Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Is Classic Rock Evolving or Dying?

Classic rock seems to blast its way out of radios everywhere I go. It's at bars and restaurants, department stores, offices, and even on phone calls while I'm on hold. It's familiar, reliable and unoffensive, which makes it perfect for advertising automobiles. But it appears to be a dying genre. Even with the amount of rock music that was released in the 60's and 70's, most classic rock stations limit themselves to a handful of artists and rarely deviate from the most popular songs.
There's no question that satellite / internet radio have forced terrestrial classic rock stations to adapt by adding music from the 80's and even 90's to playlists. Aside from the economic interests of the radio stations that force them to cater to a wide audience, rather than the niche markets served by satellite radio, how will classic rock stations stay competitive?
Will some classic rock stations rebrand themselves as classic alternative or will they continue to integrate modern music into their broadcasts? Are we ten years away from hearing Dashboard sandwiched in between Hotel California and How You Remind Me?

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