WHAT IF...

What if record labels could no longer do promotions at radio for adds or conversations? Not even a box of CD’s. How different would the chart look?

What if PD’s and MD’s had more time to listen to music and more freedom to add or convert what they wanted, not what a VP/Programming dictated to them? How different would the chart look?

What if a song only got added or converted based on nothing more than the merit of the song, the relationship the PD has with the label rep and how good of a salesman the rep is? There was no tit for tat. How different would the chart look?

What if radio stations were not allowed to play a song every hour overnight to get the song more “spins.” How different would the chart look?

Think about it. Probably the top 10 or 15 would look pretty close to what it looks like now. But, positions 20-40 would look drastically different. The chart would probably move faster, mediocre songs wouldn’t stand a chance, let alone get into the top 30. Not even the ones from superstars. I bet country radio would be healthier because radio stations would be playing more “hits” and less of the mediocre songs. The label’s balance sheets would probably be better off since they are not spending millions of dollars a year in promotions at radio stations for songs that ultimately don’t make their way to recurrent and then a power gold.

I would love to see what that chart would look like.