I’m staying focused and on-message today. Yesterday’s post that explored how “Rock” became “Classic Rock” and has barely stopped to catch a breath these past fortysomething years thanks to a great data story from Stat Significant young genius, Daniel Parris.
I am often asked to explain the “Classic Rock Story,” most definitely the confluence of many factors, not the least of which include research, gut, timing, demographics, doggedness, technology, innovation, and of course, the elixir you cannot just conjure up: plain dumb luck.
Many wonder what the next “big format” will be and why it’s taking so long to happen. And of course, the response is to see the previous paragraph. And even with that wonderful combination of variables all lining up at pretty much the same time, success is never a lock. Perhaps the factor I didn’t mention was the state of the broadcast radio in America in the ’80s. In spite of the debut of MTV, FM radio was at the top of its game during those years—ubiquitous, influential, powerful.
To remain relevant today is the product of a lot of factors, and this post will notate several that have made it easy to understand why Classic Rock still matters, and why it will continue to (even if many radio sales departments think it’s boring and old). The fact is, established pop culture from the past can still be potent if deployed wisely).
So, walk with me, and let’s take a look at the bread crumbs:
1. The demo isn’t getting any younger – But that’s OK. In fact, the oldest Baby Boomers are turning 80 years-old this year. A research study from the esteemed Brookings Institution provides an extensive analysis of this amazing generation—by education, ethnicity, and political influence.
There are charts like the one below that are eye-opening. This one tracks where those pesky Boomers tend to live, the states where Boomers dominate. Florida’s no surprise, but perhaps Wyoming is.
2. The most interesting man in the world is back—and he’s 87—Dos Equis had the franchise locked up with the charismatic Jonathan Goldsmith, until they jettisoned him a decade ago for a younger spokesman—and watched their sales take a nosedive. The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Deighton tells the story in “Dos Equis Brings Back the Most Interesting Man in the World.”
We will see Goldsmith show up cross-platform as the brand is pinning a comeback on their “classic” spokesman. Here’s an ad from the new campaign—a mea culpa to be sure:
3. “Play Guitar” – It turns out that when people first pick up that guitar or take lessons, the songs they want to learn are (wait for it….) the classics like “Let It Be,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “Hotel California.”
The research study, covered by Parade, reveals these music truths was conducted by UK-based guitar retailer, guitarguitar. Here’s the story’s conclusion:
“Taken together, the findings suggest that classic rock’s influence isn’t just nostalgic — it’s instructional. These songs continue to teach new generations the fundamentals of guitar, proving that great songwriting and memorable riffs never go out of style.”
4. AARP is becoming a media network – That’s right, the organization once known as the American Association of Retired People, now abbreviated to just its initials, is going all multi-platform on us.
With a database of 38 million citizens 50 years of age and older, they’ve got a powerful foundation. That’s the conclusion of Marketing Dive in a story published late last year by Sara Karlovitch. AARP is using this massive audience to provide marketers “a gateway to this growing demographic, connecting advertisers with members online and through its core properties.” This sounds like something any Classic Rock station could pull off IF it committed to building and developing its database(s), while championing the value of its audience.
Marketing Dive conducted a great interview with AARP’s VP/marketing, Danielle McMurray. Among other things, she counters the argument their demographic is too old:
“We do have to spend a lot of time educating marketers that it’s not another planet when you’re 50 plus, it’s just another life stage. And it is the wealthiest demographic on earth. It’s the largest demographic on earth. They’re an unstoppable segment of the consumer marketplace and they are driving markets.
“They’re at the gym, they’re hiking, they’re shopping online. They’re doing everything that everyone else is. If you look at the numbers, there’s no difference anymore in their activities. It’s the wealth that’s really putting them ahead. They have higher net worths. They’re doing more and spending more.”
They also listen to the radio.
5. The concert lineup for 2026 is….heavily Classic Rock – That’s according to the New York Post in a story by Matt Levy written just after the ball dropped in Time Square. Levy calculates that 76 of the biggest tours this year will be Classic Rockers, now committed to staying in concert shape.
This includes Rush (lots of interest in this one), AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Robert Plant, Journey, Sting, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, and Guns N’ Roses, to name just a few.
Obviously for radio, there are scads of promotions and giveaways here, especially as the economy goes sideways and many audience members are trying to afford Happy Meals for the family. This might be the time to brainstorm giving away those tickets with contest methodologies more creative than “Be my 9th caller,” “5-4-3-2-1,” and even “Text to win.”
6. Classic Rock’s influence – With a nod to Cream, a UK-based media outlet, The Strange Brew, provided us with a great story called “How rock music influences the modern world.” While they don’t make the “classic rock” distinction, the article focuses on music from the Classic Rock core to make its compelling points.
The TSB team traces back the lifestyle and pop culture of this foundational music, including its influential presence of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, fashion, community, and vibe.
Here’s the story’s conclusion:
“So next time you see someone in a band shirt, or you feel a surge of energy from a killer riff in a movie trailer, or you simply question something you’re told, tip your hat to rock and roll. It’s the ghost in our cultural machine. It taught us to challenge, to individualise, and to feel everything a little more intensely. The amplifiers might not always be turned up to eleven these days, but the attitude they spawned is alive and well, forever echoing in the modern world it helped to build.”
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.
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Music & Rock are Huge. Classic is Enormous!
I came across something a couple days ago that said the weekend after the Beatles appearance on Ed Sullivan, 2 million of those viewers started garage bands. Made me laugh out loud at the thought! What a lucrative weekend that must have been for guitar shop owners everywhere! Here’s just one thing I read:
“Vintage Guitar magazine and other music historians note that music stores across the U.S. struggled to keep Beatles-style guitars (Gretsch, Rickenbacker, etc.) in stock as demand surged in the weeks and months after Sullivan.”
How that ties to today’s blog is that classic rock has been a unifying thread and connection for our society in a way that few things have since media became so fragmented. Sure, in a world where people only had three or four TV channels to choose from, everyone knew about Bonanza and Sullivan and Carson — whether they watched them or not. You could think Gilligan’s Island was the dumbest program ever created (which it was…and I never missed it) but you couldn’t NOT know about it.
But in our current media zeitgeist, you can have an artist that has 1 billion streams or YouTube views that 90 percent of the population have never heard of. That’s not any negative reflection on the artist, it’s just that in a world where your video and audio choices are virtually endless, we may never see that sort of world-impacting, cultural-shifting event like happened that February night on CBS again. But classic rock seems to be one of those few unifying threads in our world and society — whether that be Queen, or the Stones, Fleetwood Mac or Zeppelin, or yes, those four fabulous kids from Liverpool, who well over half a century since they broke up, have four new movies coming out about them.
That’s what you call a unifying thread — and our world and society could use all the unifying threads it can get right now.
Robert Plant has shown no interest in reliving the Led Zeppelin days. He’s made many great innovative records in the last 25 years. Some of these “Classic Rock” bands that are touring are essentially cover bands. Many have few of the original members, but using the name sells tickets.
Bob Weir died recently and the outpouring of tributes from fans and musicians was substantial. The musicians from the 60s and 70s who created the music are fading away. Their legacy should not be shallow cover bands. It should inspire others to be creative and not recycle the same stuff.
Unfortunately, Rock as a genre is not what it once was. It is almost totally nostalgia with a few exceptions…