A Brief ADDs Tutorial and CMJ ISSUE 1379 WEEK 6 RECAP

Happy sixth week of the year everyone! We almost broke through the 300 stations reporting barrier for the first time this year. Give yourself a half a round of a applause. We came up five short! Next week? Or is there some weird holiday that will prevent 20% of you from reporting? Maybe 300 is too low a goal, I mean 300 should be easy right? There have been almost 350 stations that have reported at least once this year you would think that 300 barrier would not be so difficult.

This week I wanted to start with what has become a regular occurrence for me. Ever since Tyler pointed out that a station was charting Goldfinger I like to go over the charts and look for the worst of the worst.  This week it goes out to a station that is charting the new U2 record. But that in itself is not bad. NO what makes this stations chart so bad is that they also charted a different U2 single and the rest of their chart is filled with some new stuff and some very old stuff. There were other stations in the running. The station charting Megan Trainor only 2 spots after Sleater Kinney. Or the station that has Taylor Swift at #1.   This, we are told is one of the beauties of college radio.  I could argue that perhaps there should be some constraints on what people can chart.  That because we do not there are people that do not take what we do at college radio seriously.

There was a lot of conversation about this on Twitter yesterday and hopefully we can have a bit more today @theanimalarrg

While the charts can be a mess at times the thing that I see the most problems with are the ADDS. I suppose ADDS can be a bit confusing at first because everything you might be putting into rotation you are calling an ADD but when a promoter or label talks about ADDS we are talking about being TOP FIVE MOST ADDED.

First thing you need to know. The order does not matter. #1 most added on your top five adds is the same as #5 most added on your top five adds. The goal for our records is to be on your list.

What is the point?

Adds serve as a starting point for a record. So we pick ADD dates so that we can have as many stations start at the same time as possible so that we can have impact on the ADDS chart. A list of 20 records that were the most added in that given week.  It can take anywhere from 15-20 to get on the ADDS list.

Again why is this important?  Well some records might be new bands just starting out and the only real impact they might have at CMJ is getting these 15-20 ADDing the record on the ADD week and getting the bands name in "print"

At the High end being #1 most added is an important step for a band that might have a shot at #1. Getting 100+ stations Adding your record at the same time serves notice to other stations who, for whatever reason, pay attention to that sort of thing. It also shows the client, the band or label, that this record is well liked at radio.

All of this may seem very silly and in the long run it is. That is why the number of stations reporting ADDS is almost always lower than those reporting charts. Usually by around 20 or so stations. So if you think it is silly then I would argue it is better for you to not report adds than for you to report them incorrectly.

Now how can you add something incorrectly?

Well Adding anything that is not on the ADD week is wrong.  There are some stations that like to ADD a record a week early. This helps NO ONE. It is especially frustrating when in the real add week you end up missing top five most added by one add.  Other stations ADD records a week or two late on a regular basis. I cannot say this enough times, once the ADD week has passed just put the record into rotation. You are helping no one by adding a record a week late. Just put it out there and let it start getting plays.

Now personally I think you should do ADDS, If you are a station that reports your charts based upon what is actually getting spun at radio then ADDS are one of the few places you get to decide everything. You don't have to get spins, you hopefully do not have to check in with anyone. These are yours. You can add 5 records from the same company, who cares. That is not wrong, of course you might get 8 other companies mad at you but it is not wrong.  ADDs are your opportunity to say, you know what I like this record. Or I think this record will do well at our station. It can also be you know what I would like to help out company X this week cause they were nice.  None of those are wrong. Because YOU have total control over them.  The only rule should be ADD ON THE ADD WEEK.

If you can remember one thing about ADDS that would be it. CMJ has a handy list that tells you what is going for adds. It is up to the promoters to update CMJ on this list and sometimes it might be out of date so if that does not work almost every company lists what they have for ADDS on their website. If they don't then maybe they don't care about ADDS and you should add my record instead.. kidding.. ha

Lastly one common thing I see with the ADDS / chart dynamic at radio is there are some stations that every week will ADD five records and every week those five records will chart on their top 30. To me this looks like you are just making things up. Your chart SHOULD be based upon what is getting spins so try and keep that in mind. Of course there are weeks where you add a new record and it happens to be the biggest record of the season and it gets 3 spins and charts that week. That happens I get that. But when it happens every week that is a red flag to me, or more like a green flag saying.. this station will just make things up, and you don't want to be known as such.

I hope some of this  helps you out there. If you have any questions hit me on twitter as always

I guess we did not go over the charts this week. Sleater-Kinney continues to dominate and while Decemberists has inched closer I am not sure if they will have enough to get there before someone like Bjork or next weeks big record from Father John Misty.   A place to bury Strangers takes #1 most added by 4 adds over Districts. Another close ADD week.

Thank you for reading!

CMJ ISSUE 1378 Week 5

Oh hello everyone! Happy February! Day late on the recap here in what was a slightly delayed week. Sleater-Kinney took the #1 spot but Panda Bear did not go quietly. I was checking early and often and the gap between the records, ended at 9 stations, never really got much larger than that. The record to keep an eye on though might be the Decemberists.  They stayed at #4 this week but that gap between that and #1 is a lot lower that I would of expected.  With the last few charts the top two records seem to be sitting alone on their own tier with a huge gap at #3. So it is nice to see records in the 3 and 4 spot be legit contenders.  If Sleater-Kinney had been as dominate as they were the add week I would say none of these records would have a shot but for whatever reason they are not running away with it like I thought they would. I should also mention Viet Cong is holding strong in the #3 spot and also could make that move. I have less faith in them just because Decemberists is a bigger name and has many #'1 under their belt and have also claimed #1 on the AAA chart.

The question then is what happens with Bjork. Does she come and join the top 5 party next week?
Coming in at #11 the week after the ADD week is pretty great.  We could have a couple weeks of Sleater-Kinney at #1 and then perhaps see a late battle of Decemberists and Bjork? Anyone else join them?  Maybe Twerps but not sure if they really contend for #1 So nothing that is on the charts currently I would say.

 Last week we talked about the Ty Segall combining of records and that was before I even realized there was a third Ty Segall going for adds this week with another promotion company than the other 2.  Perhaps there is some Ty Segall fatigue out there as the new record only came in at #5 most added or it could be that the record is live. I would guess it is a combination of the two.

Adds were pretty fun this week as there seemed early on to be a 5 team race between Natalie Prass, Title Fight, Jessica Pratt, Mount Eerie and Ty Segall.  In the end it came down to two very different records Natalie Prass and Title Fight with Natalie coming out on top by 7 ADDS. Who knows maybe if stations only added records that went for adds then it might of been closer.

Maybe we need to tackle this a little bit more and more often but ADDS do not need to be that difficult.  I think ADDS are silly if we can't all follow the same rules. That means ADDing records that are going for adds.

For example this week I saw this

1. SLEATER-KINNEY No Cities To Love
2. ROUGH CHURCH Friction/Reflection

The problem here is that A) Sleater Kinney went for adds 3 weeks ago. This helps no one.  I feel that it might of been better for this station to not report ADDS at all than to report this. You could also argue that they have 5 ADD spots why not use them.  Part of the problem is that there is no RULE that governs what you can and cannot add. It is a open system that allows you to ADD what you like. But I will remind you that when you ADD records not going for ADDS that you are just wasting everyones time. You wasted your own time by adding old records and you wasted my time by having to see it.  Do you think there should be Set RULES for adds? Most stations I explain ADDS to understand why they should follow the unwritten rules as they want to help the artists. There will always be stations that do what they want and we will never get 100% of the stations to fall in line unless there is a rule.

It is important to note this week though that the station that had been charting Goldfinger the last few weeks did not report Goldfinger. So that is a minor victory.

Well thats what we have for the week lets talk about it on the twitter! Thanks for reading

Douglas

CMJ ISSUE 1377 Week 4 Recap

Hello, I am very excited as it seems that loads of you are coming back each week. The number of reporters has increased by at least 20 each week so far this year, however we are significantly behind last years pace. This week we had 251 reporters at this time last year we had 284. Last year seemed to stay on par with the year before but it is striking to have such a drop off so far. Hopefully it is only temporary.

This week was a bit of a surprise as I thought Sleater-Kinney would take over the number one spot rather easily. Panda Bear was able to hold on though despite having less reporters. So next week should be easy for them to take the spot. The question then becomes who takes it next.   There is currently a 40 station gap between #2 and #3. The #3 through #5 records though all have about the same amount.  Viet Cong, The Decemberists and Ty Segall.

 The one to watch for though might be this weeks #1 add Bjork.  I was surprised to see though that Bjork, despite her current popularity has not hit #1 in quite some time. 2011 Biophilia was able to snag most added but was eventually blocked by numerous records. 2007 Volta peaked at #2. You have to go all the way back to 2004 with Medúlla     It should be fun to see what happens with Bjork/ Sleater-Kinney/ Decembrists. There is of course a chance all could get to #1 but like the surprise of Bjork this past week there are sure to be other things on the way we might not even know about.

Lastly I wanted get your opinions on combining records. We do this at Pirate, so I am by no means trying to single anyone out. This week though I noticed that one of the Ty Segall records disappeared from the chart. Last week there were 2 in the top 20 and this week just the one in the top 5. So I started wondering at what point does combining the records not make sense?  For example currently we have the new Dr. Dog live album at college radio. If we were to have a new Dr. Dog full record come out at what point does it not make sense to combine the 2. 1 month? 2 months?   We also recently worked the Mike Doughty record and as a precursor sent out the live album. We had the 2 combined as to maximize the impact of one record. There is no doubt that is what is being done with Ty Segall.  The reason it caught my attention is because there were 2 on there last week and then only one this week. Last week it made sense to me that there were 2 as they are on different labels.   I just wanted to get your opinions on this.  I asked CMJ about it and they said they take each situation as it comes up.  Is that enough? Or should there be a uniform rule?

I am very interested in hearing your thoughts on this! Lets talk on twitter

CMJ Issue 1376 Week 3 Recap

Every year the MLK weekend tends to mark the return of a lot of stations back from winter break.  So far the charts have gone like I would of thought they would. Tv on the Radio ended the year at #1 and started the year at #1. Last years last #1 most added Parquet Courts then took that top spot last week and last weeks #1 most added Panda Bear took it this week. Each happened with little or no competition.

This weeks #1 most added though was pretty exciting. Sleater-Kinney DESTROYED It. 76% of all stations added the record.  Only 52 stations did not add the record! That is just insane. On top of that they show up on the top 200 at #15. I had thought Panda Bear was liked but this is on another level.
I thought Panda Bear might have a shot at staying at #1 for a while but now you could see Sleater-Kinney jumping up there next week.

Elsewhere on the chart Viet Cong is trying to make its way to #1 jumping all the way up to #4 from the add week last week. How many times does Jagjaguwar get the shaft though.. so many times they make these nice runs and then end up getting jumped by a bigger record or one with more firepower but you have to respect they do it all in house.  Top five is pretty fantastic, I would of course put everything I had into keeping Sleater-Kinney out of #1.  Ty Segall, with his 12th new record of 2015 already comes in at #6 and normally I would think they had a shot at #1 but I am hearing a bit of Ty fatigue out there, and it is just an EP.

But in the end I think Sleater-Kinney makes that jump from 15 to #1 next week. But just for the sake of making this next week more exciting we can pretend that Viet Cong, Panda Bear, Ty Segal all have a shot at it as well.

One of the more interesting things now might be what happens with the new Bjork record? The news of it coming out early happened late in the day yesterday, too late to make an impact on this weeks chart but I am sure a bunch of stations start playing the record regardless if anyone is working it next week. What is your station going to do?

Oh I almost forgot that the Decemberists went for adds this week, they had over 100 adds, coming in at 112 but when you go up against a juggernaut like Sleater-Kinney you will largely be a footnote. Anyone think they have a shot at #1? I suppose i could see them waiting it out if nothing else big comes for a while but I think the chances are pretty small.

Lets continue talking on twitter! 

RIP WVOF Music Director Jana Novak

I just came across the news that Jana Novak has passed away. Very sad news. WVOF has had a long line of great MD's and Jana was no exception. She will be missed.

You can read the Obit here http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ctpost/obituary.aspx?n=jana-novak&pid=173804005&fhid=7402

CMJ ISSUE 1375 WEEK 2 RECAP

The slow road back to normalcy. Both the ADDS and Chart reporters peaked their heads above 200 this week. It was actually a unique week in that there were more people reporting ADDs than reporting to the top 200. This happens when stations are just getting up and running and only do ADDS as a way to get the year started. 

This weeks ADDS were dominated by Panda Bear. With Viet Cong and Ty Segall the only ones remotely close.. and those were not even that close. Panda Bear is on a easy start of the year track to #1 but I have the feeling it would get there any time of year. Ty Segall is an interesting one though. I have seen in the past that when artists put out a lot of records the stations start to pay attention a little bit less on each one. Will be interesting to see what happens there. 

As for the Charts we have our first new #1 of the year with Parquet Courts squeezing their way in.  It was pretty close with TV on the Radio most of the week. But as I mentioned I am going to guess this will be a short lived #1 as Panda Bear is already at #7 having been set up by an EP at the end of last year.   

You have to be impressed with the run of Ariel Pink coming in at #3 with only the label pushing it. But we have seen that consistently with 4AD as well as with Jagjaguwar. They seem to be the only labels to do it on their own on a regular basis. 

With Panda Bear being as much of a lock as one can be at college radio the question for me turns to what will be next and more interestingly what will be left out?  Coming up very soon there is the new Decemberists record as well as the new Sleater-Kinney. Both should come up around the same time. Do both have enough to snag #1?  Will either be big enough to knock out Panda Bear? 

The beginning of the year is a fun time. Should be a blast to watch play out. 

Check me out on the twitter and we can continue the conversation www.twitter.com/theanimalarrg

CMJ RECAP WEEK 1 CMJ ISSUE 1374

Welcome back everyone! I hope your break was GREAT I went to Georgia, Paso Robles, Sea Ranch and San Francisco! You can see all the things here on Instagram. 

For those that did not see I was asked some questions for CMJ and you can check that out here http://www.cmj.com/column/on-air/qa-douglas-blake-pirate-promotions/


I really am not going to spend a lot of time on the charts this week. I consider the first week a warm up week. How can you consider it anything else... as one person put it... how can my record not be not there with 5 reporters yet record x is on there with only one.

As expected Tv on the Radio held on to the #1 spot and the #1 add had 60 adds.

It tends to ramp up each week so we might see some action next week with Parquet Courts charging up and Panda Bear already making a threat ( I think that is just with the EP so thats pretty impressive)

Instead lets spend some time looking at whats coming up this year.

Pitchfork

Consequence of Sound 

Stereogum

So what are you looking forward to.

For me I would say

Sleater-Kinney
PJ Harvey
Kanye West
The Breeders ( hopefully)
Modest Mouse
Built to Spill

Lets talk about everything on twitter.