Top 40 Radio to ease up on r&b/hip hop airplay

[Dean Winchester]

Top 40 Radio Seeks to Balance Hip-hop/R&B Dominance

By Chuck Taylor

NEW YORK (Billboard) - During the past year, hip-hop and R&B have so pervasively dominated top 40 radio that the line between pop and R&B/hip-hop has become more of a blurry smudge.

But as history tells, the dominant sound that defines top 40 is as
cyclical as the seasons, and this latest trend may be showing signs of wear as a number of young male rock bands -- such as Simple Plan, Trapt and Maroon5 -- flex muscle at mainstream radio.

Likewise, some programmers are eager to nurture a new generation of young pop artists, beginning with the likes of Hilary Duff and Stacie Orrico.

Programmers admit that too much of any one sound is never good for the long-term health of the format. They insist that they're searching for more balance on their playlists to bring the format back toward the center -- if only they can find the hits.

"It's easy to jump on the trend and play every hip-hop record on your desk, but it doesn't protect your format," says John Ivey, PD of mainstream top 40 powerhouse KIIS Los Angeles. "Top 40 was designed for kids and their mothers to listen to together. Where you create a disconnect is in being too hip-hop, too rough. We need to search for more of those mass-appeal records."

POLARIZING FORCE

Guy Zapoleon, president of Zapoleon Media Strategies, which oversees Billboard/Airplay Monitor's HitPredictor chart, agrees that the massive influx of R&B/hip-hop product may polarize listeners.

"With 50 Cent breaking through big early year, a lot of R&B/hip-hop songs were given a chance," he says. "But their batting average was lower at a lot of radio stations, with only the more rhythmic stations having success with most of them, while most top 40s dayparted these to nights.

"We're definitely in the doldrums phase, where top 40 radio is
suffering from a lack of good music," he adds. "I think the format has been holding its own, just not at the heights of the glory years of the late '90s and 2000.

"Top 40 has been coming up with fewer new ideas, and it's taking less chances with its talent, contesting and even music," he says. "Combine that with the economy choking programming and marketing budgets, consolidating reducing manpower, and we're seeing more lean times ahead for the format."

DEFLATED POP

The charts certainly support the theory that 2003 represented a year in which the pop in top 40 was largely deflated.

Among 2003's top Billboard Hot 100 artists, Justin Timberlake was the only one among the leading five that did not also rank among the top R&B/hip-hop artists of the year. He joins 50 Cent, R. Kelly, Sean Paul and Beyonce.

Further, among the top airplay songs of the year on the Hot 100, seven of the top 10 are R&B/hip-hop-based. Only 3 Doors Down, Matchbox Twenty and Evanescence (featuring Paul McCoy) broke the mold.

The hip-hop bandwagon trend at top 40 is more sudden than one might suspect. In 2002, artists representing the year-end Hot 100 were as diverse as Nickelback, Ashanti, Nelly, the Calling and Vanessa Carlton.

In 2001, Lifehouse, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, Train and Jennifer
Lopez Featuring Ja Rule offered a varied palette of genres at the top of the year-end chart.

During top 40's previous dominant trend -- the teen-pop explosion of the late 1990s -- diversity still managed to command the airwaves, with TLC, Goo Goo Dolls, Monica, Backstreet Boys, Sugar Ray and 702 all in the top 10 for 1999.

GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT?

As well, it appears that top 40 programmers today are not necessarily playing what the general public is most interested in hearing.

Zapoleon counts off songs he feels the format missed: Evanescence's "Going Under," Sugarcult's "Bouncing Off the Walls," Beu Sisters' "I Was Only (Seventeen)" and Atomic Kitten's "Tide Is High."

"There were a lot of songs from left field that could have been hits," he says. "I don't think enough programmers are using their ears to take chances on songs that are hits but aren't being pushed by the labels."

Among the top-selling singles of 2003, a significant number were
pretty much hands-off on pop station playlists, including three of the songs in the top five, all related to Fox TV phenomenon "American Idol": "This Is the Night" by Clay Aiken, "Flying Without Wings" by Ruben Studdard and "God Bless the U.S.A." by the American Idol Finalists.

"Clay Aiken is such a polarized deal; people either love him or hate him," says Tracy Austin, PD of mainstream top 40 KRBE Houston.

"If the product is there, we're always open," she says. "We've had great success with Kelly Clarkson, and I think she's going to be around to stay -- but we may be reaching critical mass very soon with the whole 'American Idol' phenomenon. I just don't know how many more of these we can sustain."

Ivey adds, "You know, I always say, 'The first in a trend does well,
the second does OK but the third one has it tough.' Kelly Clarkson is very good and Clay has a rabid fan base, but I'm not sold on Ruben yet."

So while the "American Idol" tidal wave provided a wealth of potential pop product to top 40 throughout last year, it hasn't commanded enough influence to rally the national top 40 airwaves back to the center.

Austin agrees that radio stations can only be as good as the product record companies deal them.

"We're not getting a lot of good pop stuff, which makes it tough," she says. "What happens when Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake run out of singles?"

AN EYE ON THE MIDDLE

Like many major-market stations sensing that too much R&B/hip-hop will alienate core listeners, KRBE has been aiming to keep an eye on a more balanced playlist.

"A lot of the urban stuff is really reactionary, so it's easy to put
on the air, but you have to keep an eye on what you'll have to play for recurrents," Austin says. "You need to have artists like
Evanescence, who also have adult appeal -- which will give them more longevity."

Looking ahead, Austin sees "a plethora of guitars coming back," with big hits at the station from Simple Plan, Maroon5, Staind, 3 Doors Down and Trapt. "A couple months ago, we were knee-deep in hip-hop, and we were all talking about finding a balance. Top 40 still has to be about painting a nice picture of variety about what's available. It's only as good as we make it, piece by piece.

"We've had great success with Liz Phair, even though it took forever; and Dido and Sarah McLachlan are smashes in middays," Austin says. "Alicia Keys could work well for us, and OutKast is on fire. So we're feeling hopeful."

KIIS-FM's Ivey adds, "We want Justin and Britney and Hilary to work. It's our job to create the excitement for them. We're supposed to be the authorities here -- if you tell your audience that a record is a hit, they'll believe it."

[Dean Winchester]

IMO, this is great news.

I'm not all anti-r&b/hip hop, I do think there's some great artists in that genre out there, currently Outkast and Alicia Keys getting airplay. But for the most part, top 40 radio has gotten too headfirst into playing r&b/hip hop that they have began to ignore a lot of great pop and rock artists. Outside of two American Idol songs (Clay and Kelly) that had commercial singles... there has not been a non-r&b/hip hop #1 single since Nickelback's How You Remind Me, which was #1 in Christmas 2001.

Nothing against r&b/hip hop since there are a lot of great artists in the genre that radio tends to ignore in favor of crap like Chingy. But how about a little more diversity on the singles chart. When BSB and N'Sync dominated the charts, the singles chart was never ruled so much by just one format.

Also, why hasn't top 40 radio ever really taken to r&b acts like Me'shel Ndege'Ocello, Res, Common, Remy Shand and the sort? IMO those artists all have a lot more to offer than your stereotypical garbage that is all radio seems to play, but yet radio just won't touch them because they don't mispell enough words in their song titles.

[SBTB Geek]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
there has not been a non-r&b/hip hop #1 single since Nickelback's How You Remind Me, which was #1 in Christmas 2001.

Are you serious?... Didn't Avril Lavigne, and Christina Aguilera have number ones in 2002?... B2K, recently also had a no. 1 with "Bump, Bump, Bump"- and that isn't R&B or hip-hop.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
Are you serious?... Didn't Avril Lavigne, and Christina Aguilera have number ones in 2002?... B2K, recently also had a no. 1 with "Bump, Bump, Bump"- and that isn't R&B or hip-hop.

nope. Beautiful and Complicated both stopped at #2 on the chart

[Steve M.]

Remember the Nixon years, when Top 40 meant pure, unadulterated MOR from the likes of Bread, the Carpenters, John Denver, Anne Murray, Seals and Crofts, and their ilk? Ahhh, those were the days. . . .

[Hollow]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
By Chuck Taylor

ISNT THAT A SHOE?

[SBTB Geek]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
nope. Beautiful and Complicated both stopped at #2 on the chart

But "Bump, Bump, Bump" did reach number one though.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
But "Bump, Bump, Bump" did reach number one though.

true, but I don't exactly consider something with P. Diddy "pop" or "rock". Hey Ya is a lot closer to those genres than Bump Bump Bump is IMO

[vashti1999]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
IMO, this is great news.

I'm not all anti-r&b/hip hop, I do think there's some great artists in that genre out there, currently Outkast and Alicia Keys getting airplay. But for the most part, top 40 radio has gotten too headfirst into playing r&b/hip hop that they have began to ignore a lot of great pop and rock artists.

Also, why hasn't top 40 radio ever really taken to r&b acts like Me'shel Ndege'Ocello, Res, Common, Remy Shand and the sort? IMO those artists all have a lot more to offer than your stereotypical garbage that is all radio seems to play, but yet radio just won't touch them because they don't mispell enough words in their song titles.

Why listen to the radio anyway? The best station you can listen to is your own cd collection. Then there'd be no need complaining about not hearing enough of the type of music you want to hear. You mentioned Me'Shell and Res. I listen to them all the time. You know how? By not listening to the radio. Radio is all about the common denominator, if they get indications that a majority wants to hear a certain genre of music, that's what they'll play. When the ratings turn out not so great, they'll change. I'm sure if you want to hear Staind, Linkin Park and Puddle of Mudd or Clay Aiken, Celine Dion and Sting, you could find a station playing them as easily as you can find stations playing 50 Cent, Jay Z and Outkast.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by vashti1999
Why listen to the radio anyway? The best station you can listen to is your own cd collection. Then there'd be no need complaining about not hearing enough of the type of music you want to hear. You mentioned Me'Shell and Res. I listen to them all the time. You know how? By not listening to the radio. Radio is all about the common denominator, if they get indications that a majority wants to hear a certain genre of music, that's what they'll play. When the ratings turn out not so great, they'll change. I'm sure if you want to hear Staind, Linkin Park and Puddle of Mudd or Clay Aiken, Celine Dion and Sting, you could find a station playing them as easily as you can find stations playing 50 Cent, Jay Z and Outkast.

true, but how do you get to add new stuff to your collection if you're not exposed to it some way or the other, either via radio, tv or friends? Apparently top 40 formats are changing because as the article says, by playing "too much" r&b/hip hop, it's driving a lot off listeners away

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally posted by Steve M.
Remember the Nixon years, when Top 40 meant pure, unadulterated MOR from the likes of Bread, the Carpenters, John Denver, Anne Murray, Seals and Crofts, and their ilk? Ahhh, those were the days. . . .

"Baby, I'm a-Want You......" Poor grammar at the top of the charts.

[David]

Yeah, im kind of tired of all these hip hop/r and b/rap acts all over the top 10 on Billboard and American Top 40 and stuff. It gives the pop/rock people a hard time to reach the top. Most of the well-known pop songs right now ["Breathe"(michelle branch) "Invisible" (clay aiken) "White Flag (Dido)] have not even reached the top 20 on Billboard. If they had been released two years ago, they would've had top 10 hits.

Another thing that benefits rap/r&b acts is that they are played on pop AND rap stations, while pop acts are only played on pop stations, which is why Rap/R.B acts are alwaays in the top 10. They rise extra fast too.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by [.AIkenCompany3.]
Yeah, im kind of tired of all these hip hop/r and b/rap acts all over the top 10 on Billboard and American Top 40 and stuff. It gives the pop/rock people a hard time to reach the top. Most of the well-known pop songs right now ["Breathe"(michelle branch) "Invisible" (clay aiken) "White Flag (Dido)] have not even reached the top 20 on Billboard. If they had been released two years ago, they would've had top 10 hits.

Another thing that benefits rap/r&b acts is that they are played on pop AND rap stations, while pop acts are only played on pop stations, which is why Rap/R.B acts are alwaays in the top 10. They rise extra fast too.

I know, it's kinda not fair. I miss the days where the top 100 was the "pop" singles chart, since r&b and country have their seperate charts. I have a hard time believing there are 9 r&b/hip hop songs out right now MORE POPULAR than It's My Life. I'll give you Kelis, Outkast and Alicia Keys, but most of the others in the top 10 I've never heard.

[SBTB Geek]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
true, but I don't exactly consider something with P. Diddy "pop" or "rock". Hey Ya is a lot closer to those genres than Bump Bump Bump is IMO

P. Diddy IS pop.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
P. Diddy IS pop.

when I think of pop, I think of people like Christina, Britney, Justin, Avril (no, I do not consider her "punk", lol) and the sort. P. Diddy IMO is not in that genre of music. In order to enjoy his music, you still have to like rap. A lot of pop fans aren't hip hop heads though.