Jacobs Media alum, Keith Cunningham, made his reputation by being on the cutting edge of music and pop culture. He’s gone on to high-profile programming gigs in Seattle, and now runs the show for Meruelo Media’s KLOS, one of the most iconic Rock stations in America.
Heading up a media brand in L.A. is an exciting, but often a humbling experience. When you’re living in the entertainment capital of the world, you’re living in a media bubble like no other.
Keith reached out to me the other day, after his most recent epiphany about music, pop culture, and the so-called generational divide. Here are his observations about a recent media kerfuffle. – FJ
At some point, whether one is older or younger, everyone will have their own Billie Eilish moment.
If you’ve somehow been off the grid over the past week or so, you’ve missed out on an explosion of activity that when asked by Jimmy Kimmel, new music sensation Billie Eilish indicated she wasn’t aware of Van Halen. You can watch the entire interview (it’s a good one), or just skip to the 3:50 mark.
I’m not surprised she isn’t familiar with Van Halen. Billie is 17. Van Halen’s biggest hits came out more than 17 years before she was born, and they haven’t done anything truly relevant for many years, let alone anything that would make Millennials notice them. A dispute between Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth? Who are they?
This isn’t an indictment of Billie or Van Halen, and while this story could spark all kinds of other blogs about the state of Rock or Classic Rock with the younger set, to me, this is more about keeping up with the Joneses (another phrase most 17 year-olds probably haven’t heard of) and the need for “mature” radio programmers and veteran air talent to be aware of what’s happening with younger people – they are our future (and the kids of many Classic/Rock listeners).
None of this means Rock stations need to start playing Billie Eilish records or be buzzing over Millennial tea, but I’d venture to guess there are some adult readers of this blog who didn’t know who Billie Eilish was until they heard she didn’t know who Van Halen was.
However, she can sell out arenas in most cities in a matter of minutes.
And while not everyone needs to know who the hottest artists are for teens and early twentysomethings, the point is that even if 12-34 isn’t the target of a brand, all of us in radio should know who and what is driving pop culture so when the time comes for us to be a part of something really big that’s outside our normal circles, we can choose how to best do so.
Call me crazy, but if an adult-focused morning show had Billie Eilish tickets to give away and it was imaged as “Send your kid to see Billie Eilish,” I’ll bet you’d see an increase in TSL from parents trying to do something cool for their kids.
It’s not easy keeping up with everything – it takes effort. As someone who has always been tapped into pop culture and the latest trends, I’ll admit I need to do a better job paying attention, as I had my own Billie Eilish moment this past weekend and I have never felt older.
My wife and I took our daughters (and their friends) to see Trans Siberian Orchestra the other night. Just before the show was about to start, my 6 year-old and her friend started squealing and almost hyper-ventilating with excitement. This is how the conversation went for the next several seconds:
Me: “Hannah, what is going on with you? Why are you screeching?”
Hannah: “That’s JoJo Siwa! It’s JoJo Siwa!”
Me: “Who?”
Hannah: “JoJo Siwa…right there, Dad.”
Me: “Where?”
Hannah: “Right there!!!” (as she pointed behind us with vigor)
Me: “Who is it?”
Hannah: “JOJO SIWA!!! AARRRGGGHHHH!!” (she was getting very frustrated with me)
Me: “I can’t understand you … can you spell the name.”
Hannah: “DAD!!!!! It’s JoJo Siwa, she’s a famous YouTuber, and I love her videos.”
At this point, my 8 year-old, Presley, intervened and explained everything to me.
Then it all made sense. There’s a whole world out there that I know almost nothing about. So I sent Hannah down for a selfie with JoJo, peace resumed, and now I know I have to do a better job of paying attention to what is making noise out there.
If you’ve had a Billie Eilish moment, we’d love to hear about it.
Post script: By the way, KLOS’s metro cume is 1.7 million listeners. JoJo Siwa has more than 10 million subscribers on YouTube. We’d all better pay attention. – FJ
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
- Traveling At The Speed of CES - January 10, 2025
- The One Thing Missing At CES? - January 9, 2025
- AI Your Commercials - January 8, 2025
My 19 year old is obsessed with Eilish. I’ve watched her videos for a year or more. Very interesting work. It’s certainly not for everyone (musically or aesthetically), but I can definitely see the appeal.
Every generation spawns singer/songwriters with powerful messages, whether we’re talking Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, or Alanis Morrisette. Speaking to a generation is the common link, and Ms. Eilish seems to be doing exactly that. Thanks, Tanya.
Perhaps we need a “Billie” tour for a multi-generational love fest?
Billie Eilish
Billy Joel
Billy Idol
Hmmm. I’d go!
Let’s not forget Billie Holiday, perhaps the most talented of them all.
I have always been of the opinion that human nature hasn’t changed since we started to walk upright and that Millennials would be like me if they were born in my year and I would be like them if I was born in their year.
That being said – and this is as a person who is most definitely NOT a VH fan and who listens to a lot of new music (mostly Roots) – Ms. Eilish only shows that she is not a musician; she is an entertainer.
Musicians are familiar with Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Wilson and Bob Dylan, even if they don’t play that style, because they are passionate about their product and WANT to know about the foundation.
I know Dan Ingram, Alan Freed, Murray the K and Alison Steele because I am passionate about radio even though I only heard the two NY legends.
Ms. Eillish is about what is currently in “style” and there seems to be an interest in wan, disinterested singing now like there was an unfortunate interest in Hair Bands in the 80’s of which VH was definitely not the worst offender (Poison and Motley Crue, I’m looking your way).
As far as her music, let me paraphrase Lester Bangs – ” But preferring Hank Williams or Charlie Parker or the Sun Sessions or the Velvet Underground to Billy Eillish and Lua Dipa and Luke Bryan and the Imagine Dragons is not nostalgia, it’s good taste.”
Mike, what makes music history and music trends so fascinating is how the most iconic artists somehow manage to capture the times in which they live, speaking to a generation (or more) of fans. As a child of the 60’s, I was blessed with connecting with many artists whose words and music resonated in powerful ways.
For the late 3 years, my company Flow Communications was advising and managing a 24 year old L.A. based artist (originally from Utah) who self-describes her music as EDM Bass/Trap Pop. In conversation I discovered she didn’t know who John Mellencamp is. I got her booked into Capitol Records Studios to record vocals. She was thrilled to be using the same studio as one of her heroes, Halsey. It was an education more for me to become familiar with Diplo, Momoyouth, etc. This emerging recording artist released a D.I.Y. CD/Digital album of 8 songs. Her Millennial attitude that values her social media peers opinions over knowledge, although we did go see Bohemian Rhapsody together when it was released. Never asked her about Van Halen, but we did discuss Billie Eilish when she was just going viral.