broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s on a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...

channel, or

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s on a

TV network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid-1 ...

. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely

shuffled Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome. __TOC__ Techniques Overh ...

, so as to avoid varying the time between any two consecutive plays of a given song by either too much or too little. When measuring

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

, the number of times a song is played is counted as spins. Stations playing new music typically have a short rotation of around four hours, while stations playing "

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

s" may go as long as eight hours, with a few stations promising "no repeats" where a song is not played again during a broadcast day to allow a much broader playlist (or if there is a purposeful repeat on that type of station, it ties into a station contest for a prize, such as tickets to the played artist's concert).

College radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

and indie radio stations sometimes have no particular rotation, only the

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

's suggested lists for the

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

s, or are totally

freeform radio Free-form, or free-form radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercia ...

Broadcast automation Broadcast automation incorporates the use of broadcast programming technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a broadcast network, radio station or a television station, it can run a facility in the absence of a human opera ...

systems handle a limited rotation quite well, in turn making

voice tracking Voice-tracking, also called cyber jocking and referred to sometimes colloquially as a robojock, is a technique employed by some radio stations in radio broadcasting to produce the illusion of a live disc jockey or announcer sitting in the radio stu ...

easy. Even if a live person is present, the automation system at commercial stations usually picks the music ahead of time out of the current rotation, thus the DJ becomes only an

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...

. Heavy rotation or power rotation is a list of

songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

that get the most airplay on a

. Songs in heavy rotation will be played many times in a 24-hour period. A reason for playing the same song more than once a day is that many listeners tune in expecting to hear their favorite song, and many listeners don't listen to the radio for extended periods of time. Prolonged listening to a station that places songs in heavy rotation can quickly become unpleasant; such stations are not well-suited for

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

environments, where employees must listen for hours on end, and doing so can breed contempt for the music and create a

hostile work environment In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination. Common complaints in sexua ...

.Psychologists: Christmas music bad for your health
''Nexstar Media Group'' (November 7, 2017). Retrieved November 7, 2017. A song placed in "lunar rotation" is one that is only played in off-peak hours, usually late at night. There can be various reasons for this, but such songs are usually not hits and are played because of the personal musical preference of the DJ or programmer, to avoid more stringent daypart-based regulations on music content or to fulfill a broadcasting obligation to carry programming that is not popular with audiences, such as

Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

quotas or public affairs. (See also "

beaver hour Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (includ ...

".)

Recurrent rotation

Recurrent rotation refers to a group of songs still frequently aired on a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

station several months or even years after the initial debut. It is also used to describe core songs in other

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

s as well. Most charts have special rules to determine when a song has become recurrent, at which point they are removed from current charts (such as the ''Billboard'' Hot 100) and placed on special "recurrent charts". Recurrent charts tend to be more static, with fewer week-to-week changes in popularity than current charts. The ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts include these lists: *

Hot 100 Singles Recurrents The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

* Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay * Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents * Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay *Top 40 Adult Recurrents *Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents *Hot Country Recurrents Songs that survive in recurrent rotation typically form the basis of radio formats as years advance. A hit song that is left out of recurrent rotation will eventually become known as a "forgotten 45", a name derived from the fact that singles used to be released on 45 RPM records.

References

{{Reflist Radio broadcasting