The Straight Skinny

 

 

 

Two Cents Worth

 

 

 

By Carol Archer

The star-studded induction earlier this week of Dave Koz's gold star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame – befittingly, directly in front of the Capitol Records' building – struck a joyful note in Smooth Jazz. Now we hear from more readers about the state of the format we all hold near and dear.

KTWV(The Wave)/Los Angeles air personality, format veteran Barbara Blake (Steve Feinstein's first hire at KKSF/San Francisco in 1987)

comments: "I couldn't agree more with Jim Douglas and Vernon Neilly about how important and rewarding it is to meet listeners in a live setting. As the host of the Wave/L.A.'s Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch for nearly 10 years, I've related intimately, in person, with the Wave's audience every week.

"In radio as in all of life, human relationships are what count. All the great jocks I know are experts at it and our contributions to soulfully connecting the music with the audience, on-air and in person, are vastly underrated. Top down, insular thinking in this online age of social media and autonomous personal connection may work for a while longer, but its days are numbered. People love to be touched, live and electronically.  Imaginative, innovative programming combined with heartfelt connections, expressed with professional savvy and skill has been, and always will be, the way to cultivate an audience, whatever the format or

delivery platform. It's especially true when it comes to the warm, intimate groove of Smooth Jazz. That's the mission the format was born with. From my perspective, it's the genuine

human contact that ties it all together."

Striking a different note, Cameron Smith observes: "It's clear to me that a handful of artists were smart enough to be way ahead of the curve on the collapse of the radio component in their brand marketing and

development mix. When you look at savvy artists, managers and

progressive labels, the single mantra they share is to connect directly with their fan base by capturing the data from their various social networking platforms.