102.2 Jazz FM - Playlist

Playlist

When Jazz FM launched, the station played a mixture of mainstream jazz, with the daytime schedules originally dedicated to smooth jazz, and some soul programming. Specialist programming from Jez Nelson and live concerts were broadcast in the evening and at weekends. In 1992, the policy changed and all non-jazz programming was taken off the schedules.

In 1994, alongside the change of name to JFM, the core playlist was changed under agreement with the Radio Authority to give a more mainstream sound of soul, jazz fusion and blues music, with a requirement that only 25% of music played on the station had to be jazz.

In 1995, when the name changed back to Jazz FM, smooth jazz and fusion music was reduced. More popular, well known and mainstream jazz was placed in the core playlist.

Chief Executive Officer Richard Wheatly noted that the station format was in trouble because of its serious straight jazz playlist. To counteract this downturn in listeners to Jazz FM, from 1998, Wheatly introduced more varied jazz into the daytime playlists. From February 1998, smooth jazz and soul music were more integrated into the core playlist of Jazz FM.

Although Jazz FM has originally from the start played jazz music, more soul and softer R&B music was added later on in Jazz FM's lifetime to appeal to the 25-45-year-old market that Jazz FM needed to entice to the station, especially after GMG Radio took over the running of the station and in particular in November 2004, after an agreement with Ofcom, jazz was dropped from the daytime playlists. John Simon, GMG programme director for Jazz FM at the time said that the station was never licensed as a jazz station, but a station that played a broad range of black music styles.