Can older listeners discover music? Yes! It can be a component in a glorious musical experience But it has to be accomplished by thoroughly understanding HOW to connect and inspire. Of course, there need to be places to program it. They exist. And there’ll be more. Here’s one take:
First some common mistakes:
- Important is that you can’t blindly feed them “indie” music or simply the latest thing from the streets. No interest whatsoever. Potential Generational train wreck. A built-in bias. But—- New artists CAN and WILL flourish but they have to be within the musical range of the target.
- There ARE very few, usually those associated with the music industry, that embrace all music. This is rare and they are self-curating. There ARE, however, millions of ‘music freaks’ on the upper end, but their tastes are well defined and they DO want an expansive experience, but on their musical terms
Some of the realities of upper-end music discovery:
- Mining their favorite artists’ depth. Careers more than just songs. The “oh wow” factor as in ‘that’s Santana, but oh wow, I haven’t heard that in ages…’ This is the best of both worlds–familiar and comfortable yet exciting.
- Unusual allied genres where the songs may be unfamiliar but they are interesting and in sync with the listeners’ musical heritage. Blues, roots, old school electronic, even lost classics, and incredibly cool “oldies” to name a few.
These are the right kind of explorations that capture the essence of discovery while being timeless and unpredictable in the mix
- New songs by catalog artists. YES. But they must be celebrated—this is the opportunity to engage the artists and those around them in special programming. Not a phone call or a mindless interview, but a whole pack of on-air events to present the new work to the world. Day in and day out it needs to be presented and pre-promoted. You can’t just throw them in, they have to be ‘set up’ and explained. Selectivity in the track(s) played is of paramount importance as you can’t assume that the current music has the same power as their classic releases, but they deserve the opportunity to be exposed properly. We also have to realize that some artists no longer create interesting music—but when they do–GO
- Realistically, many of these listeners are musically lazy. Music is the soundtrack to their lives but They’re generally not the ones to religiously hang at clubs and keep up to date, but music is in their DNA. They need a place to reside musically… but there’s no go-to vehicle that they can rely on. A well-curated and presented radio channel would be far and away their preferred for enthusiastic listening. It just doesn’t exist… yet.
- They have tremendous buying power. Enlightening them with the soundtrack of their lives can translate into commerce.
Their interest in music is STRONG. It’s a key part of their makeup. There’s a musical passion in their DNA They want to love music as they always have, but:
a) Are extremely selective. They WILL pay x$ for concert tickets to the artists of their lives, but it better be a serious favorite
b) Again, are musically lazy, though a better word would be musically uninspired. Can you blame them? NO-ONE in media is properly fulfilling their desires and handing it to them (as a perfectly targeted and executed radio station could)
c) Are keenly aware of how music has sold out. They find Awards Shows and other cheesy presentations soul-less. They WANT soulful presentations whether audio, video or event. They want a cerebral and inspired source.
Reaching the upper end and allowing them to discover music is mildly complicated but thoroughly doable—- just requires the right focus and execution.
Here’s a more detailed look at the 16-20 factors in determining current-day musical viability: Old People and New Music
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