Adult contemporary music

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Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, is a type of radio format that plays mainstream contemporary pop music, excluding hip hop, hard rock, and some teen pop music, which is intended for an adult audience. AC is generally divided into 4 groups; "Hot AC", also known as "Adult Top 40", "Soft AC", also known as "Lite", and "Urban AC", also known as "Urban Contemporary", and "Christian AC", (family friendly and spiritual songs). Some radio stations play only Hot AC; some play only Soft AC, and some play both. It is not thus usually considered a specific genre of music, as it is merely an assembly of selected tracks of musicians of many different genres.

Contents 1 Hot Adult Contemporary 2 Soft Adult Contemporary 3 Urban Adult Contemporary 4 History and Evolution of the Format 5 Some Adult Contemporary core artists 6 Some Hot AC core artists 7 Charts 8 See also

[edit] Hot Adult Contemporary

Hot Adult Contemporary was introduced in 1986 as a hybrid of Top 40 and oldies-based Adult Contemporary. The format was designed to appeal to adults who liked pop music but also liked more era variety than Top 40 offered. The first Hot AC station was WWMX (Mix 106.5 - "Baltimore's Best Mix of the 60's, 70's and 80's"). New songs with sufficient adult appeal that weren't too soft were mixed with popular oldies that weren't too old. By the early 1990s "Mix" stations appeared in most markets in the US. "Star" is another popular nickname, pioneered by Star 100.7 in San Diego, which is now known as Star 94.1.

Today, Hot AC radio stations tend towards slightly harder rock music, such as Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith, and may occasionally play dance hits, such as those by Paula Abdul, Kylie Minogue, and Nina Sky. Madonna's more upbeat songs "Music" and "Ray Of Light" were big hits on Hot AC, but were not played on Soft AC stations, which are more likely to play her songs "I'll Remember", "Crazy For You", "Live To Tell" or "Take A Bow". Hot AC is slightly more alternative than Soft AC—3 Doors Down's "When I'm Gone" was a considerable Hot AC hit but is not played on Soft AC radio stations. All five of the hit singles from Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill are also staples of this format.

Some Hot AC stations have begun adding rap/hip hop music to their playlists to compete with Top 40 stations, but play less rap/hip hop than their Top 40 counterparts.

[edit] Soft Adult Contemporary

Soft AC is also known as "lite" music, and many radio stations across North America that play Soft AC refer to themselves as "lite" stations. CHFI is a good example. Other popular nicknames include "Magic", "Warm", "Sunny", and "EZ Rock". The format can be seen as a more contemporary successor to the Middle of the road (MOR), Beautiful Music or Easy Listening formats. The latter two were once common on FM radio. Sometimes, the margins blur between this genre and soft rock. And a few "lite" stations, such as WLTW-FM in New York City, WSB-FM in Atlanta, WYJB-FM in Albany, New York, and WJJY-FM in Brainerd, Minnesota have actually started to mix in more "Hot AC" songs into their playlist as well.

[edit] Urban Adult Contemporary

Urban AC is a form of AC music that is geared towards adult African-American audiences, and therefore, the artists that are played on these stations are most often African-American. The Urban AC stations are more similar to Soft AC than they are to Hot AC, and the music they play is predominantly R&B and soul music. This is reflected in many of the Urban AC radio stations' taglines, such as "Today's R&B and Classic Soul", "The Best Variety of R&B Hits and Oldies" and "(City/Region)'s R&B Leader." Some popular nicknames for Urban AC stations include "Magic" (borrowed from Soft AC), "Mix" (borrowed from Hot AC), and "Kiss" (borrowed from Top-40).

A more elaborate form of Urban AC is the Rhythmic Oldies format, which focuses primarily on "Old School" R&B/Soul hits from the 1960s to the 1990s, including Motown and disco hits. Often referred to in the past as "Jammin'" or "Groovin'" Oldies, the Rhythmic Oldies format was quite popular for a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1997, KCMG-FM "Mega 100" in Los Angeles pioneered the concept of "Jammin' Oldies," which involved creating a mass-appeal music mix that appealed to both white and black audiences. (See http://beradio.com/news/radio_kcmgfm_los_angeles/ for a profile of KCMG in its heyday.) The "Jammin'"/"Groovin'" Oldies format subsequently spread nationwide, to stations like WTJM-FM in New York City, WMOJ in Cincinnati, and WGRV-FM in Detroit (all of which have since changed format). Many of these stations played white soul or disco artists such as ABBA and The Bee Gees in addition to African-American artists. Many believe that what contributed the most to the death of the "Jammin' Oldies" stations was the fact that their playlists soon became very small and narrow, increasing listener "burnout" and dropping ratings within a few months after a promising ratings start. Rhythmic Oldies stations still exist today, but chiefly in markets with large African-American populations; the peak of the "Jammin' Oldies" approach has come and gone.

Usually embedded within the Urban Adult Contemporary is another format called Quiet Storm. This format is most played during the evening beginning at 7:00 PM or 8:00 PM hours into late night. The Quiet Storm format plays on Urban Adult Contemporary format. The music that is played are strictly ballads and slow jams, mostly but not limited to Black and Latino artists. Popular artists played on the Quiet Storm format are Teena Marie, Angela Bofill, Miki Howard, Regina Belle, Howard Hewitt, Freddie Jackson, Johnny Gill, Anita Baker, Sade, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, Mariah Carey, Dru Hill, and En Vogue among others.

[edit] History and Evolution of the Format

Early radio stations played top-40 hits, theoretically regardless of genre although most were in the same genre until the mid-1970s when different forms of popular music started to target different demographic groups, such as disco vs. hard rock. This evolved into specialized radio stations only playing certain genres of music, and generally following the evolution of artists in those genres.

One big impetus for the development of the AC radio format was the fact that when rock and roll music first became popular in the mid-1950s, many more conservative radio stations wanted to continue to play current hit songs while shying away from rock. These stations also frequently included older, pre-rock-era adult standards and big band titles to further appeal to adult listeners who had grown up with those songs. In those days, Middle of the Road or "MOR" was the formatic term used to describe such stations, which included powerhouse broadcasters like WJR in Detroit, WGN and WBBM in Chicago, KGO in San Francisco, WNEW-AM in New York, and KMOX in St. Louis. Billboard magazine first published an adult-contemporary music chart in 1961, although it was not until 1979 that the chart took on the name "Adult Contemporary."

While most popular MOR stations were, like Top 40 stations of the day, on the AM dial, another big impetus for the evolution of the AC radio format was the popularity of easy listening or "beautiful music" stations, stations with music specifically designed to be purely ambient, listened to while at work or otherwise in the background. These stations were largely found on the FM dial alongside classical music stations because the music they played supposedly sounded better on FM. Whereas most easy listening music was instrumental, created by relatively unknown artists (except for occasional MOR vocal hits), and rarely purchased, AC was an attempt to create a similar "lite" format by choosing certain tracks (both hit singles and album cuts) of popular artists.

The growth of AC was also a natural result of the generation that first listened to the more "specialized" music of the mid-late 70s growing older and not being interested in the heavy metal, rap and hip-hop music that a new generation helped to dominate the top-40 charts (this effect has also altered the Oldies format; as there are now two kinds of Oldies stations, those who will not play songs from after the early 1970s vs. those who will play songs up to the early 1980s while still having occasional pre-1964 songs in rotation). Fans of harder rock music often derogatorily referred to AC stations in the early days of the format as "chicken rock."

The music video channel VH1 began as an AC version of MTV. Originally, it was strictly Soft AC, as it strove to appeal to people who were in their 30s and 40s during its early years in the mid 1980s. For similar reasons as explained above with radio, in the mid 1990s, it reformed itself as something closer to Hot AC, during which time it began to play videos by Hootie & The Blowfish, the Gin Blossoms, Alanis Morissette, Melissa Etheridge, the Spin Doctors, Amy Grant, Ace of Base, and some other artists that were slightly harder rock or more avant garde than they had previously played.

Mainstream AC itself has evolved in a similar fashion over the years; traditional Soft AC artists like Barbra Streisand, the Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Captain & Tennille and Olivia Newton-John found it harder to have hits (on AC as well as Top 40) as the 1980s wore on, and due to the influence of MTV, artists who were staples of the Contemporary Hit Radio format, such as Madonna, Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, Tears for Fears, and Whitney Houston, began crossing over to the AC charts with greater frequency.

In recent years, VH1 has moved away from its AC format by becoming willing to play artists such as Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg, all usually AC no-no's, more and more often. With this addition of popular hip-hop, rap, and R&B, VH1 (when it plays videos, which, to be sure, is on very rare occasions now) most closely resembles Top 40 radio now. Led by Toronto powerhouse CHUM-FM, Canadian Hot AC radio has also taken steps towards a similarly more diverse and Top 40-inclusive musical position.

Part of the reason why more and more Hot AC stations are forced to change is that less and less new music fits their bill. Most new rock is too alternative for mainstream radio, including Hot AC, and only gets played on Modern Rock radio; and most new pop is now influenced heavily by eurodance or hip hop, in an attempt to become club and rhythmic crossover hits, if not featuring guest vocals from rappers. One example is that "Look What You've Done" by Jet is played on Hot AC stations, but other tracks like "Cold Hard Bitch" are played on modern rock stations. Soft AC, however, which has never minded keeping songs in high rotation literally for years in some cases, and plays a larger amount of older music, especially classic R&B, soul, and '60s and '70s music, than Hot AC, does not appear necessarily to be facing similar pressures to expand its format.

However, more and more recently, several Soft AC stations have begun to add more guitar-driven (but still relatively quiet) music into their playlists, such as "Broken" by Seether, "You And Me" by Lifehouse, "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down, "Complicated" and "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne, "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling, "My Immortal" by Evanescence, and "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith, somewhat resembling the Hot AC stations of the 1990s.

In this sense, the Soft AC format may soon be facing the demographic pressures that the Jazz format faced in the 1960s and 1970s, the "Big Band" format faced in the 1980s and 1990s and that the Oldies format is starting to face today, with the result that one may see Soft AC less on over-the-air radio and more on satellite radio systems in coming years. Much of the music and artists that was traditionally played on Soft AC stations has been relegated to the Adult Standards format, which is itself disappearing because of aging demographics. Some Soft AC stations have found a niche by incorporating more oldies into their playlists and are more open to playing softer songs that fit the "traditional" definition of AC. Examples include WLTM-FM in Atlanta (which added many oldies titles to its playlists after the death of oldies sister station WLCL) and the former WSNI in Philadelphia.

In the meantime, such artists as Nick Lachey and Josh Groban have become successful thanks to a ballad heavy sound. So, Adult Contemporary may likely not go anywhere since it is still prevalent on recording artists albums in almost every music style including dance music. Another popular trend of remixing dance music hits into Adult Contemporary ballads, mostly piano ballads but sometimes keyboard ballads is now all the rage, especially in the U.S. (for example, the "Candlelight Mix" versions of "Heaven" by DJ Sammy, "Listen To Your Heart" by D.H.T., and "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada).

Also in response to the pressure on Hot AC, a third kind of AC format has cropped up among American radio recently. The aforementioned Urban Adult Contemporary format (a term coined by Barry Mayo) usually attracts a large number of African Americans and sometimes Caucasian listeners through playing a great deal of R&B (without any form of rapping), Gospel music, Classic Soul and Dance music (including disco).

A fourth AC format, "Rhythmic AC", in addition to playing all the popular Hot and Soft AC music, past and present, places a heavy emphasis on disco as well as 1980s and '90s dance hits, such as those by Amber, C&C Music Factory and Black Box, and includes dance remixes of pop songs, such as the Soul Solution Mix of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart". The format also occasionally features popular '80s and early '90s rap songs that were popular mainstream, rhythmic, or club hits. New York City's WKTU and the now-defunct WNEW-FM are examples of this evolving format. The rapidly growing MOViN format, pioneered at Seattle's KQMV and now in use at stations such as KMVN Los Angeles, WMVN St. Louis, and KFRC San Francisco, is another example of Rhythmic AC, and has spawned imitators such as WISX in Philadelphia.

In its early years of existence, the Smooth Jazz format was considered to be a form of AC, although it was mainly instrumental, and bore a stronger resemblance to the Soft AC-styled music than it did to what purists call "real jazz." For many years, artists like George Benson, Kenny G and Dave Koz had crossover hits that were played on both Smooth Jazz and Soft AC stations. In addition, David Sanborn had a saxophone solo on James Taylor's remake of the Marvin Gaye classic, "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)"; and Grover Washington Jr. teamed up with Bill Withers to perform a classic hit song, entitled "Just The Two Of Us." This song has gone on to become one of the most-played radio hits of all time, as it frequently shows up on Soft AC, Urban AC and Smooth Jazz playlists. Anita Baker, Sade and Luther Vandross are other examples of artists who appeal to Mainstream AC, Urban AC and Smooth Jazz listeners. Some Soft AC and Urban AC stations like to play Smooth Jazz on the weekends, in cities that currently do not have a full-time Smooth Jazz station. Warm 98 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Majic 95.5 in Austin, Texas, WCSY-FM in South Haven, Michigan, and Soft Rock 101.9 in San Antonio, Texas are Soft AC stations that also play Smooth Jazz; and V101.9, an Urban AC station in Charlotte, North Carolina, plays Smooth Jazz on the weekends as well.

In recent years it has become common for many AC stations (and Soft AC stations in particular) to switch to a format playing primarily or exclusively Christmas songs during November and December. While these tend mostly to be contemporary seasonal recordings by the same artists featured under the normal format, stations will also typically air vintage holiday tunes from older Adult Standards artists (such as Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Carpenters, Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams) who they would never play under ordinary circumstances. These Christmas music marathons typically start on Thanksgiving Day (although some stations may start playing Christmas music well before the Thanksgiving weekend) and end at midnight on Christmas Day, after which the stations resume their normal music fare on December 26. The roots of this tradition can be traced all the way back to the Beautiful Music era of the 1960s and '70s. However, this practice seems to have become even more common among mainstream AC stations since the events of September 11, 2001, with many stations promoting their Christmas music marathons as a sort of musical comfort food.

[edit] Some Adult Contemporary core artists

This list includes the most played artists in the United States, starting with the most played, in the Adult Contemporary format from January 2006 through October 2006 [1].

• Elton John
• Anita Baker
• Amy Grant
• Kelly Clarkson
• Rod Stewart
• Eagles
• Phil Collins
• Patti LaBelle
• Taylor Dayne
• Billy Joel
• Fleetwood Mac
• Faith Hill
• Rob Thomas/Matchbox Twenty
• Bon Jovi
• Chicago
• Hall & Oates
• Journey
• Shania Twain
• Sheryl Crow
• Madonna
• Mariah Carey
• Celine Dion
• Gloria Estefan
• Peabo Bryson
• Bryan Adams
• James Ingram
• Babyface
• Marc Anthony
• Josh Groban
• James Taylor
• Brian McKnight
• Jewel

[edit] Some Hot AC core artists

This list includes the most played artists in the United States, starting with the most played, in the Hot AC format from January 2006 through October 2006 [2]. If an artist does not have at least four hit songs, it is designated by "++" and should not necessarily be considered a core artist.

• Kelly Clarkson
• Nickelback
• Goo Goo Dolls
• Rob Thomas/Matchbox Twenty
• Green Day
• The Fray ++
• James Blunt ++
• Bon Jovi
• Daniel Powter ++
• Natasha Bedingfield ++
• K.T. Tunstall
• John Mayer
• Lifehouse
• 3 Doors Down
• Maroon 5
• No Doubt/Gwen Stefani
• U2
• Sheryl Crow
• Train
• Staind
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Evanescence

[edit] Charts

• R&R AC Chart
• R&R Hot AC Chart

[edit] See also

• Radio Free Vermont Mainstream AC format station playing 60's motown, 70's 'AM Gold', and light rock 80s and 90's. 128k stereo stream.
• Stream 24 An internet-only modern adult contemporary station featuring tracks from many AC artists listed above.
• MajikRadio.com Online music station featuring soft rock, lite pop, classic oldies, motown and love songs from the sixties through today.