What songs can be played on the radio?

Answer 1

This depends on something called "format." Each station wants to reach a different audience-- perhaps teens, perhaps older adults, perhaps people who love rock and roll, or people who love jazz, etc. A station will choose a format, based on what they believe will be the most successful in their city. Some popular formats are rock, top-40, country, black/dance/hip-hop, and oldies. Once a station chooses a format and a target audience, the songs will fit into that style. So, a country station would not play rock, and a jazz station would not play oldies. Most top-40 stations use a "playlist," which means they can only play the biggest hits, a few recent hits, and some up-and-coming hits. Some stations have a wide playlist-- they play a lot of songs from all years. Other stations have a narrow playlist, which means they restrict the songs to a chosen number of the biggest hits. On terrestrial radio (AM and FM), stations generally avoid songs with certain swear words in them, or they ask the record company for an edited version. Some stations also avoid songs that are about controversial subjects like politics, while others are fine about playing even songs about "hot button" issues. But whether on satellite or on terrestrial radio, stations play the songs they believe their listeners want to hear, based on research, downloads and record sales, and the educated opinions of the station's music director and program director.