| I recently spent two nights working in a focus group.
I listened to twelve hundred song snippets over the two evenings.
I had to rank each song on a scale from
1 through
5, where
1 meant "Dislike a lot," 2
was for "Dislike some,"
3
indicated "So-so,"
4 denoted "Like some," and
5 equaled
"Favorite." If I didn't know the song, I was supposed to mark a
U
for "Unfamiliar." If I ranked a song from 1 through 5, I
also had the option of circling a
T
for "Tired of."
So how was I recruited for this musical mission? A woman
from a market research agency just called. "Could you attend a focus group?,"
she asked.
"How much???" I asked.
"$100," she answered.
"When???" I asked.
She played some song clips and asked me to rank each
segment between 1 and 5. After this mini test, the woman said I couldn't
attend the group because I ranked the heavy metal selection as a 5.
"Change my response to a 4," I said. She did and then replied that I
could attend the focus group. After reviewing the possibilities, we agreed
on the nights when I would show up.
The first night arrived, and I went in to start my
assignment as an arbiter of musical taste. This is corporate
radio, songs aren't played because they're cool, but because
unemployed philistines like me marked a bubble on a Top 40 SAT
answer sheet! If corporate radio stations really wanted to play the
newest and coolest music, then they would ask a bunch of teenagers, or
examine the play lists at college radio stations.
But commercial radio seems stuck in a
musical bubble of time between the late sixties to the early nineties. It
is very rare to hear any songs outside that frame of time, or beyond the
set of big names that have cracked the top 40. On the other hand, not all
new music is inherently cool or great or bound to become a classic. If
commercial stations played as much new music as old classics, then their
listeners might change frequencies more often.
At this point, I should mention that I listen to mostly
classical music these days. If I hear any popular music, it is by
accident or because my wife climbed into the car before I did. I
listened to a lot of rock'n'roll in my twenties, so I didn't worry
about whether I was qualified to help decide the play lists for
the metro's corporate stations. The tape began. Hearing the
Eagles, the
Doors, the
Rolling
Stones,
U2, I fill in mostly
5s, and a few 4s.
Pink Floyd
all 5s.
Fleetwood Mac
mostly 4s. Some soulful R&B, I don't
know the artist, and should mark a "U", but I put down a 4.
Dylan, and
Springsteen,
4s and 5s.
Who am I to judge someone else's artistic expression of
love, life, death, and sexual angst? I tell myself if I wasn't
here, then some other unemployed dweeb would be and they would have the $100.
Pretenders,
4s and 5s. Jimmy Buffet,
2s and 3s and a couple of "Ts". For a brief moment, I'm
tempted to fill in the bubbles randomly, but decide that I might
reward the dull and punish the wicked unfairly.
|
|
For songs I have no memory of, I alternate between 2s and
3s. I don't want the agency to think I'm completely out of
touch. Led Zeppelin almost all 5s.
The Clash, 5.
The Fixx,
4s and 5s. Beatles, 4s and 5s.
Marley's
I Shot the
Sheriff, a 5. Clapton's I Shot the Sheriff, a 5. Someone
covering a Lynyrd Skynyrd
song, hmm. I like the song, but not the interpretation. I fill in a 4 and
continue.
An unfamiliar song comes along, and I
wonder whether it's one I know, but because they've only played four
seconds of it, I just don't have enough to trigger my memory. I wonder
whether instead of setting radio play lists, this research is to evaluate
memory retention. The agency already has collected my other significant
demographic information, and could generate no end of statistics from the
results.
Talking Heads, all
5s. Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks
- Stop Dragging My Heart
Around, I like it but if I use a 5, the agency may get
suspicious. I mark a 4. The Who,
4s and 5s. Neil Young,
Creedence Clearwater Revival, I motor along trying to keep my
focus and not lose track of the song. I want to avoid having to
rewind the tape. On Monday night, I'm far too conscientious and back
the tape up at least ten times before I got through the first 200
selections. During Tuesday night's session, I rewind only three or four times
the whole night!
Tom Petty's Refugee comes along. A definite five. And then
it's over. Hmm, no Duran Duran, and why
didn't they include Joan
Jett's burning anthem, I Love Rock'n'Roll? No
AC/DC,
Ozzy, or
Scorpions. No
INXS.
Neither Bon Jovi nor
Blondie. No
Madonna. No
Prince. No
Queen. No
Elvis ...
(either Presley or
Costello!!!). No
Hollies. No
Byrds. No
Beach Boys. What a shame, I think, as I mull over
the omissions of the process.
Every band and artist has produced
memorable material at some point in their careers. Maybe if
commercial radio abandoned their formula-based rotations, and
just played every artist's good stuff, then they wouldn't have to
use focus groups to figure out how to program their air time.
I hand in my forms to the woman by the door and head home
with a battered Ben Franklin. After months of unemployment, it's
nice to make some money. I wonder if I can do a focus group every
month. It could be a new sideline career.
I tell my wife that if
her favorite station starts playing mostly
Pink Floyd and
Talking
Heads,
then she can blame me.
|
