Posted by Harcey Rice on July 08, 2008 at 10:05:35:
In Reply to: Re: Why Does New York need 3 rock stations? posted by Mark Bloom on July 08, 2008 at 02:36:00:
>>One thing I don't understand -- while oldies/Classics hits and CHR are considered totally distinct formats, classic rock stations that play music as old as the oldie stations and rock stations playing a lot of current music get lumped together as "rock" -- the demographics must be quite different<<
The distinction made between Classic Rock and Oldies has little to do with the age of the music. It has a lot more to do with the sound and production values of the music.
The reason Classic Rock seems to have a universal appeal and extended life (you will see college kids routinely wearing Led Zep and Aerosmith t-shirts), is because the production and musicianship is state-of-the-art. It is not possible to record a Rolling Stones record better than the Stones did. Or Clapton. Or the Allmans. Or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Or...well you get the idea.
Oldies music clearly sounds dated, and has a shelf life. Classic Rock is...well...classic.
That's what I think.