Music Formats

Capital South Coast 
Capital South Coast is a regional radio station.
The company is owned by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network.

Print screen from Capital South Coast's official radio station.











1. What is the station? 
Contemporary Hit Radio.

2. How do you know this? – give examples 
On the official website for Capital FM the subheading is ‘The south coast’s no.1 hit music station!’ which suggests Capital is a radio station that caters for the more popular music and hits in the music industry.
Again on the Capital website it has a lot of information about ‘popular’ and young artists, 90% of music shown on the website is under the age of 30 which relates to the station being CHR.

3. What area does it broad too?
Around South Hampshire from studios in Segensworth Fareham.

Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations.
Radio 2 broadcasts throughout the UK on FM from studios in Western House.

Print screen from Radio 2's official website.












1. What is the station?
Adult Contemporary.

2. How do you know this? – give examples 
Radio 2 is famous for being the more grown up and mature version of radio 1.
The majority of presenters on Radio 2 mirror the stereotypical listeners; older people, predominantly males.

3. What area does it broad to?
United Kingdom; available worldwide through the internet.

Kerrang 

This is a print screen from Kerrang's official radio website.











1. What is the station?
Specialist.

2. How do you know this? – give examples 
Kerrang radio only play a specific genre of music being rock metal which it’s a specialist.
On the official Kerrang radio website, it has a section about ‘music news’, but which are completely different articles that you’d see in a contemporary hit radio. The music news aren’t popular and mainstream in the music industry.

3. What area does it broad to?
Around United Kingdom.

Notes on Music Formats

Definition of formats: 
A format document sets out the type of broadcast output that each radio station is required to deliver. It encapsulates the character of the service. A service station is obliged to deliver as a condition of its licence.

Contemporary hit radio (CHR)
Adult Contemporary (AC)
Gold
Community (In hospitals and shops)
Specialist (targeting a specific audience)
These define what music a station stereo typically plays.

What defines how a station sounds?

• Music
• Presenters 
• Competitions
• Speech Content
• Production

Radio Stations are media products; they are audience driven. 

Contemporary Hit Radio

Mainstream, popular music which young people usually listen to. 

Songs which are played a lot and build popularity.

UK Top 40 (example). 

Adult Contemporary

 Cross over from CHR, but mostly will play older classics like rock and ballards. 

Songs from 60,s, 70,s, 80,s - limited mainstream. 

Radio 2, Jack FM (examples). 

Hot AC

Radio stations like Heart.

Play both hits from the 80,s but also chart songs - mixed variety of music. 

Targeted at females in there 30's. 

Gold, Classical Hits

Aimed at the older audience. 

Mostly hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's. 

More speech content; not so music orientated, the presenters also speak aswell as playing music. 

Community

Non profit - aimed at serving the community.

Play a mixture of songs but generally mainstream. 

Presenters of community radio stations are often volunteers.

Friendly and casual station. 

In mostly stores and hospitals.

Express FM (example). 

Specialist

Focus on a specialist area of music. 

Focuses on specialist interests, for example religion and certain interests. 

Radio Stations Broadcasting Nationally 

• Specialist 58%
• Contemporary Hit Radio 4%
• Speech 19%
• Gold 18%
• AC 11%

Definitions of the main music formats

Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR)

This stations main aim is to provide information to the people living nearby. They can play a mix of music to cater for a wide range of tastes. They may also feature local artists to. 

Artists usually heard on this station: Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Artic Monkeys. 

Adult Contemporary (AC)

This station is aimed at an older audience who still like listening to mainstream chart artists. There will be an influence of music from the 80's and 90's through to current hits.

Artists usually heard on this station: Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Wham!. 

Specialists

This format is characterized by a certain interest - this could be taste in music, influenced by religion or culture. It could also be determined by other interests including sports ect. 

Artists usually heard on this station: Foo Fighters, Artic Monkeys, The 1975.

Gold 

These stations are listened to by an older audience who enjoy popular music from their generation. Music on these stations tends to date back to the 60's. 

Artists usually heard on this station: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. 

Community

This station's main aim is to provide information to the people living nearby. They can play a mix of music to cater for a wide range of tastes. They may also feature local artists too. 

Artists usually heard on this station: Any artists which create popular hits.