This was a fun read. I wonder though how much of the classic rock rebranding came from stations deciding not to use the original word to market their station -- "the oldies station" -- because of Boomers' fear of aging. I remember in the 1990s the oldies stations (which played 1950s and 1960s hits, with lots of Buddy Holly, Beatles, and doo-wop) changing into "classic rock" and adding the early 1970s to the rotation. Now they were no longer old - they were "classic"!
Interesting read. I wonder why there's no such thing as "classic hip hop", "classic R&B", or "classic country". It would be interesting to see if older songs in those genres have lower radio play/streaming.
I would argue there is such a thing as "classic R&B", primarily used to differentiate that 'classic' wave from the 80s and 90s (which is kind of dead rn) from the trap-influenced genre most seen today
Surprised the Eagles didn't make the list of the most played artists. Glenn Fry had an interesting comment in the documentary about the band. He mentioned the timing of the break up of the band with the rise of classic rock stations and the fact that while the bands music and popularity should have been on the wane after the band called it quits it never really did because their music was immediately absorbed into classic rock formats. The fact that the music never went away was probably at least partially responsible for their successful reunion tours.
It was an interesting read. But really highlights the difficulty of picking one music trend to do this type of analysis.
For me, being a teenager in the 1960's, an "Oldies Station" didn’t play 1950's or 1960's top 40 hits, they played 1940's top 40 hit artist's 1950's and 1960's songs. The Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Doris Day music.
As Greg Hudson says, the actual big change in radio was the advent of Album Oriented Rock and FM radio, away from the Billboard top 40. This of course was driven by the Top 40 being taken over by "Disco" in the 1970's, which was completely and absolutely rejected by anyone with any sense of music taste. 😎
Having grown up in the 90s I would have delineated “classic rock” as the bands who couldn’t have released their music on CDs at their time of release, so like anything before 1988. Like if you were buying a Led Zeppelin CD in 1998, that’s not a new release, it’s a re-release of therefore “classic” rock. But if you were buying a Green Day record, that was new and only ever on CD, and so was just contemporary. Everything was about CDs in the time period where ‘classic rock’ as a term became a thing.
This is I think why it’s always gonna grind millennials’ gears to hear 90s bands called classic rock. But it makes sense for the same line to be drawn between CDs and streaming for the next generation
I'm recalling the programming change of one of the first "classic rock" stations, WZLX in Boston in 1985. An original promotion spoke of programming the music of the movie "The Big Chill", which was itself said to be loosely based on "Return of the Secaucus 7." More here:
How many of those station rebrands were formerly AOR (Album Oriented Rock)? Seems like they just gave it a new name to flatter the listenership as it grew older.
Also - what officially makes Hip Hop "Old School"? I am always shocked when I go to Spotify's "Gold School" playlist and find songs from the mid-2000s. On October 25, 2025, there were no rap songs in the top 40 for the first time since 1990 (http://billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/no-rap-songs-hot-100-top-40-first-time-since-1990-1236100625/). Would love to see you do a piece on hip hop trends, if you haven't already!
Thanks for your very interesting research into this, Daniel.
Another factor that also played a significant role was the rise of the MBA consulting wave starting in the 80s and intensifying in the 90s that parsed markets every which way and advised the industry suits on market segments and how to get the most money out of them.
Like the music industry execs, these consultants were mostly male and, as has been documented, catered to the male demographic despite the growing market power of women.
We know they advised country stations not to play female artists very often or back to back, which had an immediate and extremely detrimental effect on female artists (and on listeners), and I would assume that happened in classic rock because there are almost no female artists played ever. (I have two classic rock stations in my area and you just about never hear a female artist.) They also redefined classic rock to exclude a lot of male groups and artists, to be fair.
So I think you've put your finger on something really important and detrimental in terms of cultural programming, which is erasing so many artists from the 'classic' rock genre, particularly women. This is no small thing when we look at what music continues to get visibility and an audience and who continues to make money from their music over time. It's just another way the spoils are being deliberately concentrated for the benefit of the few at the expense of variety, richness, and fairness for artists and audiences.
Great article! I’ve always wondered where the line is for what makes a rock band “classic rock.”
My only gripe is that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most prominent songs absolutely did NOT happen in the 21st century. “Under the Bridge,” “Give It Away,” “Soul to Squeeze,” etc. are from the 20th century.
Commenting only to inform you that I didn't read the article because I cannot read white text on a black background without getting a headache. Too bad, I'd have definitely read it otherwise.
Loved this deep dive on “classic rock,” or whatever we should call it. Pouring over the decades (and some old albums) this reminds me of artists like Jim Croce—his music doesn’t need a label, and if it did, he doesn't neatly fit into one, single bin. Whether pop, rock, or folk, his songs capture timeless human experience in a way that feels immediately “classic,” no radio format required.
They had plenty of hit songs, but those more popular bands listed had either songs that were more popular (and/or more of them) or more staying power, for one reason or another.
This was a fun read. I wonder though how much of the classic rock rebranding came from stations deciding not to use the original word to market their station -- "the oldies station" -- because of Boomers' fear of aging. I remember in the 1990s the oldies stations (which played 1950s and 1960s hits, with lots of Buddy Holly, Beatles, and doo-wop) changing into "classic rock" and adding the early 1970s to the rotation. Now they were no longer old - they were "classic"!
Interesting read. I wonder why there's no such thing as "classic hip hop", "classic R&B", or "classic country". It would be interesting to see if older songs in those genres have lower radio play/streaming.
There is classic country. Overwhelmingly '60s-early '80s, though quite a few from the late '80s/early '90s are creeping in.
https://open.substack.com/pub/professorbs1/p/100-moments-that-shaped-rock-music?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=778os9
I would argue there is such a thing as "classic R&B", primarily used to differentiate that 'classic' wave from the 80s and 90s (which is kind of dead rn) from the trap-influenced genre most seen today
Surprised the Eagles didn't make the list of the most played artists. Glenn Fry had an interesting comment in the documentary about the band. He mentioned the timing of the break up of the band with the rise of classic rock stations and the fact that while the bands music and popularity should have been on the wane after the band called it quits it never really did because their music was immediately absorbed into classic rock formats. The fact that the music never went away was probably at least partially responsible for their successful reunion tours.
It was an interesting read. But really highlights the difficulty of picking one music trend to do this type of analysis.
For me, being a teenager in the 1960's, an "Oldies Station" didn’t play 1950's or 1960's top 40 hits, they played 1940's top 40 hit artist's 1950's and 1960's songs. The Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Doris Day music.
As Greg Hudson says, the actual big change in radio was the advent of Album Oriented Rock and FM radio, away from the Billboard top 40. This of course was driven by the Top 40 being taken over by "Disco" in the 1970's, which was completely and absolutely rejected by anyone with any sense of music taste. 😎
Having grown up in the 90s I would have delineated “classic rock” as the bands who couldn’t have released their music on CDs at their time of release, so like anything before 1988. Like if you were buying a Led Zeppelin CD in 1998, that’s not a new release, it’s a re-release of therefore “classic” rock. But if you were buying a Green Day record, that was new and only ever on CD, and so was just contemporary. Everything was about CDs in the time period where ‘classic rock’ as a term became a thing.
This is I think why it’s always gonna grind millennials’ gears to hear 90s bands called classic rock. But it makes sense for the same line to be drawn between CDs and streaming for the next generation
Great analysis! I agree with you 100%, it's the CD line, and now the streaming line.
I'm recalling the programming change of one of the first "classic rock" stations, WZLX in Boston in 1985. An original promotion spoke of programming the music of the movie "The Big Chill", which was itself said to be loosely based on "Return of the Secaucus 7." More here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WZLX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_of_the_Secaucus_7
How many of those station rebrands were formerly AOR (Album Oriented Rock)? Seems like they just gave it a new name to flatter the listenership as it grew older.
Also - what officially makes Hip Hop "Old School"? I am always shocked when I go to Spotify's "Gold School" playlist and find songs from the mid-2000s. On October 25, 2025, there were no rap songs in the top 40 for the first time since 1990 (http://billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/no-rap-songs-hot-100-top-40-first-time-since-1990-1236100625/). Would love to see you do a piece on hip hop trends, if you haven't already!
Thanks for your very interesting research into this, Daniel.
Another factor that also played a significant role was the rise of the MBA consulting wave starting in the 80s and intensifying in the 90s that parsed markets every which way and advised the industry suits on market segments and how to get the most money out of them.
Like the music industry execs, these consultants were mostly male and, as has been documented, catered to the male demographic despite the growing market power of women.
We know they advised country stations not to play female artists very often or back to back, which had an immediate and extremely detrimental effect on female artists (and on listeners), and I would assume that happened in classic rock because there are almost no female artists played ever. (I have two classic rock stations in my area and you just about never hear a female artist.) They also redefined classic rock to exclude a lot of male groups and artists, to be fair.
So I think you've put your finger on something really important and detrimental in terms of cultural programming, which is erasing so many artists from the 'classic' rock genre, particularly women. This is no small thing when we look at what music continues to get visibility and an audience and who continues to make money from their music over time. It's just another way the spoils are being deliberately concentrated for the benefit of the few at the expense of variety, richness, and fairness for artists and audiences.
I, myself, have become classic…
Great article! I’ve always wondered where the line is for what makes a rock band “classic rock.”
My only gripe is that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most prominent songs absolutely did NOT happen in the 21st century. “Under the Bridge,” “Give It Away,” “Soul to Squeeze,” etc. are from the 20th century.
Commenting only to inform you that I didn't read the article because I cannot read white text on a black background without getting a headache. Too bad, I'd have definitely read it otherwise.
Loved this deep dive on “classic rock,” or whatever we should call it. Pouring over the decades (and some old albums) this reminds me of artists like Jim Croce—his music doesn’t need a label, and if it did, he doesn't neatly fit into one, single bin. Whether pop, rock, or folk, his songs capture timeless human experience in a way that feels immediately “classic,” no radio format required.
You would appreciate this: https://open.substack.com/pub/thomasobrien/p/jim-croce-the-brilliant-songwriter?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
I was surprised Foreigner, Styx, Cheap Trick, and Steve Miller didn’t make the list. But eh, I guess they didn’t have as many big hit songs.
They had plenty of hit songs, but those more popular bands listed had either songs that were more popular (and/or more of them) or more staying power, for one reason or another.
Great article! You’ve gained a new subscriber! 🥳
Things become "classic" when the current generation thinks it's "old folks stuff" (that is, us. haha)
Looking forward to your statistical analysis of when Ozzy became an actor