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| - After writing my review, I started to get curious about just how tiny this station's playlist actually was. I wanted to know it wasn't just me, but that the small size of the station's tracks that get played over & over again was actually a verifiable fact & not just a matter of perception/opinion on my part. So I started actually researching & tracking the songs that they broadcast (I worked for a market research firm for 10+ years so I tend to be a bit of a data wonk!) Thankfully, their website keeps a record of their playlist to save me from having to actually be tuned in endlessly - I'm sure having to listen to all that repetitiveness would have driven me bat crazy! I would only tune in occasionally just to spotcheck that what was being posted on the website was congruent with what was actually played and indeed found it to be 100% accurate each time I listened.
My findings will make you cry.
First and foremost, there is very little variety in the artists that get airplay. There are only about 100 bands that this station plays. For any radio station, that's rather pathetic - but for someone claiming to be an ALTERNATIVE station, this is inexcusable! More than most other formats, alternative artists are plentiful especially considering all the various types & subgenres & eras they could be drawing from. I'll return to the subject of artists played in a moment but now let's move on to the number of actual songs this station plays...
There are only between 200-300 songs in their ENTIRE playlist. Now bear in mind, radio is a 24/7 entity & this is a distressingly minuscule number of songs for a station to have. Especially considering how there's only around 100 artists they play. TWENTY-THREE of those few artists they play have four or more songs in the playlist and three have ten or more songs played with the most being Red Hot Chili Peppers with 14 songs in rotation.
Not only will you hear the same small pool of songs played over & over but they seem to be picked by robots rather than given any conscious thought by someone who knows what they're doing - the same song or artist often gets repeated very close to their last spin.
Nauseated yet? Well, hold on to your hat, be sitting down...and maybe just to be on the safe side you may want to have a box of Kleenex or something handy you can throw up in as you read this next part. So, as mentioned out of the vast rich repertoire of alternative musicians that Alt AZ could be playing, only about 100 are actually finding their way onto the station. The lack of variety and artists they play is by far the station's biggest weakness. So with the minimal number of people you'll hear when you tune in, WHY WHY WHY are they giving airplay to people like Missy Elliott, Macklemore, and Taylor Swift? Seriously? Um, do the people running this station even grasp the concept of alternative music? These are acts that alternative music is an "alternative" TO! So this station - having the audacity to call itself "Arizona's Alternative" - not only plays precious few alternative artists, but wastes the diminutive number of its slots on singers that are the very *opposite* of alternative! Elliott and Swift get airplay but artists like System of a Down, Talking Heads, Wilco, REM, National, Clash, Interpol, Cure, Arcade Fire, Smiths, Ramones, & Tears for Fears are NOWHERE to be found? This station doesn't even play any Depeche Mode...an alt station without DM is like a roast beef sandwich with no roast beef! Hey Alt AZ, "WHERE'S THE BEEF?!"
Wait. It gets worse. I tried contacting the station directly with my concerns & their response was completely dismissive. The #1 Rule of Business is "Know Your Customer". Here I am, a member of your target audience practically handing over the keys to the kingdom of how to be not just good but brilliant & they have their fingers in their ears. If this was a station with any degree of excellence, I would be the most devoted listener! But they're not only failing to give me a reason to tune in but actually giving me several reasons to seek music elsewhere! D'oh! It doesn't matter if you're a radio station, an eatery, or a mattress maker - if you have no desire or interest in giving your customer base what they want, you are Dead on Arrival & right now Alt AZ 93.3 is a corpse.
Valley fans of good alt radio have been in agony since the departure of KUKQ. Just before this station came along, two (or three depending how you consider them) different entities were working on reviving the KUKQ brand and legacy. Both gave up when Alt AZ came along since they promised to be a major alternative station on one of The Valley's strongest airwaves. Yet listening to this station for any length of time is like a big "I've waited ages for a good alt station & all I got was this crummy t-shirt" zonk. Alt AZ is a total slap in the face to those who've waited patiently for a decent alt station. We need a revolution...but right now 93.3 is the one who's revolting!
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