My local "Classic Rock" station, 100.3 (Big 100--Washington, D.C.), an iheart station, NEVER plays Prince. I have requested several Prince songs by telephone and email, but to no avail.

Does anyone know if iheart is not allowed to play Prince for some reason?

Is Prince played on your local classic rock station?

How can a rock station play songs from the '50s-'90s and not include Prince??????

Not being funny, I am genuinely curious as to why you care....

One reason I can think of is a lot of people are allowed to listen to classic rock stations at work. It is curious why they wouldn't have Prince on the playlist or play any requests.

Rimshottbob said:

Not being funny, I am genuinely curious as to why you care....

Maybe it's because the poster wants to hear Prince songs on the station that they support.

Prince was never "Classic Rock" by any stretch of the imagination. Do you need a music genre lesson by Jack Black?

PennyPurple said:

Rimshottbob said:

Not being funny, I am genuinely curious as to why you care....

Maybe it's because the poster wants to hear Prince songs on the station that they support.

Okay, if you want to hear the same 3 Prince songs again and again, then great, campaign to get him played on the radio.

My point is, it's the radio... they're gonna play what they're gonna play. Who cares?

If you wanna listen to Prince, listen to Prince. Not difficult, surely?

emesem said:

Prince was never "Classic Rock" by any stretch of the imagination. Do you need a music genre lesson by Jack Black?

Thanks for the offer, but a music genre lesson Jack Black or anyone else is unnecessary.

Are you aware of what passes as "Classic Rock" nowadays? It's not just the Stones, Beatles, Doors, etc. "Bambi" alone is more Rock than many songs that make the cut. "Let's Go Crazy" and "Purple Rain," among many others, are also more Rock than many songs on that station. INXS, for crying out loud, is somehow "Classic Rock" now. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the rest of the Grunge crew are "Classic" as well. I'm just curious about the oversight when it comes to Prince. I don't know if it's an iheart thing or if non-iheart Classic Rock stations overlook him as well.

Rimshottbob said:

Not being funny, I am genuinely curious as to why you care....

So, do you know if iheart is allowed to play Prince or if your local classic rock station plays Prince? That's primarily what I wanted to know. I remember lobbying to get pre-1999 Prince on my hometown radio station in the 8o's and then lobbying with others to get him and other artists on MTV. I guess part of me wants to think that Prince will be remembered for Rock, Pop, Funk, Jazz, etc. for posterity's sake, and not just pigeonholed, regardless of the pigeonhold. I like the station; they often play surprising deep cuts by artists, so you never really know what to expect. Given Prince's history, I am surprised he is not played.

emesem said:

Prince was never "Classic Rock" by any stretch of the imagination.

That's what I'm sayin'! They don't play him on country stations or Irish Sunday mornings on WVCR here in Albany either. What's the fuckin' issue?

#NonThreadIsNonThready

Grog said:

Rimshottbob said:

Not being funny, I am genuinely curious as to why you care....

So, do you know if iheart is allowed to play Prince or if your local classic rock station plays Prince? That's primarily what I wanted to know. I remember lobbying to get pre-1999 Prince on my hometown radio station in the 8o's and then lobbying with others to get him and other artists on MTV. I guess part of me wants to think that Prince will be remembered for Rock, Pop, Funk, Jazz, etc. for posterity's sake, and not just pigeonholed, regardless of the pigeonhold. I like the station; they often play surprising deep cuts by artists, so you never really know what to expect. Given Prince's history, I am surprised he is not played.

Agree. Classic Rock stations play lots of blues and soul music too. It's a large umbrella, there are still regional differences in a percentage of what most of them play. Prince should be included with Purple Rain, LRC, Kiss and a few others at the very least.

[Edited 3/21/19 9:22am]

TrivialPursuit said:

emesem said:

Prince was never "Classic Rock" by any stretch of the imagination.

That's what I'm sayin'! They don't play him on country stations or Irish Sunday mornings on WVCR here in Albany either. What's the fuckin' issue?

#NonThreadIsNonThready

They also don't play him on Classic Vinyl or Classic Rewind on SiriusXM for the same reason.

I have heard "I Would Die 4 U" on the Garage Rock channel.

In my opinion, if Hendrix and Santana are rock in the eyes of radio programmers, so too is Prince. Not every Prince song is rock, of course, but gee whiz - is there a more metal, harder-rocking classic than "Let's Go Crazy"? If one doesn't think THAT is rock 'n roll, then what DO you think it is? It sure ain't soul, R&B, or Adult Contemporary. It gets played on the '80's pop channel but it's rock 'n roll. It and many many other Prince songs should get air time on Classic Rewind and Deep Tracks.

This was a problem Prince had all his life. I suspect it was because he was so funky that programmers didn't think he was a rock act. The thing was, he wasn't ANY kind of act. He just made all kinds of music.

Back then things weren't as indexed and catagorized as it is now. It took time and the digital age for people to get that picky. We grew up with Motown, Tony Joe White, Aretha, the Beatles, the Stones, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Petula Clark and Bobbie Gentry - all on regular play together.

TrivialPursuit said:

emesem said:

Prince was never "Classic Rock" by any stretch of the imagination.

That's what I'm sayin'! They don't play him on country stations or Irish Sunday mornings on WVCR here in Albany either. What's the fuckin' issue?

#NonThreadIsNonThready

No one mentioned country or Irish music. If you think Prince did not play Rock music, you either have not listened to enough Prince or you have a limited view of what falls under the umbrella of Rock. Do we not all agree that several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs????

Grog said:

TrivialPursuit said:

That's what I'm sayin'! They don't play him on country stations or Irish Sunday mornings on WVCR here in Albany either. What's the fuckin' issue?

#NonThreadIsNonThready

No one mentioned country or Irish music. If you think Prince did not play Rock music, you either have not listened to enough Prince or you have a limited view of what falls under the umbrella of Rock. Do we not all agree that several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs????

Dude. You did not ask whether "several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs". You asked why classic rock stations don't play his music. People answered the question you asked: because the people programming those stations don't consider Prince a "rock" artist. NO ONE said Prince did not play rock music.

Don't get pissy because you got answers that are correct, but not what you want to hear.

Grog said:

emesem said:

Prince was never "Classic Rock" by any stretch of the imagination. Do you need a music genre lesson by Jack Black?

Thanks for the offer, but a music genre lesson Jack Black or anyone else is unnecessary.

Are you aware of what passes as "Classic Rock" nowadays? It's not just the Stones, Beatles, Doors, etc. "Bambi" alone is more Rock than many songs that make the cut. "Let's Go Crazy" and "Purple Rain," among many others, are also more Rock than many songs on that station. INXS, for crying out loud, is somehow "Classic Rock" now. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the rest of the Grunge crew are "Classic" as well. I'm just curious about the oversight when it comes to Prince. I don't know if it's an iheart thing or if non-iheart Classic Rock stations overlook him as well.

Prince IS played on those type of 'classic' rock stations (Jack FM etc). There is no oversight. And Prince being not being seen as 'rock' no matter what songs he's made is something that you should know better.

If you look up Prince's chart history on Billboard's album rock chart, you get five songs, none of them making the top ten: https://www.billboard.com...ock-tracks

And I'd guess the few stations that did play these songs were the more modern-leaning ones which reported to Billboard and not the majority that favored traditional rock artists.

Grog said:

Grog said:

Do we not all agree that several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs????

So are these songs, but they're not played on classic rock stations because these acts were not considered rock.

En Vogue - Free Your Mind

Run-DMC - Rock Box / King Of Rock / Walk This Way
Janet Jackson - Come Give Your Love To Me / Black Cat
Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana / Beat It / Give In To Me
Isley Brothers - Midnight Sky / Twist And Shout / That Lady / etc.
George Michael - Faith (it's rockabilly)
Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right / Sabotage / No Sleep Til Brooklyn
Public Enemy & Anthrax - Bring The Noise

I have heard Low Rider & Cisco Kid by War and Fire by Ohio Players played on the local classic rock station though. Other than that, I don't hear any black artists at all unless you count the bass player in the Doobie Brothers. Which was the case in the 1980s other than Hendrix & maybe Living Colour. The majority of what was played on AOR stations were white male singers/bands. Even today the only women I hear on the local station are Heart, Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, and Joan Jett. But saying Prince should be played on a classic rock station is like saying Madonna should be played on a big band station because she put out Hanky Panky or Charlie Daniels should be played on a hip hop station because of Uneasy Rider & Devil Goes Down To Georgia. I remember The Wave smooth jazz station, which played stuff that I don't see how was counted as jazz at all like Cruisin' by Huey Lewis & Gwyneth Paltrow.

MickyDolenz said:

Grog said:

Do we not all agree that several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs????

Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right

I worked at a classic rock station that did play this one. In fact the classic rock format has changed a lot since it first began. Artists like Don Henley and others from the softer side of rock barely get played anymore for the likes of Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Ozzy and Metallica. Yeah, Prince is not considered classic rock no matter how many rock songs he made.

I have wondered the same over the years, especially since I will hear Stevie Wonder (Superstition, Higher Ground) on classic rock stations all the time. Purple Rain, LGC, and LRC, should be on classic rock stations. I do hear Prince on alternative stations (WXRT in Chicago and Sprectrum on Sirius/XM), so not sure why not classic rock...who knows.

billymeade said:

Grog said:

Does anyone know if iheart is not allowed to play Prince for some reason?

This is the reason. iHeartRadio was explicitly banned from playing his music. Don't you read the news? It was everywhere.

If that's the case, how do you explain this: https://www.iheart.com/ar...ince-3403/?

Genesia said:

Grog said:

No one mentioned country or Irish music. If you think Prince did not play Rock music, you either have not listened to enough Prince or you have a limited view of what falls under the umbrella of Rock. Do we not all agree that several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs????

Dude. You did not ask whether "several Prince songs are undeniably Rock 'n' Roll songs". You asked why classic rock stations don't play his music. People answered the question you asked: because the people programming those stations don't consider Prince a "rock" artist. NO ONE said Prince did not play rock music.

Don't get pissy because you got answers that are correct, but not what you want to hear.

Which answers do you consider correct? Most responders think he should be played on Classic Rock stations, especially considering the current crop of artists who make the cut. My question is mainly about iheartradio's Classic Rock station. They play artists who were never considered Classic Rock groups, but the definition for Classic Rock has broadened over the years.

Especially since "Rock" isn't really that old in the first damn place. Pretty soon Classic will be a year ago.

The real reason is so they can divvy up material and package it to people who buy their categorizations as gospel - for a profit.

This is my theory. But i think it has to do and marketing DEAL with big music labels in the USA, Warner Brother, Sony Muisc, EMI, Universal. And the ClearChannel who owns IHEART radio and most of the radio stations around the USA. O

They will only play music they can control and Artists they can CONTROL. Meaning i am only going to play songs owned by the Big Record Labels Sony, WB, EMI, Universal. They will give back by buying commericials on the radio station, and commit their artists to play in the IHEART Music festival in Las Vegas. ALso by buying Clear Channel billboards around the USA. If you do not play that game, you will not get played period.

Thats why you will never, I mean Never or Rarely ever hear Post 1996 Prince Emancipation Music on Public Radio. There is no profit it in by the RADIO station. WB does not own Prince post 1996 and refuses to let it get on Radio.

In Europe it must be different because i have been overseas and actually hear Prince music post 1996 which was cool.

[Edited 3/23/19 8:51am]

Grog said:

emesem said:

djdaffy1227 said:

MickyDolenz said:

Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right

I worked at a classic rock station that did play this one. In fact the classic rock format has changed a lot since it first began. Artists like Don Henley and others from the softer side of rock barely get played anymore for the likes of Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Ozzy and Metallica. Yeah, Prince is not considered classic rock no matter how many rock songs he made.

I've heard the 1990s Beasties stuff on a local station that plays alternative rock or modern rock or whatever it's called, but never on an AOR format. Album Oreinted Rock is where I guess most of what is considered "classic rock" comes from. Classic rock is just the rock format for oldies like "old school" is used for old R&B and rap hits and "retro" for 1980s/1990s Top 40. Here are AOR charts for 3 different years. So these songs are probably what is more likely to get classic rock airplay today. I haven't heard any Wang Chung played though. To the person who mentioned INXS, they're on the 1986 AOR chart.