And the hits just keep on coming: Music programming standardization in commercial radio

Despite much concern over the effects of deregulation and competition in th e commercial radio industry, no studies have shown empirically how market c haracteristics, organizational policies, and programmer practices both prom ote and constrain music programming standardization in the United States. I n this article we analyze playlists from a sample of radio stations to deve lop a measure of music programming standardization, and relate this variabl e to eight factors identified in the literature as promoting or limiting mu sic programming standardization . Out findings indicate that large markets are the driving force behind music programming standardization, while stati on ownership is a secondary factor. The effects of these environmental fact ors on music programming are mediated by organizational policies and progra mmer practices: low programmer autonomy and the use of audience research an d consultants encourage standardization, while an orientation toward new mu sic and the local audience tend to counteract standardization. Based on the se findings we argue that, despite increasing ownership consolidation in th e commercial radio industry, music programming standardization will likely be confined to larger markets. We further suggest that concentration in the commercial music radio industry will enable small, specialist stations to survive and even multiply so that diversified programming will be available in all market areas. (c) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.