Category Archives: Music
Music is universal, blogging is too!
New Audio For Your Ears!
Chris Malone introducing legendary Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly/ Greensboro, North Carolina
Sample refreshing audio airchecks and demos from Chris Malone
Radio Audio- WQMG/UrbanAC Greensboro:
Commercial Production Audio:
Endorsement Audio:
Radio Imaging Audio:
“Audio that doesn’t make you feel something is just noise”
– Mark Ramsey Media
Booked a flight for Al Sharpton?
Radio’s leading industry news source featured Chris Malone as their weekly 10 questions interviewee, check out the article, below…
Chris Malone
Assistant Program Director / Afternoons
Station:WQMG, WEAL-A
Market:Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point
Company:Entercom Communications
Born:July 31st, I’m a proud Leo (that’s an oxymoron) and an ’80’s baby (watch out world)!
10 Questions with … Chris Malone
1) You were programming successfully in Raleigh and the buzz on you, the revenues, and the ratings were solid. Folks still don’t understand why the format suddenly was taken off the air; what happened?
The company re-aligned signals after a wicked ice storm last winter took down the tower of the popular and profitable Regional Mexican sister station. The station remained off-air for weeks, before the decision came down to move the Regional Mexican station back its original dial position prior to Urban AC in the interim. Although the Urban AC format was dismantled, all full-time staffers were able to remain employed with the company, which is unheard of these days. It was a great experience and we had good times in the process. I’m able rest my hat on the fact that we provided a fresh alternative to a previously uncontested Adult Urban radio market. The community feedback was positive and we wrapped with impressive numbers in a highly competitive, compressed market (we ended with a 3.4 share; 6+). A good place to move forward. Read the rest of this entry
Stars comes and go. Radio remains.
After nearly ten years in the radio business, I would’ve never imagined I’d cover so much history in the entertainment community. I’ve started to realize three things: life is short, fragile, and the life you’re given is as real as it gets. With the recent death of Whitney Houston, a world renowned entertainer, I started to reflect on the legends lost over my young radio career. I was on-air when we lost Luther Vandross, Barry White, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Teena Marie, Heavy D, Don Cornelius, James Brown, Etta James, and other notables that I’ve probably overlooked. Not to sound opportunistic or cynical, but when we lose a celebrity this becomes a huge moment for radio to shine. One major market programmer brought up a good point, listeners turn to radio during those heartbreaking moments to seek validity, remembrance, and vocal expression. Another programmer mentioned “suicidal celebrities..please not on the weekends”. Both thought-provoking statements and the fuel behind why I work harder during moments of celebrity bereavement for my listening audience. Read the rest of this entry
Tyrese Gibson Interview
Tyrese Gibson Live In Studio Interview w/ Chris Malone
So many random thoughts come to mind when you first hear the name Tyrese Gibson.
“That’s guy from the movie Babyboy”
“He’s the guy who sang Sweet Lady”
“Wasn’t he in a Coke commercial years ago?”
His devotion and hard work resonates across many different areas. Beyond his obvious background of actor, father, and singer you would be surprised to know that he’s also an author and has an interest in martial arts. Recently, I had the privilege to see the human side of Tyrese when I interviewed him on my afternoon drive radio show. He had just came off a long flight, hectic media tour around Memphis, and was operating on nothing but a bag of Cheetos. His walk was slow and his speak off-microphone was very little, however; when the on-air light came on Tyrese quickly became one of my favorite celebrity interviews. His wisdom was compelling and his advice was practical. Listen to the interview below!
Chris Malone Tyrese Gibson interview<~ click to listen to interview audio
The 2011 R&B Awards
When you think about R&B, classic artists such as Anita Baker, Barry White, or The O’Jays may come to mind. It’s amazing how their music from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s remains relevant and still sounds pleasing to ears today. The music director in me loves to research listener behavior and patterns. So, I spent some time snooping around my 12 year old niece’s iPod and shockingly found a number of classic R&B songs in her mix with newer titles. I even discovered some Michael Jackson tracks that I forgot about! My logical guess is that she was exposed to their music through her parents/grandparents, who fall within the core Adult Urban age cells. Although very few R&B songs these days are able to stand the test of time, I’d say the genre of music is healthier now than it’s been in a while. Consider this my version of R&B Grammy nominations..I list them, you decide? Read the rest of this entry
Worst songs of the 90’s….really?
When you think of the 90’s musically, you think of artists with very expressive hairstyles and uncoordinated fashions. At the very worst throughout much of that time period you had to deal with the complications of dual sided cassette tapes. Rolling Stones magazine has just released the worst songs of the 90’s based on respondents to their recent roll. Check out the list:
ROLLING STONE’S WORST ’90s SONG ENTRIES, 1-10:
10. 4 Non Blondes, “What’s Up?” Read the rest of this entry
Song ramps: Shorter is the new norm
Song ramps or “intro” times in radio relates to the number of seconds a song has on the front-end before the vocals start. Some programmers consider vocal harmonizing (think Mariah Carey) prior to the start of an actual verse is acceptable as the ramp too. I beg to differ, the slightest cough or vocal cue from the artist is the end of the intro and the start of the song in my opinion, but that’s neither here nor there, the intro times on songs have become noticeably shorter and shorter especially in contemporary hit music. This was the topic of a Sean Ross weekly blog via radio-info. Some programmers believe that record labels are appealing to the short attention spans of radio executives (basically get to the good stuff before they cut my record off and move on to the next). My point of view centers around the listener. As mentioned in Sean’s blog, radio exes. have shorter attention spans, however; we know that listeners do too. Radio had to adjust by creating shorter, more concise talk breaks. We’ve all heard the coaching technique: get to the subject, no long setup. For younger demos, I believe the record industry has started to notice the demands of a attention deficit generation. I can’t imagine too many 18-24 year olds sitting through a song on their Ipod that gives them nothing to vibe to within the first :05-:08 seconds. If the song “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” by The Temptations was released in today’s fast pace society, can you imagine how Gen Y would respond to the 1:02 song intro? They’d quickly bypass that song and to get to one that grabs them immediately. The same theory fuels the web, advertising, and marketing world too–quickly engage. Unfortunately or fortunately for radio, the short intro’s have been pushed our way in the process. Not because of us but, because of a sign of the times. Currently, I program an Urban AC station and the number of songs released with shorter intros are few and far between, but I’ve noticed the trend and I’m ok with it. Limits jock chatter over ramps and flows better.
Chris Malone 