Introducing OMT400

February 2, 2026 1

Nuvoodoo Research: Leigh Jacobs & Carolyn Gilbert

The spring book starts on April 2. If you’re reading this on Groundhog Day, there are 58 days to get ready.

Every time we ask listeners what causes them to change stations, too many bad songs consistently ranks only a few points behind commercials (the perennial worst offender) – that’s across tens of thousands of nationwide respondents in dozens of NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Studies since 2011. You may not be able to control commercial inventory, but you can make sure the songs are right.

Last year we were assisting a new client with recategorizing their on-air library after their first library music test with us. Afterwards the client remarked that the “safe list” they’d been using suddenly didn’t feel very safe. Too many songs in their power rotations weren’t strong in the music test, and too many strong songs were buried in secondary.

The station had relied on safe lists pulled from monitors: you find in-format stations from larger markets in your region and determine the most-commonly played gold titles. But that practice isn’t as safe as it used to be. Music testing has gotten less frequent across the business.

Stations that used to conduct two library tests per year now get one. Stations that used to conduct annual tests may get one every other year – or less. Among a panel of stations used to model a safe list, it’s possible that none of them has a recent music test. Songs that became burned out from overexposure or just fell out of favor remain in the list. Songs that have become better liked don’t show up at all.

At NuVoodoo, we’re radio people. We want to do everything we can to make sure stations find audiences and revenue. Our OMT400 is everything you absolutely need in a library test at the lowest price we can afford. Up to 400 hooks – enough to check the active library. One hundred respondents – screened and compensated and subject to our rigorous quality control and verification standards. Delivered via Analyst software to give you a powerful sorting tool.

OMT400 is $9500, all inclusive (hooks, respondent incentives, Analyst, etc.). No hidden fees. No gotchas. Discounts available for group deals or multi-test commitments. In most cases we can arrange barter for up to 50% of the cost. Email me at leigh@nuvoodoo.com or tellmemore@nuvoodoo.com. Need more songs? OMT600 is $13000.

We can’t share results from 2025 library tests, but we thought it’d be interesting to toss the titles tested in different formats into word clouds. The bigger the word – the more times it shows up across the combined hooklists.