COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 26

A few weeks ago I talked about how impressive it was that Radiohead took the #1 spot on the charts without any hard copies and without an outside indie. I am still very impressed by that but this week Radiohead returns to the #1 spot after a week off and its mostly due to the fact they sent out hard copies now.  Kind of ruins the story for me but I would not be surprised to see them gain a few more weeks at the top.

Checking in on Spinitron they have been #1 or #2 in spins over the last several weeks. Right there with Radiohead recently has been Paul Simon and we are seeing those moves translate over to the CMJ chart. Coming in at #2 from #4 this week Paul Simon is in a position to jump to #1 next week.

1	2	1	1	8	RADIOHEAD	A Moon Shaped Pool	XL
2	4	8	2	4	PAUL SIMON	Stranger To Stranger	Concord
3	3	4	3	6	KRISTIN KONTROL	X-Communicate	SUB POP
4	48	-	4	2	MITSKI	Puberty 2	Dead Oceans
5	5	14	5	4	KILLS	Ash And Ice	Domino

The record with the most disappointment this week looks like the Kills as their chance all but went out the window with Mitski jumping into the top 4.  I would imagine they could easily jump to #2 or #3 next week. But next week should be pretty hard to predict.  Holiday weeks usually are. Independence day falls on Monday this year so I would not be surprised to see the number of reporters drop from this embarrassing low of 180's the last 2 weeks to even lower.  Those that do report I imagine will be reporting the same things they reported this week. As a promoter it is a difficult week as you have even less impact on the charts than you normally would.  

As far as any sort of CMJ update there is none this week. I highly recommend stations check out other options such as Spinitron or if anyone has other reporting options I will be more than happy to share them.  

I noticed this week that SXSW had opened for applications to play the festival. A festival in March. I can't say for certain but its looking more and more dire for a CMJ music marathon this year. But that doesn't mean we can't all get together. Should we all to go Riot Fest or another big festival? Sounds like fun to me. 

No Blog next week with it being the 4th and also my Birthday. 

Talk to you in a few weeks !

thanks for reading.

Doug

COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 25

Mysteriously this week some stations who's subscriptions ended were turned back on by CMJ. I had numerous stations reaching out to me asking me what was going on as, to the surprise of no one, CMJ had done little ( nothing) to communicate to the stations why this was being done. Apparently it is a 3-4 week deal. If I were a station though I doubt I would be giving any money to an organization that refuses to return any of my emails or phone calls... scratch that there is no phone.  I get emails from stations weekly asking me what is going on with CMJ and I promise you if I hear anything concrete I will let you know.

In the process of CMJ going AWOL we have seen the number of reporting stations drop to lows I have never seen before.  If we look at 2015 there were 414 reporting stations.
83 of them have a weight of 1
102 have a weight of 2
125 have a weight of 3
83 have a weight of 4
17 have a weight of 5
3 have a weight of 6

If weights are new to you: Each station is given a weight of 1-6.  6 being the largest stations like a KEXP OR KCRW and the 1's being most internet only stations such as LASR.

When I look at 2016 so far the stations we are losing are the smaller ones. The overall losses from the 4, 5,6 weighted stations is only 4 stations. While the losses from the 1,2, 3 are 37 stations.

But thats just the tip of the iceberg if you look at how rapidly we are losing stations in 2016 thats where the trend becomes troublesome in the last 4 weeks only 247 stations have reported ( adds and or charts) 129 lost this year alone!

Lets again compare where the losses are happening. from the 4, 5, 6 group, they have lost 19 stations.
From the 1, 2, 3 they have lost 110 stations!  Its staggering to see the losses happen so fast. But that is what happens when there is one organization that a whole industry depends on and they stop doing their job, except to publish a chart. But what good is a chart if it only holds a fraction of the information that it used to?  I find it very troubling and as someone that loves and depends on college radio I am very concerned.


Well onto the charts!

Lets start with he Spinitron charts where we see Paul Simon taking the number one spot!
Last week we saw Radiohead there and #1 on the top 200. So could we see Paul Simon take that spot on the top 200?  Lets take a look at the top five

TW	LW	2W	PK	WKS	Artist	Recording	Label
1	2	4	1	6	JAMES BLAKE	The Colour In Anything	Republic
2	1	1	1	7	RADIOHEAD	A Moon Shaped Pool	XL
3	4	11	3	5	KRISTIN KONTROL	X-Communicate	SUB POP
4	8	130	4	3	PAUL SIMON	Stranger To Stranger	Concord
5	14	151	5	3	KILLS	Ash And Ice	Domino

You will notice a new #1 with James Blake taking his first ever #1. Paul Simon at #4 in its 3 week is pretty impressive. Kristin Kontrol 5 weeks on the chart might start to show some age this next week but still should have some juice.  The Kills continue to climb pretty quickly as well.  Radiohead drops out but apparently they just sent out hard copies so could that come back? 

The charts 1-20 show very little difference. The #5 record has more stations than the #1 record. The #9 record has the same amount of stations as the #4 record. The #18 record has more than the #10 record.  This is where a chart showing us the average chart position of each record would be so helpful. The thing is when these charts are this tight if there were more stations you could use some of those 37 missing stations to help move your record without relying so much on 1 or 2 core stations. The less small stations there are the more important each core station becomes.  On Tuesdays I refresh the reporting list countless times waiting to see if KCRW is going to report this week as if they do it could mean as much as 15 or more 1 weighted stations. 

This weeks ADDS were pretty interesting.  We had Mitski, Deerhoof, case/lang/veirs, Peter Bjorn and John, Mogwai, Jake Bugg, and of course many others all going for adds.  

1	87	DEERHOOF	The Magic!	Polyvinyl
2	79	MITSKI	Puberty 2	Dead Oceans
3	47	CASE/LANG/VEIRS	Case/lang/veirs	Anti
4	47	PETER BJORN AND JOHN	Breakin' Point	Kobalt
5	40	KALEO	A/B	Atlantic

In the end as you see Deerhoof took the top spot. Largely I think due to an Indie working the record. But I would not be surprised to see Mitski eventually top everyone on this list. Could we see 2 non indie records take #1 in the same summer? I would not be shocked.  

Lets talk about College Radio on the twitter. 

COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 24

It appears our new normal at a CMJ led College Radio  is a reporting body just under 200. So far this year there have been 376 stations report to CMJ. In all of last year there were 414 stations. Keep in mind at one point the reporting body was in the 700's. I am not sure we need 700 but I feel like a reporting week under 200 does not show accurately what is being played at college radio. I would feel a lot better with a reporting body of 300 a week.  But this is the college radio we are stuck with for now so lets look at whats going on!

Radiohead holds at #1. It is a testament to the band really. What other band could go to #1 without a single copy being sent out and without an indie working it. Very impressive. I looked back to see the last time this has happened and the closest is Yo La Tengo went #1 without an indie and the last Radiohead went #1 without hard copies but I could not find any record that had both of those qualifiers.

Lets take a look at the top 20 to see what we can expect in the next few weeks

TW	LW	2W	PK	WKS	Artist	Recording	Label
1	1	2	1	6	RADIOHEAD	A Moon Shaped Pool	XL
2	4	6	2	5	JAMES BLAKE	The Colour In Anything	Republic
3	2	1	1	7	KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD	Nonagon Infinity	ATO
4	11	17	4	4	KRISTIN KONTROL	X-Communicate	SUB POP
5	6	9	5	4	TWIN PEAKS	Down In Heaven	Grand Jury
6	5	7	5	5	FRUIT BATS	Absolute Loser	Easy Sound
7	3	3	3	10	M83	Junk	Mute
8	130	-	8	2	PAUL SIMON	Stranger To Stranger	Concord
9	7	5	5	6	WHITE LUNG	Paradise	Domino
10	9	11	9	4	MODERN BASEBALL	Holy Ghost	Run For Cover
11	8	8	6	7	PITY SEX	White Hot Moon	Run For Cover
12	23	-	12	2	CLAYPOOL LENNON DELERIUM	Monolith Of Phobos	ATO
13	26	12	12	5	KAYTRANADA	99.9%	XL
14	151	-	14	2	KILLS	Ash And Ice	Domino
15	12	10	10	6	EAGULLS	Ullages	Partisan
16	15	39	15	3	CAR SEAT HEADREST	Teens Of Denial
17	168	-	17	2	WHITNEY	Light Upon The Lake	Secretly Canadian
18	21	147	18	3	GOLD PANDA	Good Luck And Do Your Best	City Slang
19	10	13	9	8	NOTHING	Tired Of Tomorrow	Relapse
20	14	4	1	11	PARQUET COURTS	Human Performance	Rough Trade

Now lets limit it just to contenders. 

TW	LW	2W	PK	WKS	Artist	Recording	Label
1	1	2	1	6	RADIOHEAD	A Moon Shaped Pool	XL
2	4	6	2	5	JAMES BLAKE	The Colour In Anything	Republic
4	11	17	4	4	KRISTIN KONTROL	X-Communicate	SUB POP
5	6	9	5	4	TWIN PEAKS	Down In Heaven	Grand Jury
8	130	-	8	2	PAUL SIMON	Stranger To Stranger	Concord
12	23	-	12	2	CLAYPOOL LENNON DELERIUM	Monolith Of Phobos	ATO
14	151	-	14	2	KILLS	Ash And Ice	Domino
17	168	-	17	2	WHITNEY	Light Upon The Lake	Secretly Canadian

Whitney and the Kills are just starting out but to start out so high is a good sign for both of them.  Remember looking back at the Kills last week they have never taken the #1 spot.  After Radiohead there does not seem to be any sure thing so they could have a chance. 

I kept Clayppool there only because it week 2 and they are almost top 10 but they have little to no shot at getting mass appeal. 

Paul Simon is an interesting one to me. #8 already. #1 on the AAA chart #2 on the Spinitron charts. We will know more after this week, sometimes records jump up really fast and just stall or sometimes they keep up the massive movement. I would think he is still 2 weeks away.  

Radiohead could keep #1 again next week as it shows no signs of fading on the spins chart but if someone were to take it I would think it would be James Blake or Kristin Kontrol.  I might lean towards Kristin Kontrol as its been out there less time and can still gain a bunch of core stations. James Blake seems to have the Core but is lacking in overall numbers, but it continues the climb and in the summer you can push longer than you can in the fall so It would not shock me to see them take the top spot next week. 

This week on the ADDS Tegan and Sara took the #1 ADD spot. 

This is the 4th Tegan and Sara record to take the #1 ADD spot. The first was in 2007 "The Con" with 137 ADDS.  I wish archives were available to show you the charts at that time but sadly there are not. The Con would then take #1 for 3 weeks. 

Two years later in 2009 Sainthood would take #1 most added this time with 157 adds. Sainthood would hold the number one spot for 4 weeks. 

In 2013 Tegan and Sara took #1 added again with Heartthrob with 136 ADDS. The #2 most added record that week was Local Natives and they would go on to take #1 ahead of Tegan and Sara and block them in the #2 spot. 

That is the recent history of Tegan and Sara but lets look back to before those #1 records. The record before The Con was "So Jealous" and would peak on the top 200 at #12 in 2004. 

I can't track down how it did on adds though. 

Before that it was "IF it was you" Peaked in the Mid 20's in 2002 

And their First record at College radio was in 2000 with "This Business of Art" That record appears to have peaked at #75 on the top 200. 

That is part of the beauty of college radio and how some artists become college radio artists in my opinion. Each record they took to college radio helped them grow a fan base. Each record was better than the last one arguably as well so that for sure helped. They also worked hard, doing in studios and making connections with radio stations.

What other artists were helped by their success at College radio. I am sure if we were to look back on the chart history of Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill we would see a similar rise. You would also see a peak and for each of them an eventual fall. All very interesting to me. 

Thanks for reading! Lets talk on twitter. 

COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 23

For the second week in a row we dip under the 200 station barrier for reporters.  Part of it for sure is that it is summer time but another part is that stations simply cannot renew their subscription. I have talked to no less than 3 stations that have tried to renew online and the form does not work. Upon it not working they have attempted to find a phone number, none are listed, and have emailed all the emails they have. No one has returned those emails. I myself have sent emails that have yet to be answered.  I feel like if any station is going to be  paying hundreds of dollars they should be getting something out of it.

But at least the charts still exist. This week Radiohead takes the #1 spot from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. These days it is pretty rare that a record makes it to #1 without an Indie also working it. Add that to the fact that the record is all digital and this is quite an achievement. It is Radiohead and I am not sure any artist could do it but still it is pretty fantastic.

James Blake makes a move up to #4 and Fruit Bats up to #5. The #1 spot seems to be up for grabs in a few weeks so you could still see one of these records make the move. Twin Peaks, Kristin Kontrol also have shots. It is a bit more difficult to see what the charts might do with so few stations reporting.

On the ADDS side of things the Kills take the #1 spot with 77 ADDS. Another week under 100 adds and another week with the #1 most added record taking less than half the adds. I imagine there will be something big within the next few weeks that will jump everything though.

To me the Kills are an interesting band. They have been around since 2000 and have always done "well"  lets see what kind of history we can find on the internet at college radio..

The first record came out in April of 2003. "Keep on your Mean Side" dominated Adds that week



That debut record would eventually peak at #9



The next record "No Wow" came out in 2005 and because there is no one to contact at CMJ to get me info its difficult to find all the info I need but I did find that the record peaked at #4 that year. 

Sadly I cannot find archive information for the last 2 records. But I do have the #1's and #1 most added and cannot find them listed there at all. Well it was interesting for a second! I should take all this out but I am leaving it. Enjoy. .



Lets talk more about college radio on twitter. 

COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 22

Memorial Day has come and gone and we are into the summer reporting season.  This week every year produces one of the lowest reporting turnouts. Last year we went from 227 to 197. The year before 228 to 214. This year we go from 206 to 173, by far one of the lowest reporting turn outs for a week that isn't the first week of the year. I was starting to think about what the 4th of July week will be like.  The last time reporting was on the 4th there was downturn of 50 stations, the last time the 4th was on a Tuesday they took the reporting week off. Will be interesting to see what happens.  I hope to see a rebound next week.   

This week King Gizzard held strong at #1 with Radiohead at #2. I could go into more detail but with so few stations reporting you can't put much faith that any trend will be upheld next week. Still worth keeping an eye on James Blake, Fruit Bats, Twin Peaks. Kristin Kontrol looks to be in a good position coming in at 17 after the ADD week. These next few weeks will be interesting to watch to see if any trends emerge from the low reporting of ADDS.  Car Seat Headrest comes in with the top debut of the week at #39 after missing ADDS completely.

Looking at the Spinitron  chart we see that overwhelmingly the Radiohead record is doing the best, to me thats no surprise but seeing James Blake in the #2 spot makes me think we should be looking at them as a serious contender. While if the playing fields were even I think Radiohead would of been #1 by now, with James Blake having the addition of a outside indie working the record we could see a run.  Remember that the last record to get to #1 without an outside indie was Yo La Tengo over 3years ago. So it does not happen very often. 

Short one this week with the short week but thank you for reading! Your friend Foug.