CMJ RECAP ISSUE 1370 WEEK 45

A funny thing happened as we started to wind down the final four reporting weeks of the year we finished above 300 stations! I feel like we should throw a party any time this happens as it is becoming more and more rare.  I anticipate that the number of stations will fluctuate a lot with Thanksgiving and then the final 2 weeks of the year.

We do have a bit of a race for #1 in the upcoming weeks that should make the end of the year a bit of fun. Caribou takes #1 again, and this week have separated themselves from King Tuff who is firmly holding at #2.  However next week we could see 3 records vie for #1.

Deerhoof made a nice move from their #9 debut to #3. The one to watch though is TV on the Radio coming in at #4 after the add week. I have to think that TV on the Radio is as sure of a thing we have seen in a while.  But Caribou did gain stations this week so perhaps that continues to grow.

The ADDS this week saw Sub Pop do what they do so well on add as they planted another record on the top with Flake Music taking #1 most added. The biggest surprise / mystery of the week though has to be TV on the Radio getting an additional 42 adds and coming in at #7 most added.

It does amaze me how many stations decided to ADD the record when it clearly went for adds the week previous. It is almost like the one sheet that came with it went in the trash and the accompanying emails also were quickly discarded.  It might not seem like a big deal but imagine if those 42 adds were redistributed and a up and coming unsigned artist were able to crack the adds chart because of say one extra add.

I get the sense more and more that some stations do not realize how the promoter music director dynamic works.  So I thought I would try and shed some light on it.  Promoters are hired by either the record label or band to send the record to radio. The idea is that we will then, in exchange for the free music, get feedback and perhaps airplay on that said artist. It is a pretty simple dynamic that has been working for longer than I have been doing this job. So it surprises me when I don't hear from a station for say 3-4 months and they are shocked that they no longer receive records. Without the implied opportunity to get some feedback there is no point in sending records. With the number of physical copies that are sent out ever decreasing( for most projects I am told) it should be no surprise when the physical copies stop.

We had a nice discussion about this dynamic on twitter yesterday so please follow @theanimalarrg and check out the discussion.

The last thing I wanted to check out this week were the increased number of INVALID charts.

Invalid

CFRE	KRFC	KTUH	SCAD-Atlanta Radio	WCHC	WDCE	WESU
WFCS	WHSN	WKCO	WMUC	WNJR	WNSU	WOUB -AM
WPPJ	WSWI	WVUA

A chart can be Invalid for many reasons. The most common reasons for being invalid  are charting the same record more than once and or not reporting 30 records. 

Here is what one of those looks like. 

26FRONT BOTTOMSRoseBar None

27JPNSGRLSCirculationLight Organ

28TWIN PEAKSWild OnionGrand Jury

29- *- *- *waiting for CMJ verification

 30- *- *- *waiting for CMJ verification 

As you can see for whatever reason they decided to not report any records for 29 and 30 thus rendering the rest of the chart worthless, in regards to counting towards the top 200. One of the things that came up in the twitter conversation yesterday is why shouldn't a station be allowed to report just 28 or even 10 if they want.  My opinion can be found in that conversation but I am interested to hear what more people have to say about that.  

That is all we have for this week! 3 more reporting weeks left! Happy Early thanksgiving!