Active Rock

Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a mix of contemporary and classic rock songs, normally with an emphasis on the hard rock end of the spectrum.

Sean Ross, editor of Billboard Airplay Monitor, described active rock in the late 1990s as album-oriented rock (AOR) "with a greater emphasis on the harder end of the spectrum".

An active rock station may include songs by older active rock artists due to popular demand whereas an alternative rock station would not (e.g., Helmet, Toadies, CKY, Third Eye Blind, Seven Mary Three, Type O Negative, Monster Magnet, Prong, Candlebox, Oleander, Corrosion of Conformity, Stabbing Westward, Biohazard). Conversely, an active rock station also plays music by popular demand of new and recent hard rock and heavy metal artists, which are also usually absent from modern rock or classic rock radio playlists (e.g., Karnivool, Parkway Drive, Nothing More, Islander, Devour the Day, Failure Anthem, From Ashes to New, Sleepwave, Shattered Sun, Nothing But Thieves, Modestep, While She Sleeps, Northern Faces, Kyng, Twelve Foot Ninja, Code Orange).

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