The only other noteworthy track on the record is a cover of George Michael's 1987 hit "Faith," rendered as a raging faux-punk song with misplaced DJ scratching; it's at odds with the original version's upbeat message, and it's truly horrendous. KNRK's Mark Hamilton seems like the kind of person who might actually go for this type of music. His basement office looks like a dorm room at a party school, with haphazardly stacked CDs, concert posters and shiny stickers covering any exposed surface. But Hamilton isn't too keen on Limp Bizkit. Interscope sent him a video and CD of "Counterfeit" for consideration, and he tossed it on the reject pile. "It was awful," Hamilton says. "It sucked." With KUFO's help, Limp Bizkit became mildly popular in Portland, though it's not a clear-cut success story. At the band's show at the Roseland Theater on March 16, which the station promoted heavily, about 350 of the 1,100 seats were empty. Music Millennium's Terry Currier says the airplay helped sales, but it's hardly been a stampede. Prior to KUFO playing "Counterfeit," Limp Bizkit had sold no copies of its album in Currier's eastside store, and after it appeared on the radio, three customers purchased the album. --RM
They're Playing Our Song
A song's path to a radio station's playlist begins when a record label sends a promotional copy of an album or single to a program director, who decides whether it rocks or sucks. The radio execs also consult MTV's and other radio stations' playlists, trade journals and tip sheets, demographic studies and surveys, and focus groups. Then there's the pressure from major-label representatives, who can offer everything from helpful advice to tempting promotional items in hopes of gaining an all-important add to the playlist. KUFO's Dave Numme says the promotions people he deals with have a variety of persuasive methods. "They'll send the CDs, they'll come and visit and play them for you, they'll fly programmers to other cities to see a band perform live," he says. "They'll send you press clippings, bios, videos. They'll talk to you about other stations playing the song, about MTV playing it. All things to bring attention and credibility to their band to compete for a slot on a station's playlist." Their tactics must be working. KUFO and KNRK's playlists are almost exclusively songs by major-label bands. The only completely independent band on either list is Portland's Absinthe, which KNRK program director Mark Hamilton says will soon drop from rotation after 12 weeks. How does he determine which songs stay and which go? KNRK, like many other stations, uses phone market research (Numme wouldn't say if KUFO does). The stations hire companies to survey listeners by playing a 10-second hook over the phone and asking the respondent to rate what they've heard and whether they'd like to hear it over and over again. KUFO, whose slogan promises "classic rock to the cutting edge," is defined in the industry as an active rock station, which means it plays heavier bands than KNRK, such as Van Halen and Tool. KNRK, which calls itself "the new rock alternative," spins tunes by power-pop bands such as Fastball and Stabbing Westward and other hot alternative acts like Semisonic and Eugene's Cherry Poppin' Daddies. --RM Following are recent playlists from KUFO and KNRK. Note: KUFO regularly plays "classic rock" songs from groups such as AD/DC and Led Zeppelin that do not show up on the playlist.
Number of plays per week - artist/song |
