Loud or calm? Radio stations let you choose

Radio stations are now sticking to a specific tune, as against chartbusters throughout the day

Not very long ago, a listener couldn't have distinguished one radio station from the other. Although the scenario is not drastically different now, radio stations are earnestly trying to differentiate.

In Delhi, Red FM has been repositioned as, 'aaj ke zamaane ka radio station, and not baap ke zamaane ka'. This is the result of a Digital Music Test carried out last month. Their playlist now has super hits from the year 2000 onwards.

Anuj Singh, national marketing head and west head, Red FM, says that this move is to go back to the roots. "Over the last few months, we had introduced songs belonging to a slightly older era, since they tested well with our target audiences. However, we realized that while these songs were popular, by airing them, we were confusing our target audience, who had come to expect only the latest super hits," he says.

There is no plan to extend this to other markets; but Singh says they may revisit the strategy in other markets, if research suggests so. Preferences in each market are different, he says -- for instance, Punjabi songs score higher in Delhi, while Kolkata shows a preference for slightly older songs.

Big 92.7 FM recently decided to play songs that de-stress and have a soothing effect. It currently has a 'chillax hits' positioning in both Mumbai and Delhi. The radio station also has research to back its new strategy -- that music can enhance the mood of the listener. It conveyed the new brand promise through various activities, such as distributing water bottles, smileys at traffic signals, road shows and holding acoustic evenings in offices to de-stress people.

Others such as Radio Mirchi and Radio One are not using type of music as a factor for differentiation. Radio Mirchi, says Tapas Sen, chief programming officer, is positioned as a channel that offers variety music; it plays different types of music at different times in the day. For instance, while 2 pm-5pm is classic retro; 5pm-9pm is for the latest hits.

He thinks that there isn't much need to be so focused. "We still have enough latitude to offer variety to listeners as we are fewer players in each market, compared to other markets in the West," Sen says.

Radio Mirchi also has a special 90's segment between 11 am-1pm. "When we launched, 90's music used to be part of the contemporary playlist. But now, it has acquired the status of a category in itself," Sen adds.

Radio One, which operates on the premise of airing the most number of songs -- 13 songs every hour -- believes that there should never be a dull moment. "We follow the 'sunshine music format', meaning the songs are high energy and uplifting. And every 55th minute, we have a retro track," says Vineet Singh Hukmani, managing director, Radio One.