Crunching KRCL

This past weekend, I started to write about how the new daytime format of KRCL wrapped up its first month of programming last Friday, and how, after giving the new stuff a fair amount of time to prove itself, I'm not really liking the music much at all.

[The whole story behind the format change was best explained by the City Weekly back in January]

As I was writing, it occurred to me that I should do a little research before I start shooting my mouth off, so... Here's what I did.

The playlists for the three new daytime programs, referred to as "Morning", "Mid Day", and "Afternoon", are made available on the KRCL website. I opened each playlist for every weekday in May (Monday, May 5, through Friday, May 30) and did a quick copy-paste into a spreadsheet. That was a relatively easy process. Cleaning up the data took significantly longer because of an amazing amount of misspellings and the frequent use of alternate artist names ("Black Crows", "Black Crowes", "The Black Crowes", etc.) I did what I could to establish some kind of consistency within the data.

After I compiled the spreadsheets, I imported them into MS Access and constructed a few simple queries to create a set of Last.fm-type of reports for the month of May.

The following numbers likely contain a few errors. I probably didn't catch all of the misspellings, and I didn't attempt to verify names or titles unless there was an obvious discrepancy. I also grouped artist together who recorded under different names -- i.e. listings for Jimi Hendrix and the Jimi Hendrix Experience were combined in the tables as just Jimi Hendrix. And, since these numbers are based on the published playlists, they are only as accurate as the reporting done by the staff at KRCL. If it wasn't reported in the online playlists, it didn't get into my data.

With those disclaimers in place, here is what the overall artist count looked like.

There were 930 unique artists played on the weekday daytime shows in May. This is the ranking of artists that were played 10 or more times:

ARTIST	COUNT
Plants & Animals	28
The Black Keys	27
Neil Young	27
The Heavy	26
The Rolling Stones	25
Langhorne Slim	24
Jimi Hendrix	22
The Duke Spirit	22
J.J. Grey & Mofro	21
The Raconteurs	20
Elbow	20
Patti Smith	19
James Shook	18
The Black Crowes	18
Bob Dylan	17
Joshua James	17
The Beastie Boys	17
Chris Whitley	17
Gnarls Barkley	17
Miles Davis	17
Beck	16
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings	16
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down	16
The Devil Makes Three	15
The Dirtbombs	15
Missy Higgins	15
Bela Karoli	15
The Velvet Underground	15
Wilco	15
Gary Louris	14
The Wood Brothers	14
Cat Power	14
Don Cavalli	14
Death Cab For Cutie	14
The New Pornographers	14
Radiohead	14
Mason Jennings	14
Erykah Badu	13
Marc Ford	13
David Bowie	13
Mos Def	13
Nina Simone	13
Devotchka	12
PJ Harvey	12
Eli "Paperboy" Reed	12
Feist	11
Santogold	11
Radio Moscow	11
T. Rex	11
Low	11
James Pants	11
Bon Iver	10
The Beatles	10
Led Zeppelin	10
T-Bone Burnett	10
Luna	10
The Devil Whale	10
Etta James	10
The Brian Jonestown Massacre	10
J.J. Cale	10
Queens Of The Stone Age	10
She & Him	10
French Kicks	10
Andrew Bird	10
Tom Waits	10

There were 2,083 unique songs reported in the playlists with 3,032 total songs played. The following were played 5 or more times in May:

TITLE	ARTIST	COUNT
Our Special Place	The Heavy	9
Summertime	Bela Karoli	8
Feedback In The Field	Plants & Animals	8
Grounds For Divorce	Elbow	7
I Was Made For You	She & Him	7
Good Friend	Plants & Animals	7
The Step And The Walk	The Duke Spirit	7
Sun, Moon, Stars	Mos Def	6
Secret	Missy Higgins	6
Said So What	French Kicks	6
Faerie Dance	Plants & Animals	6
Wild Mountain Nation	Blitzen Trapper	6
I Believe In You	Cat Power	6
Heretics	Andrew Bird	6
Fear And Convenience	Thao & The Get Down Stay Down	6
Rebel Side Of Heaven	Langhorne Slim	6
Be With Me	Foy Vance	6
Be Easy	Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings	6
Indivisible	The Dirtbombs	6
1940	The Submarines	5
Drum And Bone	Elvis Costello	5
Hatchet	Low	5
I Love You And Buddah Too	Mason Jennings	5
Soldier Boy	Mason Jennings	5
War	J.J. Grey & Mofro	5
Mercy	Duffy	5
Repulse Monkey	James Shook	5
Timebomb	Radio Moscow	5
Sea Lion Woman	Feist	5
The Plank	The Devil Makes Three	5
Diamonds And Gold	Langhorne Slim	5
Mirrorball	Elbow	5
It's Easier	Eli "Paperboy" Reed	5
A Minute To Rest And A Second To Pray	Solomon Burke	5
You Don't Understand Me	The Raconteurs	5
On With You	John Hiatt	5
Skinny Love	Bon Iver	5
The Wrong Girl	Missy Higgins	5

The breakdowns for the individual daytime programs look like this...

Mornings
Host: David Perschon

Top Artists (played 6 or more times, 416 unique artists played)

ARTIST	COUNT
Bob Dylan	15
James Shook	15
Luna	10
Neil Young	10
Elbow	9
Fleet Foxes	9
Gary Louris	9
The Rolling Stones	9
Joseph Arthur	8
The Brian Jonestown Massacre	8
The Replacements	7
The Beatles	7
Patti Smith	7
Miles Davis	7
Langhorne Slim	7
Gomez	7
Conrad Ford	7
Low	7
Radiohead	6
Tom Waits	6
The Devil Whale	6
Plants & Animals	6
The Heavy	6
Fink	6
The Fruit Bats	6
Ryan Adams	6
Bela Karoli	6
Jerry Joseph	6
The Flaming Lips	6
Elliott Smith	6

Top Tracks (played 4 or more times, 798 unique tracks played)

TITLE	ARTIST	COUNT
Broken Afternoon	Helio Sequence	4
King Of The Pavement	Joseph Arthur	4
You Might As Well	Sera Cahoone	4
Diamonds And Gold	Langhorne Slim	4
Make It Good	Fink	4
D.C. Blues	Gary Louris	4

Mid Day
Host: Ebay Jamil Hamilton

Top Artists (played 6 or more times, 356 unique artists played)

ARTIST	COUNT
Plants & Animals	18
Langhorne Slim	15
The Devil Makes Three	14
The Black Keys	13
J.J. Grey & Mofro	13
Jimi Hendrix	13
Gnarls Barkley	13
The Black Crowes	12
Joshua James	12
Missy Higgins	11
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down	11
The Heavy	11
Mos Def	11
The Wood Brothers	10
Death Cab For Cutie	10
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings	10
The Raconteurs	10
The Duke Spirit	10
She & Him	10
Eli "Paperboy" Reed	9
Neil Young	9
Yeasayer	9
Chris Whitley	9
Mason Jennings	8
Hayden	8
Jackie Greene	8
Erykah Badu	8
Don Cavalli	8
Bela Karoli	8
The Kooks	7
Duffy	7
Atmosphere	7
Wilco	7
Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators	7
The New Pornographers	7
Markus James	7
Cat Power	7
Radio Moscow	7
Beastie Boys	7
City And Colour	7
M.I.A.	6
Feist	6
Radiohead	6
Jebu	6
Marc Ford	6
Foy Vance	6
The Dynamics	6
Andrew Bird	6
Elbow	6
Elvis Costello	6
Santogold	6
The Rolling Stones	6
John Lee Hooker	6
The Mannish Boys	6
Devotchka	6
T-Bone Burnett	6
The Zutons	6

Top Tracks (played 4 or more times, 688 unique tracks)

TITLE	ARTIST	COUNT
I Was Made For You	She & Him	7
Good Friend	Plants & Animals	6
Be With Me	Foy Vance	6
Fear And Convenience	Thao & The Get Down Stay Down	6
The Wrong Girl	Missy Higgins	5
Feedback In The Field	Plants & Animals	5
Timebomb	Radio Moscow	5
The Plank	The Devil Makes Three	5
You Don't Understand Me	The Raconteurs	5
Our Special Place	The Heavy	5
It's Easier	Eli "Paperboy" Reed	5
Rebel Side Of Heaven	Langhorne Slim	5
Where And When	Hayden	4
Faerie Dance	Plants & Animals	4
Keep On Looking	Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings	4
Before I Knew	Basia Bulat	4
On With You	John Hiatt	4
The Slowdown	T-Bone Burnett	4
Blood On My Shirt	Band Of Annuals	4
Waiting...	City And Colour	4
Best For Last	Adele	4
Heretics	Andrew Bird	4
Searchin' Blues	The Mannish Boys	4
Oh Honey	Langhorne Slim	4
Movin' On Down The Line	The Black Crowes	4
Charity Case	Gnarls Barkley	4
1940	The Submarines	4
The Hollows	Why?	4
War	J.J. Grey & Mofro	4
A Minute To Rest And A Second To Pray	Solomon Burke	4
Ginger, Baby	Father Bloopy	4
Guarantees	Atmosphere	4
Sun, Moon, Stars	Mos Def	4
Soldier Boy	Mason Jennings	4
Be Easy	Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings	4
Summertime	Bela Karoli	4
I Won't Let It	Markus James	4
Sunrise	Yeasayer	4
Paper Aeroplane	Angus & Julia Stone	4
Whole Lotta Love	The Dynamics	4
Rockferry	Duffy	4

Afternoon
Host: Bad Brad Wheeler

Top Artists (played 6 or more times, 435 unique artists played)

ARTIST	COUNT
The Black Keys	11
Beck	11
The Rolling Stones	10
The Raconteurs	10
The Dirtbombs	10
The Heavy	9
The Velvet Underground	9
The Rubes	8
J.J. Grey & Mofro	8
Alejandro Escovedo	8
Snake & Jets Amazing Built Band	8
The Ramblin' Ambassadors	8
Neil Young	8
Marc Ford	7
Dead Meadow	7
Can	7
Beastie Boys	7
Tommy Guerrero	7
The Duke Spirit	7
Patti Smith	7
James Pants	7
T. Rex	7
Queens Of The Stone Age	7
David Bowie	6
Tapes N Tapes	6
The Black Angels	6
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion	6
The Black Crowes	6
Eagles Of Death Metal	6
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club	6
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings	6
Miles Davis	6
Pack Ad	6
Andre Williams	6
Parliment	6
Red Bennies	6
Don Cavalli	6
R.E.M.	6
Mason Jennings	6

Top Tracks (played 4 or more times, 761 unique tracks played)

TITLE	ARTIST	COUNT
I Love You And Buddah Too	Mason Jennings	5
Wild Mountain Nation	Blitzen Trapper	5
Grounds For Divorce	Elbow	5
Featherweight Dreamland	Marc Ford	4
Indivisible	The Dirtbombs	4
Sea Lion Woman	Feist	4
Lonesome Rambler	The Ramblin' Ambassadors	4
Remember When	The Black Keys	4

That's what the first month of the "new" daytime format looked like. Remember, this change in programming was implemented in an effort to increase the size of the listening audience in order to avoid losing federal funding from Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

KRCL received a grant of $195,000 to fund a Station Renewal study. They hired a consultant.

What we are hearing now, and what you see in these lists, is apparently the result of that process.

And again, I don't make any claims about the actual validity of any of these numbers. These are the results I got from scraping the KRCL online playlists and the probability that errors exist in those playlists and in my summaries is probably 100%.