New at Reason

Julian Sanchez | June 23, 2005

Jesse Walker says radio station execs who try to compete with the iPod on its own terms don't know Jack.

Comments

|6.23.05 @ 12:57PM|#

Jack FM recently took over a station here in Seattle and it is the suckiest station in town! IPOD my ass, I don't know anyone who bothers even converting these songs to MP3. Jack FM is best suited in Canada and France where they like that kind of crap.

Geoff Nathan|6.23.05 @ 1:14PM|#

Since I listen to classical music, folk and Broadway Jack is totally useless. Here in Detroit the only classical music is indeed from Canada, however, so that's what I listen to when I'm not using my XM (i.e. when I'm not in my car). Of course my demographic is dying off (so they tell me), so I'll just have to use XM more and more.

|6.23.05 @ 1:31PM|#

Geoff,

I can only offer sympathy, as a fellow Detroiter and fan of Classical music. Looks like we are attached to two dying entities! The Canadian station really only plays the classical trifecta anyway. I don't listen to the radio at all.

As far as Jack radio, when they say "playing the best from the 70's, 80's, 90's and today", you should know that it's more of the same.

|6.23.05 @ 1:35PM|#

All of this is irrelevant. The nail in the coffin of shithole FM will be the inevitable rise of an XM-capable iPod. I've already seen something similar in one of those sharper-image-type catalogs. Personally, I haven't bought an iPod (well, I won a Shuffle in a sweepstakes) or XM Radio because I'm waiting for this merge to take place on a large scale. When I can walk around with my entire CD library AND satellite radio in my pocket, then we're talkin. Quite frankly, when this happens, it doesn't matter what "innovations" FM makes. Jack and the like may postpone the inevitable for a little while, but that's just because technology has been a bit slow merging SatRadio & iPod.

David Woycechowsky|6.23.05 @ 1:36PM|#

My wife and I love Live 365 (Internet radio you subscribe to).

My wife like "Black Market Radio." As one might expect from the station title, the station has a kind of a Clash-o-centric with a blend of reggae, dub and punk and indie pop. Fishbone is a favorite there.

I like "Radium Crass" -- which seems to be another Clash-inspired station title, but not a particularly Clash inspired station.

Anyway, at least some of the many Live 365 stations seem to do what the article suggests about blending familiar and less familar, without being quite as jarringly ecclectic as KUSF, WFMU, KDVS, etc, etc.

|6.23.05 @ 1:47PM|#

It seems like they came up with "Jack" by taking the limited playlists of their various genre stations and combining them.

It's pretty much the worst of all possible worlds. Instead of picking a wide array of good songs, they just use a somewhat wider selection of dreck.

|6.23.05 @ 1:50PM|#

I think satellite radio will really take off when someone offers a radio that does both XM and Sirius and does it for one monthly fee.

You'd just have to switch between them, like switching between AM and FM.

CodeMonkeySteve|6.23.05 @ 2:03PM|#

iPod, meet car stereo.
Radio, meet obsolescence.

|6.23.05 @ 2:31PM|#

Unless you're a travelling salesman or a long haul trucker, I don't understand what's compelling about the satellite part of satellite radio.

I think software defined radios will be common in the not too distant future, and that will break (loosen, at least) the FCC's grip on spectrum and allow a lot more room for innovation. I guess it would probably look a lot like a cross between iTunes/iPod/car stereo.

|6.23.05 @ 2:54PM|#

Below are my comments on "Jack" from my weblog. Enjoy:

The big story of late in the radio biz is the rise of the so-called "Jack" format.

Several major Oldies station across the fruited plain, most notably WCBS-FM in New York, have made the switch.

What is "Jack"? Well, as far as I can discern, it's supposed to be an "eclectic" mix of music from the 70's through today, formatted to approximate the experience of listening to an I-Pod.

Huh?

Now, hold the weddin' here (as Kinky Friedman might say). The whole point of having an I-Pod is that the individual can program the music to his or her own taste. Listening to a station programmed "I-Pod style" (whatever the hell that means) by some program director or a corporate suit is like...well, like listening to someone else's I-Pod.

And how interesting is that?

We don't have the "Jack" format (yet) in the town where I live but I've seen some playlist samples; it looks to me like what we in the biz used to call "chicken rock," i.e. a directionless mish-mash of styles, incompatible with one another, ultimately unlistenable.

What was once guaranteed to make your station the laughing stock of the market is now touted as the great hope for radio's future. You can't make this stuff up; no one would believe it.

Ah, but the station is structured to sound like it's an I-Pod.

OK...Imagine it's, say, 1975. Now picture some beleagured Top 40 station's program director saying to his bosses, "Hey...people are listening to Eight-Track players in their cars; let's format our station so that halfway through every other song or so, the music pauses while it switches tracks...just like an Eight-Track player."

Makes about as much sense.

The guys over at XM and Sirius are, I'm sure, positively incontinent with glee over this latest move by the corporate radio suits.

I see where Cousin Bruce Morrow, late of CBS-FM, has made the move to satellite radio.

Hit the road, Jack; I'm going with Brucie...

ed|6.23.05 @ 2:55PM|#

The iPod is simply today's Walkman. True lovers of music will continue to create their own playlists and flip the bird at commercial radio. Drones and spudboys will continue to accept whatever comes over the airwaves. And FM will most likely evolve into a better-sounding all-talk version of AM.

Jeff|6.23.05 @ 3:12PM|#

The FCC has forced all TV stations to be HD Digital compliant in order to free up bandwidth for wireless communication. Meanwhile, spectrum inefficient AM and FM continue their long slow death.

|6.23.05 @ 3:15PM|#

In terms of the radio business, "programming" nowadays is simply the stuff that fills the space between advertisements. And that explains a lot about why it's gone steadily downhill (that and the decline of non-car driving listeners).

As far as iPods go, I hate 'em--headphones are death on your ears, even at moderate volume. As metalhead of longstanding, I've already done enough damage to my hearing, thank you very much... :)

|6.23.05 @ 3:34PM|#

yeah, jack licks. They actually call it jack fm in the twin cities. "we play what we want". It's horrible, though. Let's be realistic. When you put together a mix tape there was a flow to the music. With Jack it's like your mother trying to make a mix tape for you with her music. Just awful.

As for the oldies stations, I was wondering about the new format. Our station has suddenly started mixing in "non-oldies". I chalked it up to the WWII gen dying off.

|6.23.05 @ 3:54PM|#

What is this "radio" you speak of? Seriously, why listen to the radio when you can listen to CD's & etc.? I have distinct tastes in music and cinema which are not sated by either television or radio; ergo, I rarely watch and/or listen to the both of them.

|6.23.05 @ 4:05PM|#

We have a Jack in my neck of the woods but here it's called Bob-FM and it's just as aimless and dumb. The first time I tuned in to check it out, I heard Rod Stewart follow Tool. Oh sure, it was an uptempo Rod song but, come on! That auditory gear shirt almost made my skull collapse. I had to pull the car over and take deep breaths for a minute or so.

We also have another new radio station that follows the oh-so-hip trend of having a man's name, Max-FM. It's the same mainstream rock mix as thousands of other radio stations across the country but they don't have any on-air DJs.

As for my listening preference, I have a car stereo that can play MP3s. Best money I ever spent.

Jeff|6.23.05 @ 4:25PM|#

I forget the name, but there is an internet radio station that plays only soundtrack music from 70's porn films.
If NPR ever needs a format change...

My only problem with mp3 players (as opposed to discs I burn myself) is that there is no standard audio level for the files, and listening to a series of mp3s results in my adjusting the volume with almost every song.

David Woycechowsky|6.23.05 @ 4:35PM|#

Jeff:
Winamp and TomSteady Plugin help, at least when you are listening on a PC.
I had forgotten about teh volume problem, but it is apparent on many of the better Live 365 stations I have recently discovered.

ed|6.23.05 @ 4:54PM|#

You can remaster them yourself with a good program and hard limit the amplitude to make them all approximately the same volume. That is, if you want every song to be loud.

|6.23.05 @ 4:57PM|#

Jack is a sad attempt at selling the concept of iconoclastic, free-form radio, when in fact it's as consulted, researched and cookie-cutterish as anything else on the FM band. The New York and Chicago Jacks (both owned by Infinity) signed on the air on the same day. Good thing the days of homogenized corporate radio are coiming to an end, huh? Jack is this year's trendy format for failing radio stations.

|6.23.05 @ 5:13PM|#

On our Jack FM here is what I've just heard:

Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer)
Kiss (the Prince song, but sung by someone else, I forget who)
some cheesy disco holdover song from the early 80's
Heartache Tonight (Eagles)

In other words, a whole lotta crap. Someone, somewhere, might like this mix of mediocre music - but I can't imagine it. And I want to take that nasally announcer and strangle him ("We play what we want"). How hard is it to find good music from the 70s and 80s???

|6.23.05 @ 5:55PM|#

For the last two decades, the dominant philosophy has held that the best way to do that is to play the records that are least likely to make someone change the channel.

Yes, but then how do you explain the heavy rotation of System of a Down's new single "BYOB?" That song doesn't make me want to turn the radio off so much as ventilate it with a shotgun.

Honestly, the only use I have for radio is to wake me up in the morning, and that's only because I don't think there's a way to program iTunes or WinAmp to switch on at a particular time.

Smart-ass comments aside, FM radio is going to have to make some major adaptations, and whoever figures out the next iteration will probably profit handsomly from it.

Oh, and I just have to give a shoutout to Soma FM's streaming radio stations Particular favorites are Groove Salad, Secret Agent, and Beatblender.

/vanity post
//restating the obvious

|6.23.05 @ 7:41PM|#

Of COURSE what will make the individual consumer happiest is for them to have their own little iPod that they can take anywhere that has all of their favorite music on it. But that only helps those consumers who care enough to shell out the money and spend the time (and more money) downloading the songs. For the rest of the population -- the vast majority -- there will be radio.

What people need to realize is that the songs played on the Jack stations are immaterial -- what matters is presentation. Jack is basically a handful of drops, ads, and lots of songs. That's it. No DJs, no morning shows, no tightly managed playlists, no news, weather, or traffic reports. If the reason you listen to radio is to hear music, Jack is the first station to actually give you what you want to hear and nothing extra. If Jack attracts a loyal audience, then that same format can easily be outsourced into other musical genres.

To me, Jack is a ray of hope in what has become a very chatter-happy morning drivetime. Sure, they play plenty of songs that I'm not a fan of, but at least it's not a couple of numbskulls talking endlessly about who Tom Cruise is boinking. It would be a real boon if the Jack format was eventually outsourced to the new rock genre, but it has yet to prove itself to a more milquetoast population's ears.

Lazlo|6.23.05 @ 8:17PM|#

What people need to realize is that the songs played on the Jack stations are immaterial...

Exactly. The format is ideal for people who use the radio as background noise and don't want to listen to dick jokes or traffic reports (but who for some reason don't have a problem listening to twenty-two minutes of commercials every hour).

Meanwhile, in the land of people who listen to music because we actually like music...well, we'll keep listening to our CDs, tapes, internet radio stations, iPods, satellite radios. Enjoy your endless ads for Geico, Trojans and The Mattress Factory!

|6.23.05 @ 10:43PM|#

Rhywun wrote: "Kiss (the Prince song, but sung by someone else, I forget who)"

Tom Jones, perhaps?

|6.24.05 @ 12:32AM|#

Yea, Jack is jacked. What is it about the "we play what we want" slogan that makes me want to reply with: "FU too, I'll listen to what *I* want" (and with the availability of i-pods doing so is remarkably easy). It makes Jack such a joker.

Of course the problem with their slogan is also that there is no actual "I" to do the wanting in their case - just what a bunch of marketing people reckoning what will suit the targeted demographic.

Yes, I wouldn't mind seeing a return to real radio ... but not this Jack cr*p.

|6.24.05 @ 8:21AM|#

Lazlo, as I already said, if you have the time and money to accumulate what you want to listen to, then radio is pretty much not for you. You know better than anybody what it is you like. What radio understands is that the vast majority of the people out there simply don't have the time or money to do this -- and this is likely to hold true no matter what. The question is then how to cater to those who listen to radio. Jack isn't trying to steal away iPod users -- it is trying to give an iPod flavor to those who aren't iPod users. See the difference?

And do we see now why the "iPod is still better" argument misses the point?

|6.24.05 @ 9:10AM|#

Tom Jones, perhaps?

Hm, could be. I really dislike that song, so... I can't be bothered to remember better.

|6.24.05 @ 9:49AM|#

Drones and spudboys will continue to accept whatever comes over the airwaves.

Yes, I wouldn't mind seeing a return to real radio ... but not this Jack cr*p.

The question is then how to cater to those who listen to radio.

What is this "radio" you speak of? Seriously, why listen to the radio when you can listen to CD's & etc.? I have distinct tastes in music and cinema which are not sated by either television or radio; ergo, I rarely watch and/or listen to the both of them.




Hi!? Am I the only person on this thread who lives in a city with college radio stations? It sounds like it, judging by the comments people have left here. Nobody here has even mentioned college radio. College radio requires no satellite, no effort whatsoever in burning CD mixes, converting music to MP3s, or installing satellite anything, and is by far more diverse and has better programming than any commercial FM station or even any online "personally tailored" radio service. And that's the facts, Jack!

If you have any colleges in the vicinity of your city, I recommend you move your radio dial around a bit and search for their respective radio stations, which are likely FM. The car I drive is a piece of crap, and since I park in areas of questionable safety, hauling around music from my personal CD collection is not a feasable or wise idea for me. I have 3 reliable college stations that I flip between while driving, and I am rarely disappointed. I have been turned on to a lot of unusual and new music that way, too. Believe me, if you want the best of both worlds (A.) are too lazy to make your own mixes/too poor to afford an iPod/don't have a car CD player and B.) have discriminating musical tastes/hate the drivel that is commercial radio/ want to hear awesome music and get turned on to new stuff) then college radio is the simple and good answer.

|6.24.05 @ 10:00AM|#

The first time I tuned in to check it out, I heard Rod Stewart follow Tool.

Now to me, that's a good segue. Rod Stewart IS a tool.

Granted, it sounds unlistenable. They could have at least followed the boring Tool song (all Tool songs are boring) with a Faces tune, fer crap's sake.

|6.24.05 @ 2:35PM|#

All this "technology" crap is a passing fad. I've found that all I need is a comb and a piece of tissue paper, and I can make my own music.

Lazlo|6.24.05 @ 3:42PM|#

Jack isn't trying to steal away iPod users -- it is trying to give an iPod flavor to those who aren't iPod users.

Yes, in an attempt to keep people from switching to iPods, satellite radio, and the other media options that are starting to whittle away at the terrestrial-radio audience and business model. I don't buy the argument that Jack is "just another radio format" aimed at radio listeners who will always be radio listeners. It's a direct reaction to pressure from outside the medium, just as Clear Channel's "anti-clutter" moves were last year and as all that "free radio" identity promotion you're seeing is today. It may draw some curiosity audience for a while, but it's not going to slow down radio's audience attrition. 30 years of Top 40 sewn randomly together with prerecorded interstitials seems interesting until you realize that adding two more flavors to your bowl of Jell-O still leaves you with just another damned bowl of Jell-O.

|6.24.05 @ 3:47PM|#

There's nothing listenable on the radio around here (and no college stations, Smacky, though I once had the ennui of going to a university where the station only played classical and lite jazz).

I generally listen to the normal or "vintage" feeds from WOXY.com anywhere near my computer. On the road, I use a cheap cassette adapter to play tracks from my Shuffle.

|6.24.05 @ 3:50PM|#

All this "technology" crap is a passing fad. I've found that all I need is a comb and a piece of tissue paper, and I can make my own music.

Best comment of the thread!

30 years of Top 40 sewn randomly together with prerecorded interstitials seems interesting until you realize that adding two more flavors to your bowl of Jell-O still leaves you with just another damned bowl of Jell-O.

Or to paraphrase someone else (MP?) on a different thread: when you pile shit on top of shit, you still get shit.

|6.24.05 @ 8:18PM|#

"30 Years of Top 40" would probably be mind-boggling variety compared to 99% of radio playlists, even "Jack" stations.