Do you remember the classic song from the 70s: “Stuck In The Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel? The song’s hook includes the lyrics, “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am. Stuck in the middle with you.” Clowns and jokers can be entertaining and exciting, but the middle is a horrible place to be. What’s the point? Radio station music research has existed for decades, but many stations still test songs using outdated methods. It’s time to improve results by adjusting the traditional scale used to rate songs. Start by getting out of the middle.
Eliminate The Middle
There are three goals of tactical music research: 1) Identify songs the audience doesn’t like and stop playing them, 2) Find songs they like and play them more, and 3) Reveal songs they passionately love and play them much more.
All three goals are important, but too many stations rely too much on #1. Programmers search for “safe” songs. In doing so, they rock the audience to sleep with songs nobody dislikes, but few people love. They’re in a musical no man’s land, which is a terrible place to be.
The solution could be as simple as adjusting the scale when testing songs (and other research questions). Eliminate the middle for more reliable results and a more exciting radio station.
Gravitating toward the middle is human nature, but it’s a dangerous practice in music research because most folks are more reluctant to tell you they “dislike” a song. That’s even more true for formats with a warm, friendly image and passionate audience (Contemporary Christian comes to mind).
So they say it’s “okay” or average. Responses build in the middle, leaving programmers with many songs that appear to be playable but are uninspiring. The problem is that when those songs are played on-air, listeners tune out because they don’t love or even like it. Think about how you respond when a song on a personal playlist plays that isn’t a favorite. You probably skip it, right?
That’s why a music scale should make it impossible for respondents to choose “average.”
How To Eliminate The Middle
Typical options for surveys look something like this:
5-Love the song. It’s one of my favorites.
4- Like the song. But it’s not quite a favorite.
3-The song is okay. I could take it or leave it.
2-I dislike this song.
1-I hate this song.
Some stations expand this to a 7-point scale or a 10-point scale, but it still includes a middle option (“I could take it or leave it”), which is a killer. It’s easier to choose a non-committal response than to take a stand and choose.
Removing the middle option forces respondents to make a choice. They must get off the fence and choose whether they like or dislike it. That has far greater value.
Some programmers argue that average responses are valid because the songs do not hurt your station and add more variety to the playlist. But with so many options competing for attention, each song must contribute positively to a station’s appeal. Listening occasions are short (under 10 minutes), and competition for attention is fierce. Listeners demand instant gratification, and since your station has no “skip” button to get to their favorite song, they will use those alternatives.
Playing my favorite song right now is more important than ever, as is avoiding those songs I don’t like. What happens when you play songs that don’t cause listeners to turn it up, sing along, or stay tuned? They leave.
So your first step is to get rid of the middle.
Force the Extremes
Eliminating the middle option (“3” on a 5-point scale) requires changes. The best option is a four-point scale:
4-Love it
3-Like it
2-Dislike it
1-Hate it
That’s easy to understand and forces the audience off that fence. Would you like to simplify it even more? How about a two-point scale: Like it / Dislike it?
But let’s take it one step further. Consider changing how song scores are weighted. The difference between a positive and a negative is critical, but there’s a huge difference between a “love” and “like” response.
A song rated as “one of my favorites” (4) has a tremendous positive value, much more than “like” (3). Reward that strong score with a higher value. Do the same for a “hate that song” response by penalizing the score.
An example of weighting results could assign values as follows, assuming a score range of 0-100:
If a song scores 4 (love it), give it a value of 100. A love-it score should raise the overall score significantly.
A song that scores 3 (like it) receives a 65. This is positive but lower than the middle between 50 (neutral) and 100 (awesome).
Songs that receive a 2 (dislike it) get a 25 (negative as it’s below 50). You could penalize it more by dropping it to a 15.
And a song scoring 1 (hate it) receives a 0. “Hate it” scores should drag down the overall score).
Conclusion
Some music research pros will try to talk you out of this idea. Don’t listen to them. Music research is a tool to help make programming decisions. It’s true that playing songs nobody dislikes is better than songs they hate, but both cause tune-out.
Most radio stations are best served focusing on positive songs, with a high percentage of “love it” responses. The best way to do that is to eliminate the middle.
Pic designed by wirestock for Freepik.com.
Tracy Johnson is a talent coach and programming consultant. He’s the President/CEO of Tracy Johnson Media Group. His book Morning Radio has been described as The Bible of Personality Radio and has been used by personalities worldwide.