Stephanie Mills: “They want R&B, but they don’t want it from us”
- Thread starter Mr. Met
- Start date
Let me weigh in; I worked in urban/hip hop radio from 1996 to 2016.
Stephanie is 100% correct, about 95% of the urban stations in the USA are owned and operated by white men (via Clear Channel, Cumulus, Entercom, etc)
They push Adele, Sam Smith, Ed Sheran and Eminem hard ....but won’t listen to Calvin Richardson.
I blackballed myself from the industry by refusing to play these white R&B artists immediately upon release.
The labels and major radio companies are in bed with one another. As soon as Adele drops the GM already has her audio in your inbox and a proposed schedule for the song .....before anyone hears it.
Conversely you have to actually hear the new Tyrese and find the audio. Then request permission to add the song.
True to a degree but you have a profit motive too. McDonalds isn’t spending with your “black” station if it isn’t familiar enough
Meaning if you’re too black you will lose money because there’s not enough black advertising .
...to support your format that isn’t banging Justin Timberlake
Yes but.....
playlists are designed to attract advertisers and listeners. Unless you’re a XM station you have to play ball ....and Adele
Stephanie is 100% correct, about 95% of the urban stations in the USA are owned and operated by white men (via Clear Channel, Cumulus, Entercom, etc)
They push Adele, Sam Smith, Ed Sheran and Eminem hard ....but won’t listen to Calvin Richardson.
I blackballed myself from the industry by refusing to play these white R&B artists immediately upon release.
The labels and major radio companies are in bed with one another. As soon as Adele drops the GM already has her audio in your inbox and a proposed schedule for the song .....before anyone hears it.
Conversely you have to actually hear the new Tyrese and find the audio. Then request permission to add the song.
True to a degree but you have a profit motive too. McDonalds isn’t spending with your “black” station if it isn’t familiar enough
Meaning if you’re too black you will lose money because there’s not enough black advertising .
...to support your format that isn’t banging Justin Timberlake
Yes but.....
playlists are designed to attract advertisers and listeners. Unless you’re a XM station you have to play ball ....and Adele
Hey...black folk embrace and support these folks. Don't lame the radio stations.
There ya go. Thanks for adding the details.
And again , I like Adele, i hate that she's a point of reference - but it is also true to my knowledge that she doesn't really do radio interviews at urban stations. I don't know if this a conscious choice by her or if I've just missed it , but I did see her doing the major TV outlets , like that one where she rode in the car singing karaoke with that one guy.
Radio is suppose to be dead. So why even worry a out them?
We are told that social media/streams is where people get most of their music and where artist get their exposure. My point is that radio stations are following what the people like. I remember all the hype around Adele and her singing skis from black folk.
It's not just radio I'm talking about. That's just an example because, tbough it aint what it was, it will always be a piece.
It isn't necessarily what you think but individuals do also play a part in it. I cosign what the guy who has worked in programming is saying and also my own experience in that business , so that people know what parts they control and what parts are controlling.
Again, I like Adele she's just an example as well. My only critique if I had one about her, is that she gets played on all these platforms and these audiences but doesn't reach out to them. And audiences that demand that from their own should be aware that we don't demand it from people like her. When you open doors to people without that scrutiny things can turn on ya.
did white people ever really support RnB?
you hit the nail on the head....black people dont support it anymore....that is the main problem
They do when it's a white face connected to it...been doing that since the 60s...shit Timberflake or Adelle can drop an R & B record right now and crackers will cash them out.
Of course they do. And that's why Stephanie's statement has some truth to it. People do tend to like things from people who look like them or people theyre more likely to be exposed to so all the way back to Elvis singing hound dog when they didnt get exposed to big mama Thorntons version to Pat Boone versions or Ligtle Richard - that was somewhat understandable because of the separation of people then.
But now, there's some times when you'll see a white girl doing something damn near any Black girl in church can do and they go crazy.
Funny part is Black people tend to go crazy for it to, but when they see a Black person do it , we act like it's "too slow. Too run of the mill"
The "blame" if there is any, doesn't just lie in one place.
Btw spotify has curated playlists that have millions of subscribers that has as strings presence as radio in terms of pushing shit. Plus its not a coincidence when certain things get pushed in your face more than others. Of course social media has some room for more indies to strike gold for sure but in order to hit a real critical mass, campaigns are very effective. And people who decide where to spend the good money and resources for those campaigns have a part to play in that.
That's what it is right there. When radio is completely dead, white people will seek out white stars on YouTube and other platforms. Fuck'em.
To go deeper on this - we're talking about POP artist making R&B - a major pop artist like Justin has like triple the marketing budget of any black R&B artist, so he's already ahead. This is why when the promo starts for their albums they seem to be everywhere. The labels are willing to spend whatever to get these artist thru all doors.
And YouTube will make sure they see them before anything else so they can have plausible deniability to the Black artist existence lol. And Black people will be doing the same lol
I think the problem with R&B is The Telecommunications Act of 1996. When there were limits on how many radio stations a company could own in a certain market you had more diversity of playlist. These days you have the same 20-30 songs being played by the same artist all over the country. The local artist who has a buzz has a hard time getting airplay on the large corporate radio stations. Yes I know there is the internet etc, but it's usually radio that really breaks an artist.
I think it's hard on all artist, you can take a look at any award show for the last 15 years and you see almost all of the same people. I love Taylor Swift, Beyonce, John Legend, Eminem etc as much as he next guy, but are they really that damn good to be on a 15 year run.
HNIC
I think it's hard on all artist, you can take a look at any award show for the last 15 years and you see almost all of the same people. I love Taylor Swift, Beyonce, John Legend, Eminem etc as much as he next guy, but are they really that damn good to be on a 15 year run.
HNIC
Similar threads
