Why don’t we hear the Pachelbel Canon on the radio, or in the concert hall?
You are the audience, and you are S-I-C-K of the Canon. You, quite possibly, might be happy if you never hear it ever again.
Listener Directed Programming™ focuses on the audience, and not the programmer or the institution.
Who is the Audience?
Everyone but you. There are more people named “Everyone” than you.
“I’m not going to listen this radio station ever again because they play the Pachelbel Canon.” Said no listener ever.
“I’m not going to go to one of their concerts ever again because they play the Pachelbel Canon.” Said no audience member ever.
Someone is always hearing the Canon for the first time, and they often write or call to tell you about it.
And in case you’ve forgotten (possibly because you haven’t heard it in years), The Pachelbel Canon is beautiful, stirring, and it gradually draws you in. That draw becomes even stronger every 2 bars (8 beats).
The fact that the Canon is heard so infrequently (elevators and hotel lobbies excepted) makes it even more impactful when it is heard and experienced.
I’d much prefer hearing the Canon, rather than hearing something by a tertiary composer – and I hear a lot of tertiary composers these days.
Sometimes, marketers, musicians or speakers dig themselves into a solipsistic (very self-centered or selfish) rabbit hole.
They’ve heard their stuff before. They think everyone else has too.
So they bury the lede, look for new laughs and most of all, try to avoid boring themselves.*
Which often leads to confusion or controversy or, most of all, a muddy message.
You’re not speaking up to entertain yourself. You’re here to teach the next group of people who need to hear from you.
Empathy in communication requires you to repeat the stuff that works as you continue to explore the next layer of what might work even better.
In the words of my late friend Jay Levinson, “Don’t change your story when you’re bored, or when your partner is bored, or when your team is bored.” Change your story when your accountant is bored.”
