State Of Classic Rock in 2024
Classic Rock’s legacy shines in 2024 with Fleetwood Mac topping charts and Led Zeppelin’s new documentary. In this one, Fred Jacobs covers the latest updates and cultural impact of this timeless genre with a journey through Classic Rock in 2024.
State Of Classic Rock in 2024
by Fred Jacobs via Jacobs Media
Part of the price you pay for reading JacoBLOG is that yours truly has a very soft spot for Classic Rock music, as well as the radio format that carries the name. Next spring marks the 40th anniversary when WMMQ/Lansing adopted the format, and the rest – as they say – is history.
The station, now owned by Townsquare is still a Classic Rock station all these years later. According to the most recent results from Inside’s Radio‘s format count, there are 635 Classic Rock stations in the U.S., making it the eighth most popular format (based on number of stations). If you would have told me back in 1985….
And like the cultural phenomenon that it’s become, the genre continues to play an outsize role in our world, thanks in no small part to its multi-generational appeal. So, every once in a while I’ll compile a blog post from my vast filing system. And since it’s been over a year since my last “Classic Rock Highway” post and many of you are out shopping anyway, today’s the day for our 2024 edition.
The stories are compelling, it’s nice and warm in here, and the soundtrack’s stellar, so let’s see what we’re got:
And the biggest selling rock album of 2024 is… – This one’s hard to believe, except it’s not. As Ultimate Classic Rock attempts to explain why an album that’s nearly a half century old (47 years-old to be precise), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours clocks in at #34 for the year on the Billboard 200 year-end chart for this year.
What accounts for something so sheerly counter-intuitive? Of the 200 albums on this list, only 29 fall into the “rock” category based on their artists. And most of them were greatest hits collections.
And as we discussed in Monday’s post about “Spotify Wrapped,” the conditions that were once so fertile to expose new music to the masses have broken down. We all have our personalized playlists, and we’re all listening to different stuff.
Rumours, released in 1977, was Fleetwood Mac’s eleventh studio album, and clearly, it’s biggest. All four of its released singles – “Go Your Own Way, “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop,” and “You Make Loving Fun” – went on to become top 10 hits in the U.S.
Besides all the Classic Rock airplay on all those radio stations, Rumours has remained relevant via digital media, too. Who can forget this virtual TikTok video featuring “Dreams” that exposed the song (and the album) to millions of Alphas and Z’s.
Rumours hit #1 on the album chart and stayed there for 31 consecutive weeks. All told, it has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide. And 20 million have been sold in the U.S.
Whole Lotta Led – It’s finally here…almost. The long-awaited documentary about one of the great Classic Rock bands of all time – Led Zeppelin, of course – is slated for release at IMAX theaters on February 7 – so right around the corner.
Amazingly, Becoming Led Zeppelin is the first ever documentary for the group, a collection of the band members’ own memorabilia and old clips. The emphasis for the doc is on “never-before-seen” concert clips, old home movies, and interviews with Zep members, including one with the late drummer John Bonham. His death in 1980 pretty much broke up the group.
Here’s the exciting trailer, spawning the question of how Classic Rock radio stations in iMAX markets will be able to arrange their own premiers of Becoming Led Zeppelin.
Looks like fun.
Tattoo You – Speaking of great albums, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is one of the all-time best sellers. Speaking of hitting the Billboard 200 chart, Dark Side established residency, staying there for an amazing 950 weeks.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that its favorite cover logo has become the most popular tattoo among rock fans. Of course, it required research to establish that fact, conducted by LLTattoo.
The methodology is fascinating. They studied search data from Google Keyword Planner to zero in on tattoo searches incorporating the biggest rock artists.
Pink Floyd finished on top, edging out Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Metallica, and others. The study revealed there are more than 13,000 searches per month inspired by Pink Floyd, a band that emerged more than a half century ago.
In an era when albums are becoming rarities, and album art has all but been lost along the way, iconic visuals from Classic Rock bands will one day be part of museum exhibits.
For now, they achieve indelibility by ending up inked on countless body parts all over the world.
Fred Jacobs founded Jacobs Media in 1983, and quickly became known for the creation of the Classic Rock radio format.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys. In 2008, jacapps was launched – a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created – a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the “connected car” and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media’s commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment. Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
