Triple A stations play almost no new music

[atlantaboy]

Has anyone noticed that most major-market Triple A stations have become more like "Adult Hits" or even "Classic Rock?" - The new music they do play is becoming farther and farther from Hot AC - nowadays, it's almost impossible for a Triple A station to break new music b/c their listeners want the "old alternative" music of the 80s and 90s (Talking Heads, R. E. M., U2, Dave Matthews Band, etc)

[mrclimbfall20]

I think the AAA station in San Diego does a pretty good j ob at playing new music. Here is their top 100 songs

www.yes.com/top/?station=KPRI

[atlantaboy]

It's amazing how few of those songs on their playlist are Hot AC hits, though (only Plain White T's, Emerson Hart (maybe), and probably Green Day "Working Class Hero") - it's weird that Triple A and Hot AC are even grouped together in this forum

[RobM88]

The AAA station in Nashville is very good about playing new music - but not OVERPLAYING it... (well, I've had about enough of the John Butler Trio's "Better Than"...) In fact "Lightning 100" is my favorite station here by far! www.wrlt.com/

[shocker]

The few times I listened to Triple-A, they were early on spinning certain new songs. One example I remember from last year was "Chasing Cars" - a huge hit on Triple-A several months before it crossed over to Hot AC.

I find that many of the songs Triple-A plays that are also Hot AC hits tend to be by artists like Coldplay, Augustana, Keane, Snow Patrol - that type of sound. Other than that, they tend to favor more of a classic rock sound than Hot AC does; and that's why it's not uncommon to hear Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, or Van Morrison - old and new - on Triple-A.

[atlantaboy]

Triple A did break Augustana's "Boston" during the Spring of 2006, and a bunch of Top 40 stations (WNKS/Charlotte, WPST/Trenton, WXKS/Boston, and others) added it A YEAR LATER and it's now a big hit at these stations

[mrclimbfall20]

Wasn't "Over My Head (Cable Car)" by the Fray a big hit on AAA before it went to Hot AC?

[Radical347]

mrclimbfall20 said:

I think the AAA station in San Diego does a pretty good j ob at playing new music. Here is their top 100 songs

www.yes.com/top/?station=KPRI

They're much better about that than they were about a year or two ago... as well as being a much better station in general. They were very tolerable 2+ years ago; last year they became horrible, but at least they're back to being listenable now. The top 100 is kind of misleading though, because many of those songs they only play during the overnight hours. I hear way too much old, overplayed Bowie, REM, Derek & the Dominos, Billy Idol, etc during regular programming hours.

[shocker]

atlantaboy said:

Triple A did break Augustana's "Boston" during the Spring of 2006, and a bunch of Top 40 stations (WNKS/Charlotte, WPST/Trenton, WXKS/Boston, and others) added it A YEAR LATER and it's now a big hit at these stations

Yeah, Triple-A tends to be ahead of the game on artists like Augustana, Coldplay, and Snow Patrol. Other than that, they certainly favor a more classic rock, or vintage AOR sound than Hot AC does.

[atlantaboy]

Looking at the "Top 100 songs" off yes.com for a Triple A station can be really misleading, since many Triple A stations rotate their "top songs" 15 times per week!

[mrclimbfall20]

radical347 said:

mrclimbfall20 said:

I think the AAA station in San Diego does a pretty good j ob at playing new music. Here is their top 100 songs

www.yes.com/top/?station=KPRI

They're much better about that than they were about a year or two ago... as well as being a much better station in general. They were very tolerable 2+ years ago; last year they became horrible, but at least they're back to being listenable now. The top 100 is kind of misleading though, because many of those songs they only play during the overnight hours. I hear way too much old, overplayed Bowie, REM, Derek & the Dominos, Billy Idol, etc during regular programming hours.

My biggest problem with the station is that the signal is so week that you can't hear it that well and it's staticky (sp??) in a lot of areas.