We've been having an interesting discussion about 102.1 in the comments for this entry about Alan Cross's exit as Program Director for CFNY, now better known as Edge 102. The primary complaint is Edge 102's small playlist. They seem to play the same 12-15 songs over and over and over again.
Earlier today, I grabbed the names of every song Edge 102 had played up to that minute. By 10:30am today they had played 110 songs. I looked at each song and assigned it a label: New, Recent or Classic Alternative.
New: I labelled a song new if it was new to the playlist in 2008. The new Coldplay and Offspring songs are obviously new, but I also considered the Raconteurs' "Salute Your Salution" to be new, even though it's not exactly fresh at this point.
Recent: I created this category to cover songs that aren't exactly Classic Alternative but also aren't new. "Try Honesty" by Billy Talent is a good example of a fairly recent song that's well past its hey day.
Classic Alternative: This covers the "golden oldies" CFNY likes to play. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, U2, Beastie Boys, STP, etc.
Here are the songs with their assigned labels. After the chart, I'll hit you up with some stats.
10:25 AM"HAMMERHEAD" - OFFSPRING NEW 10:22 AM"MADE OF STONE" - SPIRAL BEACH NEW 10:15 AM"BELIEVE" - BRAVERYNEW 10:14 AM"WANDER FAR AWAY" - REBEL EMERGENCYNEW 10:11 AM"DUMB" - NIRVANA CLASSIC ALT 10:04 AM"THEM KIDS" - SAM ROBERTSNEW 9:59 AM"EVEN FLOW" - PEARL JAMCLASSIC ALT 9:55 AM"COMIN' HOME" - CITY AND COLOURRECENT 9:47 AM"PORK AND BEANS" - WEEZERNEW 9:39 AM"MONSTER HOSPITAL" - METRICRECENT 9:36 AM"MAKE IT WIT CHU" - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGENEW 9:14 AM"BEST OF YOU" - FOO FIGHTERSRECENT 9:11 AM"TESSELLATE" - TOKYO POLICE CLUBNEW 9:02 AM"HANDLEBARS" - FLOBOTSNEW 8:56 AM"SALUTE YOUR SOLUTION" - RACONTEURSNEW 8:45 AM"GOOD TIMES" - FINGER ELEVENCLASSIC ALT 8:28 AM"PLUSH" - STONE TEMPLE PILOTSCLASSIC ALT 8:11 AM"THIS RESPIRATOR" - FLATLINERSNEW 7:57 AM"VIOLET HILL" - COLDPLAYNEW 7:45 AM"RIVER BELOW" - BILLY TALENTRECENT 7:31 AM"LITHIUM" - NIRVANACLASSIC ALT 7:10 AM"HAMMERHEAD" - OFFSPRING NEW (R) 6:47 AM"NO ONE KNOWS" - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGECLASSIC ALT 6:17 AM"BELIEVE" - BRAVERY NEW (R) 6:13 AM"ONE THING" - FINGER ELEVENCLASSIC ALT 6:00 AM"PORK AND BEANS" - WEEZERNEW (R) 5:57 AM"SABOTAGE" - BEASTIE BOYSCLASSIC ALT 5:42 AM"SONG 2" - BLURCLASSIC ALT 5:39 AM"TESSELLATE" - TOKYO POLICE CLUBNEW (R) 5:27 AM"MY HERO" - FOO FIGHTERSCLASSIC ALT 5:24 AM"ALWAYS WHERE I NEED TO BE" - KOOKS NEW 5:16 AM"SOMEWHERE OUT THERE" - OUR LADY PEACECLASSIC ALT 5:13 AM"THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE" - RISE AGAINST NEW 5:05 AM"JUST" - RADIOHEADCLASSIC ALT 5:02 AM"SALUTE YOUR SOLUTION" - RACONTEURSNEW (R) 4:58 AM"UNDER THE BRIDGE" - RED HOT CHILI PEPPERSCLASSIC ALT 4:55 AM"TIME BOMB" - RANCIDCLASSIC ALT 4:51 AM"I WILL POSSESS YOUR HEART" - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIENEW (R) 4:47 AM"TRY HONESTY" - BILLY TALENTRECENT 4:44 AM"WHAT I GOT" - SUBLIMECLASSIC ALT 4:36 AM"WE'RE ALL TO BLAME" - SUM 41RECENT 4:33 AM"2 & 15/16THS" - USS NEW 4:26 AM"FIRESTARTER" - PRODIGYCLASSIC ALT 4:23 AM"THIS RESPIRATOR" - FLATLINERSNEW (R) 4:20 AM"BRAIN STEW" - GREEN DAYCLASSIC ALT 4:16 AM"TALKING TO THE WALLS" - FINGER ELEVEN NEW 4:10 AM"DISCIPLINE" - NINE INCH NAILS NEW 4:05 AM"FLY AWAY" - LENNY KRAVITZCLASSIC ALT 4:01 AM"VIOLET HILL" - COLDPLAYNEW (R) 3:56 AM"SHOW ME HOW TO LIVE" - AUDIOSLAVERECENT 3:54 AM"SONS OF HOSTAGE LIFE" - HOSTAGE LIFERECENT 3:49 AM"JEREMY" - PEARL JAMCLASSIC ALT 3:41 AM"(I HATE) EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU" - THREE DAYS GRACERECENT 3:37 AM"SLEEPING SICKNESS" - CITY AND COLOUR NEW 3:31 AM"FAINT" - LINKIN PARKRECENT 3:27 AM"HAMMERHEAD" - OFFSPRINGNEW (R) 3:24 AM"SABOTAGE" - BEASTIE BOYS CLASSIC ALT (R) 3:21 AM"MADE OF STONE" - SPIRAL BEACHNEW (R) 3:10 AM"BODYSNATCHERS" - RADIOHEAD NEW 3:06 AM"LAST NITE" - STROKESCLASSIC ALT 3:02 AM"THEM KIDS" - SAM ROBERTSNEW (R) 2:59 AM"STOP" - AGAINST ME! NEW 2:55 AM"SURRENDER" - BILLY TALENTRECENT 2:47 AM"CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA" - OASISCLASSIC ALT 2:39 AM"WAKE UP" - ARCADE FIRERECENT 2:37 AM"BITCHES IN TOKYO" - STARS NEW 2:29 AM"THE HAND THAT FEEDS" - NINE INCH NAILSRECENT 2:26 AM"PORK AND BEANS" - WEEZERNEW (R) 2:24 AM"TIME OF YOUR LIFE (GOOD RIDDANCE)" - GREEN DAYCLASSIC ALT 2:19 AM"OBLIVION" - WINTERSLEEP NEW 2:11 AM"BELIEVE" - BRAVERYNEW (R) 2:05 AM"BIG EMPTY" - STONE TEMPLE PILOTSCLASSIC ALT 2:02 AM"TESSELLATE" - TOKYO POLICE CLUBNEW (R) 1:59 AM"PAIN" - THREE DAYS GRACERECENT 1:55 AM"BY THE WAY" - RED HOT CHILI PEPPERSCLASSIC ALT 1:47 AM"AMERICAN WOMAN" - LENNY KRAVITZCLASSIC ALT 1:43 AM"WANDER FAR AWAY" - REBEL EMERGENCY NEW (R) 1:35 AM"MS. JACKSON" - OUTKAST CLASSIC ALT 1:32 AM"SALUTE YOUR SOLUTION" - RACONTEURSNEW (R) 1:30 AM"HANDLEBARS" - FLOBOTSNEW (R) 1:25 AM"ONE" - U2 CLASSIC ALT 1:22 AM"TO A FRIEND" - ALEXISONFIRERECENT 1:13 AM"LONG ROAD TO RUIN" - FOO FIGHTERS NEW 1:08 AM"ANEURYSM" - NIRVANA CLASSIC ALT 1:03 AM"THIS RESPIRATOR" - FLATLINERSNEW (R) 1:00 AM"STRANGE TIMES" - BLACK KEYS NEW 12:55 AM"SAYONARA" - OPERATION MD NEW 12:51 AM"NUMB/ENCORE" - JAY-Z/LINKIN PARKRECENT 12:44 AM"MAN IN THE BOX" - ALICE IN CHAINSCLASSIC ALT 12:40 AM"UNTIL WE BURN IN THE SUN (THE KIDS JUST WANT A LOVE SONG)" - BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH NEW 12:34 AM"LAST RESORT" - PAPA ROACHCLASSIC ALT 12:31 AM"VIOLET HILL" - COLDPLAYNEW (R) 12:25 AM"PRAISE YOU" - FATBOY SLIMCLASSIC ALT 12:20 AM"WHERE WE ARE" - NEVERENDING WHITE LIGHTS NEW 12:14 AM"MAKE IT WIT CHU" - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGENEW (R) 12:10 AM"RED FLAG" - BILLY TALENT RECENT 12:08 AM"HANDLEBARS" - FLOBOTSNEW (R) 12:03 AM"HAMMERHEAD" - OFFSPRINGNEW (R)
Here's what we learn from this random spot check of Edge 102's playlist.
- # of unique new songs: 27 / 24.54%
- # of unique recent songs: 17 / 15.45%
- # of unique classic alternative songs: 31 / 28.18%
- # of unique songs overall: 77 / 70%
- # of repeated songs: 23 / 20.90%
If you're looking to hear a variety of new music, you'd likely be disappointed that less than a quarter of these 110 songs are unique new songs. Overall, however, if you're okay with older tracks, over two thirds of the songs played are different.
This does prove that the playlist is larger than 12-15 songs. 70% of the songs played were different, and when you're digging a hot new track, hearing it more often isn't so bad, is it?
Note: I'm not trying to defend Edge 102's song selection nor am I trying to trash them. I don't know anyone who currently works at CFNY personally, it's just a station I periodically enjoy even though it used to be way better. Draw your own conclusions from these metrics and please share them in the comments!
