A music radio station consists of two basic things: the music, and everything that isn’t the music.

The music fulfills one need; the everything else fills another.

I think of content as that non-music element that “adds value” to a music station. Frankly, that’s quite different than what we hear most; blabbering that interrupts the music.

My friend Brant (not his real name) is a very well-known radio pro. I’ve heard him to do content that is as profound as anything I’ve heard from someone who wasn’t a real preacher. But that’s not what makes him special. What puts him at the top of his field is that he can do that AND say something so funny that milk squirts out my nose!

It’s the “AND” that sets him apart.

The problem with most Christian radio stations is not that they’re all that bad, it’s that everything is the same note. There is no “AND”.

Image what your favorite song would sound like if it had only one note; same lyrics but no chorus, no middle eight, no key change. It would still be the same song, in a sense, but it would no longer have the very dynamic range that made it your favorite.

I reckon’ God did this right. He could have made a rainbow with only one color, a giant yellow arch in the sky following a thunderstorm. But that would have been McDonalds. Instead He used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

What colors of the rainbow is your station missing?

This Frost Advisory is a personal tirade. I’ll apologize in advance.

Now lazy disc jockeys have another excuse to be lazy.

I was recently listening to a very well known radio station when I heard the talent talk about Facebook – for three connective breaks.

He saw THIS on Facebook, he saw another talent post THIS on Facebook, and he saw an artist post THIS on Facebook!

On one hand the internet is a terrific resource for stations to connect with their fans.

On the other hand it has become an excuse for talent to be ordinary; no unique perspective, no special connection to the listener’s life, just the deejay equivalent of “This Day in History”. (National Belly Button Lint Day, don’tcha’ know!)

Let’s go back to the basics:

A talent’s purpose is to add value to the music environment; an emcee, if you will, of a shared listening experience.

Referring to something you’ve seen on Facebook is like referring to getting into your car before driving to the Grand Canyon. It’s not the point.

If there is a story from Facebook worth telling, then tell that story. But it’s always about the story, it’s not about Facebook!

P.S. Please forward this to every air talent you know. And tell them you saw it on Facebook!

I arrived at Easter Sunday church during a torrential Florida downpour. Streets were flooding and the church parking lot looked like it could host a water ski tournament.

As I jumped out of my car and headed for the church building I was greeted by a friendly young man in rain gear carrying an umbrella. He greeted me with a paradoxical sunny disposition and walked me from my car to the covered walk way. He then ran off to greet the next apprehensive still-dry visitor.

No “we’re glad you’re here” speech from the pulpit that morning would have conveyed that sentiment as much as the man with the umbrella in the parking lot. That church that day demonstrated with actions far more effectively than any words that I was welcome there.

There is no format I’ve ever done that is more difficult to program to reach large numbers of people, must less be top rated in the market. To be successful we have to navigate the most controversial subject ever known – religion – yet still be relevant and meaningful within the context of the squeaky clean radio.

No matter what your station does someone will have a problem with it. You know this to be true based upon opinions among your own staff.

One of the major challenges in growing the Contemporary Christian format is that there are no natural on ramps. People are either “on the highway” and know the music, or off the highway and don’t know Big Daddy Weave from Hercules and the Chicken Fat People.

Many stations compound the problem without even realizing it by programming to only those who already love the music as much as the staff.

To grow your radio station you must run out to the new listener with an umbrella and say, “Welcome!” Meet them in their muddy parking lot, understand their need, and show them in ways they understand how your station meets their need.

Only when they are nice and dry inside do you even think about preaching to them. Or better yet instead of preaching maybe you’ll simply have a conversation as though you’ve been friends for years.

John Maxwell said, “People will not always remember what you said. They will not always remember what you did. But they will always remember how you made them feel.”

Unless you’re willing to make the effort to run through the pouring rain with an umbrella to make them feel welcome you will never get the chance to speak into their lives.

It seemed an innocent enough question. My friend Kevin (not his real name) had just become the program director of an already successful Christian music station. One day over fajitas and guacamole he turns to me and asks, “What is most important for me to know about success in this format?”

Two days and numerous servings of chips and salsa later we were still quacking.

His question was a good one. It made me think. It made me want to write some stuff down.

I told him that the most successful stations are designed to appeal beyond just the existing small group of Christian music fans. You may have noticed that people who aren’t necessarily football fans watch the Super Bowl.

It’s that kind of thing. I’m sure that Matthew West is a fine fellow but giving away tickets to his concert doesn’t matter if people don’t know who he is. And no one tuning in for the first time knows who he is.

Most stations don’t understand this. Most stations have less than a three share.

Our conversation continued.

Your station is hosting a Third Day concert. Mac Powell has just uttered his last, “Yeah”, and your station’s best air talent takes center stage as the applause is subsiding.

Her first words reveal how in tune she is to the moment.

She may exclaim approval for the band, inviting the crowd to join in. Or she may insensitively launch into, “A priest, a rabbi, and a nun walk into a bar….”, making others wonder if they have just shared the same experience.

In its most basic form a music radio station has just two components – 1) the music, and 2) everything else. Music is designed to do one thing. Everything else is designed for something else.

Some of that something else is to connect to what’s happening NOW in the listener’s life.

Will I be late for work?

What will the medical tests show?

Why doesn’t she love me?

I don’t feel like a good parent right now.

Chick-fil-A‘s “Every Life Has a Story” communicates the impact of envisioning your customer (listener) as a complete person, with a life and a story, not just someone who represents money to you.

We’ve all heard the stories. “And then a song came on the radio…” connects to the deepest place in a life journey and the comfort from listening that song at that time on your station.

When THAT connection is made (and it is made far more than we know), think of the impact if it didn’t STOP when the talent began talking. What if there wasn’t a purposely emotional-less song tag separating the music and talent? What if the talent wasn’t trying to get past all the station business they have to do to get to the stuff they want to do?

Maybe someday we’ll sound like we were having the very same experience as the listener.

When that day comes it will transform the format.