Originally Posted by robert1848
As the "leader" of the KPRT, I need to say a few words.
First, an apology for not spending more time communicating with the members (which I really could have done, it wouldn't have taken that much time) and for not spending the time needed to make the team functional (which I really did not have time for....I guess I bit off more than I could chew, so to speak).
Someone with more free time and some organizational skills could get the team functional, but there are some potential problems.....problems where we could hurt Kellie more than help.
First of all, my original concept of dividing team members into geographic areas totally was a bust. I was not the only one who didn't have enough time to do the work. The work is making a list of the radio stations on the Media Base "Panel". These are the stations whose spins are counted for the MB rankings. I figured you could request stations to play Kellie's songs, but if it were not going to some national ranking, then it wouldn't carry weight for moving her up the play list and chart position. There are 121 (at least there were) stations on the list. We got most of them but the list is not complete.
Also, the lists are still in geographic sections, each in a different thread. For each station we had phone number, email address, and for a while I was putting up the position on the play list that I Wonder had, so we could track the position.
If anyone wants to take up the task, email James and indicate you want to take my place. I will be glad to give advice from my dozens of hours of experience to the new leader.
Here's the problem:
As I was making my weekly calls to the big national stations (bigger AI, more weight on the chart), I was getting a lot of flack from the DJ about me not being in their listening area and that they wanted to reserve the call-in lines for their true listeners...the ones in their area. That attitude stems from the advertising that their station does for the local businesses. They don't get credit for internet listeners, and the internet advertising (I noticed fairly quickly that it was different) doesn't pay nearly as well. These guys began to get pissed off that they were getting calls from Kellie fans in other parts of the country.
If you use email, they can often tell, although you could use gmail, hotmail, etc, and they wouldn't know. So here's the email problem: After I sent a few emails to WUSN in Chicago, I got an email back, telling me that they had my first email saying how much I liked Kellie and wanted them to play I Wonder, and please don't send another requesting the same song. They had it on file. Opening emails and reading and responding to them took a lot of time and repetitious emails wasted their time.
After talking to a number of DJ on the phone (many were very nice) come to find out that in nearly all stations, requests for songs plays very little role in making up the play list. They may play it one time for a caller, but that won't get it on the play list and that one play (which in itself is difficult in many stations) has virtually no effect on the national chart position. The play lists are made up by the program directors, and in the case of some of the nationally owned station, at corporate headquarters. Most DJs told me that they pass requests along to the program director but caller requests play very little role unless the calls are massive (and from their listening area). This was confirmed by one program director who would talk to me.
So, I became a bit jaded about the whole "call in and request Kellie's song" bit and found out that too much of this could actually turn the stations off against Kellie. (Actually, that probably doesn't happen either, 'cause pissing a DJ off is probably just as ineffective at affecting play lists as the request is).
Unless we had hundreds of Kellie fans in each station's area who could make an occasional request, I really don't think we will have much effect.
Sorry to be such a downer on this but that's my take on the request issue and thus the KPRT. I have no proof or hard evidence other than feedback I got from some DJs during my calling and emailing.
I have an established relationship with the morning and midday DJs on my local station that I listen to. I email and call in frequently for various reasons, to chat, and comment on news etc. I always make sure they know I am a Kellie fan and I will often call or send an email thanking them when they play Kellie's song. I do it for a few other artists also. But they know I am a huge Kellie fan. But they also know I live in their listening area, participate in the charities they sponsor, etc. They recognize me when I call in. My support of Kellie probably has nothing to do with her chart position, but as I Wonder and Things were working their way up the play list of this station, one of the DJs sent me an email for each song making sure I was aware that they were playing Kellie's song more. Maybe with this type of relationship with your local station, you might have some effect.
So, the benefit of making the station list is that all Kellie fans could look at the list and see what stations in their area were on the panel. They could then establish a relationship with the DJs and promote Kellie that way. Also, untapped is if people could get their friend who live in the area to call in for requests, and maybe, there will be enough numbers to make an effect on the play list. But my take on this is that for most stations, it will take hundreds of requests for the program director to make a change in the play list.
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