Mason tells DJs to ID songs

WHEN YOU PLAY IT, SAY IT: That’s the gist of the directive issued by CBS Radio topper Dan Mason to his DJs, the N.Y. Times reports. In an interview with Ben Sisario, Mason explained that at some indeterminate point in history—he and other radio veterans place it at the mid-1980s—song identification began to vanish from the air as programmers struggled to squeeze out anything considered “clutter.” “You were always conscious about the amount of talk you would put on,” he said. “But the truth is that people tune in and tune out, and it was probably underestimated at the time how much people really wanted that information.” (5/30a)