Lynn Venhaus: An Open Letter to Radio PDs and DJs...

[JNLPRECIOUSCLAY]

What a great letter, I pray to God that this letter will open up some hard heads and they realize what a special talented person Clay is.  I have never met Clay, but have seen him in concert and he has brought me so much joy. I am sure he is not perfect, who is? But he is a good person who is doing wonderful work for people with disabilities. Clay has the voice of an angel and his music is beautiful, its nice to understand the words in a song for a change.and you leave his concert feeling wonderful.You just know he put his heart into his performance,and  I will never understand how anyone can think he is not attractive or cool. He is one handsome man with A+ charm and personality.  

Thank you so much for saying what we all feel but were not able to put into words. I sure hope Clay reads your letter

[thanku_clay]

Lynn, I used to post on here a lot and lurk every day. However, after reading your letter I had to jump back in. How wonderfully put..really!! Congrats!!
 I just don't get it either. No Air Play? What's up? I fell in love with Clay's voice on AI2. He has the most extraordinory (sp) voice I have ever heard in my life and my husband agrees. He is gorgeous...and then lets go to values? He is not perfect (no one is) as he says he is not. But I have such high regards for this guy!! He has respect from all of his fans. I think that boggles minds. Respect, for a recording artist??  In this day and age? He has earned it. The foundation, and his values on what he will or will not do, I applaud!!!
Listening to his music (which I am doing right now) makes me feel Soooo good. I will buy it if they play it or not on the radio. Just wish they did!

My husband and I saw Clay in Kansas City at the Independent Tour Concert. He is so awesome live!! He is better live if you can imagine that! We are going to see him again at the Kansas State Fair and we can't wait!!!

Clay deserves his success, and" Air Time"!!! He is truly the best.."Love That Guy"!!!!!

I will buy what ever is out there when it comes to Clay. Radio or not. They will have to start playing him eventually when they realize that is what so many people are "stll" buying and want to hear.

[jamcarol]

I copied the entire letter and I am sending it to all the PHILLY radios stations that refuse to play him, but play KELLY and KIMBERLEY all the time.  It makes me sooooo mad :

[Anonymous]

Just wonderful-wonderful-wonderful-fantastic.

Thank you for expressing all our feelings so elequintly.

Karen

[takenbyaiken25]

Lynn-Again, I know EVERONE has said this but thank you SOO much for that article!  It includes pretty much everything we all wanted to say but just didn't have the right words for!  I really find it strange that they don't play Clays music either...I listen to the radio but not very often, mostly I pop in one of Clay's CDs because listening to him just makes me happy and puts me in a wonderful mood, no matter what's happening.  After his concert I was just on this "high", on Cloud 9 because you know he puts his all into every performance and you feel like you really got something out of it.  I think many of the DJs and PDs feel jealous (especially the males) because Clay is loved by mostly women and is so respected (as he well should be).  Many of them see him as just another pop star like all of the mediocre bands of the 90s and that we're just some crazed fanatics...But he truly is a special talent...He's something that only comes along once in a lifetime.  He has amazing faith and great convictions and he stands up for what he believes in, not wavering for a second.  I admire him SO much as a person, as well as his phenomenal voice.  Again thank you SO much Lynn!  Clay will survive with or without radio play but it would be nice to hear something that I really want to hear on the radio every once in awhile.  It seems like everyone else is getting to hear what THEY want to hear, it's OUR turn to hear our boy Clay, because he has earned it!

[TakenByAiken78]

EXCELLENT LYNN-YOU PUT ALL OUR FEELINGS TOGETHER FOR US. THANK YOU!!!

hey i love ur thing that says Angela loves Clay Aiken b/c my name is angela too and i LOVE clay aiken! great job!!!

[jamcarol]

This is from a PHILLY program director, an actual response to LYNN's letter
"Program Directors - especially in major markets - are responsible for delivering ratings.  Everythig they do is aimed at the goal of being #1.  A PD's bonus is always based on ratings, and people do what gets rewarded.  PD's spend most of their time putting things on the air that they believe the target listener will like, and taking things off the air that target lsiteners dislike.  PD's commission perceptual studies, do auditorium music tests, focus groups, and call-out to help determine the taste of trhe listener.
 
How does this tie into Clay Aiken?  Easy.  Clay's songs don't test well.   That's why a PD might be afarid to play a song by Clay.  
 
In a music test listeners hear hooks of 700 songs or more.  They are identified by number only to avoid any artist bias.  It's an absolutely level playing field and every song has an equal chance.  Listeners vote on their reaction to a song.  The choices are "Don't know it,"  "Like it a lot," "Like it some," "Dislike it some," and "Dislike it a lot."  
 
We tabluate the results.  Songs that get a lot of "Like it a lot" votes get played a lot.  Songs that get a lot of "Dislike it a lot" votes don't get played.   Songs that fall somewhere in the middle get played a little.  In the case of "This Is The Night" or "Solitaire" or "Invisible" by Clay Aiken, we found that there was a fairly high "Don't Know it" percentage.  The disturbing number, though, was that more people voted "Dislike it a lot" than voted "Like it a lot" on each one of the Clay songs we tested.
 
So is a PD afraid to play a song that the listeners have just told him they don't want to hear?  Absolutely. "

[Achin4Aiken]

I don't have a radio in my car so I don't think I've listened to the radio except for in passing for about a year. I had no idea Clay isn't being played.
When a voice like his can't make it to the radio I'd have to say radio is about over.
Thank you Lynn for saying so eloquently what we are all thinking!!
I am definitely going to send this to my local stations and then find a way to start listening so I can see if they play him.
Just a sidenote I have all of his cd's (singles and full length) and some downloaded songs from AI (which I would've purchase if they were available for purchase) without the help of radio. I also went to his concert and I have to say that die-hard Kelly fans were converted that night due to Clay's magical voice, stage presence, and personality.

We Love you Clay!!!

[Anonymous]

Thank you jamcarol, for posting that response from the Philly DJ.  

He makes a valid point.  This is why everyone needs to sign up for any Rate the Music links at their local radio stations website.  The 'testing' he refers to comes from sites such as Rate the Music and Promosquad, where you listen and rate different songs.  

If the majority of the results are skewed toward the 18-whatever male demographic, it's because they are the ones rating the songs at Promosquad and through other testing methods.  Marketing is not an exact science.  It is one of the only ways for an industry to determine what the public wants.  Focus groups are often used to gauge public opinion on a new product or service.  It's impossible to poll every single person, so a focus group is polled and the results are extrapolated throughout the target market.

See the 'Turn the Radio On' thread in Got Clay for more information about signing up for Promosquad!

[Keverhart]

My mom works for a radio station here in Columbus, Oh, I am going to talk to her tomorrow, and see if there is an explanation.  The last time I talked to her, she stated to me that it is all up to the program directors and what seems to sell to people, and their particular demographic.  To me Clay fits mainly into the Mainstream/Top 40 but not quite, and he is more into the Adult Contempory, he is the in between if you know what I mean.  I love his music all together, and I don't care what demographic he falls in, I love it.  I don't know, I will see what I can conjure up for a meaning and let you all know.  I am also going to send her a copy of the letter, and se what that gets us.

Kevin

[Addie]

Thank you for the wonderful letter.  It says everything I wish I could write. I hope it does some good and Clay gets more airtime.  I don't think so because men don't like him and women obviously don't count.  We've come a long way baby but not far enough.

[SweetPea]

My mom works for a radio station here in Columbus, Oh, I am going to talk to her tomorrow, and see if there is an explanation.  The last time I talked to her, she stated to me that it is all up to the program directors and what seems to sell to people, and their particular demographic.  To me Clay fits mainly into the Mainstream/Top 40 but not quite, and he is more into the Adult Contempory, he is the in between if you know what I mean.  I love his music all together, and I don't care what demographic he falls in, I love it.  I don't know, I will see what I can conjure up for a meaning and let you all know.  I am also going to send her a copy of the letter, and se what that gets us.

Kevin

hey, i live in columbus too! its sad that clay never gets played on our radio stations! the only time i heard him was during christmas ONE TIME and it was only because it was a christmas channel! hope your talk goes well!!  :D

[Ilovetowrite]

Lynn We are so happy that every day you post something new for us. As a fellow writer, I will and have looked to you to guide me. I never not in a thousand years would I have dreamed that I would make a new family over the internet.
Here in my town tehre is a soft music station that will play Clay I have heard him on the radio. We also have two major stations that play rap and hip hop and all that stuff not fit for the dog to listen to.
I am afraid that there is not much we can do in my town.