Editing Album-oriented rock

{{short description|American FM radio format}}
{{distinguish|Adult-oriented rock (disambiguation){{!}}Adult-oriented rock}}
{{sources|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}

'''Album-oriented rock''' ('''AOR''', originally called '''album-oriented radio''') is an [[FM broadcasting|FM]] [[radio format]] created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of [[Rock music|rock]] albums and is currently associated with [[classic rock]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Radio Broadcasting Glossary|url=https://www.radioconnection.com/glossary/|access-date=December 16, 2020|publisher=Radio Connection}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|date=May 1, 2019|title=The 50 Greatest AOR Albums of All Time|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-50-greatest-aor-albums-of-all-time|access-date=December 16, 2020|publisher=Louder}}</ref>

US radio stations dedicated to playing album tracks by rock artists from the [[hard rock]] and [[progressive rock]] genres initially established album-oriented radio.  In the mid-1970s, AOR was characterized by a layered, mellifluous sound and sophisticated production with considerable dependence on melodic hooks. The AOR format achieved tremendous popularity in the late 1960s to the early 1980s through research and formal programming to create an album rock format with great commercial appeal.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stim |first=Rich |date=December 1986 |title=Georgia Sattelites review (footnote 1) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FL-rqqrDxb8C&pg=PA42 |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|SPIN]] |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=42 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

From the early 1980s onward, the abbreviation AOR transitioned from "album-oriented radio" to "album-oriented rock", meaning radio stations specialized in classic rock recorded during the late 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pomp Rock, a sub-genre overview|date=August 24, 2016 |url=https://www.melodicrock.nl/pomp-rock-a-genre-overview/|access-date=December 16, 2020|publisher=Melodicrock.nl}}</ref>

The term is also commonly conflated with "[[Adult-oriented rock (disambiguation)|adult-oriented rock]]", a radio format that also uses the initialism "AOR" and covers not only album-oriented rock but also album tracks and "[[wiktionary:deep cut|deep cuts]]" from a range of other rock genres, such as [[soft rock]] and [[pop rock]].

==History==

===Freeform and progressive===
The album-oriented rock radio format started with programming concepts in the 1960s. The [[Free-form radio|freeform]] and [[Progressive rock (radio format)|progressive]] formats developed the tone for AOR [[playlist]]s for much of its heyday.

In July 1964, the U.S. [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) [[FM Non-Duplication Rule|adopted a non-duplication rule]] prohibiting FM radio stations from running a [[simulcast]] of the programming from their AM counterparts. AM/FM affiliate station owners fought these new regulations, delaying enactment until January 1, 1967.<ref>Gent, George. "AM-FM Radio Stations Ready For the Great Divide Tomorrow" ''New York Times'' December 31, 1966: 39</ref>

The freeform format in commercial radio was created to program the FM airwaves inexpensively. Programmers like [[Tom Donahue (DJ)|Tom Donahue]] at [[KMPX (defunct)|KMPX]] in San Francisco developed stations where [[DJ]]s had the freedom to play long sets of music, often covering a variety of genres. Not limited to hits or singles, DJs often played obscure or longer tracks by newer or more adventurous artists rather than those heard on [[Top 40]] stations of the day. This new format caused albums, instead of singles, to be rock's main artistic vehicle in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1978 |title=The AOR Story |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Ratings-Directories/RandR-AOR/R&R-AOR-Story-1978.pdf |journal=[[Radio and Records]]}}</ref>

With a few exceptions, commercial freeform had a relatively brief life. With more listeners acquiring FM radios, it became more important for stations to attract larger [[market share]] to sell more advertising. By 1970, many of the stations were instituting programming rules with a "clock" and system of "[[Rotation (music)|rotation]]." With this shift, stations' formats in the early 1970s were now billed as progressive. However, DJs still had input over the music they played. The selection was deep and eclectic, with a range of genres. 

===1970s===
In October 1971, [[WPLJ]] in New York began to shift its freeform progressive rock format into a tighter, hit-oriented rock format similar to what would later become known as AOR.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nyradioarchive.com/wabcfm.html|title=NY Radio Archive - WABC-FM / WPLJ 95.5|website=www.nyradioarchive.com}}</ref> WPLJ's parent company, [[Cumulus Media Networks#ABC Radio Networks|ABC]], installed similar formats on all of its FM stations, including [[KLOS]] in Los Angeles and [[WRIF]] in Detroit. [[Gordon McLendon]] followed suit on his stations, most infamously at [[WEDG|WPHD]] in [[Buffalo, New York]], where McLendon cut over 90% of the station's album library and pushed popular evening jock Jim Santella—whom McLendon did not like—to [[list of on-air resignations|publicly resign]].<ref>Anderson, Dale (May 20, 1972). "Free-Form Rock Radio Is Tied By New Rules." ''[[The Buffalo News|Buffalo Evening News]]''.</ref> In 1973, [[Lee Abrams]], formerly at WRIF, successfully installed a similar format, later known as SuperStars, at [[WQDR-FM|WQDR]] in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In 1972, [[Ron Jacobs (broadcaster)|Ron Jacobs]], program director at [[KGB-FM]] in San Diego, began using detailed listener research and expanded playlists in shifting the Top 40 station toward a progressive rock format. Meanwhile, at competing station [[KLNV|KPRI]], program director Mike Harrison was similarly applying Top 40 concepts to the progressive format, which he dubbed "album-oriented rock."<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Kim |date=2011 |title=Early '70s Radio: The American Format Revolution |location=New York, New York |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |pages=120–121 |isbn=978-1-4411-2968-0}}</ref><ref>Peeples, Stephen. ''Rock Around the World'' March 1977: 21</ref>

In the mid-1970s, as [[program director]]s began to exert more control over what songs played on air, progressive stations evolved into the album-oriented rock format. Stations still played longer songs and deep album tracks (rather than just [[Single (music)|singles]]). However, program directors and consultants took on a more significant role in song selection, generally limiting airplay to just a few "focus tracks" from a particular album and concentrating on artists with a more "commercial" sound than those featured a few years earlier. Noted DJ "[[Kid Leo]]" Travagliante of the station [[WMMS]] in Cleveland observed the changes in a 1975 interview: "I think the '60s are ending about now. Now we are really starting the '70s. The emphasis is shifting back to entertainment instead of being 'relevant.' In fact, I wouldn't call our station progressive radio. That's outdated. I call it radio. But I heard a good word in the trades, AOR. That's Album-Oriented Rock. That's a name for the '70s."<ref>Scott, Jane. "Rock reverberations" ''The Plain Dealer'' November 28, 1975: Action Tab p. 26</ref>

Radio consultants Kent Burkhart and Lee Abrams significantly affected AOR programming. The two consultants created Kent Burkhart/Lee Abrams & Associates, which became one of the most prominent AOR consulting firms during the mid to late 1970s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kirkeby |first=Marc |date=April 22, 1978 |title=Burkhart/Abrams: Superstars Among Radio Consultants |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Tip-Sheets/Miscellaneous-Supplements/The-Burkhart-Abrams-Story.pdf |journal=[[Record World]] |issue=The Burkhart/Abrams Story |pages=4}}</ref> Abrams' SuperStars format, previously developed at WQDR, was based on extensive research, focused on the most popular artists, such as [[Fleetwood Mac]] and the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]], and included older material from those artists.<ref>King, Bill. "Burkhart Opens Doors To Suite and Format Secrets" ''Billboard'' September 23, 1978: 22</ref> While his format was not quite as constricted as [[Contemporary hit radio|Top 40 radio]], it was considerably more restricted than freeform or progressive radio. Their firm advised program directors for a substantial segment of AOR stations all over the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kirkeby |first=Marc |date=April 22, 1978 |title=Record World Presents, "The Burkhart/Abrams Story" |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Tip-Sheets/Miscellaneous-Supplements/The-Burkhart-Abrams-Story.pdf}}</ref>

By the late 1970s, AOR radio stations began to focus on a more narrowly defined rock sound. Stations began reducing the number of [[Folk music|folk]], [[jazz]], and [[blues]] artists played and effectively eliminated most black artists from airplay.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 9, 1978 |title=Exclusion of Most Black Music from AOR seen as a Consequence of Playing it Safe |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1978/CB-1978-12-09-OCR-Page-0008.pdf |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=World Radio History}}</ref> While AOR had once championed [[Soul music|soul]], [[funk]], and [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] artists like [[Stevie Wonder]], [[War (band)|War]], and [[Sly Stone]], the format no longer represented these styles and took a stance against [[disco]].<ref>Goldstein, Patrick. "FM Radio: Redneck Rock?" ''Los Angeles Times'' September 21, 1980: T80</ref> In 1979, [[Steve Dahl]] of [[WCKL (FM)|WLUP]] in Chicago destroyed disco records on his radio show, culminating in the notorious [[Disco Demolition Night]] at [[Comiskey Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Paul |date=June 13, 2019 |title=White Sox commemorate Steve Dahl and Disco Demolition Night: 'It could not happen again' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-spt-white-sox-steve-dahl-disco-demolition-20190613-story.html |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

The continuity of rock artists and songs carried through each phase links the freeform, progressive, and AOR formats. Programmers and DJs of the freeform and progressive phases continued to cultivate a repertoire of rock music and style of delivery that became the foundations of AOR and classic rock radio. Those AOR stations, which decided to stay demographically rooted, became classic rock stations by eschewing newer bands and styles for which their older listeners might have tuned out.

==Programming==
Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of [[hit single]]s. The best example is [[Top 40 (radio format)|Top 40]], though other formats, like [[Country music|country]], [[smooth jazz]], and [[Urban contemporary|urban]], all utilize the same basic principles, with the most popular songs repeating every two to six hours, depending on their rank in the [[Spin (radio)|rotation]]. Generally, there is a strict order or list to follow, and the DJ does not decide playlist selections.

While still based on the rotation concept, AOR focused on the album as a whole rather than singles. In the early 1970s, many [[DJ]]s were free to choose which track(s) to play off a given album and the latitude to decide the playlist order. Consequently, AOR radio gave mainstream exposure to album tracks that never became hits on the record charts limited to singles; ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', for instance, did not establish an [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|airplay chart]] for album tracks until 1981.

Later in the 1970s, AOR stations shifted song selection to a [[program director]] or music director rather than the DJ. Still, when an AOR station added an album to rotation, they often focused on numerous tracks simultaneously rather than playing the singles as they were individually released.

==Criticism==
In the early 1980s, Black Music Association, a [[trade association]], and other industry observers criticized AOR radio for lacking black artists in their programming. AOR programmers responded that the lack of diversity was the result of increased specialization of radio formats driven by ratings and audience demographics.<ref>Thompson, Bill. "As Formats Change, Cries of Bias Arise" ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' February 15, 1982: D1</ref><ref>Heron, Kim and Graff, Gary. "Racism in the World of Rock/On Some Stations, Blacks Hardly Ever Make the Airwaves" ''Detroit Free Press'' January 9, 1983: 1C</ref> In 1983, the success of [[Michael Jackson]]'s album ''[[Thriller (album)|Thriller]]'' led to the album's track "[[Beat It]]," which featured [[Eddie Van Halen]], being added to the playlists of many AOR stations. At the same time, other black artists also made inroads into AOR radio: [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] ("[[Little Red Corvette]]"), and [[Eddy Grant]] ("[[Electric Avenue (song)|Electric Avenue]]") debuted on ''Billboard'''s [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Top Tracks]] chart during the same week in April 1983. Through the remainder of the 1980s, [[Jon Butcher]], [[Tracy Chapman]], [[Living Colour]], and [[Lenny Kravitz]] also received AOR airplay.

== See also ==
* [[Album era]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Rock music}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Album-Oriented Rock}}
[[Category:Rock music genres]]
[[Category:Rock radio formats]]
[[Category:Albums|Rock]]