Differentiation of playlists on radio
What is it about?
Music played by a radio station, or a playlist, is the main tool of differentiation in the competition for listeners. The article analyzes the differentiation strategies applied in music programming by major radio stations in targeting the youth and young adults in Finland. The results confirm that YleX, a popular music station of the public broadcaster YLE, differs significantly from its major commercial rivals Energy and The Voice. The article argues that even a radio station focusing on the latest hits can fulfil a public service mission.
Why is it important?
In Europe, there is an everlasting debate on the limits of public service broadcasting, We show that both public-service and commercial stations can apply a similar format of playing current hits only, but while the latter tend to provide a narrow choice of artists and acts, the former tend to show a significantly broader variety of choice. Despite a common format, the stations differ radically from each other.