I would just like to salute Sir Puffington for the VERY appropriate use of a brilliant Rush quote.
salutes
Now, for more Rush quotes:
Coldfire: second to none but Satan.
“You know how complex women are”
- Neil Peart, Rush (1993)
There was a great suck.com article about how radio stations all over the country are not only beginning to sound alike but are actually becoming identical because they are getting bought out by major conglomerates. The only thing that seperates some stations is traffic reports and local news. Everything else, including playlists, is decided for all the stations by the headquarters.
Can’t find the article now. You can try look around http://www.suck.com
Re: Conglomerates taking over the airwaves
Several years ago, the FCC decided to relax what have been previously been relatively tight rules regarding the ownership of radio stations - rules which limited based upon market penetration (number of signals in an area) and the locations themselves - which opened the doors for major corporations to own several stations in a cluster within a single market, and do this in more markets.
The results are that big business has taken over the airwaves.
While in the pasty, stations across the country might have had similar playlists due to the “lemming” effect (“Wow! Pittsburgh added this record! We should be on it tooo!”), now, a lot of the group ownerships have corporate programmers who decide what every station across the country will be playing.
They even have jocks in, say Seattle, doing the voiceover deejaying for stations all across the country.
This leads to such things as major corporate tie-ins, like nationwide contests sponsored by Ford, to giive away cars. Much more productive that hitting up a ton of individual stations…
It also leads to…
Re: “Jammin’ Oldies”
…new formats. While a friend of mine surmised that corporations owning half a dozen stations in a market would lead to more adventurous programming - what with them essentially controlling the airwaves - those new formats are almost always based upoon, not new music, but the same old stuff simply repackaged.
Aside from the “jammin’ oldies” format which a poster mentioned, another new format includes “Classic Rock that Really Rocks.” This format takes the familiar classic roock tunes - albeit the more “rocking” ones - and adds stuff from the early '90s, such as Metallica, Nirvana, AIC, Chili Pepppers, ad nauseum.
Still, this format does not play new music, except maybe new stuff by accepted artists.
Any other radio questions, feel free to bring 'em on!
Yer pal,
Satan
First Place
Most Popular Poster of the 20th Century Competition
As overseen by Coldfire
I live in a largish city. We do not have a “classic rock” station here. There’s a Top 40 station that plays some classic stuff, by people who are still making music. There’s an oldies station that plays the occasional rock tune, but they stick mostly with the 50’s & early 60’s stuff. Then there’s approximately 7456 rap/R&B stations, and 7455 country stations. I don’t live close enough to Detroit to pick up any decent classic rock stations.
I miss my radio.
Oy oy oy! After reading this thread I am even more glad I listen to my Classical radio station exclusively! Phew!
But I know what you mean. Where I used to work they’d play this popular radio station, which played the same damned songs like every three hours. We used to keep track of the last time this one Sheryl Crow song was played, and time down three hours, and SURE ENOUGH, they’d play it again! ARGGH! There is no damned excuse for this. I think Sheryl wrote more than one damned song, don’t you?!?
I grew up listening to the sublime KFAC in LA - an all-classical station. They rarely repeated a musical piece all month. If you subscribed to their listener’s guide, you’d get a piece-by-piece schedule of what would be played on the station, 24 hours a day, for the whole month. And not a lot of repeats - probably not any. And the announcers were well-informed, genteel, interesting people. What a concept! The only complaint I had was that there were too many ads.
Where I live now they have a decent Classical station. But about a year ago I guess the managment decided to make the station more “mainstream”. They got DJs that adopted more of the manner of rock DJs, with their chit-chat and flippancy, and they REPEATED the music so damned much! It was TERRIBLE! Who needs to hear one movement of Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony (just one movement, mind) several times a week? I mean, I love Sibelius’ 2nd, but he wrote A LOT of other music! They had other pieces that they’d play over and over and over again, until I thought I’d scream.
Then all of a sudden, the announcement came out that “because of a lot of listener feedback” they were changing their format. And they changed it back to “normal” again. Phew!
I guess my point is that if you think that this annoying trend is afflicting mostly pop/rock stations - the fact is that it has also infected Classical radio a little too!
Well slap my ass and call me Shirley. I just happen to be a DJ. So Satan, you will not defend us ? Fine (by the way I am in NC too - isn’t the snow pretty ?) I shall attempt to do so from the bitch and moan sessions that are “the Pit”.
First : You are tired of hearing the same songs over and over ? Well I get tired of playing them over and over but guess what ? Most people do not listen to the radio 3 hours at a time, they listen for an average of about 20 minutes at a time and when they are listening they want to hear say “Mambo # 5” THEN. So yes, we play the Mambo about once every two and a half to three hours . . . and they still call in and request it.
Second : You never hear what YOU like. Ok , say I play everything YOU like, then this time tommorow someone will post in the Pit bitching that they hate what I play cause it is not what THEY like. Radio is about trying to please the most people you can as often as possible. Sound easy ? Its not. It is very difficult.
Third : I use my regular voice. The same one I use to talk to my mom on the phone is the voice I use on the air. It is not particularly deep but yes I do try to sound professional and confident (some translate as : cocky) because it is my job to sound that way. If I go on air and sound high pitched and shy, I would be fired and someone would be posting in here this time tommorow bitching that they heard this dork on the radio.
Fourth : I have never done a remote from a “auto parts store” but if my job reqired me to do so then I would. I do not decide where I do remotes at - the sales staff does. When I am at the auto parts store it is my job to try and make you want to come down to the store as ridiculous as that may seem. After all that is what they are paying me for.
Finally : I cannot speak for the rest of the country but we here at my station are trying to play a wider range of music (be aware we put our ratings and therefore our jobs on the line to do so, some people don’t want a wider range; see above) in the hopes that we will please the more intelligent music tastes of our listeners. Many other stations have been burned relying on the intelligence of their listners. In any case on a certain day of the week we do play 80’s hair bands and some mod stuff like the Cure and Flock of Seagulls, and a little disco.
The truth is those of us in radio do see what it is becoming and we don’t like it anymore than you do. We are put in a position where we cannot take too many chances without risking our jobs. My advice to this board is to call your local station with any ideas you have and to be a little patient with us for all the reasons I have listed here. After all most of us are just trying to do our jobs kay ? Nuff said.
“Solos Dios basta”
Well, here in the Monterey bay, those of use who listened to KYLD (Gasp! Popular music station) Were mighty pissed when they switched owners, and didn’t keep the booster station that allowed those of use not in the Bay Area to get it. It was rude too, the signal shut off at 5 pm one day without warning, and we then heard crappy cheesy adult contemporary love tunes (the booster station was sold to another station).
Recently, a new station came on the air here, and they play things from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and recent music. They play oldies, funk, old school hip-hop, house, freestyle, 80’s R&B tunes, as well as some dance music tunes too. They are the alternative to the horrid top 40 station around here.
So, I am happy. It’s all a lot of stuff I like. They also have wonderful contests (they gave away 10,000 dollars recently, and their newest contest is that they are paying people’s gas and electric bills for a month. The Dj’s aren’t annoying either (their morning show is funny, and interesting). They tend to play the modern stuff a little more than the older music they have, but that just keeps the good stuff from getting annoying.
I also listen to one of the Radio Bilingue stations (Public Radio). I can actually find shows on that station that cater to my tastes. The DJ’s are not paid of course, and they keep to the music, not commercials or banter. I hear stuff I would never hear on commercial radio.
They also do a lot of public service stuff too. One of my favorite shows where they play Rock in Spanish, with House music, and then have an hour devoted to a sex talk show (They bring in educators from the planned parenthood in Fresno).
It’s worth the risk of burning, to have a second chance…
Commercial radio sucks. Thats about as simple as it gets. Yes there are reasons they play the same songs over and over, I get it. That doesn’t make it any less painful. The only thing I can suggest is get used to classical music(ie public radio), or, even better, find a college radio station(they’re usually not so bad.)(or at least bad for different reasons-to whit, inexperienced people, and the infamous “stoned DJs”(yes this is a problem where I come from. I love pink floyd and all, but hearing it for 2 hours straight while not stoned really isn’t that great.)
ah, finally
FUCK YOU!!! (obligatory pit insult)
ok…i feel as i have to defend radio, along with Gabriel…i’ve worked in radio for 5 years now, mostly in college radio, in a small illinois college town with no variety, so i’m pretty lucky to have dealt with a nice mix of music that i wanted (i’ve been music director and station manager, and just recently, graduate assistant).
radio is not about music. it’s about commercials. the music is just the ball of meat to coerce you into eating the pill of advertising. wow. that metaphor actually worked. neat. anyway, that’s what the music is there for (at least in commercial radio). they want you to listen, to hear the commercials. the sponsor sees that their sales went up after broadcasting on WIUS (my station…though we don’t do advertising), so the advertise more on WIUS, and in turn, gives us more money.
gabriel…you might not have done a remote at a auto parts store, but i’ve done my share at car dealerships and gas stations…and my friends at shoe stores… not particularly fun, but if you’re the talent, you might get $40 an hour…
personally, i’d rather be music directing that on-air, but overnights are where it’s at. i’ve gotten my share of calls for ac/dc and mambo #5 (depending on what station i’m at) but you know what? the reason they’re on the top forty chart is because they are popular songs, people are buying them, people are dancing to them at clubs, and people do like them. granted, you won’t hear mambo #5 anymore in a few months (anyone hear “are you jimmy ray” or “tubthumping” or “zoot suit riot” anymore? …and i actually own 2 of those songs…so i like em too)
but the nice thing about radio: free cds!
i’ll listen to a college station anyday, second choice is any NPR station that doesn’t play just classical music and news (c’mon, play some Whaddya Know? or World Cafe) and then CDs…
Do what I do: listen to the Spanish language salsa stations. My Spanish is very poor, and so, the commercials do not grate on me for their lameness – I’m just happy when I can figure out the product they’re pushing.
Y salsa tiene mucho caliente!
Paz.
I feel very, very lucky. When my Classical station went more “commercial” (with more repeated pieces, more flip DJs, etc.,) the listeners protested, and the station changed it back to the better format. (Not many repeats, more informed, subdued announcers, etc.) Why won’t these various popular stations change, if (and I guess that’s an “if”) the listeners are complaining and fed up with the format, as all of you seem to be?
Okay, happy news on the radio front: this summer, the government will begin licensing small local independent stations. I heard the story on PRI this afternoon and don’t remember the exact details, but it sounded like a plus for independent radio.
Fortunately, I have a couple listener-supported stations in my area: KZSC, which is my school’s station and therefore has a multitude of shows, some of which are cool, some of which I can’t stand, all of which are bizarrely different from each other. Definitely a lot of eclectic stuff. Also fond of KAZU, which plays a lot of folky-rock in the mornings and African and samba, and other fun things in the evening, with news in the middle. I’m a news junkie, so I don’t mind (I actually enjoy it a lot).
Oh, it’s the Pit. I’m pissed that I can’t seem to get Galgalatz, my favorite Israeli station on RealAudio. Galgalatz is the most random radio station ever. Their playlist is bizarre and sometimes highly amusing, and the fact that I can’t listen to it in America makes me, er, angry.
~Kyla
“Anger is what makes America great.”
A good solution to the repetition problem would be to have some stations play the same shit over and over like they do now, and have other stations play a wide variety of stuff to please the rest of us. But I guess “the rest of us” aren’t in the majority and the station wouldn’t make quite as much money from advertising, so that’s never gonna happen. sigh
And what IS it with classic rock stations and Led Zeppelin. Yeah, Whole Lotta Love and
Black Dog were great songs the first 80 million times I heard them, but COME ON!!! There are 4 classic rock stations in my market and it’s a safe bet that one of them will be playing Zep at any given time of the day or night. Drives me crazy …
Gabriel: Even though we logically know that you aren’t personally responsible for what the stations play, you do represent a member of the music industry and to a lynch mob like us that’s good enough. Not that I have anything personally against you, but I’m a sucker from mob mentality, so we’ll have to lynch you now.
puffington: What usually happens is that these “variety” stations gather more and more listeners, their demographics change and then they become just another top 40 station.
Good example: The Buzz, which broadcasts from Burlington. (We get it in Montreal too) It used to play “real alternative” just like it claimed. Now it’s the 24-hour-a-day “Steal my sunshine” station.
in radio, we have trends. and one of the trends of the last 3 years or so was the passing of ‘alternative’ and the rise of top 40. once ‘alterntive’ became ‘popular’, all of the top 40 stations started playing more ‘alternative’, and what stations that were playing ‘alternative’ were considered ‘top 40’. Q.E.D.
look at ben folds five. long considered alternative, but since “brick”, more top 40ish. i’ve even heard lymp bzcut (i really don’t care for them…i show it through the spelling) and korn on top 40…would they have been considered top 40 a few years ago? no. same with rage against the machine.
talk radio (read: A.M.) was shite 8 or 10 years ago. along came rush limbaugh, changed all that, and now news/talk is the most popular a.m. format, and one of the three or four most popular formats around. so is country. as it was becoming popular, station owners were like, hey, here’s a popular format, we can make money, and there’s not a local country station (or maybe “there’s only one local country station”), so they change formats of their AOR or their oldies station, which weren’t rising in popularity, to cash in on the popularity of country.
according to friends, there’s an all retro (80’s) music station in chicago. and now that the group i worked at (not in chicago) was recently sold, rumor has it that the AAA station might go to a retro station…and i guess that’s the new trend nationwide, not just in chicago…
so don’t bitch about you’re favorite station switching and playing all duran duran, the cure, and haircut 100. you’ve been warned
“talk radio (read: A.M.) was shite 8 or 10 years ago. along came rush limbaugh, changed all that,”
Are you implying that Rush isn’t shite?
I disengaged from the popular media two years ago. No TV - except at friend’s houses where I get hypnotised and surf uncontrollably until shouted at. No pop radio, just NPR - (getting tired of it) and some classical. While this isn’t for everyone there is one incredible fallout NO COMMERCIALS. All the commercials on the classical station are read by the commentator in a normal tone of voice.
I actually did a soda survey on the phone last week, knowing that I would be answering “no” for 20 minutes. I think the guy didn’t believe that I hadn’t heard a SINGLE spot in the lat year for coke.
To the Op I suggest buying CDs, keeping current on the music scene through critics, underground and mainstream, and un-plugging.
What a relief.
“What a relief” - I’m with you RobRoy. I couldn’t take the crap that some of these other dear souls do with their radio stations. I just would crack. I feel so grateful that I don’t have to deal with it. (And I’m grateful that my radio station paid attention to listener protests when the format was getting too annoying!)
I love my Classical station (where they do have ads, but they are more “subdued”, and usually revolve around buying antiques or internet investing.) I listen to a lot of CDs, make “compilation tapes” when I am on the road traveling and don’t want to mess with the radio. It works wonderfully for me.
no, i totally agree that rush is a moron, and i hate him with a passion. when i worked in am radio (for a summer), i had to work his show (playing commercials and what not). it was mind numbing.
what i meant was that he basically turned am radio around. before him, am radio was a wasteland, with art bell (who is a god in my book), trucker radio network, and various classic country stations and some news. rush really single-handedly brought am talk radio to the heights it is today. and that’s all the credit i’m giving him, and that’s all he deserves.
Hello there. I haven’t posted in a very long time, but I need to say something about this.
Here in New Orleans we have THREE terrific radio stations; one NPR, one local public station, and an absolutely incredible progressive station. I always have something good to listen to in my car or at work. Broadcasting from the UNO Campus, WWNO (Website: http://wwno.uno.edu ) has your standard NPR programming (news & other shows,jazz, classical). WWOZ (website: http://www.wwoz.org ) focuses on New Orleans’ musical heritage, but plays some other stuff too (like reggae, world music, and folk music.) But nothing can beat WTUL, IMO.
WTUL (website: [http://www.tulane.edu/~wtul/framesmain.html is Tulane University’s station and has been voted the best college station in the country several times. Its programming is miraculous, covering all the previously mentioned bases (minus news etc.), but focusing on jazz and progressive. “Progressive” means that they play indie rock, hardcore punk, experimental music, and dozens of genres most people never get to hear. This is the REAL alternative rock, not the bastardized commercial shit these corporate McAlternative stations serve!
Bet you poor souls can’t listen to a techno/drum 'n bass show on the radio. I do, and then I switch stations and hear Afro-Carribean music!
I support non-commercial radio. I give when they have pledge drives. It’s what I have to do to keep good musicon the air.
That is all.
(Beginning to reconsider my Lurker status. . . )
“He only earns his freedom and existence
Who daily conquers them anew.”
Goethe; Faust, Part II