Easy Listening Secondary Stations
So here’s a set of secondary stations, playing sub-genres within the main “brand”. You’ll see that about 500-600 songs seems the standard for the commercial pretty much totally automated stations, though Jack & Chill (what a great name!) was right out there with over 1100, and even Radio 1 Relax also scored highly, during its relatively short (in radio terms) life of 3 years, being boosted by weekend apparently “handpick” shows.
Smooth Chill started mainly as a “something different” filler for DAB capacity and was used as and when required on various multiplexes that GWR/GCap/Global have had spare space on and/or needed to fill, though it now occupies a pretty Low-Fi slot on National D1 playing a fairly unique mix from the mainstream end of Ibiza style chilled house, ambient and lounge tracks. It has remained remarkably consistent since it started in 2005 as “Chill”, before being renamed more recently into the “Smooth” brand.
Jack 3, Mellow Magic and Magic Soul all play/played various combinations of the easy listening end of what you might call conventional oldies, while Magic at the Musicals does what it says on the tin. As you can see from the graph very quickly run out of variety after just a couple of days, with only a very few new tracks after as little as 5 or 6 days, though even when Jack 3 (and Chill) was on air it wasn’t playing anything different much after 10 days either.
Analysis: 24 days, up to 06-06-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7137
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 697
Variety factor for this station is : 9.7%
50% OF PLAYS is 203 Songs (29.1% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 129 MOST played songs (18.5% of the total)
or 411 LEAST played songs (58.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 1h 2m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 3h 25m
129th most played song airs every: 1d 9h 52m
203rd most played song airs every: 1d 14h 24m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 226 (32.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 18 DAYS
Top 11 Most Played:
1= [23 plays] each for…
+ Daniel Bedingfield – If You’re Not The One
+ Maria McKee – Show Me Heaven
+ U2 – With Or Without You
4 [22 plays] Pretenders – I’ll Stand By You
5= [21 plays] each for…
+ Berlin – Take My Breath Away
+ Coldplay – Fix You
+ Don McLean – Vincent
+ Duran Duran – Ordinary World
+ Keane – Somewhere Only We Know
+ Kelly Clarkson – Because Of You
+ Seal – Kiss From A Rose
Analysis: 27 days, up to 06-06-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9289
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1024
Variety factor for this station is : 11%
50% OF PLAYS is 287 Songs (28% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 163 MOST played songs (15.9% of the total)
or 580 LEAST played songs (56.6% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 20h 15m
10th most played song airs every: 22h 20m
163rd most played song airs every: 1d 22h 17m
287th most played song airs every: 2d 10h 54m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 294 (28.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 18 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [32 plays] Seake – Ngoni
2= [31 plays] each for…
+ Ambulo – Homesick
+ Boozoo Bajou – Orfeu
+ Daniel Avery – Hazel and Gold
5= [30 plays] each for…
+ Flitz&Suppe – Funkaholic
+ Tagavaka – Eyes Awake
+ Tangerine Dream – Love On A Real Train
8= [29 plays] each for…
+ Freyr – Departure
+ Fujitsu – walk along the docks
+ Westerman – Roads (Bullion Remix)
The BBC killed off R1 Relax on 24th July 2024, stating that it was only really intended for the Covid Pandemic/Lockdown era, which has now long since passed. Here’s a historic analysis then from it’s last operating month…
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7817
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1075
Variety factor for this station is : 13.7%
50% OF PLAYS is 240 Songs (22.3% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 136 MOST played songs (12.6% of the total)
or 701 LEAST played songs (65.2% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 15h 48m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 0h
136th most played song airs every: 1d 22h 17m
240th most played song airs every: 2d 10h 54m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 503 (46.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 9 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1099
..in 3 months: 2116, in 6 months: 3289
..in 9 months: 4388, in 12 months: 5241
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [33 plays] Billie Eilish – BIRDS OF A FEATHER
2 [30 plays] Frank Ocean – Thinking Bout You
3= [28 plays] each for…
+ Amie Blu – pretty
+ Dennis Ferrer – Hey Hey
5= [24 plays] each for…
+ Rihanna – Stay (feat. Mikky Ekko)
+ Tems – Love Me JeJe
7= [23 plays] each for…
+ Ariana Grande – needy
+ Brandy & Monica – The Boy Is Mine
+ Childish Gambino – Redbone
+ Klangkarussell – Sonnentanz (Sun Don’t Shine) (feat. Will Heard)
Analysis: 27 days, up to 06-06-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8680
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 901
Variety factor for this station is : 10.3%
50% OF PLAYS is 215 Songs (23.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 134 MOST played songs (14.8% of the total)
or 594 LEAST played songs (65.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 18h 30m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 1h 55m
134th most played song airs every: 1d 10h 6m
215th most played song airs every: 1d 14h 7m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 391 (43.3%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
5 after 24 DAYS
Top 13 Most Played:
1 [35 plays] Mary Mary – Shackles
2 [29 plays] Justin Timberlake – Senorita
3 [28 plays] Pointer Sisters – Jump
4= [26 plays] each for…
+ Bruno Mars – Treasure
+ Craig David – Walking Away
+ Mica Paris – My One Temptation
+ Stevie Wonder – I Just Called To Say I Love You
+ Womack and Womack – Teardrops
9= [25 plays] each for…
+ Alexander O’Neal – Criticize
+ Erma Franklin – Piece Of My Heart
+ Mary Jane Girls – All Night Long
+ Patrice Rushen – Forget Me Nots
+ Stephanie Mills – Never Knew Love Like This Before
Analysis: 27 days, up to 06-06-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8105
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 560
Variety factor for this station is : 6.9%
50% OF PLAYS is 143 Songs (25.5% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 91 MOST played songs (16.2% of the total)
or 359 LEAST played songs (64.1% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 18h 30m
10th most played song airs every: 19h 3m
91st most played song airs every: 1d 0h
143rd most played song airs every: 1d 1h 55m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 218 (38.9%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 15 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1= [35 plays] each for…
+ A Little Night Music – Send In The Clowns
+ Cabaret – Cabaret
+ Wicked – Defying Gravity
4= [34 plays] each for…
+ 42nd Street – Lullaby Of Broadway
+ A Chorus Line – One
+ Chicago (the Musical) – Razzle Dazzle
+ Evita – Don’t Cry For Me Argentina
+ Hair – Aquarius
+ Hairspray – You Can’t Stop The Beat
+ Starlight Express – Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Analysis: 25 days, up to 06-06-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9765
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 298
Variety factor for this station is : 3%
50% OF PLAYS is 109 Songs (36.5% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 67 MOST played songs (22.4% of the total)
or 140 LEAST played songs (46.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 10h 20m
10th most played song airs every: 10h 42m
67th most played song airs every: 14h 17m
109th most played song airs every: 16h 40m
No. of songs with 10 or less plays: 2 (0.6%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 4 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1= [58 plays] each for…
+ Jamiroquai – Canned Heat
+ Seal – Kiss From A Rose
+ Whitney Houston – Exhale
+ Wilson Phillips – Hold On
5= [57 plays] each for…
+ Madonna – Causing A Commotion
+ Sixpence None The Richer – Kiss Me
7= [56 plays] each for…
+ Gabrielle – Out Of Reach
+ Miami Sound Machine – Bad Boy
+ Sade – No Ordinary Love
+ Texas – Inner Smile
Jack 3 Chill ceased in Oct 2023 along with the other Jack Stations when Hits and Greatest Hits took over. Here is a Historic Analysis from the final month.
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7613
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1035
Variety factor for this station is : 13.5%
50% OF PLAYS is 273 Songs (26.3% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 154 MOST played songs (14.8% of the total)
or 606 LEAST played songs (58.5% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 22h 9m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 1h 2m
154th most played song airs every: 2d 0h
273rd most played song airs every: 2d 16h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 422 (40.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 13 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1049
..in 3 months: 1091, in 6 months: 1102
..in 9 months: 1214, in 12 months: 1339
Top 12 Most Played:
1= [26 plays] each for…
+ Kiss Me – Sixpence None The Richer
+ Save The Best For Last – Vanessa Williams
3= [25 plays] each for…
+ Always – Bon Jovi
+ To Be With You – Mr Big
5= [24 plays] each for…
+ Hazard – Richard Marx
+ Hold On – Wilson Phillips
+ Ocean Drive – Lighthouse Family
+ Sleeping Satellite – Tasmin Archer
+ You’re Still The One – Shania Twain
10= [23 plays] each for…
+ I Got You Babe – Sonny / Cher
+ My Girl – Temptations
+ Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
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