The Radio 1 ageism/relevant artists row.
I have been reading a lot lately about the whole Robbie thing, and how radio 1 refuse to play his number 1 hit as he is no longer relevant, or more likely they think he is 'too old'. Which is bizarre considering they have no issue with there ancient DJ's.
Alot of journalists have mentioned that radio one have no issue playing 'Madonna' for example, but won't play Robbie.
The thing is, radio one don't play Madonna anymore! They also don't play Britney and they don't play Christina! They don't playlist JLo anymore either !
I also remember the issue where taio Cruz's hit song 'higher' was playlisted, but they refused to play the main version featuring kylie, and instead opted to play a far inferior version with a pointless rap from Travis mccoy
Robbie really needn't feel left out !! He is far from the only victim of radio ones misguided playlist decisions.
And in reflection of the fact that since they stopped playing these 'over the hill' artists, there was a report recently that the station had failed to meet the under 35 demographic they are meant to be attracting.
Is it time that radio one just stuck to being a pop station instead of all these horrendous attempts to look cool.
That new breakfast show presenter is abysmal !
Alot of journalists have mentioned that radio one have no issue playing 'Madonna' for example, but won't play Robbie.
The thing is, radio one don't play Madonna anymore! They also don't play Britney and they don't play Christina! They don't playlist JLo anymore either !
I also remember the issue where taio Cruz's hit song 'higher' was playlisted, but they refused to play the main version featuring kylie, and instead opted to play a far inferior version with a pointless rap from Travis mccoy
Robbie really needn't feel left out !! He is far from the only victim of radio ones misguided playlist decisions.
And in reflection of the fact that since they stopped playing these 'over the hill' artists, there was a report recently that the station had failed to meet the under 35 demographic they are meant to be attracting.
Is it time that radio one just stuck to being a pop station instead of all these horrendous attempts to look cool.
That new breakfast show presenter is abysmal !
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My personal feeling on it is that it's a shame that R1 is moving in this direction as the target audience is missing out on a lot of great music. I grew up in the US & Ireland and I actually prefer Irish national radio as it has more of a broad mix and I was exposed to music old and new. US radio is far more genre-specific, which is perhaps the direction in which UK radio is headed, but I'm not a huge fan of the system.
With regards to Robbie, I wonder who is actually buying Candy because I don't know if I know anyone who would generally be RW fans or into RW songs here and there that is also a fan of this song. The single sales are a lot stronger than the album sales so I wonder has R1's target audience bought it and if so, has R1 made the wrong decision in RW's case?
Also, the Kylie version wasn't the main version of Higher. There was the album version which just had Taio, which was the original version. Then for the single release they remixed it, they had a version with Kylie, a version with Travie, and a version with BOTH Travie and Kylie.
The version with both Kylie and Travie was the one that sold the most, the one that the OCC uses to credit the song. So I'd argue that was the main version, which Radio 1 should've played, but it would still have the raps in.
I agree. Back in late 2005, you probably could've actually heard Rihanna, Robbie and Mariah next to each other on the main radio stations. But it's changed a lot since then, I think there's less variety on the radio now. It wasn't very long ago when you think about it, it's scary how fast things change.
Psy- Gangnam Style- aged 34
Robbie Williams- Candy= aged 38
Swedish House Mafia-Dont U worry Child- aged 34, 29 & 29
Maroon 5- one more night- aged 33, 33, 34, 42 (!!!), & 33
Jason Mraz- I wont give up - .. (in spite of being) aged 35
Christina Aguilera-Your Body- aged 31
the script & Will.i.am- Hall of Fame - the Script: aged 32, 36, 33 & Will.i.am an ancient 37 (!!) time for the pension book Grandad!!!
I cry- Flo Rida- aged 32
Ne Yo- Let me love you- aged 30
She wolf- David Guetta ft Sia - David Guetta - aged 45(!!!), Sia- aged 36... combined age 81 (!!!) Older than Cliff!
Fun- Some nights- aged 30, 29 & 28
Try- Pink-aged 33
... I wish Radio 1 would stop playing "irrelevant" artists like these, esp people like Will,i.am, Sweddish House Mafia, David Guetta, Psy etc as they are either over, or suspiciously close to the 35 age group which the new regime at Radio 1 seem to think is worse than death!!:rolleyes:
Also there used to be Take That fans who didn't like Robbie as a solo artist but perhaps have come round to him since he rejoined the band perhaps seeing the old Robbie. His loyal fanbase and those who like TT could have helped his single.
The track also sounds very current and the type of thing Olly Murs puts out which is why it's done better than what people may have thought.
Robbie changed labels after seeing how well TT are marketed and managed and this may have helped to as more effort and strategy been used. He has appeared on a lot more shows than i believe he has in a long time. I don't remember him going on Graham Norton and shows like that for years etc but could be wrong.
On another note i just wish radio 1 broadened the playlist the same handful of songs seem to get played over and over in a day. They play Take That so i don't understand the logic in not playing solo Robbie!?
The one thing that's different to TT's case is that their first week album sales are always huge and Take The Crown wasn't. Ss far as I'm aware both Robbie's last studio album and his last greatest hits compilation had much better first week sales than his new one. Album sales decline aside, I was quite surprised by this.
Crazymonk, I'd love to see who decides what's relevant! I wonder are there criteria, spreadsheets and pie charts
Perhaps the kids should fund it then... have you seen the pay packets for the DJs on that station?
Well I don't disagree they are overpaid. But the radio station needs to change with each generation. We all have to come to terms with becoming radio 2 listeners. It was hard for me too
Because that explains all the other shit they play doesn't it...
Haha:D
It's been like this for a while. For example, back in 1999 Eminem had to pretend he was a few years younger than he actually was when promoting his first mainstream album.
But I don't think Radio 1 are ageist at all. Especially not with hip hop artists. They playlisted artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Nas, and others recently, they're all older than Robbie I think.
Most straight 23 year-old males don't want to listen to Kylie for example, and would change stations if one of her songs came up, and that's a large part of Radio 1's target audience (they're already attracting an audience that's like 10 years older than they should be).
As a pop station they shouldn't be conforming to trends to chase demographics, they should be judging on what would make a good song on the radio regardless of who makes it. I was rather annoyed earlier this year when they refused to playlist this year's Eurovision winner despite it perfectly fitting in with most chart music now and it reaching the top 5 that week (as well as being a huge it in mainland Europe), I think the only thing that stopped them was the "Eurovision" tag, if that song was performed by Katy Perry or similar it would've been on the A Playlist in a heartbeat.
But I do wish R1 wasn't so obsessed with hitting that 15-29 demographic. Its not as though they are trying to increase the number of 15-29 yr olds listening. They are trying to increase the proportion of 15-29 yr olds listening. So they could make changes that make all the over 30s stop listening, and some of the 15-29 yr olds. And end up with a much higher proportion of 15-29 yr olds, but a smaller total audience. And into the bargain left a demographic of over 30s who like R1 as it is with no real alternative that appeals.
Its all very well arguing that R1 takes over 30s away from commercial stations, but I'm certainly not about to listen to a commercial station if I couldn't be arsed with R1 anymore.
It's the Children In Need single.
But then the whole idea of target age demographic for music is nonsensical in the first place and can only have been dreamt up my a Marketing person.
Go and see any band or artist in concert and you will see a very wide age-range of people there. I first saw Iron Maiden in 1980 when I was @ 17. 32 Years later the average age of Iron Maiden fans attending their gigs is 25, does that mean that Radio 1 should be playing Iron maiden as an "average" Maiden fan fits their target demographic? But then for Radio 1 Maiden are 'over the hill' i would have thought.
The whole concept is stupid.