1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910807481703321

Autore

Rossman Gabriel

Titolo

Climbing the charts [[electronic resource] ] : what radio airplay tells us about the diffusion of innovation / / Gabriel Rossman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, NJ, : Princeton University Press, 2012

ISBN

1-280-49398-4

9786613589217

1-4008-4244-1

Edizione

[Core Textbook]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (199 p.)

Disciplina

791.440973

Soggetti

Popular music

Sound recording industry

Music trade

Radio broadcasting

Diffusion of innovations

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- FIGURES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. Introduction -- 2. How Songs Spread -- 3. Buying Your Way onto the Chart -- 4. Can Radio Stations Break Singles? -- 5. The Dixie Chicks Radio Boycott -- 6. But Which Chart Do You Climb? -- 7. The Future of the Chart -- Appendix A. Datasets -- Appendix B. Robustness to Assumptions about Volume of Airplay Constituting an "Add'' -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Despite the growth of digital media, traditional FM radio airplay still remains the essential way for musicians to achieve commercial success. Climbing the Charts examines how songs rise, or fail to rise, up the radio airplay charts. Looking at the relationships between record labels, tastemakers, and the public, Gabriel Rossman develops a clear picture of the roles of key players and the gatekeeping mechanisms in the commercial music industry. Along the way, he explores its massive inequalities, debunks many popular misconceptions about radio stations' abilities to dictate hits, and shows how a song diffuses throughout the nation to become a massive success. Contrary to the



common belief that Clear Channel sees every sparrow that falls, Rossman demonstrates that corporate radio chains neither micromanage the routine decision of when to start playing a new single nor make top-down decisions to blacklist such politically inconvenient artists as the Dixie Chicks. Neither do stations imitate either ordinary peers or the so-called kingmaker radio stations who are wrongly believed to be able to make or break a single. Instead, Rossman shows that hits spread rapidly across radio because they clearly conform to an identifiable style or genre. Radio stations respond to these songs, and major labels put their money behind them through extensive marketing and promotion efforts, including the illegal yet time-honored practice of payoffs known within the industry as payola. Climbing the Charts provides a fresh take on the music industry and a model for understanding the diffusion of innovation.