Music, What others are saying

Sharp Intake of Breath by Clive Dickens

August 26th, 2008

Posted By adam

It’s always a case of sharp intake of breath when inviting comments from listeners and users.  Particularly when you’ve said you’ll actually bother to consider them - and, with this being radio,  people would soon notice if I merrily ignored them all.

So.  I sent out a note to all our thousands of VIPs last week, and wondered how many responses I might get.  There are so many distractions in life, why would someone bother to write and give me free advice?  So, I was really pleased to arrive to a mailbox of hundreds of responses: great honest notes saying ‘I love this’, ‘don’t touch that’, ‘why not think about more of this’ or just saying ’so and so is just truly naff’.  Clearly, it would be crazy to suggest we can meet everyone’s expectations, otherwise we’d have to assemble probably five million different radio stations (an idea?), but it is clear that there are some recurring themes. Luckily many of these were things were already on our minds at One Golden Square.

We had already decided that some things simply must remain part of what we do, and we’re identifying those one by one and mentioning them on air too, just to offer reassurance. See the blog entry below on our ‘pillars’.

As for changes, and new stuff?  Well, just like Geoff’s long blogs below, that’s an area for strong views, beautifully expressed in these emails too:

“We are begining to think you rent the records off someone else for a period of time!”;

“The bands you play are good - but I’d love to see you play less of the obvious stuff”;

“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE INCREASE THE PLAY LIST FROM THE 8 RECORDS YOU SEEM TO PLAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN” (I left that listener’s capital letters in);

“Try and make your music a little less predictable”

“Virgin Radio needs a good revamp, or else loyal listeners from day one will disappear”.

Clearly there was individual criticism and praise for individual presenters, and you would not expect me to print that all here, but we’ve certainly taken it on board, alongside all our other thinking.

Quite a few listeners asked about the rationale behind our name change.  Some listeners told me it will not really matter, they see it as just a label (which is the way we see it really).  Others were more suspicious of the circumstances where organisations do this:

“It usually means that they have perpetrated an embarrassing cock-up,and literally want to hide their faces.”

That’s certainly not the case here, we are hugely proud of our achievements, and you’ll notice we’ll be welding together our old and new identities in a period called ‘crossfade’ (internal word). That’s a lot different from running away from our old name.  In short what the name change will do, will free us to express ourselves in a whole host of different ways just as contemporary brands do.  We could not do that with our old name as quite simply it belonged to somebody else.

And - to make it absolutely clear because a cab driver asked me about this yesterday - you won’t have to do anything different to hear us on the radio.  You’ll find us exactly where you currently do and we’ve no plans to shut down any of the ways in which we are distributed.  Obviously our web address will change, and we’ll keep you in touch on that score.  I know you probably realised all that, if you have got this far into our blog, but I thought I’d mention it!

If you wrote to me  - thank you.

Clive

16 Comments

  1. Alistair MacPherson,
    August 26th, 2008 at 2:04 pm:

    It would be nice if you could invite some VIPs to Golden Square, so that we may ask relevant questions to relevant people, see how things are done and give some feedback online.


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  2. Serena Maya,
    August 26th, 2008 at 3:40 pm:

    That’s a BRILLIANT idea Alistair MacPherson, we’d love to be considered. I myself took part in the initial research carried out @ Albion London on July 14th and really valued the chance to voice my feedback. However, as a 15 year plus Listener to Virgin Radio, I am sorry to say I’ve been listening to XFM, BBC Radio 2 and Q Radio more, recently. Even though the playlist and DJ banter has improved on Virgin - the considerable change has been affecting my WRITING. My publishers cannot wait till normal service is resumed and the NEW NAME announcemet is over and done with..! serena


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  3. Dave Spaine,
    August 27th, 2008 at 9:54 am:

    Hi Clive
    Its great to see a radio station actually give their listeners a voice in shaping the future of the radio station. This is a rare sight for me anyway. For my thoughts VR can sometime be a bit repetitive sometimes and I also feel when VR plays songs I haven,t heard in ages I actually have heard them not so long ago and yes you got it on VR. Having said this VR is by far the UK’s best radio station. So best of luck and thanks for keeping us in the loop.


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  4. Shirley Campbell,
    August 27th, 2008 at 1:43 pm:

    Hi, I think its great that you guys are LISTENING to your listners ooo thats a tounge twister! I agree that some things are good and don’t need to be changed but then there is always room for improvement, I have been listening to virgin for quite a few years but I must too admit that recently I have been listening more to my local MFR (Alistair DONT SAY A WORD) I have noticed that the music is quite repetative (did I spell that correctly?) which can get a bit annoying and like Dave above said, the havnt heard it for ages sometimes just isnt the case! I think its great how the DJS have started commenting on the website and on our blogs! Who ever thought of putting that board up in the studio needs a gold star!
    Anyway keep up the good work and I look forward to all the new stuff happening! When I get back at the end of september I wont recognise VR!!
    PS I think I can say this on behalf of all us LOYAL VIPS……..We all appreciate everything you lot do for us even when those techies are hiding under the desks!
    ;-)


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  5. Dave,
    August 27th, 2008 at 7:47 pm:

    Wish you luck with the re-branding, just please have cojones and do something different, make the new station stand out from the “that was, this is” GWR/Capital/Heart clones that can be heard across the FM spectrum. British radio is so predictable and has been for far too long. Ask yourself this, would the great Kenny Everett get a gig now? You’d have to answer that he probably wouldn’t!


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  6. Marty from new yawk,
    August 27th, 2008 at 9:45 pm:

    cojones=testicles


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  7. sarah campbell-law,
    August 27th, 2008 at 11:41 pm:

    A few years back virgin radio had the no repeat 9-5, It was great not to hear the same songs repeated hour after hour sometimes it seems like the playlist is put on random repeat hourly, but the great dj’s keep me tuned in.
    I am a lover of the music on virgin radio but do find all the repeats just to predictable.
    Keep the music, just ditch the constant repeats.
    Geoff is a legend, his banter is what keeps me tuned in every night, but repeats are too much.
    please listen to the listeners, we are pleading with those of above, more music variety and more comps on the website would be cool.
    Am i asking for too much.????
    x x x


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  8. Chris Williams,
    August 28th, 2008 at 2:32 am:

    Good luck with the rebrand guys. I haven’t really listened to Virgin for a while but the news of the rebrand has got me a bit excited :D. On the new station I hope there is more variation in the tunes and that a bigger playlist is introduced. Also, I hope thata you change the imaging/jingles to something less boring. Was on the Virgin website the other day and found some great imaging from around 2000 on there, try and get that sound back again. Good luck and i’ll be listening.


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  9. Dave,
    August 28th, 2008 at 9:50 am:

    Marty from new yawk,
    August 27th, 2008 at 9:45 pm:

    cojones=testicles

    Actually it’s Balls!


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  10. David,
    August 29th, 2008 at 12:38 pm:

    I agree with all the above, a larger variation to the playlists would be greatly appreciated, perhaps mix the Classic Rock and Xtreme playlists together with the main staion, to heat Ida Maria, Coldplay and then G’n'R would be fantastic. Also when I first started listening to Virgin we had double shot Tuesdays, 2 songs from the same artist made hearing new music better.

    Looking forward to the new look station.


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  11. Cat Hughes,
    August 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm:

    Hello Craig and all @ Virgin,
    first, may I wish you every bit of luck with the re-branding of the staion/company. No easy task I’m sure. People being as they are, are subject to the frailities of humankind… we are sceptical and fearful of change in the main; even when change represents a positive thing. I think that will be your biggest primary challenge ith respect to your audience. Its excellent that you’re inviting listeners to comment but its also vital that listeners FEEL they are being valued and their views taken on board. Many companies may purport to ‘care’, when its merely ‘lip service’ and no action. I agree with many of the comments I’ve read; ie. if it aint broke, don’t fix it… so yes, keep the bits that are good and have proven positive responses. Dare to be different too… that’s what has always set virgin apart from other media enterprises; they push the boundaries and chellenge constantly. That’s brilliant. I think as many do, a broader range of music and maybe no repeatworkday would be great. Another feature you never hear on ANY station, which one northern radio presenter did for a while a few years back was this… (and one of my favourites to be honest- ever!) You do the rock football yes? Well, this presenter I’m referring to used to do an excellent slot on a sunday eve for two hours called urban mix or something like… it consisted of a a famous person narrating one of the classics (literary) condensed down for the 2 hour slot, whilst music was interwoven to suit the unfolding storyline. The DJ used to do his own mixes too which were genius! So you had something like ‘ Fall of the house of Usher’, being narrated by say, Edward Woodward, Michael Caine, with music interludes and in the background from a variet of genres ranging from Trance to soft rock, metal, Garage even choral. It was mindblowing!!! Abd different! On totally different topic, I think the competition winnes seem to be too ’samey’; you have some fabulous prizes being won. However, it always seems to be a person with a vaguely ‘posh’ generic, southern/home counties accent, who conjures up an image of being pretty middle class, white collar and well able to afford the prize they’ve won therefore, their reaction at winning is often dead-pan and bland which doesn’t make for inspiring listenng. Personally, I’d be in seventh heaven and the nation would know it through the airwaves too!!! Instead you’re hearing, ‘Steve, you’ve justwon a luxury trip to necker island, a bungalow in Surbiton and 50,000 a year for life…’ to which you’ll hear the generic accent say, ‘Yeah, thanks. Bye’. Maybe targeting a broader spectrum of possible winners from differing regions/socio-economic groups etc would make for more interesting listening. Thats just my thoughts tho and maybe I’m slightly biassed as I’ve never been lucky enough to get through to a comp, let alone win one of your fab prizes.. even tho I’e been subscribed for ages and a listener for 15 years… you still hear someone whose just won on air say how they got through first time of calling and no, hadn’t been a dedicated listener but just signed up ten minutes ago!!! Thats kind of pants to hear for us who have been loal for years abd never get a look in… or am I being over sensitive? Ok. enough of my musings now. Thanks for taking the time to read this if anyone actually does read it without getting bored before reaching the end… Lotsaluv and every best wish from a vintage listener ( in terms of virginradio listener, not my chronological years….;- / ho-hum! CatXXX


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  12. SHIRLEY,
    August 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm:

    Hello its me again…….I just wanted to say I reckon you have chosen the BEST VIP to represent us all… I havnt personally met Big Al aka ZIPPY but I reckon he is fab……Look forward to the podcast!! Im so excited about all that is going on…..good luck for tuesday! x


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  13. laura,
    August 31st, 2008 at 1:40 am:

    Im somehow scared… maybe its because Ive been following Virgin for so many years….
    Will there be space for us… meaning peeps from abroad… many times there are pall prices and things and we can never take part on them

    what about the name,,, do u have it?


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  14. Kaz,
    September 1st, 2008 at 8:45 pm:

    I have been a VR listener for about 5 years now. Have entered many competitions, have even been a lucky winner and visited Golden Square to watch the Plain White T’s in the Zoo. I have made many many good friends on here, who are no longer virtual friends. I am proud to be part of the VR community, and lets hope the changes are for the better of the radio station and all it stands for.


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  15. Elg,
    September 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am:

    I wonder which is going to be the new commercial direction of the radio and if that will influence in the way the radio will be in the internet or not. I mean, ppl living outside Uk, will still be able to listen VR in the internet?
    Cheers.


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  16. fran Bird,
    September 2nd, 2008 at 10:52 pm:

    I’ve been with VR since the very beginning, i stayed through the Penk debacle because of the music, (touch n go there though!) Stay true to the listeners please “no rap no crap” Good luck and keep us laughing.


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