Hello friends, I hope all is well out there in radio land. This week we have a new number one in DR DOG. I must say these are easier to right when I don't have a horse in the race. But let me tell you how very satisfying getting a #1 record is. It never gets old. Every year there are just around 20 or so #1 records out of 50 something weeks of the year. Getting #1 is hard. Just look at some of the records that peaked out at #2 or #3 that are currently on the charts now: Superchunk, Franz Ferdinand, Chvrches, No Age and perhaps next week we might add Of Montreal to that list. But all are great records that had they gone at a different time of year could of been #1 records. Everything has to hit right for a record to go #1. There has to be hype for sure, it could be the best record in the world but that matters so very little unless others are talking about it. Most of the time it needs to be a band on their second or third record. There are very few bands that go #1 on their first record. You also need a good company behind the record. ( well you need 2 of the three for sure )
I often wonder what the charts would look like if there were no promoters. You can take a look at those handful of stations that don't talk to anyone and get a glimpse and it is not pretty. Lots of very VERY old releases. A stagnant CMJ if you will. I debate whether the charts are better or worse off because of promoters. For the most part I have to say they are better.
So yeah this week feels really good. We had the goal of #1 and we had this week circled as the week to make it happen ( actually I had last week circled but we came up short) This week I was worried about Of Montreal a lot and of course you have to look out for the record that is already there, Arctic Monkeys. I really thought that Arctic Monkeys would drop more than it did this week and would not be a factor the whole time but if you are at #1 why give it up so easily. I thought Of Montreal would challenge having jumped up to #4 last week but I expected a lot more from Chvrches. Perhaps they saw they had a long shot at #1 and decided to concentrate on something else, maybe Sleigh Bells as that did jump all the way from 16 to 7. The jumps this time of year within the top 20 are way more difficult than they were in the summer so I view that as very impressive. For example if you look at The Dismemberment Plan they stayed exactly the same as last week despite gaining over 20 stations! 20 stations should be enough to move but when others around you gain more you end up running in place.
To be honest I expected more from Arcade Fire, as they had barely over half the reporting stations report it as an ADD and only came in at #58. Pretty disappointing. ... oh... whats that? Ahhh I see they did not even send out a digital until Monday and no one got it in until Monday at the earliest .. well damn thats pretty good.. I remember making ADD lists back in the summer time and even then my thought was we need to go for adds at least 3 weeks before Arcade Fire if we are to have a chance to go #1. If we take a look at history the last 2 Arcade Fire records each went #1 the week after they went for adds. I know there is a "chance" that Of Montreal could sneak in there or that DR DOG could hold on but I don't see that happening. It could but my money is on Arcade Fire going #1 next week. The last Arcade Fire record held #1 for 8 weeks I think it holds it for the rest of the year.
One of the issues brought up to me this week is that because the record got sent out late the fact that it got #1 most added makes ADDS somewhat of a joke. I see the point of course but have never argued that ADDS are not silly. I tell stations all the time if you think ADDS are dumb then don't do ADDS but unless you are a big station that is going to get everything all the time it makes sense to play the game and do adds. That is a lot of what ADDS are, a game. Is there any doubt that the biggest band at college radio is Arcade fire though? No there is no doubt so them getting #1 makes perfect sense. The fact they did not send out the record early or "on time" makes no difference, if anything it reinforces that they are HUGE and will dominate no matter what. I mean if My Bloody Valentine can go top 30 without sending a single copy out then i would be willing to bet that Arcade Fire could go #1 without sending a record out.
So what will we discuss the next few weeks as Arcade Fire dominates? I might do a more in depth look at the charts. If Arcade Fire goes as I think it will we might have to start talking about who has the best chance to over take them. We could also talk about what record are going for #2. Or we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. I am always here to talk @theanimalarrg So lets talk
thank you for reading!
douglas
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
CMJ RECAP ISSUE 1318 --Week 41
Can you believe there are only 7 more ADD weeks after the one we just had. Kind of crazy right? Everyone will be rushing to get their records out before the end of the year although at this point I would rather just wait until closer to the end of the year. With Arcade Fire going for adds next week could we have our first ever record to debut at #1 on the ADD week??? ( no we won't but it is fun to think about ) Speaking of, how many weeks will it take to get there and how many will it stay there? I think it goes to #1 the week after ADDS and stays there for 6 weeks so until the end of the year. I hope I am wrong for the sake of my records but who isn't going to play this record?
We have a lot we can talk about today.
Lets start with the CMJ music festival. While some ( Consequence of Sound ) thought the festival was on the downturn and not worth much I thought it was great. It is a festival with many goals and depending on who you are it may or may not of satisfied those goals. If you are a New yorker looking to just checkout new bands I don't think it is really worth it as "bigger" bands come in the week before or the week after. If you are looking to connect with the people that make college radio run across the country then well it was a huge success. Three or four years ago was one of the worst CMJ's I can remember. Very few MD's everyone kind of saying is this worth it? Then something happened CMJ started giving Badges to subscribers of the magazine and sure enough more people from schools came. This year I met more new music directors than I have had in a long time. An awards ceremony that was once mostly empty was packed. It felt really good ( we will talk more about that in a bit) So yeah overall I disagree with the statement that the festival is in its decline.
The same might not be said for CMJ overall. On the Wed of CMJ we were all a BUZZ of the news that CMJ was being sued for A million dollars. Story here over at Pitchfork I wont pretend to know what this means for the future of college radio. I have been here for a while and seen CMJ at some pretty weak moments that I thought for sure would end its long run as the trade magazine for college radio. Through every one they have somehow made it through. This one seems worse. There was a lot of talk about what we would do next year when CMJ did not exist. Half Jokingly half serious we really have no idea what could happen. The overall attitude was that something else would step up. For the most part college radio is a tight knit group and we all want to see college radio succeed and all think it is an important part in the growth of a band and I think most would want to see that continue. There are alternatives out there and we have talked about them here before but the problem with them is they lack a legitimacy that CMJ, for whatever reason, continues to have. So I have no answers but I think this could be bad. Only time will tell.
I hesitate to talk about the CMJ awards even though many of you have asked me what I am going to say about them. I remember when I won the first 4 CMJ promoter of the year awards. It felt real good to win the first few and then it felt silly. I felt bad for winning. I wanted to give others a chance and so I told my stations please do not nominate me but to nominate someone else. I have not won since and I am fine with that. I have heard a lot of things about this years CMJ awards from a lot of people and some people were pissed even some stations expressed to me their disappointment that it looks rigged. Rigged is a strong word and I don't think it is rigged I think The Syn did a great job making sure they won every category. I am not going to complain or be bitter though but rather hope that in the future there is a level playing field.
So we had our first charts in 2 weeks this week and the numbers were pretty much the same as two weeks ago. Thats a great sign I think for the next few weeks to come. Another week above 300 reporters is a great thing to have. Arctic Monkeys took the #1 spot for the 2nd week but charging up to #2 was DR DOG jumping over CHVRCHES. The big move though has to be Of Montreal coming in at #4!!! Granted last week would of been its add week but man that is aggressive. We also see some nice moves from Yuck, Best Coast, Haim, Fuzz, and Dismemberment Plan. All of these records have a goal to get to #1 and by my calculations they have a week to do it!
This weeks #1 most added was Cass McCombs powered behind a few indies working it to both AAA and College took the #1 spot by 2 adds over the Head and the Heart with Cults coming in third. All having over 100 adds. Seeing a lot of weeks with a bunch of records having over 100 adds. Lots of big records, and many more to come over the next few weeks.
Thank you for reading. Lets talk more about all of this on the twitter hit me up @theanimalarrg
Go RED SOX!!!
We have a lot we can talk about today.
Lets start with the CMJ music festival. While some ( Consequence of Sound ) thought the festival was on the downturn and not worth much I thought it was great. It is a festival with many goals and depending on who you are it may or may not of satisfied those goals. If you are a New yorker looking to just checkout new bands I don't think it is really worth it as "bigger" bands come in the week before or the week after. If you are looking to connect with the people that make college radio run across the country then well it was a huge success. Three or four years ago was one of the worst CMJ's I can remember. Very few MD's everyone kind of saying is this worth it? Then something happened CMJ started giving Badges to subscribers of the magazine and sure enough more people from schools came. This year I met more new music directors than I have had in a long time. An awards ceremony that was once mostly empty was packed. It felt really good ( we will talk more about that in a bit) So yeah overall I disagree with the statement that the festival is in its decline.
The same might not be said for CMJ overall. On the Wed of CMJ we were all a BUZZ of the news that CMJ was being sued for A million dollars. Story here over at Pitchfork I wont pretend to know what this means for the future of college radio. I have been here for a while and seen CMJ at some pretty weak moments that I thought for sure would end its long run as the trade magazine for college radio. Through every one they have somehow made it through. This one seems worse. There was a lot of talk about what we would do next year when CMJ did not exist. Half Jokingly half serious we really have no idea what could happen. The overall attitude was that something else would step up. For the most part college radio is a tight knit group and we all want to see college radio succeed and all think it is an important part in the growth of a band and I think most would want to see that continue. There are alternatives out there and we have talked about them here before but the problem with them is they lack a legitimacy that CMJ, for whatever reason, continues to have. So I have no answers but I think this could be bad. Only time will tell.
I hesitate to talk about the CMJ awards even though many of you have asked me what I am going to say about them. I remember when I won the first 4 CMJ promoter of the year awards. It felt real good to win the first few and then it felt silly. I felt bad for winning. I wanted to give others a chance and so I told my stations please do not nominate me but to nominate someone else. I have not won since and I am fine with that. I have heard a lot of things about this years CMJ awards from a lot of people and some people were pissed even some stations expressed to me their disappointment that it looks rigged. Rigged is a strong word and I don't think it is rigged I think The Syn did a great job making sure they won every category. I am not going to complain or be bitter though but rather hope that in the future there is a level playing field.
So we had our first charts in 2 weeks this week and the numbers were pretty much the same as two weeks ago. Thats a great sign I think for the next few weeks to come. Another week above 300 reporters is a great thing to have. Arctic Monkeys took the #1 spot for the 2nd week but charging up to #2 was DR DOG jumping over CHVRCHES. The big move though has to be Of Montreal coming in at #4!!! Granted last week would of been its add week but man that is aggressive. We also see some nice moves from Yuck, Best Coast, Haim, Fuzz, and Dismemberment Plan. All of these records have a goal to get to #1 and by my calculations they have a week to do it!
This weeks #1 most added was Cass McCombs powered behind a few indies working it to both AAA and College took the #1 spot by 2 adds over the Head and the Heart with Cults coming in third. All having over 100 adds. Seeing a lot of weeks with a bunch of records having over 100 adds. Lots of big records, and many more to come over the next few weeks.
Thank you for reading. Lets talk more about all of this on the twitter hit me up @theanimalarrg
Go RED SOX!!!
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
CMJ ISSUE 1317 RECAP WEEK 40
Thank you friends for stopping by this weeks CMJ recap. Having grabbed #1 last week with Neko Case we were faced with a 2 part challenge.
1) keeping Neko Case #1 and 2) Putting Dr. Dog in a position to get #1.
There was a lot of debate about the best way to go about it. I felt pretty strongly that there was very little possibility in getting Dr. Dog ( last week #13) all the way to #1 considering Arctic Monkeys were going to continue pushing for #1 and we were still a good 60+ stations behind. I thought we had a chance to keep Neko #1 but we had to be sure we did not sacrifice Dr. Dog to do so. Also the week after getting #1 I feel you cant put the same amount of pressure on stations that you did the previous week. I mean you can but it all begins to fall apart if EVERY WEEK IS THE BIGGEST WEEK EVER FOR EVERY RECORD YOU EVER WORK. (same way some promoters think every record they work is the best record ever ) I just don't think thats a smart way to do it. So I pick my battles.
Early on we had the same gap we had last week between Neko and Arctic Monkeys but every time I checked the gap was wider than the previous week. By the end of the day Monday I started really trying to lay the groundwork for a big Dr. Dog push that will come in the next few weeks. In the end though Arctic Monkeys ( congrats to them since I am sure they thought they should of had it last week ) took the #1 spot. Neko Case fell to #2 and setting up the next few weeks Chvrches and Dr. Dog took #3 and #4.
What happens now is a good question especially with a week off due to CMJ. Some stations will combine two weeks of charts. Others will put out a chart next week and a different one the week after and some will just freeze their charts because they are too hungover from being in NYC all week. So I go into the weird 2 week period pretending there is a chart next week and my goal is to get Dr. Dog into the top 3. When I have convinced myself I have then going for #1 in 2 weeks seems pretty easy.
As for ADDS this week... I did not see that coming. The last Of Montreal record was the poorest performer of their career at CMJ and normally when you have a slip on the charts it caries over to the next record ( as we have discussed before) So I just naturally thought they would do worse than they did before and maybe be a top 5 most added band. I really thought it would come down to Sleigh Bells, Dismemberment Plan and Best Coast. But it was not even close. Of Montreal ran away with it. Sleigh Bells was a surprise as well but talking to a few stations it seemed like the mailing was a bit late. More importantly we had three records with over 100 adds something we have not seen in quite a long time.
So what happens to these adds after the CMJ break? Lets take a look at last year at this time to see if that can give us any indication. Last year we also saw three records get 100+ adds with Tame Impala taking #1, Ty Segall taking #2 and Mountain Goats at #3.
The top five records the week before CMJ were
Grizzly Bear
The XX
Animal Collective
Dum Dum Girls
Raveonettes
The Week after the CMJ break ( issue 1270 )
We have a new number one
The XX
Grizzly Bear
Tame Impala
Dum Dum Girls
Flying Lotus
( Ty Segall came in at #7 and Mountain Goats #13)
That is sort of what I expect to happen this time around. Either Chvrches or Dr. Dog should be able to take the #1 spot on the charts in the next chart while we should see the top 3 adds from this week jump up near the top 10.
Last year at this time we saw a rapid fire switch over at #1 over those last few weeks as well. I expect the same.
With there only being 8 reporting weeks left I think we will see 4 more #1 records. The 4th being Arcade Fire as it will walk over everything in its path when that comes out. So my goals now are to get #1 before that record comes out.
If you are going to CMJ lets meet up! And please come by the Pirate! party on WED at Fontanas.
www.paintismybitch.com and if you are not yet lets continue the conversation over on twitter @theanimalarrg
1) keeping Neko Case #1 and 2) Putting Dr. Dog in a position to get #1.
There was a lot of debate about the best way to go about it. I felt pretty strongly that there was very little possibility in getting Dr. Dog ( last week #13) all the way to #1 considering Arctic Monkeys were going to continue pushing for #1 and we were still a good 60+ stations behind. I thought we had a chance to keep Neko #1 but we had to be sure we did not sacrifice Dr. Dog to do so. Also the week after getting #1 I feel you cant put the same amount of pressure on stations that you did the previous week. I mean you can but it all begins to fall apart if EVERY WEEK IS THE BIGGEST WEEK EVER FOR EVERY RECORD YOU EVER WORK. (same way some promoters think every record they work is the best record ever ) I just don't think thats a smart way to do it. So I pick my battles.
Early on we had the same gap we had last week between Neko and Arctic Monkeys but every time I checked the gap was wider than the previous week. By the end of the day Monday I started really trying to lay the groundwork for a big Dr. Dog push that will come in the next few weeks. In the end though Arctic Monkeys ( congrats to them since I am sure they thought they should of had it last week ) took the #1 spot. Neko Case fell to #2 and setting up the next few weeks Chvrches and Dr. Dog took #3 and #4.
What happens now is a good question especially with a week off due to CMJ. Some stations will combine two weeks of charts. Others will put out a chart next week and a different one the week after and some will just freeze their charts because they are too hungover from being in NYC all week. So I go into the weird 2 week period pretending there is a chart next week and my goal is to get Dr. Dog into the top 3. When I have convinced myself I have then going for #1 in 2 weeks seems pretty easy.
As for ADDS this week... I did not see that coming. The last Of Montreal record was the poorest performer of their career at CMJ and normally when you have a slip on the charts it caries over to the next record ( as we have discussed before) So I just naturally thought they would do worse than they did before and maybe be a top 5 most added band. I really thought it would come down to Sleigh Bells, Dismemberment Plan and Best Coast. But it was not even close. Of Montreal ran away with it. Sleigh Bells was a surprise as well but talking to a few stations it seemed like the mailing was a bit late. More importantly we had three records with over 100 adds something we have not seen in quite a long time.
So what happens to these adds after the CMJ break? Lets take a look at last year at this time to see if that can give us any indication. Last year we also saw three records get 100+ adds with Tame Impala taking #1, Ty Segall taking #2 and Mountain Goats at #3.
The top five records the week before CMJ were
Grizzly Bear
The XX
Animal Collective
Dum Dum Girls
Raveonettes
The Week after the CMJ break ( issue 1270 )
We have a new number one
The XX
Grizzly Bear
Tame Impala
Dum Dum Girls
Flying Lotus
( Ty Segall came in at #7 and Mountain Goats #13)
That is sort of what I expect to happen this time around. Either Chvrches or Dr. Dog should be able to take the #1 spot on the charts in the next chart while we should see the top 3 adds from this week jump up near the top 10.
Last year at this time we saw a rapid fire switch over at #1 over those last few weeks as well. I expect the same.
With there only being 8 reporting weeks left I think we will see 4 more #1 records. The 4th being Arcade Fire as it will walk over everything in its path when that comes out. So my goals now are to get #1 before that record comes out.
If you are going to CMJ lets meet up! And please come by the Pirate! party on WED at Fontanas.
www.paintismybitch.com and if you are not yet lets continue the conversation over on twitter @theanimalarrg
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
CMJ RECAP ISSUE 1316 WEEK 39
Tuesday morning began pretty rough. I looked at the numbers and we were down 20. I slammed my fist on my desk with every disheartening chart I got in knowing my window was closing on me. I talked to the Boston Pirate office telling them they were fired and were awful at their jobs and we should close down if we can't get Neko Case #1.
To catch you up, going into this week I knew it would be a battle. You had the feeling that Ty Segall had run his course and would drop off a bit ( he did going from #1 to #7) It would come down to 3 records Neko Case ( #2 the last 2 weeks) Arctic Monkeys ( charging up the charts) and Franz Ferdinand hanging around in the #3 spot.
All three had a legit shot at #1. Franz is the only one of the three with 2 indies on it and that could be enough to take it over the edge. Arctic Monkeys seems to have the most hype of the three and as I mentioned has been charging up the charts. Neko Case has been owning the AAA charts the last 2 weeks and that is usually a sign of larger station dominance. I checked the charts every hour starting at 8 am on Monday morning.
Here is Monday. PST I stopped checking regularly at 5 but did check one more time before calling it a night.
8AM--9AM--10AM--11AM--12PM--1PM--2PM--3PM--4PM--5PM--10PM
Arctic-----18------20------24-------29--------33------37-----46-----52-----54-----66------87
Ty---------13------14------17-------21--------27------28-----34-----39-----40-----48------61
Franz-----14------16------18-------24--------27------32-----38-----42-----44-----54------73
Neko -----15------16------17-------23--------29------29-----38-----43-----45-----55------72
So not exactly what I was going for when we set off to get #1 with Neko Case. In a perfect world we would be tied or have a lead. Being down so many sucked but the thing with monitoring stations this way is it does not tell you the whole story. For all I know these could be all the very small stations have have very little impact on the actual charts or they could be all the big ones and I could be screwed.
When I woke up on Tuesday I thought I was screwed.
Overnight Arctic had jumped to 105 stations while Neko had only jumped to 87. Ty was starting to show he would not be a factor and Franz, like Franz does, was sticking around with 89 stations.
The next time I checked Neko case was down 124 to 109 but she had passed Franz. It was at this point that I fired everyone. We had 2 and a half hours until the charts closed. You can't really give up at this point but I really thought we were done for. I started to look at the numbers for something to hold on to and noticed we were ahead on some of the bigger stations and some I had just talked to said we were great on their charts so I thought we could have a chance and for the next few hours I stopped going after new stations and focused on those stations that had already been reporting trying to get a little forward movement. I was feeling good until I saw KCRW report and thought the dream was over. They had Arctic Monkeys on there but no Neko Case. I was crushed. My whole plan of attack the last few hours was to narrow the gap, keep it within 10 and hopefully pull out a miracle with the larger core stations. Seeing KCRW I was certain I had failed.
Just as certain as I was earlier this year when I thought 100% that Vampire Weekend was going to be #1. I had never wanted to be wrong more in my life I tweeted. Sure there was a chance. We had more CORE stations but it is so hard to know how much you need to make up the difference of volume.
When the charts came out and Neko Case was #1 I really did not know what to think. On one hand I was overjoyed that we got to #1 on the other hand how the hell did that just happen. Do I keep on underestimating the power of core stations? The difference between one level of core and another is something else I don't ever really grasp but I know this time it was enough.
Of course there were other things that happened on the charts this week. I did not have a horse in the top ADDS race this week but Thought it would come down to Yuck or Moby and in the end Yuck took #1 most added and Moby #2. I hear next week is shaping up to be a crazy week as well, thats to be expected the week before CMJ everyone wants a big record out.
On the charts aside from the race to #1 we have returned to over 300 stations reporting! Give yourself a round of applause. Pretty great to see. I hope we continue more reporters as the CMJ charts are better with the more people reporting.
Lets look at some of the bigger movers. MGMT comes in at #8 from #16, The last record went to #2 but they seem to have faded from being the next it CMJ band but should have a nice chance at top 5 still I think. Chvrches comes in at #9 after being #2 most added last week and jumping up from #78 this is one of the next contenders for #1 for sure. Last weeks #1 most added Dr. Dog comes in at #13 and these two should battle for #1 in a few weeks I think. They are currently only 10 stations apart so the gap is pretty small. I would be surprised if both jumped into the top 5 next week but each should be on the cusp for sure.
The number one debut of the week comes in from Those Darlins at #41 we had 35 debuts this week a pretty high number. Still feel there are a lot of people coming back and would expect that to mean records that were big over the summer to hang out for a bit longer. Taking a look there are, not counting the current #1, 8 former #1s on the chart. Most seem to be maintaining pretty well with a few even moving back up on the charts.
What are you guys looking forward to seeing at CMJ? What are you listening to lately? Let me know! If you want to have a discussion about this lets do it on twitter @theanimalarrg
To catch you up, going into this week I knew it would be a battle. You had the feeling that Ty Segall had run his course and would drop off a bit ( he did going from #1 to #7) It would come down to 3 records Neko Case ( #2 the last 2 weeks) Arctic Monkeys ( charging up the charts) and Franz Ferdinand hanging around in the #3 spot.
All three had a legit shot at #1. Franz is the only one of the three with 2 indies on it and that could be enough to take it over the edge. Arctic Monkeys seems to have the most hype of the three and as I mentioned has been charging up the charts. Neko Case has been owning the AAA charts the last 2 weeks and that is usually a sign of larger station dominance. I checked the charts every hour starting at 8 am on Monday morning.
Here is Monday. PST I stopped checking regularly at 5 but did check one more time before calling it a night.
8AM--9AM--10AM--11AM--12PM--1PM--2PM--3PM--4PM--5PM--10PM
Arctic-----18------20------24-------29--------33------37-----46-----52-----54-----66------87
Ty---------13------14------17-------21--------27------28-----34-----39-----40-----48------61
Franz-----14------16------18-------24--------27------32-----38-----42-----44-----54------73
Neko -----15------16------17-------23--------29------29-----38-----43-----45-----55------72
So not exactly what I was going for when we set off to get #1 with Neko Case. In a perfect world we would be tied or have a lead. Being down so many sucked but the thing with monitoring stations this way is it does not tell you the whole story. For all I know these could be all the very small stations have have very little impact on the actual charts or they could be all the big ones and I could be screwed.
When I woke up on Tuesday I thought I was screwed.
Overnight Arctic had jumped to 105 stations while Neko had only jumped to 87. Ty was starting to show he would not be a factor and Franz, like Franz does, was sticking around with 89 stations.
The next time I checked Neko case was down 124 to 109 but she had passed Franz. It was at this point that I fired everyone. We had 2 and a half hours until the charts closed. You can't really give up at this point but I really thought we were done for. I started to look at the numbers for something to hold on to and noticed we were ahead on some of the bigger stations and some I had just talked to said we were great on their charts so I thought we could have a chance and for the next few hours I stopped going after new stations and focused on those stations that had already been reporting trying to get a little forward movement. I was feeling good until I saw KCRW report and thought the dream was over. They had Arctic Monkeys on there but no Neko Case. I was crushed. My whole plan of attack the last few hours was to narrow the gap, keep it within 10 and hopefully pull out a miracle with the larger core stations. Seeing KCRW I was certain I had failed.
Just as certain as I was earlier this year when I thought 100% that Vampire Weekend was going to be #1. I had never wanted to be wrong more in my life I tweeted. Sure there was a chance. We had more CORE stations but it is so hard to know how much you need to make up the difference of volume.
When the charts came out and Neko Case was #1 I really did not know what to think. On one hand I was overjoyed that we got to #1 on the other hand how the hell did that just happen. Do I keep on underestimating the power of core stations? The difference between one level of core and another is something else I don't ever really grasp but I know this time it was enough.
Of course there were other things that happened on the charts this week. I did not have a horse in the top ADDS race this week but Thought it would come down to Yuck or Moby and in the end Yuck took #1 most added and Moby #2. I hear next week is shaping up to be a crazy week as well, thats to be expected the week before CMJ everyone wants a big record out.
On the charts aside from the race to #1 we have returned to over 300 stations reporting! Give yourself a round of applause. Pretty great to see. I hope we continue more reporters as the CMJ charts are better with the more people reporting.
Lets look at some of the bigger movers. MGMT comes in at #8 from #16, The last record went to #2 but they seem to have faded from being the next it CMJ band but should have a nice chance at top 5 still I think. Chvrches comes in at #9 after being #2 most added last week and jumping up from #78 this is one of the next contenders for #1 for sure. Last weeks #1 most added Dr. Dog comes in at #13 and these two should battle for #1 in a few weeks I think. They are currently only 10 stations apart so the gap is pretty small. I would be surprised if both jumped into the top 5 next week but each should be on the cusp for sure.
The number one debut of the week comes in from Those Darlins at #41 we had 35 debuts this week a pretty high number. Still feel there are a lot of people coming back and would expect that to mean records that were big over the summer to hang out for a bit longer. Taking a look there are, not counting the current #1, 8 former #1s on the chart. Most seem to be maintaining pretty well with a few even moving back up on the charts.
What are you guys looking forward to seeing at CMJ? What are you listening to lately? Let me know! If you want to have a discussion about this lets do it on twitter @theanimalarrg
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
CMJ RECAP 1315 WEEK 38
It is hard to believe that in three more short reporting weeks we will be hanging out in NYC for the CMJ Music Conference. I know not all of you will be there but it seems over the last few years there has been an uptick in the number of stations going. Or perhaps just more people from a few stations. Whatever the case it seems to be on the upswing. And yet while we are three short weeks away and the number of people going to CMJ keeps going up, the number of stations reporting to CMJ is just startlingly low. We have not had a over 300 stations reporting since week 17. This whole year we have only had NINE weeks out of 38 that have had over 300 stations. Last year at this time was not much better with 12 weeks out of 300.
I believe I have gone over this once before but it is a point worth revisiting every now and again.
This year we have had 432 stations report.
Last year there were 466 reporters
468 in 2011
510 in 2010
530 in 2009
575 in 2008
608 in 2007
647 in 2006
As you can see every year there are less reporters and I always ask why, why do more stations quit CMJ every year. That is not to say there are not new stations but for every WQFS that quits a station like Pizza FM takes its place. For every WEGL, WERS, WHRB, WPGU, WERK there are "the thing" "radio Phoenix" "ohio FM"
I do not mean disrespect to any of these stations, I only wish that instead of replacing WERS with M3 Radio there was a way to keep WERS reporting to CMJ because CMJ is better when the best stations across the country report. CMJ is not at its best when Joe internet can go and buy a subscription and report and dilute the charts. I wish we could get them back but I understand completely why they no longer do, programs are getting cut budgets are getting smaller. On every level. Upon saying all of this I can understand why a new station that is taking the time and spending the money to report would be upset that reporting does not automagically equal hard copies of records. The truth is, and we have touched on this before, that some stations that have more wattage, a bigger listening audience, more community outreach and thereby a spin there is worth more to the band/ promoter/ label than a small unknown station broadcasting to 3 stoned dudes and a cow. Anyways this is a huge discussion we can have and I would love to have so let me know your thoughts. I have asked some stations recently that no longer report that I still service why they no longer report and because they are larger stations they still get records and do not see the point in reporting. Not my words theirs.
Anyways such a large tangent to start off with this week but it bothers me that we are still under 300 stations to start the year.
Now on to this weeks chart. I will say that while we did not get to 300 we were close 296. But the point is we should be way above not hovering below as we currently are. But 296 is a jump up from last week by a good 20 stations so there is hope we can get there next week. The hard part of having these waves of new stations is keeping on top of them. Stations tend to come back to PILEs and PILES of records and no matter what we try and do to help them the end up adding Vampire Weekend, Daft Punk and a bunch of summer left overs because they are there. This is hard when you have 4 different companies pushing 4 records for #1 on the top 200. It makes for a pretty tight race.
This weeks race was pretty tight, at least I think it was. #1 Ty Segall pretty much had it the whole way I thought but is not gaining the ground we saw over the past few weeks so the thought is they have peaked and might start to fall a bit. He has been hovering close to the 60% mark of stations while the other contenders are closer to 50%. Lets take a look at the others.
Neko Case at #2
Franz Ferdinand at #3
Arctic Monkeys at #4
Deer Tick made a nice rebound to jump into the top 5 I just think these other records are stronger so we will focus on them.
I could of seen the order play out any other way and not been shocked. Every one has strengths. Franz is dominating with #1s having an overwhelming advantage in that department. Neko has the AAA and higher cores going for her while Arctic Monkeys saw a big jump in the # of stations playing them.
I actually thought, before I looked at the numbers, that Arctic would be ahead of Franz but the #1s and the volume of stations really helped them out. This next week should be very interesting. I don't think any of the big debuts or records that had big moves will contend next week so it should be a similar showdown between the four.
The new records to keep an eye on would be Goldfrap, MGMT, Man Man, Elvis Costello and Obits none of these I see pushing for #1 though. However this time of year can lend itself to longer runs at the top spot. I say that because with so many new good records coming in you get fewer #1's for each one because more stations like a lot of different records and they tend to have longer climbs than the summer time where there are 2 good records and both race up the chart very quickly.
The next big contenders I think went for adds this week in DR DOG and Chvrches. Dr. Dog took the number one spot pretty handedly but at the same time Chvrches had the higher debut on the top 200. I could see these two fighting it out the week after CMJ, look for both to be somewhere in the top 20 easily next week perhaps even top 15.
Something I always find interesting/ frustrating this time of year is with new stations and new good records you get to see records gain a lot of stations and go down on the same week. It can be VERY frustrating to gain 20 stations in a week and go down 2 spots but it happens a lot. Look at Deer Tick last week they gained stations on top of what they had the week previous but they went down a spot. They were able to rebound nicely this week and grab that top 5. So we need to keep an eye out for those records in week 4 or 3 that already have gone down as they have the best chance of a rebound. Once you get to week 5 on the chart it is typically time to let them go, not always though.
Well I think I covered a lot this week, as we get closer to CMJ I will list all the parties I know about and also tell you who I am looking forward to seeing, please share with me who you are excited to see!
Please be sure to follow me on the twitters at www.twitter.com/theanimalarrg
and you can follow me on instagram at douginthehouse
Lets talk soon!
I believe I have gone over this once before but it is a point worth revisiting every now and again.
This year we have had 432 stations report.
Last year there were 466 reporters
468 in 2011
510 in 2010
530 in 2009
575 in 2008
608 in 2007
647 in 2006
As you can see every year there are less reporters and I always ask why, why do more stations quit CMJ every year. That is not to say there are not new stations but for every WQFS that quits a station like Pizza FM takes its place. For every WEGL, WERS, WHRB, WPGU, WERK there are "the thing" "radio Phoenix" "ohio FM"
I do not mean disrespect to any of these stations, I only wish that instead of replacing WERS with M3 Radio there was a way to keep WERS reporting to CMJ because CMJ is better when the best stations across the country report. CMJ is not at its best when Joe internet can go and buy a subscription and report and dilute the charts. I wish we could get them back but I understand completely why they no longer do, programs are getting cut budgets are getting smaller. On every level. Upon saying all of this I can understand why a new station that is taking the time and spending the money to report would be upset that reporting does not automagically equal hard copies of records. The truth is, and we have touched on this before, that some stations that have more wattage, a bigger listening audience, more community outreach and thereby a spin there is worth more to the band/ promoter/ label than a small unknown station broadcasting to 3 stoned dudes and a cow. Anyways this is a huge discussion we can have and I would love to have so let me know your thoughts. I have asked some stations recently that no longer report that I still service why they no longer report and because they are larger stations they still get records and do not see the point in reporting. Not my words theirs.
Anyways such a large tangent to start off with this week but it bothers me that we are still under 300 stations to start the year.
Now on to this weeks chart. I will say that while we did not get to 300 we were close 296. But the point is we should be way above not hovering below as we currently are. But 296 is a jump up from last week by a good 20 stations so there is hope we can get there next week. The hard part of having these waves of new stations is keeping on top of them. Stations tend to come back to PILEs and PILES of records and no matter what we try and do to help them the end up adding Vampire Weekend, Daft Punk and a bunch of summer left overs because they are there. This is hard when you have 4 different companies pushing 4 records for #1 on the top 200. It makes for a pretty tight race.
This weeks race was pretty tight, at least I think it was. #1 Ty Segall pretty much had it the whole way I thought but is not gaining the ground we saw over the past few weeks so the thought is they have peaked and might start to fall a bit. He has been hovering close to the 60% mark of stations while the other contenders are closer to 50%. Lets take a look at the others.
Neko Case at #2
Franz Ferdinand at #3
Arctic Monkeys at #4
Deer Tick made a nice rebound to jump into the top 5 I just think these other records are stronger so we will focus on them.
I could of seen the order play out any other way and not been shocked. Every one has strengths. Franz is dominating with #1s having an overwhelming advantage in that department. Neko has the AAA and higher cores going for her while Arctic Monkeys saw a big jump in the # of stations playing them.
I actually thought, before I looked at the numbers, that Arctic would be ahead of Franz but the #1s and the volume of stations really helped them out. This next week should be very interesting. I don't think any of the big debuts or records that had big moves will contend next week so it should be a similar showdown between the four.
The new records to keep an eye on would be Goldfrap, MGMT, Man Man, Elvis Costello and Obits none of these I see pushing for #1 though. However this time of year can lend itself to longer runs at the top spot. I say that because with so many new good records coming in you get fewer #1's for each one because more stations like a lot of different records and they tend to have longer climbs than the summer time where there are 2 good records and both race up the chart very quickly.
The next big contenders I think went for adds this week in DR DOG and Chvrches. Dr. Dog took the number one spot pretty handedly but at the same time Chvrches had the higher debut on the top 200. I could see these two fighting it out the week after CMJ, look for both to be somewhere in the top 20 easily next week perhaps even top 15.
Something I always find interesting/ frustrating this time of year is with new stations and new good records you get to see records gain a lot of stations and go down on the same week. It can be VERY frustrating to gain 20 stations in a week and go down 2 spots but it happens a lot. Look at Deer Tick last week they gained stations on top of what they had the week previous but they went down a spot. They were able to rebound nicely this week and grab that top 5. So we need to keep an eye out for those records in week 4 or 3 that already have gone down as they have the best chance of a rebound. Once you get to week 5 on the chart it is typically time to let them go, not always though.
Well I think I covered a lot this week, as we get closer to CMJ I will list all the parties I know about and also tell you who I am looking forward to seeing, please share with me who you are excited to see!
Please be sure to follow me on the twitters at www.twitter.com/theanimalarrg
and you can follow me on instagram at douginthehouse
Lets talk soon!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
CMJ RECAP ISSUE 1314 WEEK 37
Hello friends. If have not yet seen the Nominations for the CMJ AWARDS were announced yesterday check them out. I will not do a full rundown of the nominations. I think they are fun and a great time and I won Promoter of the year many times in a row and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do wish they would change the nomination and voting process. One idea I had was that Stations could only nominate and vote for Promoters and Promoters could only nominate and vote for Stations. My theory being that it would stop things like a station that does not even report to CMJ on a regular basis from being nominated. Or perhaps if each station/ promotion company got one vote. I am sure there would be problems no matter what they did but that might make it better. Or maybe I am wrong and UTA radio is a fantastic internet station run by students that everyone has heard of except for me ...oh and those other 4 promoters I asked but maybe everyone else loves them.
Another week under 300 reporters. I miss you guys. I hope you all come back soon. Things look to be on track for our first 300 reporting week of the Fall for the last week of September. These charts are so much more fun the more people we have participating.
Lets start with ADDS this week. MGMT took #1 with under 90 ADDs. While I, and the people I talked to, thought MGMT would take #1 most ADDED pretty easily I am surprised it did not break 100. The adds were all really clustered together looked like there were no records that everyone liked but many records that a bunch of people liked, if that makes sense. The last MGMT record went to #2 and I think that was viewed as a disappointment in much the same way Tegan and Sara going to #2 was a disappointment. You still feel good about #2 but when your expectations are #1 it can be a big bummer. So regardless of what this record sounds like and if it is better or worse than the last one it is being judged by how the last one made them feel. I think you will see the same thing with the next Tegan and Sara record as it was a change in sound and changes in sound scare people away. They also get new fans too but it takes time to build that back up to a #1 contender.
The charts were once again topped by Ty Segall. When I first saw the numbers I thought he had another amazing week but in looking closely it looks like they had the same week as last week. With just around 65% of reporting stations. They just did a really good job of getting those new stations that were coming back on. Neko Case had a great week charging past Franz Ferdinand to grab #2 on the charts. Her percentage of stations went from 40% to 51% so a nice improvement. Still a ways to go for #1 but looking pretty good.
With 2 indies on Franz Ferdinand it would be hard to count them out of the race for #1 next week. Ty Segall could gain more stations but it is more likely that he will start to lose the grip on the high percentage he has. I am also looking at a charging Arctic Monkeys who come in at #11 after their great add week. It is a little like the situation with Washed Out and No Age that we saw a few weeks ago. Do you continue to go for Ty at #1 or do you put everything into getting Arctic Monkeys up there. Now I think the window at this point is pretty open for a LOT of different scenarios and I could see a lot of things happening. I think next week will be VERY close though. What do you think will happen out there? Let me know @theanimalarrg
Also what are you surprised about out there? I can tell you that I am most surprised that a digital only single debuted at #50!!! I know it is Arcade Fire but wow. That is something else. Beating another digital only EP in the PIXIES. Well all that I know is that helps me not send a bunch of hard copies out knowing that you know how to download singles and EP. Thanks for that. HA.
This week we had 33 debuts! That is pretty high I think. The number one debut of the week came from Goldfrapp. I will start doing more chart info like that as more people come back as it gives the chart a bit more legitimacy. But please let me know if you have any burning questions that I can help answer about college radio. I am here to help .
Also thank you for nominating me for Outstanding Leadership In College Radio I do appreciate it and If there is anything I can do to get better at helping you guys out just let me know.
Another week under 300 reporters. I miss you guys. I hope you all come back soon. Things look to be on track for our first 300 reporting week of the Fall for the last week of September. These charts are so much more fun the more people we have participating.
Lets start with ADDS this week. MGMT took #1 with under 90 ADDs. While I, and the people I talked to, thought MGMT would take #1 most ADDED pretty easily I am surprised it did not break 100. The adds were all really clustered together looked like there were no records that everyone liked but many records that a bunch of people liked, if that makes sense. The last MGMT record went to #2 and I think that was viewed as a disappointment in much the same way Tegan and Sara going to #2 was a disappointment. You still feel good about #2 but when your expectations are #1 it can be a big bummer. So regardless of what this record sounds like and if it is better or worse than the last one it is being judged by how the last one made them feel. I think you will see the same thing with the next Tegan and Sara record as it was a change in sound and changes in sound scare people away. They also get new fans too but it takes time to build that back up to a #1 contender.
The charts were once again topped by Ty Segall. When I first saw the numbers I thought he had another amazing week but in looking closely it looks like they had the same week as last week. With just around 65% of reporting stations. They just did a really good job of getting those new stations that were coming back on. Neko Case had a great week charging past Franz Ferdinand to grab #2 on the charts. Her percentage of stations went from 40% to 51% so a nice improvement. Still a ways to go for #1 but looking pretty good.
With 2 indies on Franz Ferdinand it would be hard to count them out of the race for #1 next week. Ty Segall could gain more stations but it is more likely that he will start to lose the grip on the high percentage he has. I am also looking at a charging Arctic Monkeys who come in at #11 after their great add week. It is a little like the situation with Washed Out and No Age that we saw a few weeks ago. Do you continue to go for Ty at #1 or do you put everything into getting Arctic Monkeys up there. Now I think the window at this point is pretty open for a LOT of different scenarios and I could see a lot of things happening. I think next week will be VERY close though. What do you think will happen out there? Let me know @theanimalarrg
Also what are you surprised about out there? I can tell you that I am most surprised that a digital only single debuted at #50!!! I know it is Arcade Fire but wow. That is something else. Beating another digital only EP in the PIXIES. Well all that I know is that helps me not send a bunch of hard copies out knowing that you know how to download singles and EP. Thanks for that. HA.
This week we had 33 debuts! That is pretty high I think. The number one debut of the week came from Goldfrapp. I will start doing more chart info like that as more people come back as it gives the chart a bit more legitimacy. But please let me know if you have any burning questions that I can help answer about college radio. I am here to help .
Also thank you for nominating me for Outstanding Leadership In College Radio I do appreciate it and If there is anything I can do to get better at helping you guys out just let me know.
Monday, September 16, 2013
CMJ AWARD NOMINATIONS
This Sunday marked the last day you can nominate someone for the CMJ awards. I saw a lot of "vote for me" posts from Promoters and Stations and I wanted to take you through the process of who I picked and Why. ( For stations I only talk to a portion of the stations so there are plenty of other worthy nominations I am sure )
Station Of The Year
KVMR, KALX, KDHX, KLSU of course there are plenty of deserving stations but those were in the running for my nomination
I went with KDHX, click to check them out
Music Director Of The Year
I went with KDHX, click to check them out
Music Director Of The Year
You really can't go wrong with any of the MD's of the above mentioned
Alice from KVMR, Arielle from KALX, Nick from KDHX and Angela from KLSU were all in the running
I went with the Local station here in San Francisco and Arielle from KALX
I went with the Local station here in San Francisco and Arielle from KALX
Biggest Champion Of The Local Scene
Last year I nominated WBWC because I feel they get really involved with the community. I know WUTK does a lot as well but this year I went with WICB
Will Never Sell Out
There are a lot of stations that have rigid rules and will never break them and I could of gone with someone from WRAS, WUOG, WUSC but this year I went with Abbie Gobell from KUOM as she clearly has a goal for her station and what she wants it to sound like and has the added obstacle of KCMP being in the same market.
Biggest Community Resource
To me this falls right in line with the champion of the local scene or maybe I just read them wrong and should of done something else for champion of the local Scene... Now that I think about it that is looking more like someone that plays a lot of local music. Well moving on. I went with WDBM on this one
Biggest Improvement
This one is always a lot of fun. I am pretty sure KSLU won it like 3 out of the 4 first years. I really like the direction WUTK is going in and what the new Music directors have been doing so I went with them
Best Use Of Limited Resources
There are so many people out there that do not get paid or just do the job for the joy of doing the job. I went in the direction of not in a major city, thus no large tours and I just wanted to give a shout to a station that does a great job year after year so I went with KGLT
Rookie Of The Year
You could say this ties in with Biggest Improvement as a new MD tends to bring about a large improvement. I also wish they did this for the Promoters as there are so many good new promoters out there that deserve a shout. I honestly have not talked to a lot of new MD's this year so I went with the newest one I just talked to in Olive from KPSU.
Best Student-Run, Internet-Only Station
Best Taste In Music
A ton of people out there have GREAT tastes in music. Everyone I named above does of course. And many more that I did not name. I went with Jake from WITR
Most Creative Programming
Another tough one and I could of gone with them for Limited resources but he was pushing for this so I said sure what the hell! WDWN
Industry Awards
These were a lot of fun. I decided not to nominate Pirate! for everything and go with those I thought were really deserving of the award.
Promoter Of The Year
There are a lot of Promoters doing really good jobs out there. Let me tell you some of my favorites. Of course Canada here at Pirate! Has been doing a great job. Hannah and her team over at Jagjaguwar are all stellar. But it came down to a coin flip for me between Christine at Distiller and my eventual nominee Tenni at AAM. I hope all of them get nominated for Promoter of the year as they all would deserve it. But seeing the things they are doing this year at AAM is pretty impressive so I went with her.
Promotion Company Of The Year
Outstanding Leadership In College Radio
ME. I AM YOUR LEADER. But seriously I just look at this as who is the old person still doing things. ME I am still doing things.
Best Online Resources
I know I said I did not nominate Pirate! for everything and I did not but how great is our download system. Its easy right?
Best Taste In Music
Ok another non Pirate! I thought of throwing a curveball like Oscar in here since he has to be the most honest about his musical preferences or someone at Terrorbird as they have a great roster of music fans over there but I decided to go with Graham from AmanAplanAcanal
Please Hire Me When I Graduate
You don't want to work for me, I make you get me sandwiches. Go work for CMJ thats where you want to be. The Hub of the College music industry
Sexiest Phone Voice
Better than biggest flirt I suppose but if you have talked to Canada you know his voice is sexy.
Best Artist Roster
I have to think my roster is the best right! Otherwise what am I doing. After Pirate thought you have to look at the great rosters of Team Clermont and Terrorbird and I single those two out as they really seem to be focusing on music THEY like and I respect that ( and the screen shot I took of who I nominated here got cut off and I cant remember what I put)
Thanks for reading!
Full update later this week.
Thanks for reading!
Full update later this week.
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