Adult contemporary music

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Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music^[1] to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet storm and rock influence.^[2][3][4] Adult contemporary is generally a continuation of the easy listening and soft rock style that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s with some adjustments that reflect the evolution of pop/rock music.^[5]

Adult contemporary tends to have lush, soothing and highly polished qualities where emphasis on

Over the years, AC has spawned subgenres including "hot AC" (also known as "modern AC"), "soft AC" (also known as "lite AC"), "urban AC" (a softer type of urban contemporary music), "rhythmic AC" (a softer type of rhythmic contemporary), and "Christian AC" (a softer type of contemporary Christian music). Some stations play only "hot AC", "soft AC", or only one of the variety of subgenres. Therefore, it is not usually considered a specific genre of music; it is merely an assemblage of selected songs from artists of many different genres.

History

1960s: Early roots; easy listening and soft rock

Adult contemporary traces its roots to the 1960s easy listening format, which adopted a 70–80% instrumental to 20–30% vocal mix. A few offered 90% instrumentals, and a handful were entirely instrumental. The easy listening format, as it was first known, was born of a desire by some radio stations in the late 1950s and early 1960s to continue playing current hit songs but distinguish themselves from being branded as "rock and roll" stations. Billboard first published the Easy Listening chart July 17, 1961, with 20 songs; the first number one was "Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton. The chart described itself as "not too far out in either direction".^[12]

Initially, the vocalists consisted of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, and others. The custom recordings were usually instrumental versions of current or recent rock and roll or pop hit songs, a move intended to give the stations more mass appeal without selling out. Some stations would also occasionally play earlier big band-era recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s.^[13]

After 1965, differences between the

One big impetus for the development of the AC radio format was that, when rock and roll music first became popular in the mid-1950s, many more conservative radio stations wanted to continue to play current hit songs while shying away from rock. These middle of the road (or "MOR") stations also frequently included older, pre-rock-era adult standards and big band titles to further appeal to adult listeners who had grown up with those songs.

Another big impetus for the evolution of the AC radio format was the popularity of easy listening or "beautiful music" stations, stations with music specifically designed to be purely ambient. Whereas most easy listening music was instrumental, created by relatively unknown artists, and rarely purchased (especially as singles, although Jackie Gleason's beautiful music albums sold well in the 1950s), AC was an attempt to create a similar "lite" format by choosing certain tracks (both hit singles and album cuts) of popular artists.

1970s: Soft rock forms as a radio format

By the late 1960s hard rock had been established as one of the rock genres^[15] leading hard rock and soft rock to became distinct popular forms in the rock scene,^[5] and as major radio formats in the US.^[16] Soft rock was often derived from folk rock, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies. Major artists included Carole King, Cat Stevens, James Taylor^[8] and Bread.^[17][18]

In the early 1970s, softer songs by The Carpenters, Anne Murray, John Denver, Barry Manilow, and even Barbra Streisand, began to be played more often on "Top 40" radio. Top 40 radio stations played the Top 40 hits regardless of genre. As the texture of much of the music played on Top 40 radio began to soften, the Hot 100 and Easy Listening/AC charts became more similar. Easy Listening radio began playing songs by artists who had begun in other genres, such as rock and roll or R&B. Much of the music recorded by singer-songwriters such as Diana Ross, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Carole King and Janis Ian got as much, if not more, airplay on AC stations than on Top 40 stations. AC stations also began playing softer songs by Elvis Presley, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, and other rock-based artists. Soon after, the adult contemporary format began evolving into the sound that later defined it, with rock-oriented acts as Chicago and the Eagles, becoming associated with the format.^[12] In addition, several early disco songs, did well on the Adult Contemporary format.

Soft rock reached its commercial peak in the mid-to-late 1970s with acts such as

On April 7, 1979, the Easy Listening chart officially became known as Adult Contemporary,

Mainstream AC itself has evolved in a similar fashion over the years; traditional AC artists such as

The amount of crossover between the AC chart and the Hot 100 has varied based on how much the passing pop music trends of the times appealed to adult listeners. Not many disco or new wave songs were particularly successful on the AC chart during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and much of the hip-hop and harder rock music featured on CHR formats later in the decade would have been unacceptable on AC radio.

Although dance-oriented, electronic pop and ballad-oriented rock dominated the 1980s, soft rock songs still enjoyed a mild success thanks to Sheena Easton, Amy Grant,^[27] Lionel Richie, Christopher Cross, Dan Hill, Leo Sayer, Billy Ocean,^[28] Julio Iglesias, Bertie Higgins, and Tommy Page.^[29] No song spent more than six weeks at No. 1 on this chart during the 1980s, with nine songs accomplishing that feat. Two of these were by Lionel Richie, "You Are" in 1983 and "Hello" in 1984, which also reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

In 1989,

The early 1990s marked the softening of urban R&B in the shape of new jack swing, at the same time alternative rock emerged and traditional pop saw a significant resurgence. This in part led to a widening of the market, not only allowing to cater to more niche markets, but it also became customary for artists to make AC-friendly singles. At the same time, the genre began adopting elements from hard rock as tastes were shifting towards louder music, while AC stations in general began playing more rock acts. "Softer" features such as light instrumental music (carried over from the beautiful music format—many AC stations carried the format until the early 1970s), new age songs and most pre-1964 artists were gradually phased out from AC radio throughout the early to mid-1990s.

Unlike the majority of 1980s mainstream singers, the 1990s mainstream pop/R&B singers such as All-4-One,^[31] Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera,^[32] Backstreet Boys and Savage Garden^[32] generally crossed over to the AC charts. Latin pop artists such as Lynda Thomas,^[33] Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Selena, Enrique Iglesias and Luis Miguel also enjoyed success in the AC charts.

In addition to Celine Dion, who has had significant success on this chart, other artists with multiple number ones on the AC chart in the 1990s include Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, Bryan Adams, Whitney Houston and Shania Twain. Newer female Adult album alternative singer-songwriters such as Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow also broke through on the AC chart during this time.^[34]

In 1996, Billboard created a new chart called

In response to the pressure on Hot AC, a new kind of AC format cropped up among American radio recently. The

).

Another format,

remixes of pop songs, such as the Soul Solution mix of Toni Braxton

's "Unbreak My Heart".

In its early years of existence, the smooth jazz format was considered to be a form of AC, although it was mainly instrumental, and related a stronger resemblance to the soft AC-styled music. For many years, George Benson, Kenny G and Dave Koz had all had crossover hits that were played on both smooth jazz and soft AC stations.

2000s–present: AC music goes mainstream and mainstream music goes AC

During the 2000s, the AC market gained an increased presence in the music industry, as its radio formats were popular nationwide—Smooth jazz and "Urban AC" stations were ubiquitous in the East Coast, while Soft rock and "adult standards" stations were common in the Midwest, and pop-oriented "Hot AC" and "world music"/Hispanic AC stations were easily found in the West Coast and the "Sun Belt". This led to the presence of numerous genres on the AC charts, often crossing to the "pop" charts, winning over many critics in the need to define AC, and increased the tolerance and acceptance of AC music into mainstream day-to-day radio play.

countrypolitan musicians such as Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood scored hits on soft AC, particularly in Southern states. A popular trend in the late 1990s and 2000s was remixing dance music hits into adult contemporary ballads, especially in the US, (for example, the "Candlelight Mix" versions of "Heaven" by DJ Sammy, "Listen To Your Heart" by D.H.T., and "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada

).

Key to the success of AC in the 2000s was the 25–34 demographic which had outgrown the pop music offerings of the time, most new rock became too alternative and harsh for AC radio and most new pop was now influenced heavily by dance-pop, hip-hop and electronic dance music.^[36] At the same time, the music industry also began to focus on older audiences and markets generally considered "niche".

During the late 2000s, certain pop songs began entering the AC charts instead, generally after having recently fallen off the Hot 100. Adrian Moreira, senior vice president for adult music for

Cee Lo Green, both in 2011.^[12]

AC radio's shift into more mainstream pop was a result of the changes on the broadcasting landscape following the

portable people meter, a device being used to determine radio listenership, may be incompatible with AC songs and may not accurately pick up that a person is listening to an AC station because of the pitches and frequencies used in the style.^[38]

Key AC artists of the early to mid-2010s included

Motown sound and the so-called Wall of Sound that dominated the soul-heavy pop charts of the early 1960s, when the Easy Listening chart was first introduced. The earlier years of the decade also saw alternative and indie rock acts such as Wilco, Feist, The 1975, Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men and The Lumineers quickly becoming AC mainstays,^[39][40] although these were eventually replaced by rhythm-based rock bands such as Panic! at the Disco, Neon Trees, X Ambassadors, Sheppard, Bastille, American Authors, Fitz and the Tantrums, Foster the People, Twenty One Pilots, Walk the Moon and Milky Chance

.

During the middle of the decade, newer artists such as

Gavin Degraw, Charlie Puth and Colbie Caillat as well as acts that were popular in the 1990s and early 2000s such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera

were added to the rotation of most AC stations.

As trap music and similar styles of hip-hop began dominating top 40 stations during the last years of the 2010s, AC stations began picking up rhythmic artists like

Tiesto. Meanwhile, younger artists like Camila Cabello, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas and the Jonas Brothers and Halsey began to be featured on AC stations more than on top 40 stations.^{[citation needed}

]

Adult contemporary formats

In radio broadcasting, adult contemporary is divided into several sub-formats, each with their own musical direction and demographic targeting. Hot adult contemporary formats generally feature an uptempo rotation of recent hits that appeal to a wide adult audience.^[41] A station formatted as "adult contemporary" with no qualifier, also referred to as "mainstream adult contemporary", generally has a similar playlist to hot AC stations, but with a broader rotation of classic hits from past decades.^[42][41]

Soft adult contemporary formats have a more conservative sound oriented primarily towards adult women, urban AC focuses on

R&B and soul music that appeal to African American adults, and rhythmic AC focuses on dance music and other rhythmic

genres.

Hot adult contemporary

See also: Adult Top 40 and Adult album alternative

Hot adult contemporary (hot AC) radio stations play a wide range of the present day's popular music that appeals towards the 18–54 age group;^[43] it serves as a middle ground between the youth-oriented contemporary hit radio (CHR) format, and adult contemporary formats (such as "mainstream" and soft AC) that are typically targeted towards a more mature demographic. They generally feature uptempo hit music with wide appeal, such as pop and pop rock songs, while excluding more youth-oriented music such as hip-hop.^[42][41] Recurrents usually reflect familiar and youthful music that adults had grown up with.^[44][41] Likewise, mature material from pop acts such as the Backstreet Boys, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, and Pink have also been prominent within the format.^[41][40]

The "hot AC" designation began to appear in the 1990s; the term described adult contemporary stations with a more energetic presentation and uptempo sound than their softer counterparts.^[45] An early example of the format, Houston's KHMX Mix 96.5, climbed from 14th place in the market to third in the six months after its launch. The station's format and branding was widely replicated by other stations.^[46] Many hot AC outlets are among the top stations in their respective market.^[41]

Initially focused more on pop rock, the format has evolved to reflect changes in the composition of this audience; by the mid-2000s, the format had evolved to include more uptempo pop music,^[44][41] while alternative and indie rock crossovers (such as Foster the People, Imagine Dragons, Lovelytheband, and Twenty One Pilots) became more prevalent within the format during the 2010s.^[41][40]

These developments helped to expand the popularity of the format among younger listeners such as

millennials; Nielsen Audio ranked hot AC as the third most-popular format among millennials, behind pop and country music.^[41][42] Of the format's expanding demographic reach, WOMX-FM program director Dana Taylor stated that hot AC stations "may not be the radio station that everybody agrees on, but it's a radio station that everybody goes, 'I'm okay with that'."^[41] The increasingly downtempo direction of pop hits in the mid-to-late 2010's also helped to attract additional listeners.^[42]

Hot AC stations typically keep a larger body of recent hits in rotation than those with rigid, chart-driven formats like CHR and

Mainstream Top 40 and Hot 100 due in part to strong hot AC airplay).^[41][47][48]

The popularity of the hot AC format prompted many mainstream AC stations to add uptempo music to their playlists, while still maintaining a deeper rotation of older hits than hot AC stations.[42]^[41]

Modern adult contemporary

Modern adult contemporary refers to AC formats with a stronger lean towards modern rock and pop rock.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, modern AC was typically targeted towards women, with Mike Marino of

Twin Cities

being one of the few modern AC stations left.

Soft adult contemporary

See also: Soft rock and List of soft rock artists and songs

The Soft adult contemporary format typically targets women 25–54 and

pop and power ballads, soft rock, and other familiar, light hits.^[53] Upon its establishment in the 1980s, the soft AC format was positioned as being a more upbeat version of easy listening that would appeal better to a younger audience, mainly by excluding instrumental beautiful music. Easy listening stations had begun shifting to the format out of concern that their existing programming would not appeal to the current generation of listeners.^[45]

In a 1990 article,

WLIT did not have its airstaff talk over the beginning and endings of songs (in contrast to the hot AC-leaning WFYR), and played Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonite" but not "Old Time Rock and Roll" (which was part of WTMX's playlist). The director of a soft AC station in Connecticut, WEZN-FM, told Warren that he had barred the reading of top-of-hour news headlines, so that listeners wouldn't be tempted to tune away to an all-news station to learn more.^[45]

Soft AC stations tend to be more selective in their music libraries than other adult contemporary stations, preferring proven songs over current hits.[45] Upon the onset of the format's popularity, core artists typically included singers such as Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, and Barbra Streisand. By the 1990s, to improve their appeal among changing demographics, some soft AC stations began to widen their playlist to include selections from contemporary acts with 80s, & 90s, musicians & bands such as Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Roxette, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Elton John, Cher, Whitney Houston, Journey, and Queen. On the other hand, by 1996, New York's WLTW had begun to phase out its softer music in favor of a more uptempo direction.^{[45][54][55][56]}

In 2017, Inside Radio reported that soft AC had the third-largest decrease in US stations offering the format over the past decade (at 128), ranking behind only adult standards and oldies—a shift credited to aging demographics and a major boom in the wider-appealing classic hits format (which saw the largest overall increase over the same period). Consultant Gary Berkowitz argued that the soft AC format had become increasingly irrelevant in comparison to mainstream and hot AC, due to PPM markets preferring uptempo music.^[57]

At the same time, however, soft AC began to experience a resurgence. In April 2016,

Entercom.^[21][53] Industry analyst Sean Ross argued that older demographics were becoming more lucrative due to changes in listening habits among younger audiences, which prefer digital platforms such as music streaming services over linear terrestrial radio, and also noted how mainstream AC was dependent on the Top 40 charts to break new songs.^[53]

Current soft AC stations have continued to feature recurrents such as

MeTV FM, which have also grown in popularity).^[60]

Urban adult contemporary

The

urban contemporary as the second-most popular format among African-American adults 18–34 in the same report, with an 18.9 audience share.^[61]

The format typically excludes youthful rhythmic music, such as commercial

hip-hop and rap, that are usually associated with the urban contemporary format.^[62][63][64] The urban AC format is also associated with the "quiet storm"—mellower R&B ballads and slow jams, often in a jazz-influenced style. The syndicated evening program Keith Sweat Hotel focuses specifically on such music.^{[65][66][67][68]}

As urban contemporary stations prefer hit-driven hip-hop songs, labels typically service R&B songs to the urban AC format only. Some current R&B musicians have complained that this is an artificial divide that prevents them from reaching a wider, mainstream audience (citing the relatively smaller number of urban AC outlets in comparison to urban and rhythmic), even with attempts to give some singles a hip-hop-influenced sound to improve the potential for

crossover appeal. Some acts have attempted to disassociate themselves from "R&B" to reduce the effect of this stigma, although streaming services have helped to expose R&B to a wider audience beyond urban AC radio.^[69][70]

Rhythmic adult contemporary

The

Motown. Rhythmic hot AC has also been used as a format, popularized by stations such as New York's WKTU.^{[71][72][73][74][75]}

Smooth adult contemporary

See also: Smooth jazz radio

The Smooth adult contemporary format is a variant of the smooth jazz format that incorporates mainstream and/or urban adult contemporary songs; they are designed to appeal to a wider range of demographics than a straight smooth jazz format. Some smooth AC stations may limit their airplay of jazz instrumentals to those by better-known performers such as Kenny G.^[76][77]

Christian adult contemporary

Plumb, and more recently Big Daddy Weave, Casting Crowns, For King & Country, Lauren Daigle, MercyMe, and Newsboys

.

Adult album alternative

The Adult album alternative (triple-A or AAA) format generally features a diverse playlist of music that appeals to an adult audience, with a focus on emerging songs and artists, and often featuring songs that were not released as singles. The exact composition of a triple-A station's playlist can vary, with alternative rock, indie rock, and indie pop commonly used as core genres, and some stations featuring more uncommon genres such as alternative country, Americana, blues, folk music, and world music. NPR observed in 2018 that roughly half of all triple-A stations in the U.S. were non-commercial stations.^[78] With the wide variety of music that is serviced to the format, adult album alternative charts have often served as a feeder for the Adult Top 40, and have been credited for breaking acts such as Dave Matthews Band and Lorde.^[78][79][80]

Christmas music

See also: Christmas music § Radio broadcasting of Christmas music

Since the 1990s it has become common for many AC stations, particularly soft AC stations, to play primarily or exclusively Christmas music during the Christmas season in November and December. While these tend mostly to be contemporary seasonal recordings by the same artists featured under the normal format, most stations will also air at least some vintage holiday tunes from older pop, MOR, and adult standards artists – such as Boney M., The Carpenters, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Percy Faith, Mannheim Steamroller, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Andy Williams – many of whom would never be played on these stations during the rest of the year.

These Christmas music marathons typically start a few weeks before Thanksgiving Day and end after Christmas Day, or sometimes extending to New Year's Day. Afterwards, the stations usually resume their normal music fare. Several stations begin the holiday format much earlier, at the beginning of November especially after Halloween. The roots of this tradition can be traced back to the beautiful music and easy listening stations of the 1960s and 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

Syndicated radio shows and networks carrying the adult contemporary format

• Delilah – One of the US's most popular radio shows
  , Delilah airs primarily in the evening. Its Christmas Edition airs from mid-November to late December.
• Intelligence for Your Life – Hosted by John Tesh, this show also airs evenings and also on weekends.
• American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest – One version of AT40 airs on US hot AC stations, which is a little different from its Top-40/CHR counterpart.
• Rick Dees Weekly Top 40/Weekly Top 30 – Began offering Hot AC versions of the popular countdown show in June 1996. These shows feature the top 20 Hot AC songs in the US along with about 10 past hits from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s (decade). A softer "AC" version was added in July 2009 to try to fill in the void left by Casey Kasem ending his AC countdown.
• Radio Disney Music Top 30 Countdown, One version is for Hot AC stations, the other version is for Mainstream AC stations. Plays the USA Top 30 songs of the week according to Mediabase and a music rating service called ratethemusic.com. This show, like Rick Dees' show, is distributed by Compass Media Networks.
• Backtrax USA with Kid Kelly – Weekend programs focusing on the '80s and '90s, targeted for hot AC stations.
• Dial Global
  both offer AC 24-hour networks programming soft and hot AC.
• Premiere Radio Networks
  .
• Retro Rewind with Dave Harris is a weekend-based radio show highlighting a massive playlist of songs from the 1980s and 1990s, interviews, spotlights and contests. The show is done live across the US on Saturday nights, taking audience requests. The show is targeted towards HOT AC and AC radio stations.
• The EZ Rock network is a brand/network of soft AC heard in Canada.
• Heart
  - A radio network in the UK that grew throughout 2009 as more stations were rebranded as "Heart".
• Smooth Radio – A UK-wide radio network that formed from six regional Smooth Radio stations.
• Smoothfm – A network of two Australian commercial radio stations (based in Sydney and Melbourne) that are focused on providing an eclectic easy-listening playlist, usually featuring ballads.
• Nova – A network of five Australian commercial radio station (based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) that are very similar to Smoothfm.
• The Breeze – A group of New Zealand adult contemporary radio stations owned by MediaWorks Radio. There are 20 stations currently broadcasting throughout New Zealand.
• The Bob and Sheri Show – American morning drive show based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Heard on more than 50 AC stations and the American Forces Network

Former syndicated programming includes Dick Clark's US Music Survey (1996–2005), Casey's Hot 20/Casey's Countdown/American Top 20/10 (1992–2009) and Top 30 USA.

See also

• Adult Contemporary, a chart appearing in Billboard since 1961. This chart is typically (but not exclusively) closer to soft AC.
• New-age music
• Yacht rock

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External links

• Artists | Ambition Entertainment
• Rebirth Music Productions
• GAD Music Company