David Murray has created what I think is a useful discussion about the decreasing number of dominating radio singles in the Singing News radio charts (here and here). I would just add a couple more “reasons” for this (before I take off from his discussion). We have now half as many radio stations and less than half the number of charting stations than existed when David’s review began. If the same, or more, singles are being released then there’s a lot more competition for those Top 80 slots. This competition would logically have a negative effect on how long songs stay on the chart, as well as how long any song would stay high on the chart, at number 1 or in the top ten. One could easily argue that chart dominance has decreased right in line with the decreasing number of stations and with increasing competition for fewer charting slots.
The underlying problem with this discussion is that it implies that we are having fewer greatly loved songs and/or great songs that are “heard” fewer times by fewer people. Does a lack “radio dominance” equate to a lack of how many times a song is listened to by fans? Does a number 1 song on the chart get more “earplays” than a number ten song?
If we talk about “earplay” rather than “airplay” (charts), I would suggest that we have more songs getting more earplay today than when radio charts were a more reliable measure–which they probably no longer are. People have many more ways and opportunities to listen to a song than they did even ten years ago. Technology has brought us choice. We now listen to what we want, when we want, whether it is via CD’s in the car or iPods anywhere. Nobody sits and listens to a radio station waiting to hear their favorite new song played. And even if a station is playing a certain song 3-5 times a day, what percentage of their listening audience actually hears it. We are just not getting a lot of earplays out of radio these days.
This does not mean that there are not current songs that are as valued, as loved, or as often heard as in 2000. It just means that the listeners’ tools for listening have expanded, allowing them to hear their favorites more often — even though we don’t have a way to accumulate the numbers. But every hunch/instinct I have tells me that the Talley Trio’s “Broken Ones” has and still does receive way more earplays than “Searchin’” did in 2000 and after, even though it did better on the charts.
And, I would argue, that there is another result to this expanded listening availability of the music. People are never far from their music. When life circumstances create a need, we can quickly grab and listen to the inspiration we want or need. This deepens our experience with the music in ways that radio airplay never provided.
So we may no longer have songs that dominate radio charts, but we do have songs that can dominate and minister to our experience in more ways. It is just inconvenient that we can’t measure the value and give out a plaque for it.
