We’ve all been there. You walk into the office with every intention of spending time prepping for your show only to get hit with distraction after distraction. Spots that need to be recut, a remote added to the calendar last second that needs to be scheduled and that finnicky pot on the console is out again. Then, next thing you know it’s time to jump on the air and you’ve got nothing but a half thought out story about something that happened to you the night before and whatever you can rip and read from a prep service. So, inevitably you end up talking too much about the weather and doing something seemingly all talent do when they’re short on content, goofing on the song titles. Here’s why that’s a well we should all stop dipping into.
It's lazy. One of the things we coach all talent to do with content is to dig a little deeper. Try to get past the initial thing everyone is going to say about a topic and find a stronger angle that will personalize, energize and localize it to make the content memorable. Riffing on a song title is a prime example of surface level content that leads us to make the same jokes over and over again. If we want to add some commentary about the tune, we should dig deeper. Which can be as simple as doing a quick Google search to find an interesting tidbit about the song or the artist.
It goes against a core principle in music radio. The reason the station is playing that song we’re coming out of is because we believe it’s at least a percentage of our audience’s favorite song. One of the main things in any music DJs job duties is to sell the music on the station and sound like we’re as big a fan as the listener is. So, poking fun of their favorite tune falls way short of checking that box. I’ve worked with a handful of talent over the years that would even go as far as flat out saying they didn’t like some of the songs the station played. Usually, it’s because they’re frustrated programmers who think they know better than the person choosing the tunes, but there’s no excuse for it. Either pretend to like it or, at a minimum, say nothing at all. Riffing on the song title isn’t anywhere near as bad as that, but it’s still problematic and harmful to the station’s brand.
To be clear, part of the reason I’m so aware of talent falling into the ‘goofing on the song titles’ trap is because I have done it myself more times than I can count. It’s one of my crutches that I have to make a concerted effort to not do when I’m on the air. Especially when I have, what seems like in the moment, a great joke teed up to play off the title. But, even though I may occasionally land on something funny, when I zoom out and listen like a listener it’s not worth it and it’s kind of hack. Because often they end up being puns or play on word jokes that come across to the listener as someone who doesn’t get the message of the song.
What do you think? Am I overreacting or is this something talent should stop doing? Comment below or email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.
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