The Role of the Taste Maker

As a radio programmer I have always viewed the “mission to deliver”as a three step process.
1. Find your audience
2. Continually give them what they want
3. Try and find the largest common denominator within you audience without alienating your core.

Depending on how you do with #3 usually means the difference between a good book and a bad one and a happy sales department or a grumpy one. Picking the right songs for your audience isn’t as simple as it used to be thanks to the Internet. That small group of multinationals that for years controlled the majority of the music being released to radio has been splintered alongside the average person’s music tastes. Connecting the musical dots on your radio station requires more than a visit to a few mentor stations on Mediabase or BDS. In light of the overwhelming amount of musical choices available to your listening audience, the role of the “taste maker” has never been more important than it is now. A successful radio station, whether its current or gold based, needs to be able to go in between those home run songs and find the “oh wow” ones as well. Whether it’s introducing a new song or band that has created a story for itself online before radio like "Death Cab for Cutie" did or perhaps its dusting off "Wall of Voodoo’s"- Mexican Radio for a spin or two. As a gracious tenacious "taste maker" you will be doing your listeners a favor.