Jack FM operates on FM 96.5 KJAQ in Seattle, and uses the slogan, “Playing what we want.”

Jack FMAfter I heard that, it led me on the following circular brain quest, which isn’t too far removed from The Princess Bride “so I clearly can’t choose the glass in front of me” scene.

In radio, “Playing what we want” is the retail equivalent of “selling what we want.”  At first listen, I thought it would make much more sense to “play what the listeners want.”  After all, you can only sell advertising airtime based on how many listeners you have.  The more listeners who hear what they want, the better.  Stores that don’t sell what their customers want go out of business.

But then I reasoned that listeners must want to hear whatever it is the Jack FM program directors are playing.  Otherwise the station wouldn’t still be around.  It seems they must have struck a balance between “playing what we want” and “playing what you want to hear.”  The latter might be a more appropriate slogan.  If some DJ wanted to come on and rock Sigur Rós all the time, he’d probably lose all his listeners and his job.  It’s in his best interest to “sell-out” and “want” to play more familiar music.

So while Jack FM’s slogan seemed kind of arrogant, it lost its edge for me once I thought more about it.

Jack FM: Playing what we want, which just so happens to be radio-friendly adult contemporary pop and classic rock tracks.

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