"I was on my way to an airport," said Richard Marx, "flipping the dial. I was like, 'Awesome, it's the new single!'" At a June 23 performance at Clear Channel's P.C. Richard & Son Theater in New York, Marx is talking about hearing his new song, "When You Loved Me."

"At the end of the song, the DJ came on and said, 'That's brand-new from Richard Marx. Next up: Nickelback with 'Photograph.' I freaked out, because usually, if I hear my song on the radio, it's like, 'That was Richard Marx, and next up is ... Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings,' which is cool," Marx said to the crowd's chuckles. "But, that day, I was sandwiched between Daughtry and Nickelback - and it was a little cooler."

Marx's reaction is a fairly typical response to an artist finding success on adult contemporary radio-often maligned as the vanilla of radio formats. And in truth, AC was designed not to offend, but to provide background companionship during the workday, and to lull listeners to sleep with gentle ballads on late-night love songs shows. While Marx did add, "Thank God I hear my songs on the radio," being pegged as an AC act, for those who consider themselves hipper than Midler's "Wings," can be humbling. When you think you're Phish Food, you find out you're vanilla. The flip side? Vanilla is the top-selling ice cream flavor (according to the International Ice Cream Assn.'s latest rankings).

And, AC is routinely a top-rated format.

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A few stats: In Arbitron's May ratings for persons aged 6-plus, AC stations ranked first in top 20 markets New York (WLTW); Houston (KODA); Philadelphia (WBEB); Seattle (KRWM); Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. (WALK); and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (WDUV). New York's WLTW (Lite 106.7) likewise led the nation's top market with a 7.5 share in women 25-54 and a 6.4 share in persons 25-54. "In Boston," says Don Kelley, VP/director of programming at Greater Media, which owns the city's WMJX (Magic 106.7), the station "has celebrated No. 1 rankings [in] persons 25-54 44 times since 1991. That's a market record."

That's also why Marx understands that being heard next to Midler ultimately means you're being heard. By a large audience. "With approximately 35 years of music to choose from," Edison Research VP of music and programming Sean Ross says, "AC is the format most likely to be playing a song that people are passionate about at any given time. 'Uncool' isn't quite an issue. Successful AC stations always turn up a wide swath of listeners, including men and 18- to 34-year-olds. Even when a successful station was mocked in TV campaigns by a competitor for being 'lite,' the taunt ultimately didn't take, ratings-wise."


NEXT: THE EVOLUTION OF AC