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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 12:26am | IP Logged
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As I was looking at some charts this evening, I noticed something kind of odd to me. I came across some top 40 airplay hits from the 2000s that only bubbled under in Billboard.
Take, for example, "In My Pocket" by Mandy Moore. This song went to #20 in Radio & Records, so it was surely getting a significant amount of airplay. It only bubbled under at #102 in Billboard, though. Why is that? Were sales so abysmal that it actually prevented it from cracking the top 100?
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
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91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Paul Haney MusicFan
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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Aaron, I think there were a couple of factors going into those situations:
1) Several of those songs weren't commercial singles, so they got no sales points.
2) The airplay for many of those songs was limited to CHR stations (and there were fewer pure CHR stations). Since December of 1998, the Hot 100 has included all radio formats. This has been a huge benefit especially to Country songs. Basically, the Top 20 Country songs in any given week could get on the chart with zero pop radio airplay, thereby forcing other songs (like Mandy Moore) off the Hot 100.
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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 9:31am | IP Logged
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But in the Whitburn book, "In My Pocket" does not have the [AIR]
indication next to it. This is the case with a few songs I checked--very
low (or no) Hot 100 peak, but did get significant CHR airplay, and no
[AIR] in the book.
Edited by aaronk on 12 November 2013 at 9:51am
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
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91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Paul Haney MusicFan
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 9:49am | IP Logged
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Actually, I think my point #2 above had more to do with it than point #1. By that time, sales points were much less of a factor on the charts, but it still helped to have a commercial single to chart.
The Hot 100 dated December 5, 1998 is when the big change occurred, allowing airplay-only hits onto the chart. As I mentioned, that was also when Billboard incorporated airplay from all the radio formats into the Hot 100, so all of a sudden you had Country occupying about 20-25% of the Hot 100 every week, thus forcing some of the lesser-played CHR hits onto the Bubbling Under chart, instead of the Hot 100. The best chance those CHR hits had is if they also got played on other formats such as Hot AC, etc.
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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 9:54am | IP Logged
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Paul, I edited my post above, because I answered my own question.
Please see my edited reply, because I thought of another thing that
was odd to me.
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
Uptown Sound
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Paul Haney MusicFan
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 11:05am | IP Logged
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aaronk wrote:
But in the Whitburn book, "In My Pocket" does not have the [AIR]
indication next to it. This is the case with a few songs I checked--very
low (or no) Hot 100 peak, but did get significant CHR airplay, and no
[AIR] in the book. |
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The [AIR] symbol is for those songs that made the Hot 100 Airplay, but were ineligible for the Hot 100/Bubbling Under charts because there was no commercial single (ex: "Don't Speak" by No Doubt). As of 12/5/98, that symbol was no longer needed because airplay-only cuts were now allowed to chart.
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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 12:44pm | IP Logged
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Paul Haney wrote:
The [AIR] symbol is for those songs that made the Hot 100 Airplay, but were ineligible for the Hot 100/Bubbling Under charts because there was no commercial single (ex: "Don't Speak" by No Doubt). As of 12/5/98, that symbol was no longer needed because airplay-only cuts were now allowed to chart. |
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Ahhhh, okay! That makes much more sense.
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
Uptown Sound
91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Does Record Research or any publisher offer a book that compiles airplay data? As a former radio guy, I've always been disappointed that there isn't a book similar to the Pop Annual for either Billboard Hot 100 Airplay or Radio & Records CHR. Possibly new book for Mr. Whitburn?
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
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Paul Haney MusicFan
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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aaronk wrote:
Does Record Research or any publisher offer a book that compiles airplay data? As a former radio guy, I've always been disappointed that there isn't a book similar to the Pop Annual for either Billboard Hot 100 Airplay or Radio & Records CHR. Possibly new book for Mr. Whitburn? |
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Now that we've done books on Record World and Cash Box, we're kicking around the idea of doing either Radio & Records, Gavin and/or Variety sometime in the future. Stay tuned...
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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 2:13pm | IP Logged
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Nice! If it doesn't come to fruition, I'd like to make a suggestion for future Pop Annual / Top Pop Singles books.
For songs that WERE eligible for the Hot 100 but did NOT have a commercial single, would it be possible to include a different symbol? There probably aren't too many of these songs, but it doesn't seem fair to assign a peak of #102 for a song that cracked the top 20 in airplay without any sort of explanation.
Edited by aaronk on 12 November 2013 at 2:14pm
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
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aaronk Admin Group
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
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Upon further examination, it looks like those songs simply don't have a catalog number listed (label only). So, I guess there's no point in printing a unique symbol.
Here's hoping that the airplay book does materialize!
__________________ Aaron Kannowski
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mstgator MusicFan
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Posted: 12 November 2013 at 8:41pm | IP Logged
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Paul Haney wrote:
aaronk wrote:
Does Record Research or any
publisher offer a book that compiles airplay data? As a former radio guy, I've
always been disappointed that there isn't a book similar to the Pop Annual
for either Billboard Hot 100 Airplay or Radio & Records CHR. Possibly new
book for Mr. Whitburn? |
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Now that we've done books on Record World and Cash Box, we're kicking
around the idea of doing either Radio & Records, Gavin and/or Variety
sometime in the future. Stay tuned... |
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I'd buy any or all of those!
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Brian W. MusicFan
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Posted: 13 November 2013 at 3:22am | IP Logged
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My vote is for Gavin!
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EdisonLite MusicFan
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Posted: 13 November 2013 at 7:52am | IP Logged
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Radio & Records would be a great book!
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Hykker MusicFan
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Posted: 13 November 2013 at 8:02am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite wrote:
Radio & Records would be a great book!
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I think it depends on era. By the 70s Gavin had become
kind of an "also-ran" tipsheet. The criteria for
becoming a reporter there was pretty lax, and they became
kind of "top heavy" with stations in relatively
insignificant markets.
Of course, R&R didn't exist before '74 or so, but by the
late 70s seemed to be the "go-to" source second only to
Billboard, at least at stations I worked at.
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Paul Haney MusicFan
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Posted: 13 November 2013 at 9:42am | IP Logged
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Hykker wrote:
I think it depends on era. By the 70s Gavin had become
kind of an "also-ran" tipsheet. The criteria for
becoming a reporter there was pretty lax, and they became
kind of "top heavy" with stations in relatively
insignificant markets.
Of course, R&R didn't exist before '74 or so, but by the
late 70s seemed to be the "go-to" source second only to
Billboard, at least at stations I worked at. |
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That pretty much sums it up. I'd love to do the Gavin charts as those go back to 1958 and are VERY hard to find today. But, I'd also love to do R&R as they were the "go-to" charts for the radio industry, even though they didn't start until the fall of 1973. I'm hoping we can eventually do both, although we've also had several requests to do the Country & R&B charts from both Music Vendor/Record World and Cash Box. Certainly no shortage of future possible books!
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jimct MusicFan
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Posted: 13 November 2013 at 10:02am | IP Logged
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For those interested, Bill Gavin basically invented the concept of
gathering, monitoring and distributing current Top 40 radio airplay info,
back in the late 50s. And while Billboard, Cashbox and Record World all
published in standard magazine form, trying to appeal to the broadest
possible music industry audience, be it retailers, jukebox operators,
record distributors, label executives, radio stations and consumers/casual
music fans for their subscription base, the Gavin Report was a totally
different animal - it was prepared for those folks working in and
programming for Top 40 radio - period.
In its 1960s and early-to-mid 70s prime, The Gavin Report was known as
a "tip sheet" for a good reason: it literally was. Arriving as just one
typewritten, 11 1/2 X 14 page each week, it was quickly prepared and
sent out, via regular US mail. No frills-just the latest, "hot off the press"
info, gathered from selected Top 40 stations across the country. Doing it
this way got the latest, time-sensitive airplay info into radio's hands days
quicker than any of the "glossier" mags ever could. Gavin usually included
one song each as its "Smash Of The Week", "Sleeper Of The Week", "Hot
Shot", "Top Tip", and "Record To Watch", followed by a "Recommended
Playlist" of a ranked Top 20, followed by "Gaining In Several Markets",
"Top Prospects", "Regional Sales and/or Requests" and "Picks & Plays". FYI,
during these years, its annual radio industry convention, "The Gavin
Seminar", was a virtual "Who's Who" of radio power brokers each year. For
years, it was practically radio's version of the Academy Awards. This event
was an essential opportunity for those currently in radio to network, catch
up with old radio friends, and make new radio friends. This was very key,
as gigs in radio were rarely long-term propositions. It was a brotherhood,
and friends would usually do their best to help their best radio buddies
out. Because the chances were very strong that YOU could be the one
needing the same favor sometime soon.
Bill Gavin was already over 50 when he started his tip sheet in '58. And
although he remained quite involved with his business, even into the early
80's, he died of cancer in 1985, at 77. And while The Gavin Report
soldiered on for years afterwards, eventually changing its own look over
to the standard magazine form, it ceased operations in 2002. My only
concern with Gavin getting the "RR Treatment" would be how few songs
were given actual numbers, on the sheet. Most of the tip sheet info were
simply "song mentions", without a number. So how would that setup be
reflected in a useful form for us now?
In my 30 years involved in the world of Top 40/CHR radio (1977-2007),
Radio & Records was considered "The Bible". The entire time. By a
mile!!!!!!!!!!!!! And while we reported to five or six other trade magazines
each week in the 80s and 90s, for example (Billboard, FMQB, Hits,
Hitmakers and Gavin, to mention a few, and probably in that order of
internal use.) I believe R&R began around 1973, and by the end of the
decade had basically become the industry standard. I also recall that
R&R's weekly charts were far more numbers-oriented, and for that reason
R&R would be my own clear choice for RR to tackle next.....
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