July 19, 2011

By Gary Trust, New York

"I was on my way to an airport," said Richard Marx, "flipping the dial. I was like, 'Awesome, it's the new single!'" At a June 23 performance at Clear Channel's P.C. Richard & Son Theater in New York, Marx is talking about hearing his new song, "When You Loved Me."

"At the end of the song, the DJ came on and said, 'That's brand-new from Richard Marx. Next up: Nickelback with 'Photograph.' I freaked out, because usually, if I hear my song on the radio, it's like, 'That was Richard Marx, and next up is ... Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings,' which is cool," Marx said to the crowd's chuckles. "But, that day, I was sandwiched between Daughtry and Nickelback - and it was a little cooler."

 

Marx's reaction is a fairly typical response to an artist finding success on adult contemporary radio-often maligned as the vanilla of radio formats. And in truth, AC was designed not to offend, but to provide background companionship during the workday, and to lull listeners to sleep with gentle ballads on late-night love songs shows. While Marx did add, "Thank God I hear my songs on the radio," being pegged as an AC act, for those who consider themselves hipper than Midler's "Wings," can be humbling. When you think you're Phish Food, you find out you're vanilla. The flip side? Vanilla is the top-selling ice cream flavor (according to the International Ice Cream Assn.'s latest rankings).

And, AC is routinely a top-rated format.

 

The Top 50 Adult Contemporary Artists Ever

 

A few stats: In Arbitron's May ratings for persons aged 6-plus, AC stations ranked first in top 20 markets New York (WLTW); Houston (KODA); Philadelphia (WBEB); Seattle (KRWM); Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (WALK); and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (WDUV). New York's WLTW (Lite 106.7) likewise led the nation's top market with a 7.5 share in women 25-54 and a 6.4 share in persons 25-54. "In Boston," says Don Kelley, VP/director of programming at Greater Media, which owns the city's WMJX (Magic 106.7), the station "has celebrated No. 1 rankings [in] persons 25-54 44 times since 1991. That's a market record."

That's also why Marx understands that being heard next to Midler ultimately means you're being heard. By a large audience. "With approximately 35 years of music to choose from," Edison Research VP of music and programming Sean Ross says, "AC is the format most likely to be playing a song that people are passionate about at any given time. 'Uncool' isn't quite an issue. Successful AC stations always turn up a wide swath of listeners-including men and 18- to 34-year-olds. Even when a successful station was mocked in TV campaigns by a competitor for being 'lite,' the taunt ultimately didn't take, ratings-wise."

THE EVOLUTION OF AC

In line with the AC format's image, the Billboard chart that is celebrating its 50th anniversary debuted unostentatiously in the July 17, 1961, issue. Without any editorial mention of its debut, the first survey appeared next to the Billboard Hot 100 as the 20-position Easy Listening chart, with rankings of songs considered "not too far out in either direction" (according to the chart's legend) culled from their standings on the airplay/sales hybrid Hot 100.

 

Brook Benton's "Boll Weevil Song" (Mercury) ranked as the first AC No. 1. (The chart's current leader, Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" [Columbia] is the 756th topper.) The list joined previously launched Hot C&W Sides (today, Country Songs) and Hot R&B Sides (now R&B/Hip-Hop Songs) as a tool for those who were programming current hits but, as rock'n'roll was emerging, opted to offer a softer mainstream musical menu. The chart repeatedly changed names, with Middle-Road Singles and Pop-Standard Singles alternating as the list's title through 1965, when it reverted to Easy Listening. Adult Contemporary took hold to stay the week of April 7, 1979. (It became an airplay-only chart beginning Aug. 21, 1982.)

 

The Top 100 Adult Contemporary Songs Ever

 

Similarly, the format itself has evolved. In its early history, the AC chart was devoid of acts that today would be considered easy listening. The Beatles, for instance, didn't chart an AC single until "Something" peaked at No. 19 in 1969. The Fab Four had placed 62 entries on the Hot 100 by then. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl," the format's most-played '60s song for the week ending July 3, according to Nielsen BDS (whose radio airplay data has powered the chart since the week of July 17, 1993), never made the list as a current in 1967.

Instead, the mellow tones of Roger Miller, Barbra Streisand and Bobby Vinton scaled the survey throughout much of the '60s. Elvis Presley did, too, but generally with such lush ballads as "Can't Help Falling in Love." It wasn't until the '70s that the AC chart began to welcome uptempo hits more regularly, as stations started specializing in different sides of pop. The AC format began to more closely resemble its current form and, from the decade's start, even such rock-leaning acts as Chicago, the Eagles and Elton John dominated the tally from early in their careers. From Michael Jackson and Madonna in the '80s to Mariah Carey and Celine Dion in the '90s, to boy bands, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry today, AC radio has chiefly played the top adult-friendly pop hits, once top 40 has warmed them up. The blueprint has worked for both radio stations and record labels.

"AC airplay has always been a major asset and outlet for us to reach the upper-demo consumer, which, thankfully, remains a loyal physical CD buyer," says RCA Music Group senior VP of adult music Adrian Moreira, who cites the value of between 15 million and 20 million in audience that an AC No. 1 accrues weekly. Still, AC radio itself fights its vanilla stereo­type. Longtime RMG acts Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow have combined for 13 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 since 2002, but Stewart added just two AC top 10s in that span after logging 19 between 1986 and 2001. Manilow notched his 27th and most recent top 10 in 1989.

Moreira has seen that as adult listeners have begun to accept some of the rhythmic/pop ubiquitous on today's top 40 radio - in addition to Gaga and Perry infusing AC playlists, even Usher's dance club thumper "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" reached the format's top 20 last month - AC is making sure to keep a foothold in current pop music.

"We've seen a fairly tidal shift in what AC will play," Moreira says. "Whereas it was once always a very specific home for heritage acts, like Stewart and Manilow, with storied pasts and long histories, in most cases now, AC has essentially become a time-shifted top 40 playlist, trailing proven hits at mainstream and adult top 40 by a few months. I'd like to see more of a balance between proven hits from other formats, which I understand ACs need to play, and support for those acts which have always defined AC in the past. There's room for both. It's a missed opportunity for radio and labels when great songs from established upper-demo acts get passed over."

Not that AC is in danger of ceding its identity as the radio dial's gentle resting place. "AC radio broke Michael Bublé and Josh Groban," Warner Bros./Reprise VP of adult formats Debbie Cerchione says of the Reprise vocalists who now represent a rarity: largely AC-exclusive superstar acts. "While AC is playing mostly multiformat hits, programmers also know that their listeners will come to them exclusively to hear these artists.

"A great example of AC radio's ability to actually break a song is Bublé's 'Haven't Met You Yet,' which started at AC, reached No. 1 and then crossed to adult top 40 and, ultimately, pop, which now rarely happens," Cerchione says. "Playing artists like Bublé and Groban define an AC radio station and separate it from the rest."

NEXT: THE SECRET TO AC's SUCCESS

Great read from Billboard on the 50th anniversary of their Adult Contemporary chart. I've been programming Adult Contemporary stations of one kind or another for 27 years and involved in the format since starting in radio in 1975.. This story, and the sidebars like the all time songs and artists, make for a tremendous trip down Memory Lane and show how adults and Adult radio have changed over the years.

We have already shown you how to clean your keyboard without breaking it, but did you know your smartphone can be just as dirty and covered with bacteria? Here is how to properly clean your smartphone.

Cell Phones have been repeatedly found to be one of the most disgusting things we regularly touch. In many tests, cell phones have tested to contain more germs than a toilet seat. Can you hear me now? You don’t want to put your head on a toilet seat. If you are going to reach out and touch someone your phone, make sure you rethink possibilities and clean your smartphone the right way.

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Tools You’ll need

To get started you will need to collect a few supplies:

• Lint free microfiber cloth - You should be able to pick up a microfiber cloth from an eyeglass store or pharmacy if you don’t have one. Many computers and mobile devices come with one for free, so make sure you check your box before throwing it out.
• Cotton swabs – We recommend either wood shafted cotton swabs or Q-tips branded cotton swabs because the shafts won’t be as flimsy as the cheap off brands.
• Distilled water – This is for cleaning your screen and camera lens. We recommend you get distilled water because it won’t have the chemicals of tap water and won’t leave a film if it drys.
• Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol – This is for cleaning your keypad and hard plastic.

Household chemicals and disinfectants are too harsh for most smartphones. Make sure you don’t use window cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, ammonia, ajax, CLR, or abrasives. These cleaners are guaranteed to stain your phone or remove the finish.

Cleaning Your Phone

Start by turning off your phone by holding the power button or finding an option in the phone to turn off or swap the battery.

You should also remove any case or cover on your phone if you use one.

If you have the ability, remove your battery from the phone prior to cleaning.

Be careful when removing a screen protector because the peeling action can cause cracks to spread. If you have major screen cracks it is recommended you leave the screen protector on because it will help keep moisture out of the phone and hold the screen together until you can buy a replacement.

If you have a keyboard or keypad start cleaning it with a cotton swab dipped in diluted rubbing alcohol. Be careful not to rub too hard and not to get any rubbing alcohol inside the phone or under the keyboard.

Next move to the rest of the phone plastics. For large areas like the battery cover it is fine to use rubbing alcohol. Use light pressure when cleaning plastic so you don’t remove any rubber coating or clear finish.

If you have metal trim on your phone, use a water dampened cotton swab instead of rubbing alcohol.

Once the outside is clean, use a dry cotton swab to clean out any dust under the battery cover. If you have any stubborn areas under the battery cover, use a very small amount of distilled water to clean it. Immediately dry any parts you clean with water so nothing gets inside the phone.

Dampen a cotton swab with water and clean your camera lens and flash using a spinning motion. Once the lens is clean quickly dry it with the other side of the cotton swab so that water doesn’t dry on the lens.

Now that the major portions of the phone have been cleaned, flip the screen over and dampen your lint free microfiber cloth. You don’t want the cloth dripping wet; the dampness will help remove crusted on streaks.

Clean the screen in single strokes from the ear piece down to the microphone. This motion will keep from spreading dirt into your ear piece. Don’t use circular motions because this can cause circular scratches.

Be very careful if you have a cracked screen because removing a screen protector or wiping the screen with pressure can cause the crack to spread. You may also want to forgo the damp cloth and just use a dry one to prevent any moisture from getting under the screen.

Some low end and older phones have plastic screens which can easily scratch. Make sure you use light pressure when cleaning your screen to stop scratches from forming. Most new Android phones and iPhones have hardened glass screens which won’t scratch as easily.

If you removed your screen protector, follow the directions that came with the protector to apply a new one after cleaning.

If you have an iPhone 4, remember that the front and back are made of glass so clean both sides the same way.

The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, Google Nexus S, and quite a few other phones have an oleophobic (literally meaning “fear of oil”) coating which repels oil from your hands and face. This coating will wear over time so make sure you don’t rub too hard or use rubbing alcohol or you might speed up the wear process.

Give the phone a few minutes to dry, then re-assemble and turn it back on. You should now have a clean phone without those nasty germs.

Clean Your Case

If you use a plastic phone cover/case use diluted rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs to clean the inside and outside.

Let the case air dry before putting it back on the phone.

If you use a leather case or pouch you can use leather cleaner designed to clean and moisturize leather. The cleaner can be purchased at many automotive, online, and discount stores. You will want to follow the specific directions on the leather cleaner to make sure your leather is clean and conditioned.

Kudos to www.howtogeek.com for this incredibly detailed and useful primer! Thanks for allowing me to share.

How Apple's iCloud Could Help Save the Music Industry

Apple has struck deals with record labels that will allow users to store their songs online

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Steve Jobs delivers the keynote address at the 2011 Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center on June 6, 2011 in San Francisco, California.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

By Steve Knopper

June 6, 2011 4:10 PM ET

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs' announcement today at the Worldwide Developers Conference that Apple's new iCloud service will allow music fans to copy their entire digital collections into a locker-style server accessible via 10 devices – including iPhones, iPads and computers – may not save the ravaged record industry, but it could provide a crucial new revenue stream while allowing consumers to easily consolidate their music libraries in the cloud. 

"Keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy," Jobs said in his keynote speech today at the WWDC in San Francisco today. "We have a great solution for this problem. We are going to demote the PC to just be a device. We are going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud."

Rumored for weeks, iCloud will be free for up to 5 gigabytes of music downloaded via iTunes, Jobs announced. The new iTunes iMatch service will cost $25 a year, with unlimited storage, for users to copy digital music ripped from CDs or downloaded illegally. (The free version is available immediately, while iMatch will roll out in coming months, most likely with a new version of Apple's operating system in the fall.) The service will also allow storage of movies, photos and other data files, replacing Apple's MobileMe, in an attempt to shift consumers from physical hard-drive to Web-based storage.

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"It is one way to make someone pay for music they've already bought. It's pretty ingenious," Syd Schwartz, a former EMI Music executive who is now a consultant to artist managers and record labels, tells Rolling Stone. "I'm sure someone in an executive office at a major label somewhere is going, 'At least that's one way we can monetize the stuff people stole from Napster over the years.'"

Apple isn't the first to provide such a service – Amazon unveiled its Cloud Drive in late March, and Google jumped into the market with Music Beta a month ago. (Also, in the late 1990s, MP3.com created a very similar service, Beam-It, but since the company had no licenses with major labels, Universal Music successfully branded it illegal piracy and sued, putting the service out of business.) But, in a swipe at his competitors, Jobs declared Apple's iCloud to be significantly faster than Amazon and Google's services. "It certainly appears like it's going to be a better experience," Schwartz says. "The Amazon and Google services were an attempt to bring them to market quickly."

And more important, unlike competitors Google and Amazon, Apple has licensing deals with record labels to use their vast song catalogs by artists from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Lady Gaga in the new service. As the world's biggest music retailer, with longstanding label deals for iTunes, Apple had the clout to make these deals where Amazon, Google and Spotify could not. The deals allow Apple to scan a user's hard drive and make copies of the songs in the cloud, rather than forcing users into the cumbersome process of uploading their collections. "You don’t have to store individual copies of every track. Which Amazon and Google do," says a source at a major label. "And they have to pay for storage costs. . . . Scan-and-match is a big advantage of a licensed locker."

Apple entered the music business in 2002, when it made digital-music deals with major record labels still shell-shocked from Napster and online piracy. In so doing, the computer company almost singlehandedly transformed the record business' longstanding sales model from selling $15 to $18 CDs to far less profitable 99-cent digital tracks. Apple did not give music companies a cut of the iPod, iPhone or other devices, however, and record executives have loudly complained as Apple's shares have skyrocketed during the same period labels have laid off staff, cut artist rosters and in the case of once-powerful EMI, flirted with bankruptcy.

Labels have struggled in the past several years to find new revenue streams, and numerous top executives point to music subscriptions as a powerful new business model based on monthly fees. However, existing subscription services such as Rhapsody and MOG have yet to gain a foothold in the U.S. music market, and American labels have yet to make deals with Spotify, the free service that has been popular in Europe the last three years. Also, in the past, Jobs has been critical of the subscription model, although he seemed to change his position in late 2009, when Apple bought the growing subscription company Lala.

For iCloud, Apple will give the four major labels almost 60 percent of future profits, as well as roughly 12 percent to music publishers, according to music-business sources. (One source at another major label says Apple will determine future percentages based on labels' sales – and that labels will then give profit shares to their artists based on the artists' sales.)

Many in the music business predict Apple will use iCloud as a gateway to a broader subscription service, perhaps in the next few months, although Jobs did not address this point in his speech. "It's a good start," says another music-business source. "If everyone in America who consumed music paid $25 to put their music in a cloud and then [iCloud] turns into a subscription-based music service – doesn't sound bad to me. Those economics would work well for everyone."

David Browne and Mark Knopper contributed to this report.

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Hate to say it, but nothing can save the music industry at this point.