Digital Cable Music Channels

Cafe Society
#1

When I got digital cable a couple of months back, one of the things that sold me (aside from the SciFi channel) was the availability of forty channels of digital music content. Forty channels! That is so way cool! I thought it’d be like Spinner, where they’d have a big variety of all sorts of interesting tunes, and I could select to my taste, and I could pump it through my (still theoretical) Dolby 5.1 system, and have good music on tap in the living room…

What the cable company (cox) neglected to mention was that the forty channels could be described as the worst of commercial radio. Here is a listing of the kind of thing they’re offering; the most watered-down version possible of a bunch of listless musical genres.

I guess it just frustrates me that this is a whole new pile of bandwidth, with a whole new group of listeners, and instead of trying anything at all innovative, they’re just duplicating what’s already available on the radio. Which, seeing as they’re not advertising-supported, is entirely unnecessary.

Does anybody here listen to the digital music channels? Is there anything good on them I’ve missed?

And… if you had a music channel to program… what would you want to hear?

#2

Since I don’t have a good stereo except for the speakers in my TV, I listen in from time to time.

It’s not very compelling listening. The only good thing about it is that if you hear a song that you are interested in you get all the details (artist, album name, etc.) so you can puruse it later on your own.

#3

well, its not perfect, but it sure is lightyears ahead of radio. yes, you have to pick a “listless genre”, but the playlists are larger and invariably include stuff you have never heard before. but to me, the greatest thing is no stupid commercials or idiot morning dj’s. plus i really like the fact that when you do hear something that really catches your attention, you know who it is, the name of the album, and song title. i have gotten turned on to a lot of good stuff this way.

i like the blues channel, the “adult alternative”, even the “power rock”!

time to go!

#4

I use Origens to study to; it’s nice, mindless background music. During a party we were channel flipping and landed on the Showtunes channel, and I got the strangest looks when I immediately said, “Oh, that’s ‘Bobbles, Bangles, and Beads’ from Kismet!” Guess they weren’t showtune people … :slight_smile:

I gotta say, though, Cox is a pain. I’m not too fond of them, but they’re the only choice around here.

#5

We have Time Warner Digital Cable, with a heap o’ music channels…I like the seasonal one at Christmas, but usually prefer the '80s, Blues or Classic Country station. What bugs me is that after abour three songs, the screen goes black, and you have to push a button to view the song info…

#6

I have AT&T Broadband, and they carry about ten or 12 DMX music channels. Mostly I listen to the Rock Oldies channel (or whatever it’s called). Beatles, the Supremes, the Temptations, the Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, the Dave Clark Five, the Beach Boys, all kinds of stuff, lots of fun. No commercials, no DJ yapping away, just hours of music. The screen is black, but whenever a new song starts, a screen pops up to tell you the song, the band, and the name of the album it’s from.

There’s also a channel that alternates programs, one of which is called The Martini Hour (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, etc.), but I never know when it’s on and the DMX website doesn’t coordinate with what I get, for some reason.

#7

I get Music Choice via TimeWarner, like caveman, and I enjoy the 80s, 70s, and Jazz channels very much, though I admit I was hoping for more finely sliced genres (I’d really love a bebop channel, for example).

#8

That’s a feature. What if you want to sleep to that music or need the room to be dark for whatever reason? A toggle would be better though.

#9

I have DirectTV, and their version is very good. The world music, blues, and two classical channels are good, and I like the 80s stuff too. They are getting cocky about it though, and trying to charge extra for certain channels. Has anyone bought them, and are they remotely worth it?

#10

COX Cable here in Las Vegas…I have the system through my 5.1 surround sound system (which so far is only good for about 40% of DVD discs - nothing else comes in surround sound).
I like to have the Light Jazz on Sunday mornings, and if I get in the cleaning mood later on Sunday, put on the Gospel channel for inspiration.
I like it because it is commercial free, and though I like a lot of the music, I would never buy any of it, and you can pick your mood - dance music to get off your butt and do some work around the house, classical or light classical to nap by, and even the Brazilian pop is a kick on a sunny day when you need an excuse to start drinking with your friends before noon.
I usually turn the tv (monitor) off, as I don’t much care to see who is singing/playing…but it is a nice feature if you actually do want to know who recorded that particular song.
They even have a Laugh channel that is, obviously, cuts from comedy albums…not bad when there is nothing else on tv…I recently heard the Bill Cosby Noah’s Ark bit I hadn’t heard in decades.

#11

I like it for background music. No DJ’s, no ads, no talk, and I can see the artist name and the name of the song. Where’s the bad?

#12

Of the 30 channels offered by my digital cable service, I’ve listened to 4, all classical-related. I’ve even slept with the “Chamber Music” playing and after a few minutes, the blue screen with the music information fades for a mostly-black image resembling a screen saver.

#13

Ever since I got digital cable I hardly ever listen to the radio at home anymore. The hard rock station plays a lot of stuff that I never hear on our local rock stations.

#14

Actually, it’s just a screen saver. But the side-effect you describe is nice. Mine doesn’t go black, it just darkens considerably and four rotating “spotlights” appear in the corners of the screen (I guess so that you’ll know nothing’s wrong).