...because the currents you choose to play had better be bulletproof! The "Top 5" from our weekly TOP 15, in the issue sent to subscribers on July 6, 2009   (Volume 26, Number 7) 1. JUST GO -- Lionel Richie with Akon (Island/DefJam) 2. NEVER FAR AWAY -- Jim Brickman with Rush of Fools (Time-Life)  [SESAC] 3. I DREAMED A DREAM -- Susan Boyle [via YouTube video] [Download on our Commentary page] 4. LIFE'S GIFT -- NiaNell (Sony BMG of Africa LP) 5. TOGETHER -- Reuben Studdard (19/Hickory)  Eight new releases were tested this week -- but none of them emerged at our "recommended for mainstream Adult Contemporary playlists" scoring level this week. We also re-tested eight songs we'd tested previously -- and one of them moved up to join our "recommended for mainstream AC playlist" this week:  SMILE by Uncle Kracker, on Atlantic. We DO include full identification (including label info) for ALL songs tested and re-tested, and all the songs included in our latest weekly "recommended playlist", plus their precise scoring levels, in EVERY issue of the Music Research Letter received by our PAID SUBSCRIBERS!  Maybe you should join us, as a trial subscriber for 12 weeks, and see for yourself how useful this information is in your programming?  Use the second "PayPal" button below, to make it easy, if you like!  Or mail a check to the address at the bottom of the page. This page is updated weekly, seven days after the data reported here (and a LOT more) is sent to subscribers. Note: This is just a very brief highlight of what subscribers receive every week in our newsletter. The newsletter includes detailed information on all releases tested each week, including every cut on selected albums as applicable, with specific scores on every selection tested that week, what songs we've re-tested and what the prior and current scores are, what the rest of our weekly "Top 15" songs are (ranked in order), as well as what songs we've tested which have not tested well despite good chartings in the trades...and each issue provides all that information one week before these highlights appear on our website! Those who pay for our service receive all of that each week. Feel free to e-mail us if you need some specific information on songs we mention on this page. If you do find our research potentially valuable, we hope you will try a subscription. Since we don't sell ads, subscriptions are what pay for the research we've been doing since 1980, and publishing every week since 1984! We offer timely comments on matters of significance to programmers each week, and these are usually made available the same week on the "Commentary" page of this website. Eric was weekly "P.D. Notebook" columnist in San Francisco's The Gavin Report for eighteen years; his comments here are in the same vein. Also, check past commentaries of potential value to you, archived here! Eric Norberg, Editor and Publisher of the Music Research Letter, says... "At $355 (U.S.) per year for 48 issues, this is the cheapest music research you can buy...and, coincidentally, the most accurate. "That works out to about seven dollars a week for authentic audience research, specifically reflecting the tastes and preferences of the mainstream, mass-appeal Adult Contemporary female target listener. "At last--CURRENTS for A/C music radio that BUILD audience and lengthen listening spans.  "The secret is avoiding the charted tunes that don't actually appeal, and finding and playing the tracks--on the charts or not--which DO appeal to the core, mainstream, female listener!" Each January we publish our annual "recurrent/oldies" list for the previous year. If you'd like a complimentary copy of the issue containing the list for year 2008, e-mail us, call us, or write us, and give us the address (mailing or e-mail) to which we should send it to you! If you enter a new subscription on this site, using the PayPal tools below, we will start your subscription by sending you the complete issue in which that annual list most recently appeared, plus several recent issues at no charge to "get you up to speed". Your subscription will BEGIN with the NEXT issue mailed. ADULT CONTEMPORARY MUSIC RESEARCH LETTER 1837 S.E. Harold Street Portland, OR  USA  97202-4932 We now offer mailed, faxed, or e-mailed delivery (surcharge will apply to mailed or faxed subscriptions outside the U.S. and Canada). A sample of our weekly e-mailed edition can be downloaded here.  If you'd like to subscribe immediately (or to renew an existing subscription), using a credit card, click on the "PayPal" BUY NOW button below right now!  Otherwise send check and ordering information to our address, above! Click on this button to start an annual (48-weekly-issue) subscription immediately! We will e-mail it to you weekly as a PDF document, unless you tell us you would prefer to receive it by conventional mail! You can also RENEW an annual subscription with a credit card by using this button! Prefer to pay quarterly, or to try it out for 12 weeks first? The button below is for the 12-week (3 month) subscription term! You can also RENEW a quarterly subscription with a credit card by using this button! (Note to record companies, artists, producers: Singles and marked tracks can be submitted to us at our address, above. There is no charge for the testing process.) To ask questions about our testing process, our results, using our results profitably, or our newsletter, call or fax 1-800-929-5119 Internationally, 010 + 1 + 503-232-9787, phone and fax Or e-mail us now! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We call your attention to the helpful A/C website operated by John and Donna Brake, www.ACradio.com. This site has resources and links, as well as extra features, including weekly columns relevant to A/C radio and the industry. Mike Kinosian, formerly of R&R, appears there; and we are very pleased to report that Eric Norberg also appears with a commentary on that site every three weeks! Entire site ©2009, Consolidated Communications Consultants Get a free html hit counter here.