Meet Jenn FM – Adult Album Alternative for Women

In addition to rotation in the playlist throughout the broadcast day, Jenn FM has several music-based features planned, many of which will contribute directly to exposure for Canadian artists.

Every Saturday night starting at 8pm, Jenn FM will broadcast pre-taped concerts that provide listeners with access to the past and to memorable performances. Stretching back as far as the first Live Aid in 1985 to the present with concerts like “A Concert for Diana” and excerpts from “Live Earth”, Return Engagements will re-visit and re-play classic performances from some of the 20th and 21st centuries’ best entertainers.

The range of artists will cover the genres that are played on Jenn FM and will include rock, pop, alternative country, jazz, folk, world music and blues. The concerts will be enhanced by commentary from a host who will provide the background to the event, the songs and the performance. Concert playlists are perfect for Jenn FM because they represent a focused presentation of an artist or group and will allow listeners to hear a variety and freshness of sounds typical of a Triple A format.

On Sunday morning starting at 10am and running for two hours, Jenn FM will present a music magazine called Music Notes. Music Notes will focus on the music, the artists and the recordings. Whether it is examining the latest release or profiling a break out group, Music Notes’ sole theme is music. Who is making it, how are they doing it, what is motivating them and where is music going.

An examination of the latest trends, upcoming awards (Junos, Grammies, Polaris, East Coast Music Awards, etc), latest concert announcements, local performances, great venues, moments in music history and anniversaries of classic recordings and performances are all subject matter for the program. Artists visiting or performing in Edmonton will be invited to be interviewed and recording companies will be given the opportunity to showcase new talent. From “one hit wonders” to ‘groups and artists” who dominated the charts, Music Notes will cover them all.

Music Notes will be a music lover’s appointment listening. It will provide for the discerning, a more in depth look at the creation and performance elements of music and allow fans to connect in new ways. It will also be an excellent way for New and Emerging artists to be introduced to the market and give new fans a context for their performance. Music Notes will be rebroadcast Wednesday nights at 9pm.

The range of music that interests people and in particular, the core listener for Jenn FM has been well documented through the research. While the Triple A format permits a broader representation from a variety of genres, there is a clear limit to how many and how in depth the station can go into any one sub category during the regular programming day. The interest in very specific categories of music however, is something Jenn FM will address. On Sunday afternoons, Jenn FM will shift gears and present styles of music identified through our website as being of much interest to our audience. It could be an era of music or a genre. It could an artist or group of artists.  Jenn FM will present this music within the context of regular programming and give Sunday afternoons over to the listeners’ choice.

Programming will start at 1pm and run through to 4pm. Listeners will be encouraged to email their interests to the program director who will in turn post a poll on the Jenn FM website to determine how broad the interests are and to determine the range of material to be covered. Unlike a request program, Listener’s Choice will be themed differently each week and interspersed with the music will be information on the selections or background on the genre or artist. It is a revolving feature that could cover such diverse interests as 80’s grunge bands or their antithesis, 90’s boy bands. It could be event themed like the best of Halloween or Christmas songs or even geographically themed, like World Music. It could be Canadian artists or the first, second or third waves of the British invasion. Sunday will be by the choice of the listener and will provide an opportunity for our audience to communicate with Jenn FM and in turn, give Jenn FM the chance to personally connect with the listeners.

Each weekday, a Canadian artist will be profiled in a sixty second feature that will air six times throughout the day. Canadian Showcase will provide biographical information on an artist or group allowing the listener to get to know the artist a little better or give context to a song or performance. Each Showcase segment will immediately be followed by a song from the featured artist tying the information to a recording. Because of its placement within the regular rotation Canadian Showcase is an ideal means by which to introduce new artists and new releases. Therefore, at least three spots per day will be dedicated to New and Emerging artists.

Jenn FM will engage these disenfranchised listeners by providing spoken word content that addresses their interests in a manner that appeals to their unique tastes and sensibilities. Gone is the traditional morning team concept – instead, in the morning there will be a dialogue between the announcer and the audience. However, given the interest expressed in learning and having easy access to informational programming, Jenn FM will invite guests to appear during both the morning and evening drive. These guests will provide insight into their area of expertise or recent activities. For example, a visiting artist might, between regular music selections, provide background on their recent release or tour, or an author might discuss their recent published work.

The range of guests will be as varied and as expansive as the topics that interest our core audience. Topics of interest provided by the focus group participants include lifestyle issues such as health (including fitness and nutrition), developments in preventative and diagnostic medical treatments, aging, appearance, and the latest trends in fashion. Activity and recreational topics such as local events, concert listings, restaurant openings, book and movie reviews and spectator and participation sports are also of interest. Discussion of investments and personal finance strategies, career, personal and family development and even some background on news headlines were also suggested.

Jenn FM will offer three minute spoken word features during the afternoon drive time that cover topics of interest to the female target demographic. The drive home will be made more enjoyable each night through the “Going Home Series”. Going Home will offer a different feature that will run between 5:50 pm and 6:20 pm each day, Monday to Friday:

•       •Monday Moxie Mentoring: tips on health, fitness, spirituality and general well being.

•       •Tuesday Financial Fitness: information on investment strategies and long-term planning.

•       •Wednesday Book Club: a summary of what is new in the bookstores and on best seller lists.

•       •Thursday Movie Maven: a summary of box office receipts, new releases and picks for the movie-goer each weekend.

•       •Friday Fun Guide: local events calendar for the weekend.

It is important to emphasize though, that Jenn FM will be, at its core, a music service and discussion of these topics will be interspersed only between tracks. We do not intend “on air talent” to engage in “in-depth” discussion on these issues. Rather, because it is these types of issues that are of the greatest interest and relevance to our target audience, Jenn FM will deal with these topics where appropriate and timely in the course of spoken word programming.