Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Why holiday music doesn't have to suck, but usually will anyway

OK. I wouldn't mind if they played this holiday song in supermarkets and shopping malls.


Too bad they never will.

Not so much because it's a Hanukkah song and not a Christmas song. I think the world is ready for a tiny bit of religious diversity. No, the main thing it has going against it is that it's new. Says Jerry McWreath, who works for the consulting company that first talked radio stations into changing to all-Christmas formats over the holidays:
"We have found that listeners tend to prefer a core of classics titles, such as 'Winter Wonderland,' 'Silver Bells' and 'Let It Snow,' performed by various artists, as opposed to going deeper with more titles. These songs take listeners back to their childhood and their own positive memories. (The chosen song titles) are based on the research that we see nationwide conducted among radio listeners."

(Full article at Observer-Reporter.com.)
So unless Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae musician who wrote "Miracle," can go back and time and get airplay for the song around 1950, he's out of luck.

4 comments:

DeppityBob said...

Maybe it'll get play in 10 or 20 years. I think it's a good song, and he's cute. :)

cinderkeys said...

He is cute, as only a Hasidic reggae musician can be. And yeah, maybe they'll start playing it once it sounds dated.

Sally W said...

Blech, it's a terrible song. Also, I can't read the first paragraph because the song blocks it.

I'm not Sally, but there is no way I can reply to this without being Sally for some reason.

John Wenger

cinderkeys said...

Dad: you need to log in as yourself. And I have no idea why the formatting doesn't work on your computer. It works on the other screens I've tested.

I think the song is fun. And it's so much better than much of the Christmas music I've been subjected to lately.