Wednesday, August 31, 2016

COLLEGE RADIO RECAP WEEK 35

Well that escalated quickly.

If you have yet to read it be sure to check out the great article about CMJ on Stereogum.  It is a long one but well worth your time.

Yesterday the CEO of CMJ sent out a press release that was covered by Pitchfork and Billboard You can read about them there but really they say very little. Just more of the same "be patient" line they posted on their Facebook and Twitter a month ago.  

I think its funny that they failed to post this announcement on the CMJ website or to email it to CMJ subscribers as they easily could of done.

I wanted to highlight this particular passage of the press release.

A little patience and a whole lot less wild and unsubstantiated speculation is what we need right now. CMJ will continue as an innovative force and a strong presence going forward. We’ll share more about our 2016 and 2017 program soon.

I want to say that all my speculation has been substantiated.  For the record.

I would still not bet money on there being a "legit" CMJ Marathon this year.  Perhaps a one day festival so they don't get sued by the 100's of stations that are promised a free badge to the marathon each year, but even that seems like a stretch to me.

The thing is though that if/ when CMJ dies it does not mean that College radio is dying with it. Artists are still being introduced via College and community radio and while CMJ might be the current glue that holds this community together I have no doubt that something will pop up.  I have given examples of 3 different charts lately that could do that. Or it could be something else.  

I think patience is pretty thin at college radio at this point. Every week I get emails from stations asking if they should renew their subscription because they are not sure they get anything from CMJ. I tell them I would not.  I mean why would you.

I am sure there will be a lot more to say about this in the coming days. Former CMJ GM David laid out some really good thoughts on this twitter and they are worth reading.

Looks like last weeks issue of my chart was a big hit and while i was not going to do it every week I will do it as soon as all the charts are up.  I would like to talk about ADDS this week though as Angel Olsen destroyed everyone.

All charts are subject to change prior to print
TWTAArtistRecordingLabel
172ANGEL OLSENMY WOMANJagjaguwar
253CASS MCCOMBSMangy LoveAnti
349GLASS ANIMALSHow To Be A Human BeingHarvest
443MORGAN DELTPhase ZeroSUB POP
538MILD HIGH CLUBSkiptracingStones Throw

Not even close. I am working on the Cass record and thought we might have a shot but that was quickly thwarted. Early on we were close, at one point it was 16-14 in Angels favor.  That was the closest it would be. By morning it was 31-24 and we could never close the gap.   I always find it impressive when a record dominates so much with no secondary indie. Secretly Canadian has their own team to work records and I wanted to take a brief minute to look at how dominant they have been this summer. 

Currently on the charts we have Angel Olsen #1 most added,  you knew that. 

33226DINOSAUR JR.Give A Glimpse Of What Yer NotJagjaguwar 
came close to #1 and without Thee Oh sees they may of taken #1 

678111MITSKIPuberty 2Dead Oceans
Any time an indie label can score #1 on their own I am impressed. 

2835-282RYLEY WALKERGolden Sings That Have Been SungDead Oceans
342314413WHITNEYLight Upon The LakeSecretly Canadian

Top FIVE at the same time they were scoring a Mitski #1!

72--721ALEX CAMERONJumping The SharkSecretly Canadian

I am sure I missed some as the CMJ charts are a mess with many artists not having label designations but the point is this is all being done by what I believe is a one or two person team.  I would not be shocked to see Angel Olsen be the next one to take #1. Well not if I can help it, but it will be fun to watch. 

Lets talk on twitter. 



Thursday, August 25, 2016

COMPARING THE 5 DIFFERENT CHARTS / DCC ISSUE 1

As I mentioned yesterday there are some new players on the College chart landscape.

So I thought it would be fun to compare them all with what CMJ puts out. And make our own top 20.
CMJ at one point would show what the top 20 were on its public part of the website so lets start there.

TWLW2WPKWKSArtistRecordingLabel
14518BLOOD ORANGEFreetown SoundDomino
252223THEE OH SEESA Weird ExitsCastle Face
32325DINOSAUR JR.Give A Glimpse Of What Yer NotJagjaguwar
41217AVALANCHESWildflowerAstralwerks
53117JULIE RUINHit ResetHardly Art
66417BADBADNOTGOODIVInnovative Leisure
786110MITSKIPuberty 2Dead Oceans
87877BAT FOR LASHESThe BrideWarner Bros
9123393HEATERSBaptistinaBeyond Beyond Is Beyond
101015105HEAVEN FOR REALKill Your Memory
119719DEERHOOFThe Magic!Polyvinyl
12119913CAR SEAT HEADRESTTeens Of Denial
1331-132AGES AND AGESSomething To RuinPartisan
1430-142FIELD MOUSEEpisodicTopshelf
151827154DESCENDENTSHypercaffium SpazzinateEpitaph
162218166DEATH VALLEY GIRLSGlow In The DarkBurger
171314134BJORKVulnicura LiveOne Little Indian
182311116RADIOHEADA Moon Shaped PoolXL
1926167193HALEY BONARImpossible DreamThirty Tigers
2020-202WILD BEASTSBoy KingDomino


First up Spinitron

RankSpinsArtistDiskGenre
179Thee Oh SeesA Weird ExitsRock
272Dinosaur Jr.Give a Glimpse of What Yer NotRock
370BadBadNotGoodIVJazz
469The AvalanchesWildflowerElectronic
568The Julie RuinHit ResetRock
666Blood OrangeFreetown SoundRock
756Case/lang/veirscase/lang/veirsAmericana
853Ages and AgesSomething to RuinRock
952Paul SimonStranger to StrangerRock
1051DeerhoofThe MagicRock
1150Haley BonarImpossible DreamRock
1249Car Seat HeadrestTeens of DenialRock
1345Jeff BeckLoud HailerRock
1442DJ ShadowThe Mountain Will FallElectronic
1542Wild BeastsBoy KingRock
1640Aphex TwinCheetah EPElectronic
1740AtmosphereFishing BluesHip-Hop
1840WhitneyLight Upon the LakeRock
1939HeatersBaptistinaRock
2039Michael Franti & SpearheadSoulrockerRock


So right off the bat we have 9 records on CMJ That don't even appear on the Spins based chart.

Mitski, Bat for Lashes, Heaven for Real, Field Mouse, Descendents Death Valley, Bjork and Radiohead

Before we get too into it lets check out the next one NACC 



So this one matches up well with the CMJ chart with the main difference being JPNSGRLS at #10 ( they come in at #22 on the CMJ chart so not so crazy there.

and now onto the last chart.  The Muzooka College radio chart 

Now they have a weighted and and unweighted chart.
I will show you both since the Weighted should lean towards what CMJ does and the unweighted should lean towards what NACC are doing.

( well trying to copy and paste that was very problematic) So go check out the chart from the link above

Now lets present to you for the first time ever. Dougs College Chart.

DCC volume one

1--THEE OH SEES ( 1.2 AVERAGE)
2--DINOSAUR JR (2.8 AVERAGE)
3--BLOOD ORANGE (3.6)
4--AVALANCHES (4)
5--BADBADNOTGOOD (5.4)
6--JULIE RUIN (5.8)
7--HEAVEN FOR REAL (8.5)
8--MITSKI (8.6)
9--CAR SEAT HEADREST (10.6)
10--HALEY BONAR ( 11)
11--DEERHOOF (12)
12--BAT FOR LASHES (12)
13--AGES AND AGES (13)
14--DESCENDENTS (13)
15--HEATERS (13.3)
16--FIELD MOUSE (15.5)
17--DEATH VALLEY GIRLS (16)
18--WILD BEASTS (17.5)
19--RADIOHEAD (17.6)
20--BJORK (18)
ALSO APPEARING ON CHARTS
CASE/LANG/VEIRS
PAUL SIMON
JEFF BECK
DJ SHADOW
APHEX TWIN
ATMOSPHERE
WHITNEY
MICHAEL FRANTI
JPNSGRLS
AVET BROS
WARPAINT
CCR HEADCLEANER
WHITE LUNG
FEA
KATIE DEY

So there you have it the definitive #1 record in college radio. Thee Oh Sees.

We will do this again perhaps in a few months as the newer charts get better but the main take away I saw from this is that all but one chart had Thee OH Sees at #1.  Also the amount the charts were the same surprised me a bit as I thought there may be some bigger differences.

What do you think?

Lets talk about it. www.twitter.com/theanimalarrg



Wednesday, August 24, 2016

College radio recap week 34

Soon these dog days of summer will be over and people stations will start returning from their summers off.  Hopefully sooner rather than later although if this summer is any indication we are not going to have nearly as many people back as we would normally.
This week there were 167 reporters.
This time last year there were 213.
2 years ago there were 221
3 years ago 223

So the drop off as you can see this year has been a lot more extreme than in previous years and every week I get at least one email like this one:

Hi Doug,

I have some bad news for you :( It's looking like we're not going to be submitting charts today... Our NMR subscription has ended and I've notified my GM about it because he handles all of our subscriptions, but with the move he hasn't been able to take care of it yet. He's also a little reluctant to renew because of the state of CMJ right now

And I don't blame them. I actually tell stations like this that I wouldn't renew either.  Because this chart is starting to become less reliable.  167 stations is not a true measure of what is getting played at college radio when many of those stations are just going through the motions. Its even more troubling when its the big stations not actively participating. This week marks the 4th week in a row that KEXP has sent in the same chart.



RankArtistRecordingLabelUser Supplied Version
1CAR SEAT HEADRESTTeens Of Denial
2AVALANCHESWildflowerAstralwerks
3JAMILA WOODSHEAVNClosed Sessions
4BLOOD ORANGEFreetown SoundDomino
5MICHAEL KIWANUKALove And HateInterscope
6JUNIUS MEYVANTFloating HarmoniesRecord
7LISA PRANKAdult TeenFather/Daughter
8DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIOClose But No CigarSelf-Released
9DINOSAUR JR.Give A Glimpse Of What Yer NotJagjaguwar
10HOLY FUCKCongratsInnovative Leisure
11NICE AS FUCKNice As Fuck
12MERCHANDISE"End Of The Week" [Single]
13BADBADNOTGOODIVInnovative Leisure
14MITSKIPuberty 2Dead Oceans
15JULIE RUINHit ResetHardly Art
16MINOR VICTORIESMinor VictoriesFat Possum
17JAGWAR MAEvery Now And ThenMom And Pop
18MARTHABlisters In The Pit Of My HeartDirtnap
19CASE/LANG/VEIRSCase/lang/veirsAnti
20MARGARET GLASPYEmotions And MathATO
21LET'S EAT GRANDMAI, GeminiPias
22FOUR TETRandoms
23JUSTICE"Safe And Sound" [Single]
24GOAT"Try My Robe" [Single]SUB POP
25NAVVIOmniHush Hush
26WHITNEYLight Upon The LakeSecretly Canadian
27AMAZINGAmbulancePartisan
28JORDAN RAKEICloak
29BETH ORTONKidsticksAnti
30TWIN RIVERPassing ShadeLight Organ

All of these record are getting a false boost because, for whatever reason, CMJ is allowing them to just submit a dummy chart.  This has allowed records that should be done to hang longer because of how much weight KEXP has on the chart and now that they are one of the last top weighted stations its even more of an impact. 

CMJ said they would look into it and I reached out to KEXP but never heard back. 

Remember there are alternatives. 

https://spinitron.com is a spin based chart and at this point has nearly more stations than CMJ. 

so their chart would give us a better idea of what is actually getting played at college radio. 


Another new alternative that I do not know much about is The North American College and Community Chart. 

Now much like the Muzooka College radio charts  I am a bit wary of charts when I don't know who is being included on them. 

But I like the idea of alternatives. So please check them out. 

So in regards to the actual CMJ chart this week there was a bit of an upset when Blood Orange came back from the dead and took the #1 spot. Very impressive indeed and not to take anything away from that accomplishment, as I gave them almost NO chance to make it happen, but you have to wonder if KEXP doesn't send in the same chart that they have the last 4 weeks do they take the top spot? I don't know but I would guess that the number 2 record Thee Oh Sees would of been on there and you have to wonder how that changes things. Especially when you look and see that Thee Oh Sees have 7 more stations than Blood Orange.   

The ADDS were actually a bit of a surprise as Of Montreal RAN away with them pretty easily.  

188OF MONTREALInnocence ReachesPolyvinyl
262CRYSTAL CASTLESAmnesty (I)Republic
340DEAD GAZEEasy TravelsErnest Jenning
Lets continue the conversation on Twitter. 

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