Beautiful music

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Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM / EZ) is a mostly-instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s. "Mood music," "easy listening," and the often derogatory "Muzak" and "elevator music" are other common terms for the format and the style of music that it featured. Beautiful music can also be regarded as a subset of MOR radio format.

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1 History
2 Contemporary beautiful music stations
3 Artists and music
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Beautiful music initially offered soft and unobtrusive instrumental selections on a very structured schedule with limited commercial interruptions. It often functioned as a free background music service for stores, with commercial breaks consisting only of announcements aimed at shoppers already in the stores. This practice was known as "storecasting" and was very common on the FM dial in the 1940s and 1950s,^{[citation needed]} particularly on independently-owned FMs that did not have an AM sister station to simulcast.

[edit] Growth as a radio format: WDVR

In the early 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a standard for transmitting and receiving stereo signals on a single channel of the FM band. In addition to delivering stereo sound, FM broadcasting provided a clearer sound quality and better resistance to interference than AM, thus being the ideal vehicle for broadcasting the beautiful music format. In 1963, Marlin Taylor created a custom-designed beautiful music format at Philadelphia's WDVR-FM, and within four months, WDVR became the #1 rated FM station in the Philadelphia market, becoming not only the first big success in FM broadcasting but instrumental in establishing the viability of the FM band.

[edit] KIXL and other stations

Although WDVR (later renamed WEAZ)in Philadelphia perfected the "beautiful music" formula and confirmed its appeal, it did not invent the format.^{[citation needed]} According to a 2003 article in Popular Communications magazine by broadcast historian Shannon Huniwell, perhaps the first true beautiful music station in the United States was KIXL in Dallas, Texas, which operated at "104 on both dials" (1040 AM and 104.5 FM) during the 1950s and 1960s.^{[citation needed]} Pronounced "Ki'xul" on the air, KIXL was well-known for seamlessly blending one song into another with the help of specially designed instrumental bridges. They were also known for a popular feature called "Think It Over," in which the smooth-voiced announcer softly intoned a proverb or a word of wisdom, followed by a short pause and the admonition, "Think it over." Inspired by the success of KIXL, Gordon McLendon - best known for programming Top 40-formatted KLIF, the top-rated station in Dallas throughout the 1950s and 1960s - decided to start up a beautiful music station of his own in the San Francisco market. He took over KROW-AM, licensed to nearby Oakland, and revamped it with a Beautiful Music format as KABL (pronouned "cable," as in "cable car").^{[citation needed]} Other pioneers of the format included WPAT-AM/FM in Paterson, New Jersey, which served the New York market; WJBR-FM in Wilmington, Delaware, whose signal reached Philadelphia (home of WDVR); and WQMR-AM/WGAY-FM, which served the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

[edit] Reel-to-reel tape

Others, such as Jim Schulke, devised a method of buying air time on FM stations in bulk and reselling the blocks to interested advertisers. Schulke formed Stereo Radio Productions (SRP) to help his stations get better ratings and pull in more agency advertising dollars. His stations used 600 ten-and-a-half-inch diameter reels of stereo reel-to-reel tape set on multiple machines so that 15 minute segments would play at a time, alternating from one player to another, allowing a varied programming format in which no half-hour was repeated within a two-week period. One of Schulke's stations using this "matched flow" concept was WDVR's chief competitor in the beautiful music format in Philadelphia, WWSH-FM.

Some group station owners created their own "in-house" format distribution system. Bonneville Broadcasting Systems serviced mostly Bonneville-owned stations, with easy listening music distributed first on reel-to-reel tape and compact disc, and later adopted satellite distribution, often under the slogan "Satellite Stereo" (as was used by Malrite Communications'. WEZO-FM in Rochester, New York, was one of the independent radio stations signed with Bonneville.)

Several other tape syndicators offered easy listening music formats on reel-to-reel tape and other formats until the 1980s, when industry consolidation and a decline in listener appeal reduced the audience for the format.

[edit] Instrumental-vocal mix

Many beautiful music programmers constructed their own style of sets, eventually incorporating vocal songs, generally one to each 15 minute set. Many stations adopted an 80% instrumental - 20% vocal mix, others offered 90% instrumentals, and a few were entirely instrumental.

Generally, the recordings heard on beautiful music stations were newly orchestrated arrangements of the songs of the day. These were available from the major record labels and performed by such artists as Andre Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, Mantovani, the 101 Strings, Billy Vaughn, The Living Strings, Frank Chacksfield, and many, many others. When the record companies cut back on releasing this material, syndicators of the format had custom recordings produced for them, performed by many different orchestras from around the world. These new custom recordings were usually instrumental versions of current or recent rock and roll or pop hit songs, a move that was thought would give the stations more mass appeal without selling out, but also disgusted some longtime listeners of the format. Some stations would also occasionally play earlier big band-era recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s.

Many beautiful music stations would air Christmas songs throughout the month of December, culminating in a special marathon of seasonal music on December 24th and 25th. This concept was later borrowed (and expanded upon) by Soft AC stations.

[edit] List of stations

Some of the most notable and highest-rated beautiful music stations, in addition to those already mentioned, included:

WPCH in Atlanta
WLIF and Art Wander-programmed WBAL-AM in Baltimore
KRDO in Colorado Springs
WJIB and WHDH in Boston
WCLR, WLAK, and WLOO in Chicago
WHIO in Dayton
WWJ (later WJOI) and WLDM in Detroit
WRCH and WKSS in Hartford
KUMU in Honolulu
KYND-FM, KODA-AM/FM, KXYZ in Houston
WKTZ in Jacksonville
KBIG and KOST in Los Angeles
WLYF in Miami
WEZW in Milwaukee
WAYL in Minneapolis
WRFM and WTFM in New York City
WVNJ in Newark
WWSH in Philadelphia
WEZO in Rochester
KCTC and KEWT and in Sacramento
K-JOY and XTRA in San Diego
KEUT, KIXI-AM/FM and KSEA in Seattle
KEZK in St. Louis
WDUV in Tampa/St. Petersburg
WEAT in West Palm Beach
WFYN in Key West

Most of the aforementioned stations were programmed by Schulke Productions or competing syndicators such as Bonneville and Century. Ed Winton, a protege of Gordon McLendon, brought the format to Connie B. Gay's WGAY 1050 am in Silver Spring, Maryland changing AM to WQMR. Simulcasting on WGAY and WQMR (Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Maryland) Ed Winton, Bill Doty and Alan Campbell programmed an independent beautiful music format beginning in the early 1960s and ending in the early 1990s. Later Bob Chandler, tutored by Winton, a leading exponent of the genre, was Operations Director. He organized repeated trips to Europe to make instrumental cover recordings of popular vocal music, which were then made available to beautiful music stations in other markets.

[edit] Declining years

As the format continued into the 1980s, more vocals were incorporated into each set, and the vocals played on beautiful music stations were more likely to be from softer-styled "top 40" artists such as Barbra Streisand, The Carpenters, and Helen Reddy than from "adult standards" artists like Dean Martin, Andy Williams and Doris Day. Over time, the instrumentals were eliminated completely, making way for the "light adult contemporary" format. By the end of the decade, the popularity of other formats, such as Top 40, album oriented rock, and classic rock began to dominate the FM dial. Advertisers were going after a younger audience, and stations soon dropped the Beautiful Music format and switched to whatever seemed more appropriate for the audiences that the advertisers were going after.

Some beautiful music stations did make a successful transition into adult contemporary formats, although often not without call letter changes to drop the identity of being a so-described "elevator music" station. The aforementioned WDVR in Philadelphia, which later changed its calls to WEAZ, became AC-formatted WBEB-FM in the early 1990s and continues to this day as a highly rated station, usually ranking first on Philadelphia arbitrons.^{[citation needed]} Other examples include Chicago's WLAK-FM, which became WLIT, Charlotte's WEZC and WRLX, which today are now, respectively, WKQC and WLYT, and Atlanta's WPCH which is now WLTM. Other stations continue with AC formats bearing the same calls as their beautiful music predecessors, including: KOST and KBIG in Los Angeles, WSB-FM in Atlanta, WTVR in Richmond, VA, WSHH in Pittsburgh, WDOK in Cleveland, WLIF in Baltimore, KOSI in Denver, CO, WNIC in Detroit, and WJBR in Wilmington, DE, as well as, in Canada, CHFI in Toronto and CHQM in Vancouver, B.C..

In Tampa, FL, WDUV also lives on with a mixture of soft AC hits and oldies and with one or two instrumentals per hour (though the instrumentals are now more likely to be of the "smooth jazz" variety). WDUV ("The Dove") is also consistently the top-rated station overall in the Tampa Arbitron ratings, despite its move in 1999 from 103.5 to the weaker 105.5 frequency.

[edit] Beautiful music today

The beautiful music format did not die completely. Today's smooth jazz radio stations maintain the structure and style of the beautiful music format. And although today there are only a handful of true beautiful music stations still on the air, the format still lives on a few non-commercial radio stations, including WKTZ (90.9 FM) in Jacksonville, Florida, which is owned by Jones College and also streams its programming online. WKTZ plays many pop-standard selections and some big band material, as was common on many beautiful music stations during the 1960s and 1970s. Other non-commercial stations offering the beautiful music format include KLUX (89.5 FM) in Corpus Christi, TX, KHOY (88.1 FM) in Laredo, TX, and WJMJ (88.9 FM) in Hartford, CT. WOEZ (88.3 FM) in Knoxville, TN, known as "EZ 88," features a mix of beautiful music, standards and smooth jazz unique to its market.

Some commercial beautiful music stations do still exist as well, often in areas with large retiree populations, and are often very popular in the markets they serve, especially with older listeners. An annual influx of vacationers from colder climates has helped such stations as "Wave 101" WAVV (101.1 FM) Marco Island (Naples), FL, WEZV (105.9 FM) in Myrtle Beach, SC, and KWXY (98.5 FM) in Cathedral City, CA (Palm Springs market) consistently rank number one in the 12+ Arbitron ratings in their respective markets. KWXY, in fact, has had essentially the same format since signing on in 1964.

WJIB (AM 740) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, owned by Bob Bittner, is notable as one of the few remaining beautiful music stations serving a major metropolitan area; in fact, it features the same calls and format as a former beautiful music FM in Boston (now WTKK-FM, 96.9). WJIB also includes a large amount of adult standards, traditional pop music and oldies material in its playlist. Bob Bittner also owns WJTO (730 AM) in Bath, ME, serving the Portland market, which features a format similar to that of WJIB.

Other examples of commercial radio stations continuing to feature the beautiful music format include WGCY (106.3 FM) in Gibson City, IL; WMUU (94.5 FM) in Greenville, SC; WHLC (104.5 FM) in Highlands, NC; KNXR (97.5 FM) in Rochester, MN; and CKOT (101.3 FM, Easy 101) in Tillsonburg, ON, Canada.

In addition, beautiful music is available on satellite radio. Using Bonneville and SRP veterans, XM Satellite Radio programs a dedicated beautiful music channel ("Escape") for its subscribers, and the Music Choice digital satellite service now has a permanent music channel devoted to the once-mighty FM radio format that relaxed and soothed radio audiences for decades.

[edit] Contemporary beautiful music stations

CKOT Tillsonburg, ON - 101.3 FM "Easy 101"
KHOY Laredo, TX - 88.1 FM
KLUX Corpus Christi, TX - 89.5 FM - "Good Company"
KNXR Rochester, MN - 97.5 FM
WAVV Marco Island, FL - 101.1 FM "Wave 101"
WCVU Solana, FL - 104.9 FM "Seaview 104.9"
WEZS Laconia, NH - 1350 AM
WGCY Gibson City, IL - 106.3 FM
WHLC Highlands, NC - 104.5 FM
WJEJ Hagerstown, MD - 1240 AM
WJIB Cambridge, MA - 740 AM
WJMJ Hartford, CT - 88.9 FM (calls: Jesus, Mary, Joseph; operated by the local Catholic archdiocese)
WJTO Bath, ME - 730 AM
WKEZ Tavernier, FL - 96.9 FM "Easy 96.9"
WKTZ Jacksonville, FL - 90.9 FM
WMUU Greenville, SC - 94.5 FM
WOEZ Knoxville, TN - 88.3 FM "EZ88"
WRDV Warminster, PA - 89.3 FM / WLBS Bristol, PA - 91.7 FM (weekend show: "Bill Hower's Music Box")