Who decides which songs go onto the radio nationwide and how did they get that job?

Question

check my stats, i always select the best answer.

Answer 1

i choose and no, you can't have my job.

Answer 2

d**n the last poster took my line... :-)

Anyhow... In the US and for the most part it's almost the same way in Canada

It's not one person but a group of people numbering in the thousands

Basically radio stations get material from the record companies.. the record companies decide what artists they want to push hard and what songs they want to push (On some however the radio stations or artist actually starts the push).. then they release that song to play (or the station plays the song off of cd if not released to radio).. some stations and other sources like I-tunes release the song to the public... basically public like and/or dislike for the song drives if it will go up the charts or not... Music directors and program directors all over the nation monitor airplay charts for what songs are popular and at what popularity to start playing them on their station basically.

And public like and dislike through requests, music testing, and basically what works in other markets is what usually drives the playlist in your hometown.

It's basically what John Q public requests... Most people aren't as adventurous when it comes to music hence more songs you may be burnt out on.

For example..Clear Channel Radio actually tests new music people may like and if what's playing now should be increased,decreased etc thru a website called ratethemusic.com  ... Most don't realize that this is the true purpose of said website and that many stations use what they report on the webiste and what's reported by other radio stations to get ideas on what to program.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediabase

In Britian I expect the same but use more requests for ideas than monitoring other stations like in the US