First Listen: AccuRadio’s FM Programmer Channels

The loss of U.S. radio jobs had already begun, and the COVID-19 pandemic had not yet kicked in when AccuRadio announced that it was looking for displaced broadcast programmers to showcase. The online radio pureplay was offering those programmers a chance to showcase their best ideas, especially the ones that weren’t a fit for broadcast radio.

The stations began rolling out in May. There are currently twelve of them, ranging from “Beaches, Guitars, and Tiki Bars” (programmed by Brian “Shark” Fitzpatrick) to “Country Music SHEroes” (Ryan McCall), “Pure Funk” (Joe Turner), and the anything-can-happen variety of G. Sammons’ “The Multiverse.”

The infinite dial has not been kind to many of broadcasters attempts to create pureplays with traditional radio programming values. AccuRadio has been one of the most enduring; the one that has best split the difference between the deliberateness of programming and the innovativeness of playlisting. It’s up to more than 900 channels.

I took a “First Listen” to four of the programmers’ channels, but I could have as easily chosen four others, or scores of others. Or the three that they announced yesterday–Sound Of Scorcese, Jesus Music (’70s Christian Rock), and Soul Power (R&B songs with a social message). I don’t write about AccuRadio that often, and not knowing where to start certainly has something to do with it. The programmer channels were an easy way in. So I started by sitting comfortably.

The Leopard Print Lounge Chair

Billed as “mellow Classic Rock and laid back Alternative” and programmed by Donna Reed of Houston (KODA, KLOL) and Raleigh, N.C., radio (WRDU, WQDR). The description actually made me wish those were two formats—particularly one specializing in the latter, but they still fit seamlessly together. It always felt varied; it never felt random.

• Young The Giant, “Call Me Back”
• Love, “Alone Again Or”
• Suede, “She’s In Fashion”
• Robert Plant, “Ship Of Fools”
• Foo Fighters, “Everlong (Acoustic)”
• Toad The Wet Sprocket, “Walk on the Ocean”
• Tedeschi Trucks Band, “Calling Out To You”
• Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Hard To Concentrate”
• Michael Franks, “Eggplant”
• Steve Winwood, “Spanish Dancer”
• Van Morrison, “Moondance”
• Rolling Stones, “Blinded By Love”
• Counting Crows, “Time And Time Again”

Hit Parade 2.0

Programmed by Montgomery, Ala.-based Jason Davenport, who also oversees online Alternative station The Buzz, Hit Parade 2.0 is positioned as “what true Top 40 should be.” What that means is a lot of those songs from Hot AC, Country, Triple-A, and even Hip-Hop of the sort that prompt the “why isn’t Top 40 playing…” discussions. Also, some of the songs that Top 40 eventually played, but grudgingly, like the two that started off this hour:

• Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, “Shallow”
• Sam Hunt, “Body Like A Back Road”
• Rick Ross f/Ty Dolla $ign, “Rather You Than Me”
• Justin Timberlake, “Not A Bad Thing”
• Alabama Shakes, “Hold On”
• Selena Gomez, “Rare”
• Eric Church, “Springsteen”
• Jay-Z f/Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”
• Ariana Grande f/Nicki Minaj, “Side To Side”
• Jake Owens, “Made For You”
• Post Malone, “Candy Paint”
• Chainsmokers, “Roses”
• Shinedown, “Get Up”
• Lil Nas X, “Panini”
• Miranda Lambert, “Little Red Wagon”
• The Weeknd, “In Your Eyes”

Radio X

There’s “Classic Rock That Really Rocks.” This channel is “Alternative that’s really Alternative.” Curated by Morris Knight, the brief is “’80s based Alternative/New Wave that goes beyond the pop and fluff and gets to the stuff we really like.” Even knowing how the modern rock ‘80s moved into the pop mainstream in 1983 and have endured disproportionately, it’s a reminder that there was still a tier of music that was too edgy for pop and too dance-oriented for rock radio.

• Cult, “She Sells Sanctuary”
• Nitzer Ebb, “Fun To Be Had”
• Joy Division, “Transmission”
• Cabaret Voltaire, “Sensoria”
• Devo, “Girl U Want”
• Xmal Deutschland, “Qual”
• Dead Or Alive, “Lover Come Back To Me”
• Depeche Mode, “Master And Servant”
• U2, “New Years Day”
• New Order, “Subculture”
• Frankie Goes To Hollywood, “Two Tribes”
• Ministry, “(Every Day Is) Halloween”

The Crossing

AC KYXY San Diego PD Mark Blackwell left that station in a 2019 round of budget cuts after 37 years. In May, his was one of the first two channels announced. The “younger, hipper Christian Contemporary” format was heard for years on KYXY-HD-2. In recent years, Contemporary Christian has broadened itself, thanks to the infusion of praise and worship music, which has its own new channel at AccuRadio, Ben Ditzel’s “Worship Through Song.” The Crossing spans format mainstays to NF-style Hip-Hop to appropriate songs from artists outside the Christian AC community.

• Avril Lavigne, “Head Above Water”
• Ben Rector, “Drive”
• Jamie Grace, “Beautiful Day”
• Jeremy Camp, “Dead Man Walking:
• Phil Wickham, “Your Love Awakens Me”
• Blanca, “Real Love”
• Social Club Misfits f/Austin French, “Enough”
• Parachute, “Something To Believe In”
• Lecrae f/Tori Kelly, “I’ll Find You”
• Aaron Cole, “One More Day”
• Lauren Daigle, “Look Up Child”

What AccuRadio channels do you enjoy? Leave a comment.