Terrestrial radio in most places is terrible for good music, in my opinion. Hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, deep classic rock, and more is sorely lacking on "normal" radio. Too many commercials and terrible pop and "urban" music. No Bluegrass or Outlaw Country either, for the most part. I'm age 49 and barely listen to FM radio anymore. I listen to 97 Underground online, and stations like XM Deep Tracks when my subscription is current. Sometimes I don't renew SiriusXM because it gets expensive and I wanna' look around.. But FM radio sucks. Just sayin
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For True Music Fans, FM Radio Sucks
- Thread starter jehoyle
- Start date
If you're in Washington, D.C., or vicinity, your FM dial primarily reflects the musical preferences of the demographics of Washington, D.C. You're an outlier in almost all musical categories. In fact, only hard rock has ever had any significant presence on FM anywhere. Heavy metal was never the foundation of any FM format. Progressive and "deep" classic rock never got ratings or advertiser support when they were new. Bluegrass and "Outlaw Country" (SiriusXM's brand for its catch-all "rockin' country rebels" -- their description -- mix of alt-country, country rock, American singer-songwriters and classic country music) just aren't popular enough to be the foundation of even a marginally successful terrestrial radio format.
You say FM radio doesn't play "good music." The overwhelming majority of music listeners in your market would disagree. In fact, in Washington itself, most would consider "terrible pop and 'urban' music" as "good music." What you really mean is that FM radio in Washington doesn't play YOUR music. In which case, streaming, satellite and your own CD/download collection are your three best listening options.
Reply
Typical response. Pop music and all that urban sh*t sucks. I don't care if Heavy metal "was never a format". How ridiculous of a response. Hard rock on radio in places like a blue-collar town like Baltimore even sucks, in my opinion. Richmond radio WRXL used to be decent many years ago, but Clear Channel or whoever made it all white-collar, yuppie, college "alternative" crap. I care for not for your typical, suit response. The hardest of rock is just too hard for you. Admit it. You think I'm an amatuer.
Typical response. Pop music and all that urban sh*t sucks. I don't care if Heavy metal "was never a format". How ridiculous of a response. Hard rock on radio in places like a blue-collar town like Baltimore even sucks, in my opinion. Richmond radio WRXL used to be decent many years ago, but Clear Channel or whoever made it all white-collar, yuppie, college "alternative" crap. I care for not for your typical, suit response. The hardest of rock is just too hard for you. Admit it. You think I'm an amatuer.
I'm just a listener like you, a few years older, with an understanding -- much of it picked up on this website -- of how radio really works and what most people really consider good music.
Radio is a business. If there were enough people to make any 'format' popular enough to become a viable business model, it would be done. I think the poster and I both have wide musical tastes and a quest for discovery of new artists/songs.
If you have some cash, radio stations are dirt cheap right now. Buy one and play what you want. There are a few that do this. I've heard of deals where you can lease for the cost of monthly operational expenses.
I can tell you there are two types of music listeners: there are those that use music to set a mood or as a social thing. Mostly they want familiar and known songs. Mostly their friends are the same way. The much smaller minority of music listeners are like me. They like many types of music, love the idea of hearing new music and artists, like hearing the lesser played music. The issue with folks like me is what we like and don't like. For example, my best friend likes big band but I don't care for it in the least. I like classical but my friend can't stand lengthy works. It's hard to find common ground among music lovers like me. Thus, with the music mix, the wider it gets, the more people fall off (as in not to my liking) until you're left with a handful.
For radio, there's just not enough of us on the same page to make things work. What radio is doing, even if we don't care for it, is working.
If you have some cash, radio stations are dirt cheap right now. Buy one and play what you want. There are a few that do this. I've heard of deals where you can lease for the cost of monthly operational expenses.
I can tell you there are two types of music listeners: there are those that use music to set a mood or as a social thing. Mostly they want familiar and known songs. Mostly their friends are the same way. The much smaller minority of music listeners are like me. They like many types of music, love the idea of hearing new music and artists, like hearing the lesser played music. The issue with folks like me is what we like and don't like. For example, my best friend likes big band but I don't care for it in the least. I like classical but my friend can't stand lengthy works. It's hard to find common ground among music lovers like me. Thus, with the music mix, the wider it gets, the more people fall off (as in not to my liking) until you're left with a handful.
For radio, there's just not enough of us on the same page to make things work. What radio is doing, even if we don't care for it, is working.
You don't like what you get for free, and you don't want to pay for what you like? What a spoiled brat! The musicians you love depend on the financial support of their fans to live, pay their expenses and feed their families. Sirius pays part of your subscription fee to artists and musicians. That might be a small amount for the big successful stars. But for the less popular acts, the ones you seem to like, that's their only income. Especially now that they can't tour.
If you like a certain type of music, you need to support it. Nobody owes you free music. That isn't a right. You either pay for what you want, or you take what you can get. Grow up. You're not a kid.
Here are five reasons you should pay for music:
https://songtown.com/5-reasons-why-music-has-value/
Music Has Value.
You're new here aren't you?
No Radio station in any city is going to appeal specifically to your taste in music all the time. That's why they call it 'Broad-casting'. They appeal to a Broad sector of the population and target demographic.
There are these things now called Smartphones. You can download music and create playlists to your own individual taste, with no commercials! Sort of like a Sony Walkman(tm), but without the cassette tape, and a much larger potential library.
Except that costs money, and Junior wants his music for free.
I think there were a couple of exceptions. The one that comes to mind is the metal format on what became Liberman's first FM in 1995 in LA., KNAC. The station was sold and went to a Spanish language format because it could not achieve profitability doing that niche format.
Since this is on the DC board, I can't ever remember hearing metal on the area rock stations. DC101 was a very mainstream commercial station, and even WHFS was more likely to play punk or alternative than metal. Maybe Baltimore went that way.
There was "103.1 The Underground" (today WRNR) that had an active rock/metal format in the early 90's, really only available to those east of DC.
Wow you're right...that was a long time ago, and only lasted a year or so.
He/it/they responded to my initial reply in this thread, but not in the one on the NYC board. I think the poster is real, but I seriously doubt he/it/they is anywhere close to 49 years old.
The 'Underground' format which mixed hard rock and heavy metal (WHVY) lasted about a year from 1991-2 on 103.1 Grasonville/Annapolis. The station then concentrated on hard rock as WXZL "Rock 103," with a Z-Rock type presentation and format until 1994, when a partnership including WHFS founder Jake Einstein bought the station and transitioned from hard rock to freeform as WRNR-FM.
The station was sold to current owner Empire Broadcasting in 1997 and transitioned to the AAA format that remains on-air 23 years later.
The WHVY format is online at http://www.97underground.com/
Re:
I've always felt 98Rock was (and still is) a reasonably well programmed straight-ahead rock station. One of the better such stations along the eastern seaboard, quite frankly.
DC101 was great from the mid 90's to mid 00's. I hate the fact the station these days is basically a Modern AC masquerading as an alternative rock station. I think the station has gone in an even more female-friendly direction to try to court a portion of disenfranchised Mix 107.3 listeners.
https://dc101.iheart.com/music/recently-played/
I've always felt 98Rock was (and still is) a reasonably well programmed straight-ahead rock station. One of the better such stations along the eastern seaboard, quite frankly.
DC101 was great from the mid 90's to mid 00's. I hate the fact the station these days is basically a Modern AC masquerading as an alternative rock station. I think the station has gone in an even more female-friendly direction to try to court a portion of disenfranchised Mix 107.3 listeners.
https://dc101.iheart.com/music/recently-played/
I want to like WIYY, but there's excessive brainless chatter from the hosts and the music is all over the place. I feel like it tries to be all things to all people and doesn't really pull it off. It still manages to be the best rock station one can hear in DC, which is saying something.
WBIG is really a classic hits station that is rock-leaning. When Neil Peart died, WBIG said nothing, as far as I heard, and their website seems to confirm it, having no article about it. Plenty of their music doesn't fit on a classic rock station, as far as I'm concerned, and plenty that does is nowhere to be found.
DC101 is just awful these days. What's funny/sad is that if you listen on the weekends, the music mix is a lot better, and they even run promos during the weekend SAYING it's better on the weekend. So clearly someone is aware.
Can't receive WZBA where I am.
Leave the DC-Baltimore area by road and better rock stations appear almost instantly. I always look forward to hearing WWWV, WZBH, WMMR, WQXA, WBHB, etc. Even WRXL in Richmond, which seems like it was intended to be a clone of DC101, sounds a lot better than DC101 does.
- Trip
WBIG is really a classic hits station that is rock-leaning. When Neil Peart died, WBIG said nothing, as far as I heard, and their website seems to confirm it, having no article about it. Plenty of their music doesn't fit on a classic rock station, as far as I'm concerned, and plenty that does is nowhere to be found.
DC101 is just awful these days. What's funny/sad is that if you listen on the weekends, the music mix is a lot better, and they even run promos during the weekend SAYING it's better on the weekend. So clearly someone is aware.
Can't receive WZBA where I am.
Leave the DC-Baltimore area by road and better rock stations appear almost instantly. I always look forward to hearing WWWV, WZBH, WMMR, WQXA, WBHB, etc. Even WRXL in Richmond, which seems like it was intended to be a clone of DC101, sounds a lot better than DC101 does.
- Trip
Cool. Terrestrial radio isn’t your thing then. Go to Spotify and satellite and stay there. And copy/pasting the same thing from another thread, real original.
Terrestrial radio isn't most people's thing, and yet it used to be for a lot of us. That's a legitimate topic of conversation here. 18 replies so far.
The problem is that bringing back the terrestrial radio "a lot of us" remember so fondly isn't going to lure "most people" who never heard it to terrestrial radio today and will drive off a good number of those younger listeners for whom today's music-intensive, low-personality stations are a "thing."
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