America's Best Music

America's Best Music
TypeRadio network
Country
AvailabilityNational
OwnerWestwood One
Launch date
1989
Former names
AM Only
Official website
America's Best Music website

America's Best Music is the on-air branding of a soft oldies and adult standards 24-hour radio network, formerly known as AM Only. The service is syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. It was one of the original Transtar Radio Networks formats. Despite its old name of AM Only, "America's Best Music" is no longer exclusive to AM stations and is carried on some FM stations.

Its main competitor is Music of Your Life, syndicated by Planet Halo, Inc. Until 2010, Timeless from Citadel/ABC Radio had been another similar format.

The target audience of the format is listeners 35 to 64, with a range of softer hits, primarily from the 1950s through the 1980s, plus a few newer titles in the playlist.[1] Artists include The Beatles, Celine Dion, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, The Carpenters, Lionel Richie, Barry Manilow, James Taylor, Elton John, Anne Murray, Simon and Garfunkel, Andy Williams, Linda Ronstadt, Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole, The Captain & Tennille, and The 5th Dimension.[2] The format also incorporates "new standards" material by artists like Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Michael Bublé, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler and Carly Simon. An occasional newer song is heard if it has adult appeal, such as some recent hits by Adele. Also, the network switches to all Christmas music beginning in mid-December through Christmas Day each year.

  1. ^ "Westwood One Radio Networks - Westwood One Radio Networks". DGtotal. Dial-global.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  2. ^ [1] Archived October 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine