If you're a big fan of music radio, you probably already know the routine.
You keep hearing a song at work, in the car, or in the store until all of a sudden it is living rent-free in your head.
That's most likely because it was added to a rotating playlist of about 50 songs on a radio station.
However, who chooses which songs are played or not, and how do they ensure that they are selecting the right ones to keep listeners interested?
Al Smith is one such individual.
He is a music programmer who over the past ten years has assisted in selecting the music for some of the biggest youth radio stations in the UK.
It's a significant obligation. The sound of a station will be shaped by your decisions, and occasionally by your absence.
Now, how do you choose?
According to Al, "understanding what the target audience would enjoy" is by far the most crucial component.
Al considers that to be anything that young people find appealing.
So how do you step into the shoes of the ideal listener?
Major music labels used to hold a lot of sway because they were in close contact with radio station decision-makers and actively promoted their artists.
But Al has observed a change.
According to him, music programmers are generally receptive to the origins of a song.
If other factors are contributing to a song's success, stations may promote unsigned artists.
Go to TikTok. Remember the heartbreaking hit song If We Ever Broke Up by Mae Stephens?
At the time the track became popular, Mae was unsigned and releasing music on the platform. Her song was swiftly added to the playlists of pop music stations in a short period of time.
TikTok and other social media platforms give fans more power than ever in addition to being useful tools for artists.
The "democratization of music" is what Al refers to. ".
He explains that there are many locations where music fans can now listen to music, including YouTube and music streaming services.
As a result, stations are under more pressure to incorporate listener preferences into their playlists.
You can't, however, appease everyone.
Radio stations in the UK, like BBC Radio 1, have recently come to realize this.
You may have seen numerous tweets criticizing them for omitting Kylie's Padam Padam from their playlists despite the fact that the song reached the UK top 10.
According to a statement from Radio 1, the station decides which songs to include on its playlist "based on their musical merit and whether they are appropriate for our target audience.".
It claimed to make decisions "on a case-by-case basis.".
Al concurred that it was crucial to win over your target audience.
According to him, Kylie isn't the right artist for some stations' younger audience goals because of this.
"Unfortunately, the decisions you make will always make someone unhappy.
Songs can only be played for so long each day. ".
Not only station viewers have strong feelings for the songs they want to hear.
Al claims that playlisters frequently engage in debates.
Because a person's potential bias is typically balanced out by another person's opposing viewpoint, you get a lot of ferocious opinion. " .
Whether or not a person's musical preferences ever affect their own decision-making. Al claims that he tries to avoid it.
"Objectivity is a skill, but you can never claim to have made a decision without considering your own opinions.
In the end, we do this work because we are passionate about music; therefore, if you hear a song that you find amazing, you want others to hear it. " .
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