Feeling Lonely

Last semester, station manager Andy Jacobson banned the use of the phrase “eclectic mix” from the DJ-submitted show descriptions. It had gotten pretty bad, with approximately 300% of all shows using the term. Usually when DJs say they listen to everything, what they mean is they listen to both rock and prog-rock. There are DJs here and there who advertise that you’ll hear Slayer and Chicago right alongside each other on their show, but I don’t think that having a good show logically follows from that. Indeed, almost always it’s the contrary.

I sound like a bitter old DJ, sad with the direction the station goes, and that’s silly. I’ve been here only since the fall of 2005, where I did the 2-6 AM slot every other Saturday (moving to 6:30-8:30 PM Fridays in spring `06), and offhand I know there are at least a dozen DJs who outclass me in seniority. But–anyway–the station is free-form. I have no direct say about what people play. I can advise people to play this or that based on what I know of their taste (and I try to get to know DJs in part for that reason), and I select the nightly album preview, and I have my top 5 adds (vs. the just-the-facts-ma’am top 40 releases). Even the just-the-facts-ma’am top 40 releases, though, I have to make decisions. If a DJ puts on a new album and plays ten songs, should I count that as ten plays? A DJ could game the system that way, and the decision of one DJ on one day–even if it’s between 1 and 2 am on a Wednesday morning–would significantly impact the chart ranking of some release. So, there’s some subjective decisions that come into play.

The same problems come in when you read statistics, as demonstrated in the nice volume Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best. If you come across a figure in the news reporting an estimate for the number of homeless people in a city, does it include people who are living with friends or family temporarily? Does it include those who live day-to-day on the streets but have a shelter to go to at night? Does it include those who occasionally have to spend a night in a public park, for whatever reason? Does it include squatters? Supporters of more funding, say, for the homeless–those who want to publicize the problem–might be more apt to quote a large figure, where the police or an unsympathetic city council might like to quote only the constant, street-only population, not including the transient homeless. (Yes, I learned all that in my Political Science Research Methods course last semester.) None of these figures are more “right” than any other ones, but one must consider applicability towards a specific goal. I haven’t yet come across any DJs who seem to be trying to game the system, but ultimately I’m the guy entering the data.

This kind of started one place and went another. On the issue of freeform radio, it is its own pro and con. I have no control over what gets played, not really. But I try to get to know DJs so I can recommend new music (and old music!) to them. I select our nightly Album Previews, and I have this vehicle now, too. Metric, by their name recognition, my positive review, my selecting of the album as an Album Preview, me putting it on the top 5 adds, and whatever other factors, made it to #1 last week. We have a few metal DJs now, and my review of the new 3 Inches of Blood album–a drawing of the metal horns–and recommending it to those few guys, plus the SHEER METAL FURY of the CD, brought it to #2. Totally grassroots and legitimate! Anyway to make a short story boring read all this post, to make a long story short some of the shows on my station are lacking and I wish I could do more than use my Jedi persuade powers on them. Oh, well.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 10:46 am and is filed under station. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.