The Daily Swarm

Tom Whitwell, whose Music Thing blog is one of the best, has a feature on The Word detailing the studio processes that pop music is subjected to in order “to artificially sweeten it, polish it, make it ‘louder’… and squeeze out the last drops of its individuality” or, in other words, be radio-friendly. And he manages to unearth evidence that proves Maroon 5 is even worse than you previously thought.

To be precise, Makes Me Wonder was particularly popular on US radio stations playing the ‘Hot Adult Contemporary’ format, which is succinctly described within the radio industry as: “A station which plays commercial popular and rock music released during the past fifteen or twenty years which is more lively than the music played on the average Adult Contemporary station, but is still designed to appeal to general listeners rather than listeners interested in hearing current releases.”

Playlists of Hot Adult Contemporary stations are determined by a computer, most likely running Google-owned Scott SS32 radio automation suite, which shuffles the playlist of 4–500 tracks, inserts ads and idents and tells the DJ when to talk. The playlist is compiled after extensive research. Two or three times a year, a company like LA-based Music Research Consultants Inc arrive in town, hire a hotel ballroom or lecture theatre and recruit 50–100 people, carefully screened for demographic relevance (they might all be white suburban housewives aged 26–40). They’re each given $65 and a Perception Analyzer; a little black box with one red knob and an LED display. Then, they’re played 700 seven-second clips of songs. If they turn the knob up, the song gets played. If they turn it down, it doesn’t.

If a station needs more up-to-date information (bearing in mind that they’re “designed to appeal to general listeners rather than listeners interested in hearing current releases”) they can run a call-out test, where people from the right demographic are cold-called and interrogated about 30 seven-second clips played down the phone.

So Maroon Five’s job is clear. Just as a modern politician’s job is to deliver seven second soundbites, their job is to deliver seven second audio clips which will encourage young-ish people with a high disposable income to turn a little red knob at least 180 degrees clockwise. No wonder they look so stressed.

The whole story is a great read.

EARLIER:

Live Nation announces worst tour of the summer…

Concert downsizing on the rise in Denver…‘You see a band playing an empty room and there’s definitely a vibe that it’s over’