I was talking to a programmer this morning and we were having a conversation about how radio is not solely responsibly for the current state of the industry he agreed that the labels and even artists play a part. I asked him how so and he said, “They’re turning product out just to turn it out and they are not producing hits.” For the most part, none of us know off the bat what will be a “hit” except on those rare occasion that a record is just undeniable. I knew the single “Don’t Cha” was a smash the first time I heard it but I was shocked when Macy Gray’s “I Try” was a smash. So the question then becomes, how does the artist know. With so many people in the studio kissing his or her ass and telling them how great they are, I would think it would be hard to tell. The PD went on to say, if you have to, let’s say “beg” a Radio Station to play your record, you’re producing the wrong records. What do you think?
Jon Stewart on Carolina Church Tragedy (vid)