By Jeff Connell, Audience Growth Consultant
Hotel California is a great song.
I’m guessing you’ve been exposed to that song for a long time. I’m in my mid 40s; I grew up hearing that song with my dad. It’s still wildly popular today on Classic Hits, Rock, and even Soft AC stations.
But it doesn’t belong on a secular Hot AC.
No way. There’s just no chance that someone who wants to hear California Love by 2Pac, Don’t Speak by No Doubt, Hello from Adele and the latest from Beyonce would want to hear that song.
Except they do.
Those are the top five songs in our Hot AC music test. The Eagles? #1! Now it was the live version from 1994, not the 1977 original, but truth be told, it caught me off guard. I knew it was popular in our prior Music Test, but it was now a trend I couldn’t argue with.
It’s one of their favorites. Actually, it is their favorite. Across numerous demo splits, even.
Earlier in my career, I would have probably passed. I would have argued that it’s the “wrong texture” and “what you don’t play can’t hurt you.” There’s validity to those arguments sometimes.
I would have argued that I know what brand “we’re creating,” and that “they can get that other places” and “it’s not unique to us, so it’s less valuable.” Also true.
However, there is a hubris to that thinking that I’ve been guilty of. I’m certain we’ve all probably flirted with it if not fallen victim to it.
I want you to want what I want you to want.
I want you to love the format I’ve designed in my head. That song that I just know is going to be a smash. I want to play the songs I want to and leave out the ones I don’t leave room for in my head. I want you to love this talent, this benchmark, this promotion. I don’t want to do or be that thing I was hoping to avoid or reinvent my way around.
That’s often a detour from the success your ministry could have. If the purpose is a deeper ministry relationship with more listeners, often the choices are clear. They just aren’t always as “exciting” as we might hope they might be.
In my first Christian programming work, repeatedly in our music tests and perceptuals, we received feedback that was challenging. As an organization, we were feeling led to grow our audience, but that often was in conflict with a musical position that we had long seen ourselves in. It caused consternation internally about what direction we should go and how to achieve it.
I remember wrestling with music results that showed our P1 audience often clearly preferred songs we were not playing regularly, and similarly weren’t as in love with other songs we were playing more often.
An example: Revelation Song by Phillips, Craig & Dean. That song scored huge. It’s spot on with Gospel purpose. And we played it. But I sure ran into all kinds of internal resistance. Sure, they might like Revelation Song, but that wasn’t us.
Except, the listener was telling us that’s what she wanted.
We wanted her to want what we wanted . . . and played it. But with a fair amount of internal “hairy eyeball’ resistance.
Today, that’s why I choose to play Hotel California. On a secular Hot AC. In 2024. The listener loves it!
I learned something. I could get out of the way. I knew my product existed beyond what my vision had been for it originally. I knew that I didn’t have all the answers. And I knew my personal preference could take a backseat.
Now, I want them to get what they want.
And everyone wins as a result.
