So far, it's been an interesting experiment.
I'm now around 3 decades or so into programming a pop radio station; in fact, if I may toot my own horn, I've even won awards for doing it. But because of circumstances I'm now also programming the other two stations our group owns, a country station and a heavy metal station. You'd think that thirty years of programming a pop station would allow me to slip right into the gig, but you know what?
It hasn't so far.
It's been interesting. Part of the job is easy; after all, the formulatics of placing certain categories of songs in certain places remain the same. But what's been a big leap is that, while I'm a wizard as far as pop music goes, I know next to absolutely nothing about country or heavy metal.
But I'm trying to learn.
In a way, it's like trying to learn a second (and third) foreign language. There are nouns and verbs and adjectives and swear words; you just need to learn what they are and in which order they go. Since I know nothing more about country music than “that artist is a guy in a hat” and “that artist is another guy in a hat”, it's been a subtle process. And since I know not much about heavy metal other than “that one has two thrashing guitars” and “that one has three thrashing guitars” it's been a slightly less subtle yet no less challenging process.
But learning I am.
I know I'll never approach the knowledge I have of pop music with those two different genres, but that's okay. I also know I'll never have an interest in listening to them, either, but that's okay, as well. As long as I know the difference between the first guy in a hat and the second guy in a hat, I can schedule the songs, and (hopefully) no one will know the difference.
Unlike, say, when I try to speak another language I've learned (like French) and everyone on the planet can figure out the difference.
Wish me luck!
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