Why is 90s rock still considered current?

[fullhousefan]

"Modern rock' formats play Grunge hits by Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden like they came out this year. And many of the 90s rock bands are still making hits, like Weezer and Offspring.

It doesn't make any sense! I mean it was weird enough in 2003 when 90s alternative was still going so strong, but in 2009 it's exactly the same!

Actual new rock, that was made by a band that formed after 2000, makes up only a small part of "new rock" formats.

There's even EIGHTIES rock songs, like certain Metallica songs, that are passed as brand new music!

[fullhousefan]

They seem to be forgetting a large amount of rock fans have moved on to Indie rock and Emo.

Not that grunge and 90s alternative is bad! I LOVE Nirvana! But Teen Spirit is practically 20 years old, they should just stop kidding themselves into thinking it's new rock.

[pen]

I'm pretty sure radio is not just about playing new material, but also about playing old favorites. And while you are tired of hearing songs from the 90s, apparently there are a lot of people that are not. Really I think the whole playing of "classic" material and "recurrent" material is radio trying to kid itself that it's not just a big giant commercial.

[Slinky]

Pretty much every time a station tests rock music with adults, the 90's stuff comes back the strongest. Just like every other format, the songs that test well are the songs that are played.

[fullhousefan]

May 5, 2009 17:57:01 GMT -5 pen said:

I'm pretty sure radio is not just about playing new material, but also about playing old favorites. And while you are tired of hearing songs from the 90s, apparently there are a lot of people that are not. Really I think the whole playing of "classic" material and "recurrent" material is radio trying to kid itself that it's not just a big giant commercial.

Well I mean they should put 90s rock on the CLASSIC station, not on the same one as the emo bands.

9 to 19 years old is not new.

[pen]

But they want to get listeners.

[crash46]

Most people don't listen to radio as often as we do/did. Radio as we know it today is designed for people to listen to in the car to take 15 minute trips to work or to the grocery store. If you sit there listening for three hours a day every day for nine years, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" obviously is going to make you deathly ill. They don't care; they must figure that if you're into music enough to be able to stomach three hours of it, you're more likely to supply your own music, considering the technology we have today.

[jazklash]

May 5, 2009 18:23:03 GMT -5 crash46 said:

Radio as we know it today is designed for people to listen to in the car to take 15 minute trips to work or to the grocery store.

Exactly. It's just that...

May 5, 2009 18:23:03 GMT -5 crash46 said:

you're more likely to supply your own music, considering the technology we have today.

And that is one of the reasons why radio in general (or, at least, terrestrial radio) is getting fewer and fewer listeners each year. That, and the fact that people finally got tired of radio's excessive reliance on testing and market research. The only ones still listening are precisely those for whom radio is nothing more than an incidental soundtrack. Most of them don't know what they're listening to, unless it's a certified hit/standard/etc. And they couldn't care less.

[Pipa]

It's not the recurrents I mind, it's the fact that there are so many late 90's-early 00's hits that get no play as if nobody remembers them that bothers me.

[pen]

Maybe they're trying to forget.

[Pipa]

May 5, 2009 19:53:26 GMT -5 pen said:

Maybe they're trying to forget.

There's more to 2001 than Limp Bizkit and Crazy Town.

[pen]

We're talking about the 90s.

[Pipa]

May 5, 2009 21:22:04 GMT -5 pen said:

We're talking about the 90s.

And I thought you meant they were trying to forget early 00's alternative.

[pen]

That would be because I misread what you said.

[Mike Tuinstra]

Lack of quality. Rock isn't what it used to be, it's practically dead and certainly not mainstream. I'm a fan of the genre up until the 80's and its early 90's continuation. It used to really rule back then. I do not like the Alternative and would say most of the 90's stuff was bad but 00's is a disaster. It's not Rock, nor good music what I'm hearing anymore and it doesn't crossover to the Pop charts either. Pop/Rock will make a comeback from now into the next decade though.

[pen]

It doesn't cross over to the pop charts because pop sucks.

[Nicholas2.0]

May 5, 2009 23:54:30 GMT -5 pen said:

It doesn't cross over to the pop charts because pop sucks.

Right now isn't really a good example, but there have been times in the past 2 years where I've had more "Pop" music on my chart than "Alternative" songs. It was more creative, diverse, and more fun to listen to.

EDIT: Oh. Also, I agree with everything crash46 said.

[pen]

May 6, 2009 3:29:39 GMT -5 Nicholas2.0 said:

May 5, 2009 23:54:30 GMT -5 pen said:

It doesn't cross over to the pop charts because pop sucks.

Right now isn't really a good example, but there have been times in the past 2 years where I've had more "Pop" music on my chart than "Alternative" songs. It was more creative, diverse, and more fun to listen to.

That's as maybe. Really the guy's entire post pisses me off in several ways, but I also don't want to fly into a huge rant that I believe we've already been through several times before, so I just settled for acknowledging the least offensive part of his post.

[fullhousefan]

May 6, 2009 10:46:52 GMT -5 pen said:

May 6, 2009 3:29:39 GMT -5 Nicholas2.0 said:

Right now isn't really a good example, but there have been times in the past 2 years where I've had more "Pop" music on my chart than "Alternative" songs. It was more creative, diverse, and more fun to listen to.

That's as maybe. Really the guy's entire post pisses me off in several ways, but I also don't want to fly into a huge rant that I believe we've already been through several times before, so I just settled for acknowledging the least offensive part of his post.

Whose post, mine?

[pen]

May 6, 2009 14:05:51 GMT -5 fullhousefan said:

May 6, 2009 10:46:52 GMT -5 pen said:

That's as maybe. Really the guy's entire post pisses me off in several ways, but I also don't want to fly into a huge rant that I believe we've already been through several times before, so I just settled for acknowledging the least offensive part of his post.

Whose post, mine?

No, grandpa's.

[fullhousefan]

May 6, 2009 14:07:41 GMT -5 pen said:

May 6, 2009 14:05:51 GMT -5 fullhousefan said:

Whose post, mine?

No, grandpa's.

lol.

[atlantaboy]

May 5, 2009 18:10:01 GMT -5 fullhousefan said:

May 5, 2009 17:57:01 GMT -5 pen said:

I'm pretty sure radio is not just about playing new material, but also about playing old favorites. And while you are tired of hearing songs from the 90s, apparently there are a lot of people that are not. Really I think the whole playing of "classic" material and "recurrent" material is radio trying to kid itself that it's not just a big giant commercial.

Well I mean they should put 90s rock on the CLASSIC station, not on the same one as the emo bands.

9 to 19 years old is not new.

Yeah IMO it's less about how old the music is and more about the sound...Sweet Home Alabama and Black Hole Sun have very little in common - ATL's Rock 100.5 just switched though to "Classic Alternative" (mixed with Triple A), so wonderin if that might turn into a format in the future...

But think biggest prob. is Classic Alternative and Classic Rock appeal to much different audiences (I think)

Also thinkin it seems like most people that are into Alternative tend to share a "common bond" of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden CDs in their collection (or IPod), so IMO it fits much more with the station's mix than it would mixed in with Classic Rock, esp. since Classic Rock tends to attract workin class people (in general) and Alternative tends to attract college-educated etc. (sorry to generalize but pretty sure it's true)

[PHOBES]

May 5, 2009 18:10:01 GMT -5 fullhousefan said:

Classic Rock tends to target workin class people (in general) and Alternative tends to target college-educated etc. (sorry to generalize but pretty sure it's true)

Well I've never noticed a correlation between the two.

[jazklash]

At the end of the day, who gives a crap? Let rock radio wallow in nostalgia if they want to. While they do, the cool rock kids are on the Internet discovering Arcade Fire and Mastodon, get blown away by both, sell out both bands' concerts each night and go buy both bands' records because they think they're that good.

[atlantaboy]

May 6, 2009 19:23:31 GMT -5 PHOBES said:

May 5, 2009 18:10:01 GMT -5 fullhousefan said:

Classic Rock tends to target workin class people (in general) and Alternative tends to target college-educated etc. (sorry to generalize but pretty sure it's true)

Well I've never noticed a correlation between the two.

Yeah actually Classic Rock stations have huge ratings in rural workin class areas, while Alternative is mainly a heavily suburban format

[pen]

May 6, 2009 19:29:09 GMT -5 jazklash said:

At the end of the day, who gives a crap? Let rock radio wallow in nostalgia if they want to. While they do, the cool rock kids are on the Internet discovering Arcade Fire and Mastodon, get blown away by both, sell out both bands' concerts each night and go buy both bands' records because they think they're that good.

Wow, so that's what the cool rock kids are doing? Damn, no wonder I'm out of the loop.

[jazklash]

May 6, 2009 19:49:30 GMT -5 pen said:

May 6, 2009 19:29:09 GMT -5 jazklash said:

At the end of the day, who gives a crap? Let rock radio wallow in nostalgia if they want to. While they do, the cool rock kids are on the Internet discovering Arcade Fire and Mastodon, get blown away by both, sell out both bands' concerts each night and go buy both bands' records because they think they're that good.

Wow, so that's what the cool rock kids are doing? Damn, no wonder I'm out of the loop.

As long as you sleep soundly at night, you shouldn't worry too much.

[pen]

Alright, I have to ask. Are your avatar and sig video just designed to be as completely agitating as possible? It's nothing against you at all, it's just that those things spark triggers in my brain that just cause me to be annoyed. It's like being shown ink blotters, and seeing the reaction.

[jazklash]

Really? Mission accomplished, then.

[tico]

May 6, 2009 19:09:39 GMT -5 atlantaboy said:

May 5, 2009 18:10:01 GMT -5 fullhousefan said:

Well I mean they should put 90s rock on the CLASSIC station, not on the same one as the emo bands.

9 to 19 years old is not new.

Yeah IMO it's less about how old the music is and more about the sound...Sweet Home Alabama and Black Hole Sun have very little in common - ATL's Rock 100.5 just switched though to "Classic Alternative" (mixed with Triple A), so wonderin if that might turn into a format in the future...

Classic alternative is already here...sort of. FM 94/9 in San Diego kinda kick-started it earlier in the decade. Q101 in Chicago and other alternative stations elsewhere have been playing older alternative music for some time now. This was probably done in order to stave off losses from listeners who deserted the format after alternative began embracing the harder, nu-metal sounds (which, depending on the artist, also mixes in some elements of rap).