iceman
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Post by iceman on Mar 22, 2007 23:42:29 GMT -5
We (Calgary) just got a new AAA station, one of very few here in Canada and I was really looking forward to this since it was announced last summer. The thing is that they seem to play way too many classic rock/hit songs. They go back as far as the late 60's (which on occasion is just fine). I realize AAA have broader playlists than pretty much any other format but my question is, is it common for AAA stations to play a good chunk of older songs?
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Post by tico on Mar 23, 2007 7:56:31 GMT -5
The few AAA's I've heard do play older songs, but not a heavy amount. The one AAA I've heard the most is KPRI San Diego, since I used to live out there. There songs were mainly from the 80s-2000s. I've also listened to WXRT Chicago and WRLT Nashville, but not enough to know if they lean with newer or older songs.
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melodytn
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Post by melodytn on Mar 25, 2007 10:23:15 GMT -5
Not too familiar with the format on AAA , sorry. :)
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shocker
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Post by shocker on Apr 8, 2007 5:57:22 GMT -5
Triple-A radio is strange. It sounds a little like Hot AC, but it also contains elements of alternative rock, classic rock, folk, and country. To say it's a separate format is difficult to do because it combines so many genres - generally leaning toward an adult audience that prefers more of an acoustic sound.
There aren't too many Triple A's around, but the few I've heard will spin songs by artists like Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jack Johnson, and Eric Clapton - basically a combination of the old + the new.
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atlantaboy
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Post by atlantaboy on Jun 23, 2007 13:28:48 GMT -5
Some Triple A's I've heard are now trying to compete with Alternative stations in the market, many of which have falling ratings - and it's incredible how Triple A's won't touch most major Hot AC artists (Nickelback, Lifehouse, Daughtry, etc.)
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shocker
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Post by shocker on Jun 23, 2007 16:20:54 GMT -5
Some Triple A's I've heard are now trying to compete with Alternative stations in the market, many of which have falling ratings - and it's incredible how Triple A's won't touch most major Hot AC artists (Nickelback, Lifehouse, Daughtry, etc.) Very true. However, one thing I like about Triple-A is that they are often earlier on spinning some of the newer songs than Hot AC is. For instance, Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" was a big hit on Triple-A last summer before it crossed over & became successful on CHR & Hot AC later in the year. I remember hearing "Chasing Cars" on a Triple-A station in Arizona last July, and thinking how much it sounded like Keane or Coldplay.
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Chase
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Post by Chase on Jun 26, 2007 12:00:09 GMT -5
From what I know about Triple A radio, the format is geared toward the more intelligent listener. I know I'm probably going to start a fire storm with this comment, but that's why you won't hear the likes of Nickelback, Staind, Daughtry, etc. on Triple A. The format is more about the music and less about what sells.
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Post by tico on Jun 26, 2007 12:59:15 GMT -5
AAA is sort of an "intelligent" listener format. The best definition I've seen for AAA is that it tends to play music on the fringe of popular and rock music and selects from other musical styles, like country, folk and blues. An example of artists you'll hear on AAA are Jack Johnson, Lucinda Williams, Kasey Chambers, They Might Be Giants and the Indigo Girls. AAA also tends to shy away from rap and hard rock (though I have heard Nirvana on AAA).
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atlantaboy
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Post by atlantaboy on Jun 27, 2007 17:16:29 GMT -5
From what I know about Triple A radio, the format is geared toward the more intelligent listener. I know I'm probably going to start a fire storm with this comment, but that's why you won't hear the likes of Nickelback, Staind, Daughtry, etc. on Triple A. The format is more about the music and less about what sells. Don't understand how Lifehouse is less "intelligent" than U2 - or how U2, Dave Matthews, and R. E. M. weren't about "what sells"
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Chase
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Post by Chase on Jun 28, 2007 11:18:33 GMT -5
What we're trying to convey is that Triple A tends to champion more complex music styles. On a syntactic level, it's insulting to program and hear the likes of Nickelback and Hinder on the same station as great bands/musicians like early U2, REM, Talking Heads, etc.
Keep in mind, REM's foundation as a college circuit band did not necessarily bring commercial success. Unfortunately, major labels are able to eat up the popular underground bands and transform them into their own pawns for commercial success. The labels want to appeal to the broadest possible audience and thus tend to water down (and dumb down) the quality of music. A true musician wants to write a meaningful song...a true label wants to sell records. Those two ideas rarely go hand in hand.
I wonder how many Triple A stations are owned by Clear Channel or any of the other major conglomerates? Does anyone know where to find a breakdown of that statistic?
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Post by tico on Jun 28, 2007 13:34:38 GMT -5
Among the ones I know right off, Clear Channel owns KBCO Denver and KTCZ Minneapolis; CBS owns WXRT Chicago and KINK Portland; Cumulus owns KFOG San Francisco and Entercom owns KMTT Seattle and WMMM Madison, WI.
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EvanJ
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Post by EvanJ on Jun 28, 2007 14:07:33 GMT -5
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atlantaboy
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Post by atlantaboy on Jun 28, 2007 20:57:58 GMT -5
What we're trying to convey is that Triple A tends to champion more complex music styles. On a syntactic level, it's insulting to program and hear the likes of Nickelback and Hinder on the same station as great bands/musicians like early U2, REM, Talking Heads, etc. Wow - that's quite a bold statement - but if a lot of people who listen to Triple A agree with you, I guess I understand the distinction
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Slinky
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Post by Slinky on Jun 29, 2007 17:31:59 GMT -5
Put another way, AAA is the only format oriented towards music snobs.
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atlantaboy
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Post by atlantaboy on Jun 29, 2007 17:50:09 GMT -5
I agree completely! Whoever decided that Talking Heads were more talented than Lifehouse, Nickelback, or Rob Thomas? And anyone who says the U2, Dave Matthews, and R. E. M. don't care about record sells is full of crap - Matchbox 20, Lifehouse, and Nickelback worked just as hard in their early days as these Triple A bands did
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Chase
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Post by Chase on Jun 29, 2007 19:08:29 GMT -5
I agree completely! Whoever decided that Talking Heads were more talented than Lifehouse, Nickelback, or Rob Thomas? And anyone who says the U2, Dave Matthews, and R. E. M. don't care about record sells is full of crap - Matchbox 20, Lifehouse, and Nickelback worked just as hard in their early days as these Triple A bands did To clarify, I never said that U2, Dave Matthews, and company didn't care about record sales. I implied that TRIPLE A RADIO seems to favor musical stylings over dollar signs when spinning tunes, and those stations take more chances on less commercially-viable musicians. I'm sure if you asked most experts of music, they would agree that the Flaming Lips are MUSICALLY better than Nickelback. But if you ask any modern radio programmer which one he/she would rather play, I can guarantee that Nickelback is the consensus. Most formats embrace radio as a means of entertainment. Triple A sees radio as a museum for true music art, I guess you could say. Radio has become so secondary to our lives, serving as a backdrop to our activities rather than the activity itself.
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atlantaboy
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Post by atlantaboy on Jun 29, 2007 19:23:22 GMT -5
I agree completely! Whoever decided that Talking Heads were more talented than Lifehouse, Nickelback, or Rob Thomas? And anyone who says the U2, Dave Matthews, and R. E. M. don't care about record sells is full of crap - Matchbox 20, Lifehouse, and Nickelback worked just as hard in their early days as these Triple A bands did I implied that TRIPLE A RADIO seems to favor musical stylings over dollar signs when spinning tunes, and those stations take more chances on less commercially-viable musicians. I'm sure if you asked most experts of music, they would agree that the Flaming Lips are MUSICALLY better than Nickelback. Completely agree with first statement about Triple A putting novel style ahead of commercial viability - Sorry I still completely disagree with a statement that "music experts" would agree the Flaming Lips, Wilco, John Butler Trio, etc. and musically better than Nickelback, Rob Thomas, Lifehouse - I think "You And Me," "Photograph," and "If You're Gone" are ingenius musical songs, much better musically than anything these less well-known artists have ever written
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Chase
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Post by Chase on Jun 30, 2007 11:58:49 GMT -5
I implied that TRIPLE A RADIO seems to favor musical stylings over dollar signs when spinning tunes, and those stations take more chances on less commercially-viable musicians. I'm sure if you asked most experts of music, they would agree that the Flaming Lips are MUSICALLY better than Nickelback. Completely agree with first statement about Triple A putting novel style ahead of commercial viability - Sorry I still completely disagree with a statement that "music experts" would agree the Flaming Lips, Wilco, John Butler Trio, etc. and musically better than Nickelback, Rob Thomas, Lifehouse - I think "You And Me," "Photograph," and "If You're Gone" are ingenius musical songs, much better musically than anything these less well-known artists have ever written That's the thing about music -- there's really no right or wrong. If "good" and "bad" were objective, the world would be a much easier place. Personally, I think that Lifehouse and Rob Thomas are great (though I'd take Matchbox 20 over Rob Thomas solo any day of the week), but Nickelback absolutely doesn't do it for me. I think there are certain brands of music that, whether it's on the syntactic, emotional, or associative level, "don't do it" for certain people. The indie/underground scene sometimes irks me when a band is compared to the Beatles or David Bowie, etc. etc. If a band is INFLUENCED by a previous musician and is about to put its own spin on that sound, then good for them. But if a band is considered good just because they sound like a previous great, then I think there's a problem moving FORWARD with music. Give me something new and fresh...I've already heard the Beatles sound countless times.
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atlantaboy
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Post by atlantaboy on Jun 30, 2007 13:34:42 GMT -5
Give me something new and fresh...I've already heard the Beatles sound countless times. Maybe that's the key to Triple A playlists - the Flaming Lips, John Butler Trio, Wilco, Damien Rice (I think although I've never heard the last two) definitely sound like their style is new and fresh whereas Lifehouse, Rob Thomas etc. don't have that mellower cutting edge sound - in this sense, Triple A really is "Adult Alternative" b/c (many) Alternative stations use that same criteria for playing music that sounds different from the mainstream
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vstreamer
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Post by vstreamer on Jul 1, 2007 21:58:02 GMT -5
I listen to AAA as my first choice of format, namely a great Westchester station, the Peak, 107.1. Weak signal, but they stream. I like that they play deep cuts off older albums by the likes of Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, and the Stones and they also introduced me to Keane, Snow Patrol, the Fray, the Damnwells in advance of their first albums. They also play singer/songwriters like Ari Hest, Brandi Carlile, Ray LaMontagne. To me AAA connotes a blend of expressive, meaningful rock with alternative emerging artists.
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Radical347
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Post by Radical347 on Aug 22, 2007 14:39:34 GMT -5
Yeah, it's fairly common for AAA stations to be classic rock-heavy. Though I like the ones that are new mellow music-heavy better.
Has the playlist shifted since it first signed on? I know sometimes a few months later after stations work some of the kinks out they sound different.
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iceman
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Post by iceman on Aug 26, 2007 1:49:49 GMT -5
Yeah, it's fairly common for AAA stations to be classic rock-heavy. Though I like the ones that are new mellow music-heavy better. Has the playlist shifted since it first signed on? I know sometimes a few months later after stations work some of the kinks out they sound different. I can't say it sounds any different but that's fine, it's still a good station. I guess I was use to hearing Spokane's the Peak years ago but they had a tendency to lean Hot AC/Modern ACish so they probably weren't a good comparison. Of course up here with the CanCon rule we get plenty of Barenaked Ladies, Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Neil Young etc.
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Arson
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Post by Arson on Aug 26, 2007 1:55:01 GMT -5
I usually like what's on the Triple A chart so I'd wish it played more new music as well if such a station came to my area.
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iceman
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Post by iceman on Dec 27, 2007 23:48:39 GMT -5
Well, they barely lasted 9 months and they had to switch already! They are now playing classic alternative mostly from the 80's and 90's as well as some from the past few years. No more new music means I will not be listening to them as much anymore.
I recently got XM radio and the AAA station they have isn't that good (Sirius' looks much better) so I am a little disappointed right now.
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