Text by Martha Sofie Bech Myhre
*Ditte Vestergaard (head of music for P6) did not participate as planned due to illness.
Hopeful artists and managers stream into Remisen, and soon all the round café tables are occupied. The dream of getting a song into A-rotation suddenly feels a little closer as the music directors from P3 and P8 Jazz prepare to explain how they select music for their radio stations.
“We actually listen blindly to everything that gets submitted,” explains Naya Buric from P8.
By “blind listening,” she means that the playlist committees do not know the artist’s sexuality, age, ethnicity, or religion while listening.
They also listen to everything at least once. When artists submit music, they can indicate beforehand which of DR’s channels they believe their song fits best.
Often, that choice is genre-based, but Mathias Buch Jensen, head of music for P3, points out that it is still possible to break both genre conventions and expectations.
“We saw that with Guldimund’s ‘Det’ kun vigtigt, hvad det er’, which breaks the framework of how a traditional pop song sounds. It could also be someone like Von Quar, who lets a trumpet solo take up far more space than you would normally hear in a P3 rotation.”
Diversity Encourages Diversity
Each channel has its own playlist committee, assembled in a way intended to encourage diversity in music selection. Mathias Buch Jensen believes this strengthens the dialogue around the music because the opinion of an intern carries just as much weight as that of the music executives.
“When you encourage someone to hear a song from a different perspective, it can completely change their perception of it,” he says.
The committees are therefore made up of people with different musical tastes, ages, genders, and positions.
Step by Step Through the eye of the Needle
Recently, the music selection process has been fully streamlined across the channels – something Naya Buric is very pleased about.
“It creates more transparency and less of a gatekeeper position for the channels,” she says.
The most important criteria when building playlists are originality, diverse perspectives, and songwriting quality. In addition, songs often though not always need to fit within one of the station’s typical genres.
For P3 specifically, the channel also reflects current trends, which means some tracks may fall outside the genres traditionally associated with the station.
The channels’ content must also align with DR’s music profile, including considerations such as gender balance.
At DR, it is especially important to support releases from Danish artists. Therefore, there are guidelines regarding how much music must come from artists with Danish backgrounds. On P8, 40% of the content must be Danish in origin, while on P3 the requirement is 50%. However, the lyrics themselves do not necessarily have to be in Danish.
Community and Familiarity
“It can feel a bit unfair when the same songs keep appearing in rotation across several channels,” a young woman from the audience points out, explaining that she releases music herself.
The two music executives explain that, for DR, it is important to create familiarity and a sense of community for listeners through the music they play. That usually requires songs to be aired many times.
And because the core genres across the different channels sometimes overlap, certain songs naturally appear on multiple stations.
Still, Naya Buric encourages the attending artists to stay patient.
“Trust us when we say that we listen to everything. There are high and low seasons both in music releases and listener behavior, and a song can absolutely enter rotation several months after it was submitted.”
Tekst af Martha Sofie Bech Myhre
*Ditte Vestergaard (musikansvarlig for P6) deltog ikke som planlagt pga. sygdom.
Håbefulde artister og managers strømmer til Remisen, og snart er alle de runde caféborde optagede. Drømmen om et nummer i A-rotation synes en anelse tættere, når de musikansvarlige fra P3 og P8 om lidt vil dele ud af, hvordan de udvælger musik til deres radiokanaler.
“Vi lytter faktisk blindt til alt, hvad der bliver sendt ind,” forklarer Naya Buric fra P8.
Med blindlytning menes, at playlistudvalgene hverken kender til artistens seksualitet, alder, etnicitet eller religion, når de lytter.
Der bliver desuden lyttet til alt. Og mindst en gang. Når artisterne sender musik ind, kan de på forhånd plotte, hvilke af DR’s kanaler, de forestiller sig, at nummeret egner sig bedst til.
Ofte er det genrebetonet, men Mathias Buch Jensen, musikansvarlig for P3, fortæller, at det altså er muligt at bryde med både genrer og normer.
“Det så vi med Guldimunds ‘Det’ kun vigtigt, hvad det er’, som sprænger rammerne for, hvordan et traditionelt popnummer lyder. Det kunne også være med Von Quar, der lader en trompetsolo fylde langt mere, end man ellers ville se i en P3-rotation.”
Diversitet fremmer diversitet
Hver kanal har sit eget playlisteudvalg, der er sammensat på en måde, der skal fremme diversitet i udvælgelse af numrene. Mathias Buch Jensen oplever, at det er med til at fremme dialogen om musikken i playlisteudvalgene, fordi praktikantens ord vejer lige så meget som de musikansvarliges.
“Når man opfordrer andre til at høre en sang fra et andet perspektiv, kan det betyde, at vedkommende får en helt ny perception af sangen,” siger han.
Udvalgene er derfor sammensat på tværs af musiksmag, alder, køn og stilling.
Step by step til nåleøjet
For nylig er proceduren for musikudvælgelsen blevet helt strømlinet på tværs af kanalerne. Det er Naya Buric meget tilfreds med.
“Det giver mere transparens og mindre gatekeeperposition for kanalerne,” siger hun.
De vigtigste parametre, når udvalgene sammensætter playlister, er originalitet, forskellige perspektiver og sangteknisk niveau. Dertil kommer ofte – men ikke altid – om nummeret passer ind i en af de typiske genrer på den givne kanal.
For P3 gælder nemlig også, at kanalen afspejler trends, og derfor kan numrene stikke udenfor de gængse P3-genrer.
Kanalernes indhold skal desuden stemme overens med DR’s musikprofil, og det betyder bl.a., at de skal forholde sig til kønsbalancen.
Hos DR er det især vigtigt at værne om udgivelsen af danske artisters musik, og derfor er der retningslinjer for, hvor meget musik, der skal afspilles af artister med dansk baggrund. På P8 skal 40% af indholdet have dansk afsender, hvor det på P3 er 50%. Dog behøver selve teksterne ikke nødvendigvis være dansksprogede.
Fællesskab og genkendelighed
“Det kan virke lidt uretfærdigt, når de samme numre går igen i rotationer på flere kanaler,” påpeger en ung kvinde fra publikum og fortæller, at hun selv udgiver musik.
De to musikansvarlige forklarer, at det for DR er vigtigt at skabe genkendelighed og fællesskab for lytterne med den afspillede musik. Det forudsætter som regel, at et nummer skal afspilles mange gange.
Og fordi kernegenrerne på de forskellige kanaler kan have overlap, vil nogle numre gå igen fra kanal til kanal.
Naya Buric opfordrer dog de fremmødte artister til at slå koldt vand i blodet.
“Stol på det, når vi lover, at vi lytter til alt. Der vil høj- og lavsæsoner i både musikudgivelse og lytning, og en sang kan sagtens komme i rotation flere måneder efter, den er sendt ind.”
