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Adult contemporary music

(Redirected from Adult contemporary)

Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreciated to just AC, is a type of radio format that plays mainstream and pop music, without the hip-hop since, as per the name, it is geared more towards adults than teens. AC is generally divided into 2 groups; "Hot AC", also known as "Adult Top 40" or "Adult Alternative", and "Soft AC", also known as "Lite". Some FM radio stations play only Hot AC; some play only Soft AC, and some play both.

Hot AC radio stations tend towards slightly harder rock music, such as Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith, and may occasionally play dance hits, such as "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue, "Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas, and the Macarena. Madonna's more upbeat songs "Music" and "Ray Of Light" were big hits on Hot AC, but did not fare well at Soft AC stations, which are more likely to play her songs "I'll Remember", "Crazy For You", or "Power Of Goodbye". Hot AC is slightly more alternative than Soft AC--a current example is Outkast's "Hey Ya", which is a huge Hot AC hit but is not played on Soft AC radio stations.

Soft AC is also known as "lite" music, and many radio stations across America that play Soft AC refer to themselves as "lite" stations. The most popular Soft AC station in the country, which is also the most popular radio station in the country, is the New York station 106.7, "Lite FM ".

The Hot AC format is sometimes called "Adult Top 40", since Hot AC stations could be classified as Top 40 stations without the rap and R&B.

The music video channel VH1 began as an AC version of MTV. Originally, it was strictly Soft AC, as it strove to appeal to people who were in their 30s and 40s during its early years in the mid 1980's. In the mid 1990's, it reformed itself as something closer to Hot AC, during which time it began to play videos by Hootie & The Blowfish, the Gin Blossoms, Alanis Morissette, Melissa Etheridge, the Spin Doctors, Ace Of Base, and some other artists that were slightly harder rock or more avant garde than they had previously played.

In recent years, VH1 has moved away from its AC format by becoming willing to play artists such as Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Eminem, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg, all usually AC no-no's, more and more often. With this addition of popular hip-hop, R&B, and R&B-influenced pop, VH1 most closely resembles top 40 radio now, when it plays videos. Led by Toronto powerhouse CHUM-FM, Canadian Hot AC radio has also taken steps towards a similarly more diverse and top 40-inclusive musical position. Part of the reason why more and more Hot AC stations are forced to change is that less and less new music fits their bill. Most new rock is too alternative for mainstream radio, including Hot AC, and only gets played on Modern Rock radio; and most new pop is now influenced heavily by techno or hip-hop, in an attempt to become club and rhythmic crossover hits, if not featuring guest vocals from rappers. Soft AC, however, which has never minded keeping songs in high rotation literally for years in some cases, and plays a larger amount of older music, especially classic R&B, soul, disco, and '60s and '70s music, than Hot AC, does not appear necessarily to be facing similar pressures to expand its format. Although, more and more recently, several Soft AC stations have begun to add more guitar-driven, but still relatively quiet, music into their playlists, such as "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling , "My Immortal" by Evanescence, and "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith, somewhat resembling the Hot AC stations of the 1990s.

Also in response to the pressure on Hot AC, a third kind of AC format has cropped up among American radio recently. "Rhythmic AC", in addition to playing all the popular Hot and Soft AC music, past and present, places a heavy emphasis on disco as well as 1980s and '90s dance hits, such as those by Amber and Black Box, and includes dance remixes of pop songs, such as the Soul Solution Mix of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart". The format also occassionally features popular '80s and early '90s rap songs that were popular mainstream, rhythmic, or club hits. New York City's New Mix 102.7 is a popular example of this evolving format.


List of Artists Who Have Had Soft AC Hits Or Typically Receive Soft AC Airplay:

List of Artists Who Have Had Hot AC Hits Or Typically Receive Hot AC Airplay:


Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45