remember watching MTV in the late 80's/early 90's as a teen and hating almost everything they played. (MTV actually played mostly videos back then.)  There were countless disposable artists back then too, but we don't remember much about them or their music.  That's why the music of x years ago seems like it was so much better.

[jammie]

Speaking of radio, or any type of simplex broadcast, how do you get your numbers on how many people are listening?

Surveys by geographical location, mind reading, etc.?

I work in radio and my company pays for a program that lets me pull ratings.  The ratings are tallied by a company called Arbitron.  Four times a year Arbitron has various people fill out surveys of what they listen to (I've had a friend fill one out and I think they gave her a dollar).  When the results come back, one is able to see what markets the station had ratings in as well as how many people are listening every 15 minutes.  This is called "AQH" (Average per Quarter Hour)

[Dr P4nyk]

Jammie,
Do you think the current music model is doomed?  It seems like people are really starting to shift towards internet-based entertainment instead of radio.  It's sure leveling the playing field for independent artists, especially now that Ipods and other mp3 players are so commonplace.  If Apple starts allowing independent artists to sell music on Itunes, I think that'd be a major blow to the big record companies.  Sure, they've still got the airwaves on their side, but it seems like that's mattering less each day.

I think the current music model is doing exactly what the industry wants it to do.  In the past they would sink money into all kinds of bands and some would work and some wouldnt.  For every success you had a whole bunch of failures.  Now they take what sells and replicate it.  It seems as though not as much is spent on failures.

P4nyk

[jammie]

I think the current music model is doing exactly what the industry wants it to do.  In the past they would sink money into all kinds of bands and some would work and some wouldnt.  For every success you had a whole bunch of failures.  Now they take what sells and replicate it.  It seems as though not as much is spent on failures.

P4nyk

While I haven't heard an upated statistic... about 5 yrs ago (damn I've been out of school a long time) something like 90% of artists failed to recoup album costs.  If I had to guess, I would say it hasn't changed a whole lot since then.  That kind of failure rate makes me point more to artist development instead of the hit or miss game.

[murd0c]

Arbitron is fucking stupid. I got picked to do one of these last spring, and they stressed how important it was for me to do it, because I'm one of those all important male 18-49 year olds they're looking for. So told them I would. They sent me a gay diary and $4 in crisp new dollar bills. So I filled it out that day, saying I listened to the really good modern rock station (I know that sounds oxymoronic, but KRBZ is a really good station) and NPR. I waited a couple weeks and sent it back.

Two weeks later I get a letter of thanks and four more dollars! So I made eight dollars by artificially inflating ratings! Huzzah.

[Raptor]

Woah $8! Now you can buy the digital watch you have always wanted!




http://www.amazon.com/Care-Bears-Digital-Watch-Style/dp/B000L7CL4U/ref=sr_1_7/104-8779633-9528723?ie=UTF8&s=jewelry&qid=1174439793&sr=1-7

[jammie]

Arbitron is fucking stupid. I got picked to do one of these last spring, and they stressed how important it was for me to do it, because I'm one of those all important male 18-49 year olds they're looking for. So told them I would. They sent me a gay diary and $4 in crisp new dollar bills. So I filled it out that day, saying I listened to the really good modern rock station (I know that sounds oxymoronic, but KRBZ is a really good station) and NPR. I waited a couple weeks and sent it back.

Two weeks later I get a letter of thanks and four more dollars! So I made eight dollars by artificially inflating ratings! Huzzah.

Stupid or not, it's the best way to find out how many people your station is reaching so that advertisers know how much your air time is worth.  Also, I heard that Arbitron is working on technology that you will be able to clip on yourself and have it automatically record any radio stations you listen to / get exposed to.  That would be awesome

[murd0c]

Arbitron is fucking stupid. I got picked to do one of these last spring, and they stressed how important it was for me to do it, because I'm one of those all important male 18-49 year olds they're looking for. So told them I would. They sent me a gay diary and $4 in crisp new dollar bills. So I filled it out that day, saying I listened to the really good modern rock station (I know that sounds oxymoronic, but KRBZ is a really good station) and NPR. I waited a couple weeks and sent it back.

Two weeks later I get a letter of thanks and four more dollars! So I made eight dollars by artificially inflating ratings! Huzzah.

Stupid or not, it's the best way to find out how many people your station is reaching so that advertisers know how much your air time is worth.  Also, I heard that Arbitron is working on technology that you will be able to clip on yourself and have it automatically record any radio stations you listen to / get exposed to.  That would be awesome

Would they hear me singing along to Soundgarden?

[jammie]

Would they hear me singing along to Soundgarden?

Ha, no it would be more like it would pick up the frequency   But I'm sure you sing it beautifully.

[rbcp]

Ha, no it would be more like it would pick up the frequency   But I'm sure you sing it beautifully.

How would that work?  Radios don't transmit a frequency.  They only receive.  Are you sure this thing doesn't listen to the audio to know what songs are playing?  Doesn't the RIAA put a similar device in all the major cities to keep track of how many times their songs are played?

[jammie]

Ha, no it would be more like it would pick up the frequency   But I'm sure you sing it beautifully.

How would that work?  Radios don't transmit a frequency.  They only receive.  Are you sure this thing doesn't listen to the audio to know what songs are playing?  Doesn't the RIAA put a similar device in all the major cities to keep track of how many times their songs are played?

Well THAT thing then.  I don't know the technology stuff.  I'm not a nerd like the rest of you  

Here I looked it up:

Under development since 1992, Arbitron's Portable People Meter is a pager-like contraption that can tell what radio or television stations someone is tuned in to by tracking inaudible audio codes. At the end of the day, the user puts the device into a base station, which sends the data overnight to Arbitron. Presuming that the user is diligent about carrying the thing around and charging its battery--and doesn't mind the Orwellian thought that someone is eavesdropping on his or her every waking moment--the People Meter could provide broadcasters with more precise ratings data than ever before.

[Nod]

EVANSVILLE INDIANA REPRESENT!

Evansville, really? Nearly all of my family lives in Evansville.

Actually Cynthiana. That's about nineteen miles north of E-Ville. And wow we are the only one's off topic. IT'S ALL M-26-7's FAULT!


I don't think I would want to wear that thing (The People Meter). Not unless I was going to be intentionally inflating the ratings of something completely inane all day.

[silentneep]

I bet the People Meter thing reveals that listeners switch around a lot more than they report since, at best, stations play 2 or 3 songs worth listening to an hour.