Does your hit radio station 'speed up' songs?

[radioguru979]

I love stations that speed up their songs... they sound so much better!!! Here's some that do it:

WBTS-FM/Atlanta (95.5 The Beat) CHR/Rhythmic
WCGQ-FM/Columbus, GA (Q107.3) CHR/Pop
WAEV-FM/Savannah, GA (97.3 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WFBC-FM/Greenville, SC (B93.7) CHR/Pop
WSPK-FM/Poughkeepsie, NY (K104) CHR/Pop
WFKS-FM/Jacksonville, FL (97.9 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WHYI-FM/Miami, FL (Y100.7) CHR/Pop
KYLD-FM/San Francisco, CA (Wild 94.9) CHR/Rhythmic
KSEQ-FM/Fresno, CA (Q97) CHR/Rhythmic
KIIS-FM/Los Angeles, CA (102.7 KIIS FM) CHR/Pop
KRBE-FM/Houston, TX (104.1 KRBE) CHR/Pop
WKSS-FM/Hartford, CT (95.7 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WAPE-FM/Jacksonville, FL (95.1 The Ape) CHR/Pop
WXXL-FM/Orlando, FL (XL106.7) CHR/Pop
WHTF-FM/Tallahassee, FL (Hot 104.9) CHR/Pop
WXLK-FM/Roanoke, VA (K92) CHR/Pop
WBVD-FM/Melbourne-Cocoa Beach, FL (95.1 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WIBT-FM/Charlotte, NC (96.1 Kiss FM) CHR/Rhythmic
WNKS-FM/Charlotte, NC (Kiss 95.1) CHR/Pop
WLDI-FM/West Palm Beach, FL (Wild 95.5) CHR/Pop
WQEN-FM/Birmingham, AL (103.7 The Q) CHR/Pop [They might not do it so much anymore]
WAEZ-FM/Johnson City, TN (Electric 94.9) CHR/Pop
WZBZ-FM/Atlantic City, NJ (99.3 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WIHB-FM/Charleston, SC (B92) CHR/Pop
WNOK-FM/Columbia, SC (104.7 WNOK) CHR/Pop [Apparently, they don't anymore]
KZHT-FM/Salt Lake City, UT (97.1 ZHT) CHR/Pop
WKFS-FM/Cincinnati, OH (107.1 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WKQI-FM/Detroit, MI (Channel 95.5) CHR/Pop
WLWD-FM/Lima, OH (Wild 93.9) CHR/Pop
WKSZ-FM/Appleton, WI (95.9 Kiss FM) CHR/Pop
WIOQ-FM/Philly, PA (Q102) CHR/Pop

Just to name a few.

[radioguru979]

And it ain't just tha CHR's that do it... a few Urban stations do it too:

WZHT-FM/Montgomery, AL (Hot 105)
WQBT-FM/Savannah, GA (94.1 The Beat)
WBFA-FM/Columbus, GA (98.3 The Beat)
WIBB-FM/Macon, GA (97.9 WIBB)
WJIZ-FM/Albany, GA (96.3 WJIZ)
WBTJ-FM/Richmond, VA (106.5 The Beat)
WEMX-FM/Baton Rouge, LA (Max 94.1)
WPEG-FM/Charlotte, NC (Power 98)

And there are some more that I just can't think off tha top of my head right now lol

[areyoureadytojump]

Now 92.3 in NYC does this. It's very annoying after a while.

[atlantaboy]

^Yeah there even are a bunch of Hot ACs now in New England that are doin this, including WBMX/Boston and WTIC/Hartford...weird thing in Boston is songs are sped up on Hot AC, but slow on CHR (WXKS)

[tico]

WYOY Jackson
KIYS Jonesboro
WEZB New Orleans
WABB Mobile
KSLZ St. Louis
WKIB Cape Girardeau
WDBR Springfield
WBNQ Bloomington-Normal
WZBQ Tuscaloosa
WKSC Chicago
WXSS Milwaukee
WAPE Jacksonville
KHFI Austin
KHKS Dallas-Ft. Worth
KAFX Lufkin
KZZP Phoenix

Does AMP in Los Angeles speed up their songs? What about KHTS San Diego?

[Rurry]

z100 doesn't speed up their songs at all.

I don't mind songs sped up a little bit (I can tolerate them on WIOQ Philly and KZHT Salt Lake City to name a few...) but the way stations like...92.3 Now do it is horrible. Some sounds like chipmunks. They do it WAY too much.

[HolidayGuy]

yes- Q-102 Philly long has done it. That's the only one I ever noticed doing it in the Northeast PA area and surrounding areas. I liked it better, though, when Q-102 was more of a dance station- worked real well under those circumstances. :)

[lalu123]

I feel songs sound a lot better sped up just a little... especially few Rock songs.

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[tico]

WABB Mobile no longer speed up their songs.

[atlantaboy]

May 12, 2009 3:36:42 GMT -5 lalu123 said:

I feel songs sound a lot better sped up just a little... especially few Rock songs.

Yeah it's weird I like Second Chance way better on Star 94 (cause they speed it up) but You Found Me way better on Q100 (cause they don't)

[jr9365]

Do any of these stations use 12" records? That may make it sound sped up.

The records also make it have more bass in the sound, which I've noticed on some songs on a CHR station here called 92.3 Now FM.

[derek]

Q102 hasn't speed up songs since the fall.

[johnm1120]

I got a copy of Casey's Top 100 of 1996 and the songs on it were sped up to fit 100 songs in 8 hours. What really interested me is that I thought "Kiss From a Rose" sounded BETTER sped up!

[RoseColoredGirl]

Was researching something and randomly stumbled across this older thread. I have noticed this for years now on one of my CHRs, but haven't ever seen it discussed. I didn't realize some stations played songs at different speeds at different times of the day, but I'll have to listen for that next time I happen to drive in the evening. The syndicated show 'Liveline with Mason' sounds super sped-up, like they are playing the songs pitched up 5% (that's just a rough estimate though, I don't have any technical knowledge about pitching lol).

I agree with some of the previous comments in the thread that some songs sound good slightly sped-up, but others it messes with the mixing (Lauv's "I Like Me Better" comes to mind, as it has a sort of vacuum-sounding affect in the drop). In rare cases, I've noticed slight edits to the mixing so that it sounds better sped-up. The one example that comes to mind is Trevor Daniel's "Falling," where my station completely edited out his echoing vocals on the bridge before the final chorus.

Another related thing that I've noticed in recent years is that my CHR will occasionally play shortened versions of songs with a verse cut off to maximize time for commercials. Not referring to radio edits; the shortened versions I'm referring to actually have a verse of the normal radio version removed (for example, I've heard "Paint the Town Red" played with only the first verse and two choruses, and "Vampire" played with the bridge cut off). Occasionally, they'll just remove random parts of the song to make it shorter and it sounds terribly choppy (the edits for "Bad at Love," "Give Me Everything," "Don't Tell 'Em" are god awful because they just remove random lines, lol). I believe it's an iHeart thing, as I've heard it on both my CHR and Rhythmic station, but it's not a trend I like at all and it can be rather jarring.

[M1tchD]

Sept 12, 2024 11:01:37 GMT -5 RoseColoredGirl said:

The syndicated show 'Liveline with Mason' sounds super sped-up, like they are playing the songs pitched up 5% (that's just a rough estimate though, I don't have any technical knowledge about pitching lol)..

I know Mason personally and I’ve actually been in the studio for a lot of his shows. We’ve talked about pretty much everything related to the show including how much he pitches the music. He says he pitches it 2% - enough to make it seem more upbeat and energetic, but not enough to make it sound super different. According to him the subtle difference keeps listeners coming back for more. And I believe him, I always listened to Open House Party back in the day (fun fact: John Garabedian runs Liveline behind the scenes) and they also pitched up their music, and I liked the show more because of it. It really is amazing what speeding and pitching up a song by just a couple percent can do.