The importance of the number 20
June 13, 2007

Just a few months ago, the Smooth Jazz radio format officially turned 20 years old.  The number 20 has been ringing in my head in recent weeks as this past weekend we launched the format’s first ever countdown show, The Smooth Jazz Top 20™.  Interestingly, in our first show we will feature six artists who happen to be “20 Something’s”.  They include; 19 year old Kelly Sweet, 28 year old Norah Jones, 28 year old John Legend, 28 year old Corinne Bailey Rae, 29 year old Elliot Yamin (not on the chart yet, but our ‘prediction/feedback’ track this week) and the barely 30 year old Robin Thicke. Over the next two week’s shows we’ll feature two additional new artists that we feel are worthy of a future chart position, the 24 year old singer Chrisette Michele and fresh new vocalist Nyee Moses. This is a moment that we have not experienced in our format for years, or perhaps ever. 

Certainly our current music is an important tool to keep our format ‘in the moment’, fresh and current.  The current music that we are embracing includes not only younger artists, but artists that are also selling CD’s and getting play on other formats like Urban AC, AC, AAA and now CHR.  That combination spells huge opportunity for us. This is the first time in years that we can embrace the same artists getting play on CHR radio and television.  Back in 2002, Norah Jones kicked the door open for younger artists to release slower ballads that smooth jazz could embrace.  Over the past few years we have included ‘20 something’s’ like Alicia Keys, Beyonce, India Arie, John Mayer, Renee Olstead, Michael Buble and even Christina Aguilera.

This may seem a bit out on the edge, but we need to keep an ear to artists like The Pussycat Dolls, who recorded a couple of great songs "Sway" and “Feelin’ Good’ recently.  Others to watch include Lily Allen "Smile", Gwen Stefani "4AM", Justin Timberlake "What Goes Around" and even Fergie "Big Girls Don't Cry".  These songs may not exactly fit us at the moment, but all are much closer than one might think before taking a listen.

All of this is a bit subjective, but the mass appeal of these artists, combined with their youth would lead us to believe that there is potential growth for the format in a younger direction should we invest in these artists’ newer popular songs.  Further, we see consistent research that the younger audience already listening to smooth jazz is extremely passionate about vocals; more so than the older segment of the audience. 

This doesn’t mean that we should throw out the 70’s and 80’s vocals that we are playing.  They still test at the top of every music test and receive high passion scores from both young and older listeners.  What these new artists and vocals can do for us is provide variety, place us ‘in the moment’, open the doors for younger listeners and give us a fresh coat of paint.  We differentiate ourselves and essentially define our format with the instrumental music.  The vocals open the door to new listeners and actually help to keep even our P1s more engaged with the format. 

Do we play more vocals? Perhaps… Your local research and deeper discussions between us should bear that out.  The opportunity here is not only to play these younger artists’ crossover hits and fresh new tracks, but to talk them up and feature them on our websites.  This type of opportunity is one of the key reasons that we are launching the Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown show.  Artists drops, short interview clips and repetition of current songs will build awareness and put our stations ‘in the moment’.  This is an important development as we must avoid becoming the ‘museum’ of smooth jazz.  This is not a drastic cry for sweeping change.  Just a nudge to all of us that we think differently, embrace some new ideas and carefully move our format into our third decade with the vigor that we launched the format all around the US over the past twenty years.

All of the current questions facing us cannot be answered here.  I send this out to you to pose more questions as much as to offer some ideas and possible answers to our current challenges.  I’d love to catch up personally, so please drop an email or call me directly any time.  This format is so exciting and we are all blessed to be involved.

Many thanks,

Allen
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Allen Kepler
President
Broadcast Architecture 

Announcing the "Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown"(tm)
posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Broadcast Architecture®, the premiere research, consulting and network operator for the Smooth Jazz radio format, announces today the debut of the “Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown™”, a weekly two-hour program counting down the week’s hottest Smooth Jazz tracks. Not coincidentally, the “Smooth Jazz Top 20” launches on the 20th anniversary of this format. Smooth Jazz airs on over 60 radio stations in the U.S. and overseas, and the demand for a countdown show has mounted steadily for years.

Each week the Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown™ will feature the smoothest hits of the week, based on monitored airplay on stations across the U.S. Hosted by format veteran and Broadcast Architecture® President Allen Kepler, each week’s program will feature the hottest 20 tracks on radio, plus artist interviews and commentary, updates on all the latest news from the Smooth Jazz world, and a pecial “Chartbound” track destined to be a hit.

... For more of the article click HERE