The following is excerpted from Fundamentals of Radio Programming by Randy Michaels…. 
We need to research our music, and in my opinion any music station should be playing 50% Powers. If you’re in a really competitive situation, consider 70%. Consider 80%. ”Repetition” is a huge complaint from listeners. But think about it: People don’t complain about your playing their favorite song over & over. They complain about you playing the stuff that’s burned out over & over! Everyone says they want “more variety.” What does that mean? I saw this in one Classic Rock research project:
“More variety! I’m tired of ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ Give me more songs that I like that much.”
Well, they don’t exist! We’d love to play some songs you like as much as “Stairway to Heaven.” What are they?? Research is a wonderful tool and a real trap. Most stations don’t use it correctly. There’s a real tipping point in picking the sample. I’ve attended auditorium tests where they recruited warm bodies, 18-34 year-old men. It’s for a Rock station, and they’ve got people who listen only to Country. Let’s see if we can make sense of this:
If you never listen the radio, I don’t care what you like.
If I’m a Rock station and you happen to love Clint Black, I don’t care. If I’m a Country station and you’re a huge Rock fan, that’s nice; see you later! You want people who sample your product. On the flip side, you get PDs who say, “Oh, I only want my core audience. I don’t want my cume; I want only my core, my P1s.” And then you can end up with another problem. Research is like a big parabolic mirror. We collect data and we play back the center of the reflection. If you keep tightening up that focus, suddenly you have a declining core and a continually narrower target. The right way to set up your research is to look at your cume, look at the stations you share with, and have a ratio of core to cume that is in line with the ratings data. You don’t want want to research Country-exclusive listeners if you’re a Rock station. But you don’t want to be researching only your core either, because they’re already your core! What do you want them do? Not sleep?? When they’re listening to the radio, they’re listening to you! It’s an intelligent balance. Once you’ve got that right, use it! Excerpted from Fundamentals of Radio Programming.
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Nailed it!
Now – can I have that reduced down to a single slogan to print out and put on a poster infront of any and all Music Directors!
I recall hearing classic rock PDs bragging about how few titles they were playing! I thought at the time why not just have a station that plays nothing but Stairway To Heaven, Turn The Page, Money For Nothing, Day In The Life and Satisfaction?
Everyone who owns an iPod is a music director… with their little 250 song universe on their iPod. Nowadays, I think the good songs that were minor hits are just as important. The one hit wonders, the b-sides, the songs that today’s MP3 / iPod crowd can’t find or don’t remember… but they still like. Those “oh yeah” songs and artists. AND… you have to deliver what an iPod can’t… a LIVE body delivering LOCAL info, in a way that’s all about the listener.
Research, done right, can provide a substantial boost to AQH share via increased TSL. I saw it demonstrated time and again at some of the more successful stations where I’ve worked. That said, research will not help one whit unless you have a Music Director who understands and can utilize Music Scheduling software. It takes much more than auto-generating a music log ,then exporting it to traffic, to take advantage of research. A great music director can take 300-600 titles and make it sound like the “Bomb of Music Variety”…but it takes work!
In absence of LOCAL music research by a reputable company (who has a budget for THAT now days??!) there are opportunities to “appropriate” research for the tight budget/small market radio station – including “gut” – a trait rare but available with the right hire!
That said, Randy Micheal’s “Fundamental’s of Radio Programming” is the BIBLE of programming and especially Music Programming and Music Scheduling. And I highly recommend it!