Hitmakers & Network 40 (Album Network)

At the first top 40 station where I worked from 1994 to 1999, we used a variety of CDs in the on air studio that included promo CD singles, full-length albums, TM Century GoldDiscs and HitDiscs, Broadcast Programming Chartbreakers, Hitmakers, and Network 40 CDs.

If I remember correctly, Hitmakers was attached to an industry trade magazine with the same name. Was the Network 40 / Album Network also a trade magazine? I'd love to know the history behind these two if anyone has any details. There's not much info online anywhere.

Are there any other similar promo CD comps that your stations utilized on air? (Starting in 1996, I became a Promo Only subscriber, and I did see them floating around various radio stations where I worked. Not once, however, did I ever see one in the on-air studio for any of the music we played.)

Edited by aaronk

I have a couple of their discs that I've run across at
used shops.

That's interesting, Dave. I'm familiar with the X-MIX series, too, but I
always thought it was marketed toward club and mobile DJs like Promo
Only. I've not heard any of their remixes on the top 40 stations I worked
for or listened to over the years, the exception being weekend mix
shows.

I've not come across that Hits CD, John, but I have one called "Straight
Outta Sherman Oaks" that was issued by Hits. I'll have to look up the
catalog number, but I recall it has mostly hip-hop/rap songs.

Short answer: None of the stations I worked at officially used any of the promo services. Quite a few used promo CD singles from the major labels, in the 1990-1995 time frame.

Personally, I accumulated whatever promo service CDs I could find, usually in used record stores. At the time, I appreciated getting the radio edits for the hits. In hindsight, I appreciate even more the failed singles that labels wanted to turn into hits. The non-hits from that time frame indirectly explain why the hits were indeed hits. Great stuff for us musical historian-types.

Hitmakers started in 1987, I think. TuneUp also started in 1987, with various flavors that evolved over the years to match the evolving radio formats (Next40, Rock40, Top40, etc.) The CMJ discs also started in 1987. A Little On The CD Side started in 1990. Spread The Jam was produced by Navarre here in Minneapolis, starting around 1991 or 1992. Powertrax started in 1994. B.L.A.S.T. ran from 1994 to 1998.
I'm sure there were more. They came and went pretty quickly.

Usually, the discs were free, but the record companies would pay to have their tracks included on them. The discs were excellent promotional tools, and were very convenient for reaching the ears of the PD or MD. I don't think they actually got used on air, except for specialty shows or college radio types that didn't get regular CD service from the labels.

I gobbled up in-store retail promo CDs whenever I could. Those turned up very frequently in the stores, since those stores were the exact target audience for them. I got to buy them because I knew the owners pretty well. Schwartz Brothers released about 12 numbered CDs from 1989 to 1991. In Play released 10 CDs in 1990 through 1991.

In 1989 or 1990, I joined a record pool that would mail me a batch of 45s each week. Record Source International, based in Mineral Wells, TX. It was much more convenient than visiting the local one-stop, which I only found out about late in my college career. In addition to the 45 packages, RSI would mail me a little mini-magazine with useless articles and ads geared toward DJs and jukeboxes.

I found two jukebox services through the ads in that little mini-magazine: Hot Hits and Spotlight On Hits. I signed up for both in 1991, branding myself as a jukebox operator. Hot Hits usually used the radio edits, Spotlight usually used the LP versions.

Around 1995, I got on the mailing list for AV Sebastian, a terrific mail-order vendor that catered to mobile DJ types like myself. I found that Top Hits USA had a series of recurrent discs that gave me all of the radio edits that I'd need for a full year - 6 discs a year, at 18 tracks a disc, and released just after the songs were hits. All killer, no filler! I signed up for weekly Top Hits USA service in early 1996 and dropped Hot Hits and Spotlight On Hits. I bought all the recurrent discs going back to their very first one from January 1992, the very same month that I started "Crap From The Past". I still use the Top Hits USA weekly and recurrent discs to this day.

Over the years, there have also been pre-packaged CD libraries that are geared toward particular formats. I bought the last known copy of The A-List, a tremendous 50-CD set that covers US pop hits from 1979 to 1990. The A-List was released in 1994, and was produced by a company I've never heard of called "swaitek". Sonically, the A-List set borrows most or all of its tracks from the TM Century discs. I've seen comparable sets covering the pop hits from the '70s, and mobile DJ sets that include 50 or 100 discs. These sets aren't documented very well, that's for sure. Anyone interested in a mint condition The A-List, in its original jewel boxes, send me a PM!