College Radio Recap week 20. CMJ issue 1393

Hello everyone! I hope you all have some great Memorial Day plans lined up. In my head I always think there is a HUGE drop when it comes to reporting on Memorial Day week but in comparing last year to this year maybe there is not.

I found it interesting to see that we are right around the same number of stations as we were last year at this time. Last year there were 228 reporters the week before Memorial Day and this year there are 227. For whatever reason it felt like the drop off had been earlier and greater this year but numbers don't lie and it looks to be about the same.  If last year is any indication then we should loose only around 10 stations. My money is on the over though.

One thing for certain is it gets a lot harder to get in touch with people, I don't blame anyone though, I don't want to be in the inside either!

So it looks like bombardment of huge records has come to a slow down with last week no record getting above 100 adds and this week only one. It should get a bit easier to guess or predict who will take #1 going forward.  The big difference between the transition of Spring To Summer and say Winter to Spring is it takes so much longer go move those big spring records out of position.  In the Spring there are so many big records coming each week they push out the old records pretty easily but in the Summer the newer records are usually not as big of names as the big records of the spring so they don't automatically jump up into the top 10.  

Just take a look at last weeks most added.

34	101	-	34	2	HELIO SEQUENCE	The Helio Sequence	Sub Pop
35	42	100	35	3	ROSE WINDOWS	Rose Windows	Sub Pop
36	-	-	36	1	ICKY BLOSSOMS	Mask	Saddle Creek

Both come in around the same spot with a good showing. But not mind-blowing and not in any position to make a run to the top. 

Lets compare this weeks top 10 to a top 10 from 5 weeks ago. 

1	1	3	1	4	ALABAMA SHAKES	Sound And Color	ATO
2	2	1	1	9	COURTNEY BARNETT	Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit	Mom And Pop
3	11	82	3	3	MY MORNING JACKET	The Waterfall	Capitol
4	6	7	4	5	SPEEDY ORTIZ	Foil Deer	Carpark
5	4	9	4	4	MIKAL CRONIN	MCIII	Merge
6	9	13	6	4	BEST COAST	California Nights	Harvest
7	14	72	7	3	BLUR	The Magic Whip	Warner Brothers
8	8	10	8	4	BUILT TO SPILL	Untethered Moon	Warner Brothers
9	3	2	2	7	WAXAHATCHEE	Ivy Tripp	Merge
10	7	4	3	8	SUFJAN STEVENS	Carrie And Lowell	Asthmatic Kitty

Five weeks ago 

1	2	9	1	4	COURTNEY BARNETT	Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit	Mom And Pop
2	3	5	2	10	MODEST MOUSE	Strangers To Ourselves	Epic
3	5	32	3	3	SUFJAN STEVENS	Carrie And Lowell	Asthmatic Kitty
4	1	1	1	8	DAN DEACON	Gliss Riffer	Domino
5	11	72	5	8	DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE	Kintsugi	Atlantic
6	10	14	6	3	CHASTITY BELT	Time To Go Home	Hardly Art
7	6	2	1	9	FATHER JOHN MISTY	I Love You, Honeybear	Sub Pop
8	4	3	3	10	PURITY RING	Another Eternity	4AD
9	124	-	9	2	TORO Y MOI	What For?	Carpark
10	127	-	10	2	WAXAHATCHEE	Ivy Tripp	Merge

What stands out to me is how few new records are in this weeks chart. Only 2 records 3 weeks or younger. Where as 5 weeks ago we had double that.  How many of the current top 10 do you think will still be in the top ten in 3 or 4 weeks. I would guess about half.  Something to look into as the weeks go by. 

Alabama Shakes is dominating with 68% of the stations reporting.  At first look you might think My Morning Jacket could be making that move. Well they could be but they are at least 2 weeks away before they have a shot and in that time where will Hot Chip be? There is a rather large gap still for My Morning Jacket to bridge. I am not sure anyone else really has a shot.  

Speaking of Hot chip they were the #1 most added record this week with a rather good 121 adds out of 202 reporting stations. That is no slouch. Unknown Mortal Orchestra was the only other add that came close to 100 with 92 and like most Jagjaguwar records I am sure it will do great just not number one great. 

This week I head to PUNK ROCK BOWLING for some bands and some bowling. Wish us luck! 

Thank you for reading. As always feel free to leave comments or lets talk on twitter

College Radio Recap. CMJ Issue 1392 Week 19

I am limited on time this week as I am headed down to Philadelphia for the AAA conference NonComm http://triplearadio.com/noncomm/ 

Actually one of my favorite conferences of the year as you get a lot of one on one time with people and its all in once place. 

But let us take a quick look at what happened at college radio this week. 

We have a new number one with Alabama Shakes taking the reigns from Courtney Barnett. What a run by her though!  Will we see a run similar with Alabama Shakes? This next week there looks to be no one close enough with last weeks top adds coming in at #11 and #14 so they seem to be at least 2 weeks away from contending. 

The crazy take away from this weeks chart is that every record in the top 7 has over half of the reporting stations charting it. In previous years having 50% of the charters meant you were in the running for #1. Now it might not even be enough to get into the top 5.  Also the difference between #20 and #10 is almost double. There are some huge gaps there. 

While it was not a blockbuster ADD week it had to of been somewhat fun/ frustrating to be one of the top four records going for adds.  In the end we have a 2 way tie and we could of had a 4 way tie! 

1	72	ICKY BLOSSOMS	Mask	Saddle Creek
2	72	HELIO SEQUENCE	The Helio Sequence	Sub Pop
3	69	ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY	New Alhambra	Run For Cover
4	68	JACCO GARDNER	Hypnophobia	Polyvinyl

Look at how close that is! 

I would of loved a four way tie.  

Thanks for reading. Next week will also be a brief recap as I am headed to Punk rock bowling! 

check it out here

http://punkrockbowling.com


I also forgot about birthdays this week!

Caroline from Mute and also http://www.broadist.com birthday is Today ( wed) so if you are in Philly you should buy her a shot.  Caroline was one of my MD's back in the day and also bought my Get up Kids records when I moved to San Francisco. She is a class act!

Tenni from AAM birthday is on XXXX(redacted)  she also helps to  run Medium Rotation https://www.facebook.com/mediumrotation  She was also one of my former MD's that loves attention so be sure to call her or text her.. I took out the day of her birthday so be sure to hit her up all week. 

College Radio --What happens in the summer ?

I got this email earlier today and wanted to present it to you and see what your thoughts were.


Hey Doug, just wanted to let you know what's happening with XXXX over the summer. I won't be around school during the summer and so I will be keeping up to date with you all primarily via email.  We won't be doing new adds during this time, but we will be continuing to do our Top 30 chart for what's playing at the station. Thank you and talk again in the fall!


 My first reaction was how can an MD be at home and still be reporting what is on the charts?

I mean if they can't even figure out how to download digital records then a system that helps them report spins remotely can't be possible can it?

What are your thoughts?

CMJ ISSUE 1391 WEEK 18 RECAP

Long live Courtney Barnett.

A solid month at #1.  Blocking the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Modest Mouse and perhaps even Waxahatchee. There were a couple weeks where it seemed close at times but most of the weeks were no brainers.

Now we await the potential run from Alabama Shakes. #1 most added last week and already #3 this week. Can anything get in their way?  Lets look forward to who might be contending for that #1 spot over the rest of May.

Currently Waxahatchee at #2, but Alabama shakes has a ton of momentum jumping all the way to #3 the week after the ADD week. The chances of it stalling out are pretty low but lets remember Modest Mouse the week after adds was #5.  But the buzz and reviews for Alabama Shakes seem to be more positive than they were for Modest Mouse so the chances of that happening are pretty low.

We also have Toro Y Moi at #5, Speedy Ortiz at #7, Mikal Cronin at #9 and Built to spill at #10.

The biggest gap though in terms of number of stations seems to be between #6 and #7 right now.  Everything in the top 6 is within 15 or so stations but the gap between #6 and #7 is an additional 15 stations.  I do think that we should see some of these older records start to clear out with the chances of any real significant improvement on chart number very low.

Then we have this weeks ADDS.  It was a battle that in the end was only separated by 1 station. ONE ADD. So if this station

1. DJANGO DJANGO Born Under Saturn

2. ALABAMA SHAKES Sound And Color

3. HELIO SEQUENCE The Helio Sequence

4. BLUR The Magic Whip

5. SOLEY Ask The Deep

had decided to add My Morning Jacket instead of an add that went for adds LAST WEEK there could of been a tie. 

or this station 

1. GIANT SAND Heartbreak Pass

2. ALABAMA SHAKES Sound And Color

3. BEST COAST California Nights

4. BUILT TO SPILL Untethered Moon

5. BLUR The Magic Whip or this station 1. MARCUTIO Redline2. U2 Songs Of Innocence

So think about that when you do adds.  

In this case will ADD position be a predictor of success. I have no idea. Both Blur and My Morning Jacket are big college radio bands.  Its really too close to call for me. What do you guys think? 

Lets talk about it on Twitter. 

Lets predict the #'1s of the summer. 

I think Alabama Shakes takes it next, and will hold it for 3 weeks. before My Morning Jacket takes it for 2 weeks. 

AT that point I have no idea what else will be out there.  I could see a scenario where both Blur and My Morning Jacket have a few weeks each at #1 though. I do not see any of the other records in the top 10 though making a run.