COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 21

Next week it is officially summer! Memorial day is this weekend and that means its time to go to vegas for PUNK ROCK BOWLING!


I have posted this before but I am very proud of our logo.  I can't wait to report on the shenanigans next week.

Now speaking of shenanigans, in the 2nd time in 3 weeks yet another person from CMJ has quit. There was a legitimate concern this week that there might not be charts. There is continued concern from myself and I know some others share my same view.  There are a lot of stories about why people have left and why people are staying and I continue to try and figure out the facts.

In digging for answers I stumbled upon the original lawsuit brought upon CMJ in 2013. ( Still ongoing) http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/SQLData.jsp?IndexNo=651858-2013

If you don't want to dig through that the article can be found here http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/indies/5762974/cmj-accused-of-hiding-funds-avoiding-loan-repayment-by-john-schers

In 2015 a new company bought CMJ Abaculi Media. A company I can find very little of on the internet
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6678903/cmjs-new-owner-has-big-plans-for-the-beleaguered-brand

One of the more fascinating things about these acquisitions and lawsuits is that the original owners were kept on board with the new company only to be let go. They then became part of a lawsuit against Abaculi Media. https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=ofFobsX0SQqAL/69Sip6_PLUS_Q==&system=prod

I don't know how much these lawsuits have to do with people leaving CMJ but you can read through some of the pages and see how much debt CMJ has been in and how poorly run an organization it has been for many years.  Now maybe the new company is trying to get everyone to quit to start over. That is one theory I have heard.  
I appreciate that the charts came out yesterday but I disagree with the notion that whomever is doing them is doing us a favor. The music industry, heck any industry that employs young people invested in something they are passionate about such as music, is rife with people looking to take advantage of them. Its happened to me for sure and to a lot of other people. I have heard stories of people not getting paid, people being laid off in the winter, companies closing and reopening under a new name. Its not a friendly place, people get taken advantage of. I really hope that the people, person left at CMJ is not being taken advantage of.

Now on to the charts.

We BARELY got above 200 reporters this week. No surprise with it being Memorial Day this weekend. Radiohead continues to climb up to #2 on the charts and within arms reach of King Gizzard. Pretty amazing considering it is digital only with no real college radio push. If there were an indie it would of been #1 easily by now.
Because there is no indie and there are no hard copies does that leave the door open for anyone? White Lung moved up into the #5 position this week and has been out for as long as Radiohead. This next week both Parquet Courts and M83 should move out of the top 5. That makes it very easy for White lung to move into the top 3. Unless someone younger like Fruit Bats ( #8 from #21) James Blake (#11 from #45) or even Modern Baseball ( debut at #15) or Twin Peaks ( debut at #16)
In cross referencing the other radio charts Spinitron. Radiohead seems to be in great position as do James Blake and Fruit Bats. Interesting that neither Twin Peaks or Modern Baseball show up on the spins based chart but could be a matter of timing.
The other charts we sometimes check are the "College radio charts" I had not noticed an update for some time on there but it appears its because they moved the charts to another site without setting up forwarding? Seems like a rookie mistake. But if you wish to look at the new College Charts on Muzooka you can now. http://collegecharts.muzooka.com As of writing this they have yet to be updated.

This weeks ADDS were way off the pace from previous weeks with only 178 reporters. Perhaps stations are starting to think they are not worth doing? Who knows. This weeks #1 add is former Dum Dum girl Kristin Kontrol who pulled in 38% of stations doing adds. Even in normal down weeks a big add would get at least 50% of stations doing adds but maybe things are changing. As we saw from the previous few weeks adds James Blake (40%) Fruit Bats (37%) White Lung (40%) The last record to get over 50% was King Gizzard with 53% So maybe with more adds it takes less adds to be a big record? I don't know but worth keeping an eye on. It also means that 50% means it is for sure a HUGE record.

Thanks all for today thank you for reading lets talk about it more on the internet. Find me on twitter at www.twitter.com/theanimalarrg

CMJ ISSUE 1441 WEEK 20 COLLEGE RADIO RECAP

Well we are getting closer to everyone being full summer mode and the number of stations are dropping like flies. Last week 216 and this week down to 209. I would not be shocked if next week we saw an uptick but then the week after for Memorial day it should be a wasteland.

But there are still records to be worked! This week saw the end of the road for M83. They went out fighting all the way as well. There were a few times yesterday when M83 pulled ahead in total stations and at one time had a slight edge in Core stations but almost every chart I saw had the eventual #1 record, King Gizzard and Wizard Lizard, higher on the chart. I thought for a while that they would move up to #2 but in the end they were stuck at #3

1	2	8	1	3	KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD	Nonagon Infinity	ATO
2	1	1	1	7	PARQUET COURTS	Human Performance	Rough Trade
3	3	3	3	6	M83	Junk	Mute
4	64	-	4	2	RADIOHEAD	A Moon Shaped Pool	XL
5	4	2	2	8	TACOCAT	Lost Time	Hardly Art

Radiohead looks to be in position to jump to #1 next week thus putting the final nail in the coffin of M83. Now If i were working the record I would look at the charts and think...well...we still have a chance. It's summer so many people are phoning in their charts we can take advantage of that. 

The number one most added record from 2 weeks ago, White Lung, moves up to #8. Last weeks #1 most added record, Fruit Bats, comes in with the #1 debut of the week at #21. 

This weeks race for #1 most added was pretty interesting to watch. 

We had 3 big records going for it. 

James Blake 

Twin Peaks 

Modern Baseball. 

For most of the day Modern Baseball seemed to be in charge. And that makes sense since there are 2 indies on the record with The Syn and Terrorbird. However the last hour things started to change. More than one promoter pointed out that they saw stations change their ADDS with James Blake being inserted in.  This happens all the time so its nothing to cry foul about just interesting to watch.  In the end James Blake took #1 most added by 1 add. 

1	75	JAMES BLAKE	The Colour In Anything	Republic
2	74	MODERN BASEBALL	Holy Ghost	Run For Cover
3	67	TWIN PEAKS	Down In Heaven	Grand Jury
4	38	DEATH GRIPS	Bottomless Pit	Harvest

By far the most interesting add of the week for me was Death Grips. For me the success of the record shows a few things. 1) the band is popular at college radio. 2) as i mentioned before its summer charts. People are looking for a name they recognize to ADD.  

I say this because when you check out the ADDS page on the AAM site it shows you that the record is dirty except for one song that you have to download. So these stations all added a digital single when you think about it. 

I was also a beneficiary of the summer charts  this week with Matt and Kim a digital only EP and stations that never touch Digital added the record. 

Lastly I have had conversations with a few of you about CMJ. Many of you have pointed out that the CMJ website has not been updated in over 2 weeks. That the Mixtape has not been updated since February. That the CMJ Marathon page still has info from last year on it. The 2015 marathon was announced on April 15 FYI.  I have been trying to gather information on what is happening at CMJ but have little to report at this point.   There has been talk of CMJ going away and what would that mean. I can tell you we have been having these conversations for YEARS but at this moment it does seem a little more real.  For now I hope that everything is fine and there is nothing to worry about but on the chance there is something to worry about I would love for stations to check out Spinitron.  

If anyone else has another radio tracking service they want to recommend, just in case, I would be more than happy to write it down. 

This week a bunch of us in the industry are headed down to Philadelphia for the NONCOMM convention. Check it out! 

Thank's for reading. 

Doug 

CMJ ISSUE 1440 COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 19

It appears we are knee deep in the transition from Spring to Summer. Over the past 2 weeks we have gone from 270 reporters to 216. Thats a pretty steep decline. This kind of decline can have huge impacts on records. Say if the 60+ stations were the ones playing your record. You might see a huge or premature drop like we saw with Frightened Rabbit this week. In only week 4 they went from #11 to #14 when they looked to be trending up.   It can also mean you get to ride a huge wave of stations that might just be playing your record. Look at the nice jumps from Sturgill Simpson ( #15 from #23) or Little Scream #29 from #51)  Those are both pretty new records so they were bound to go up. But something a little older like Tancred going up to #37 from #54 or Prism Tats going up to #54 from #104, jumps like that are easier when you happen to have the right reporters reporting.

I hope everyone checked out last weeks extra post about reporting. I love looking through the old CMJ magazines. It is part of the reason I write this. I miss the side commentary about all the records. The news that was once provided by the magazine.  I do tend to focus a lot on the top of the charts because I find that interesting but I will try to cover anything interesting going forward. Such as the drop in reporters.

The biggest debut this week comes from last weeks #1 add White Lung but last weeks #2 most added record Pitty Sex comes in at #10. But what a heartbreaking week for both of these records. You start out with a good record thinking, in a few weeks the mess up at the top with M83, Tacocat, King Gizzard and Parquet Courts will all be over and we should have a shot to slide in there. At least thats what I would think. Then in a span of a few days thats ruined with a surprise James Blake record and then thats ruined with a surprise Radiohead record.

This week Parquet Courts held strong at #1, the percentage of stations has gone down every week but they are still at a healthy 58%.  In what could be seen as the end of M83's chances King Gizzard jumped up into the #2 spot holding M83.  Sure missing out on M83 going #1 with 3 indies has to be disappointing but Mute also has Yeasayer and Moderat going at the same time and to get all 3 in the top 10 thats pretty impressive. Thats my glass half full take on M83.

Fruit Bats took the #1 ADD spot this week but the record I will be watching is Radiohead as they came in with 46 adds in the top 5 most added. They also debuted at #64 on the chart. I have to imagine most people did not have the record yet so this all seems like its going to end badly for every other record on the charts. The question is how high will Radiohead be next week. #64 with essentially 2 days of airplay. Sure the singles were out a few more days but even still then its #64 as a digital single.  I doubt it happens but its not out of the world to think it could be #1 next week. Surely it will do what Pitty sex did this week jumping into the top 10, I even think top 5 is a sure thing.  What do you think?

Lets continue the conversation on twitter. 

CMJ "The Magazine"

Somedays I miss CMJ the Magazine. This is one of those days. When that happens I need up googling " CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT" and looking through the archives on Google Books.

So many old reviews, photos, charts. I found a chart from when I was an MD



But one thing that I just found really stood out to me and I wanted to share it with you because its something I wish CMJ did every year.

I found a CMJ welcome back to school edition from September of 1997.

You can check out the whole thing here.



But I wanted to focus on the last few pages.
It starts with this headline

CMJ REPORTING ENTERS 21ST CENTRY
Chart Meaning Compilation and Station Weighting Explained.



I feel we get these questions SO often that it would be amazing if these were just permanently out there for you to read.
So I wanted to bring them to you.

The first paragraph is THE TRUE MEANING OF THE CMJ TOP 200




Pretty straightforward there. .. Lets move on to the next one.

BUT WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN.



Great. So far nothing I feel i need to explain but plenty we can talk about later.


THE HOW TO OF REPORTING
(really nothing important here but including everything)





WHAT TO REPORT.
A pretty important one.



This is the first time I can remember seeing in print that a new artist should be something within the last year. Something I wish more stations adhered to today.

SECRETS BEHIND CHART COMPILATION AND CODES REVEALED !!!
WHAAAAATTT!




WHATS NEXT?
( dated and not that important for today)




Well I hope you found this as interesting as I did.
Lets talk on twitter. 

COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 18 CMJ ISSUE 1439

One year ago today Courtney Barnet held on to the #1 spot for the 4th week in a row and the dream ended for Modest Mouse.

1	1	1	1	7	COURTNEY BARNETT	Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit	Mom And Pop
2	4	6	2	5	WAXAHATCHEE	Ivy Tripp	Merge
3	34	-	3	2	ALABAMA SHAKES	Sound And Color	ATO
4	3	3	3	6	SUFJAN STEVENS	Carrie And Lowell	Asthmatic Kitty
5	5	5	5	5	TORO Y MOI	What For?	Carpark
6	2	2	2	13	MODEST MOUSE	Strangers To Ourselves	Epic

As you can guess, the next week Alabama Shakes took the #1 spot. 

Five years ago the number one record was Tv on The Radio 

Last year by this point there were 7 #1 records. There have been 8 so far this year so right on track. 

Lets get to this weeks chart! 

Parquet Courts holds a STRONG lead at #1 despite a valiant effort by Tacocat to cut into that lead. Parquet Courts still has over 60% of the stations on board and while there was a slight slow down I doubt that you will see a huge drop. We are in the midst of exam time and transition time from Spring to Summer so wholesale changes on the chart become difficult. 

Lets take a look at the top five. ( plus a few) 

1	1	2	1	5	PARQUET COURTS	Human Performance	Rough Trade
2	2	3	2	6	TACOCAT	Lost Time	Hardly Art
3	4	6	3	4	M83	Junk	Mute
4	3	1	1	6	ANDREW BIRD	Are You Serious	Loma Vista
5	6	7	5	6	FRANKIE COSMOS	Next Thing	Bayonet
6	5	5	5	5	YEASAYER	Amen And Goodbye	Mute
7	8	14	7	4	MODERAT	III	Mute
8	-	-	8	1	KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD	Nonagon Infinity	ATO

I wanted to include up to 8 just to highlight how fast King Gizzard is charging up. Frankie Cosmos makes a nice push into the top five but presumptive #1 M83 lags behind at #3. The parallels between this record and the Modest Mouse from last year are crazy. But time has not yet run out for M83. If King Gizzard were say in the top 5 I would call it all but over but the window is cracked open.

However if M83 does not go #1 its important to look at the 3 Mute records in the top 10. Being an indie  you sometimes have to work a few big records against each other and it can be difficult to juggle, it happens though and you get better at it. It doesn't happen that often though that they are all from the same label. 

I think Parquet Courts holds on another week and King Gizzard makes it up to #3 next week with M83 in the #2 hole. Making for a FUN week of chart watching. 

This weeks ADDS were not quite what I expected. I did expect White Lung to take the top spot but I expected them to get well over 100 adds. There were less reporters this week but if you just look at percentages, White Lung took 40% of the stations reporting adds. Whereas a big record will take at least 50%. 

Lets look at at the last few #1 records performance on ADDS 

Parquet Courts 57%

Andrew Bird 55%

Thao and the Getdown 44%

DIIV 44% 

Ty Segall 45% 

David Bowie 59% 

So most have made it above the 50% mark and the 3 that did not had over 100 adds. So perhaps you need to make one of those 2 benchmarks.  

So looking at this weeks ADDS 

1	86	WHITE LUNG	Paradise	Domino
2	83	PITY SEX	White Hot Moon	Run For Cover
3	60	ISLANDS	Should I Remain Here At Sea?	Manque
4	60	KYLE CRAFT	Dolls Of Highland	SUB POP
5	53	ROGUE WAVE	Delusions Of Grand Fur	Easy Sound
6	50	AESOP ROCK	The Impossible Kid	Rhymesayers
7	49	ESKIMEAUX	Year Of The Rabbit	Double Double Whammy
8	48	ISLANDS	Taste	Manque
9	40	BEAR HANDS	You'll Pay For This	Spensive
10	31	HURRY	Guided Meditation	Lame-O

It was close between White Lung and Pitty Sex throughout and while I doubt either will really challenge for #1 they should do well depending on what comes out the next few weeks.  I really think the most interesting record this week was one of my own. The new Islands records. 

We knew going in that working two different islands records would be difficult and would cost us a chance at #1. If you were to add up the 2 records adds and subtract the stations that added both you would of had well over 100 adds for Islands.  This happens pretty rarely that 2 records from an artist are worked at the same time. Last year Beach house had 2 records but they were at least spaced out by a few weeks.  I think it will be interesting to watch how stations respond to these 2 records in the upcoming weeks.  

Thanks for reading. 

Lets talk on the internet

Noncomm Is in 2 weeks! 

PUNK ROCK BOWLING in 3!!!! 

If you have not seen via Facebook our team name this year is Make America Bowl again! ( while we here at Pirate! do not support Trump in any way the name was too good to pass up)