930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: cbro on February 24, 2004, 10:43:00 am
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Hello Music lovers
We are a small group of grassroots music lovers that would like to change DC radio. Tell us what you think at
dcmusicsurvey.com
Thank you in advance and don't be afraid of passing on the link to other DC people.
cbro
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What do "grassroots music lovers" love?
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Is this some sort of Bigyawn thing?
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if you take the survey it kind of gives you clues what they are interested in, I know some of the people involved and it is not a big corporation trying to get your info or anything
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I don't think its a 'big yawn thing' although theres a link to it on the bigyawn website
it takes 5 minutes, as far as I'm concerned even if theres a small chance it might improve the quality of dc radio its worth it
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oh and the picture on the homepage is of Roddy Woomble, so that gives you your first hint
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It is not a BigYawn thing. I just happened to stumble upon it. I agree, anything positive that might come out of this, even if is something I never see, makes it worth filling it out.
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well i just completed it.....
any excuse to trash american radio is hardly a waste of time in my oppinion..........
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Originally posted by pollard:
oh and the picture on the homepage is of Roddy Woomble, so that gives you your first hint
Who's Roddy Woomble?
It's interesting to take, and so easy. And, as a big music fan, I'd assume they'd want input from folks like me. I loved venting on HFS!
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Originally posted by Bags:
Who's Roddy Woomble?
lead singer of idlewild
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Silly me...I love them, *and* I saw them. You can tell I ain't reading liner notes these days.... Idlewild wasn't on their list of artists, though!
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C'mon Bagster. Venting on HFS is like so five years ago. How are they even still on your radar screen?
WAMU is the only local radio station we ever have on. Unless it's a sports talk show on AM or something like that.
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Well, thing with HFS is that it's the radio station that I'm *supposed* to be listening to, based on my genres and CD collection. I just don't listen to radio *at all* -- except WOXY, KEXP or Indie 103 over the internet at my office. Oh, and Howard Stern. :D
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I reacted negatively to the suggestion in the survey that they might slot a show for Sunday night only-- that's the only time there IS good radio in DC: Allan Lee's Forgotten 45s on 102.7, Underground Garage on 103.1 & 94.7, Scooter Macgruder on 100.3
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I'll bet your cd collection is way better than their playlist. C'mon, do most of us over 22 really listen to more than a couple of bands on this list?
http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php (http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php)
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I was shocked when I moved to DC, land of a thousand colleges, and there was no college radio (there's UMD, but the signal doesn't get much beyond the UMD campus).
It would be great to have college radio, or hell, even a AAA station or one of these new "classic alternative" stations.
But, with a large-capacity mp3 player in my car shuffilng my whole collection, and some people getting satellite radio, it's not the urgency it used to be.
Would be good for the community and scene to have a local music outlet that didn't suck, though.
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Originally posted by Rutherford J. Balls:
I'll bet your cd collection is way better than their playlist. C'mon, do most of us over 22 really listen to more than a couple of bands on this list?
http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php (http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php)
Ugh. What a horrible list. With a list like that, what makes HFS any different from DC101 or 98Rock?
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Originally posted by Rutherford J. Balls:
I'll bet your cd collection is way better than their playlist. C'mon, do most of us over 22 really listen to more than a couple of bands on this list?
http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php (http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php)
I listen to four. Six, if you count the Strokes and Jet, but I don't have albums by either band.
That's exactly what I said, that the area's alternative radio is skewed for a super young audience. If I'm stuck somewhere and have to listen to radio, I'll take "hot adult alternative" 104.1 or DC 101.
I think it's a no win for me. There are probably one five or six cities in the country that have a radio station I'd really listen to, so it doesn't matter much. But, if they want to try, bless 'em.
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Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by Rutherford J. Balls:
I'll bet your cd collection is way better than their playlist. C'mon, do most of us over 22 really listen to more than a couple of bands on this list?
http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php (http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php)
I listen to four. Six, if you count the Strokes and Jet, but I don't have albums by either band.
That's exactly what I said, that the area's alternative radio is skewed for a super young audience. If I'm stuck somewhere and have to listen to radio, I'll take "hot adult alternative" 104.1 or DC 101.
I think it's a no win for me. There are probably one five or six cities in the country that have a radio station I'd really listen to, so it doesn't matter much. But, if they want to try, bless 'em. [/b]
Get XM, it changed my life. I could never live without it now...
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Originally posted by redsock:
Get XM, it changed my life. I could never live without it now...
That's what I've heard from everyone I know who has it. I'm getting it for the SO for his birthday next month. Can't wait to hear it.
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Seriously? XM? It's so hard to imagine I'm gonna pay for radio (I appall my friends by refusing to get more than basic cable; $100 a month for t.v. seems insane), and then that they have more than one or two stations -- though, I will say, I LOVE Spinner online. Don't know if that's at all comparable... Maybe I should look into it.
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Spinner online has a dozen indie-oriented stations alone. It's almost too much choice, and it's great.
XM has some appeal, but from what I can tell there's only one "alternative" station. So, I'm not too likely to pony up for it.
I've love it if XM or Sirius had feeds from some of the nation's great stations (WFMU, KCRW, the best of college radio, etc.)
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Originally posted by bellenseb:
XM has some appeal, but from what I can tell there's only one "alternative" station. So, I'm not too likely to pony up for it.
I'm looking at the brouchure and it shows:
xmu - new music
fred - deep classic alternative
cafe - modern/soft alternative
ethel - 90's and today's alternative rock
squizz - hard alternative
fine tuning - eclectic (?)
fungus - punk/hardcore/ska
lucy - classic alternative hits
I'm not sure what the differences are, but there seems to be quite a few alternative stations.
Of course, the reason we're getting it is because the SO is drooling over the Nascar station.
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Originally posted by redsock:
Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by Rutherford J. Balls:
I'll bet your cd collection is way better than their playlist. C'mon, do most of us over 22 really listen to more than a couple of bands on this list?
http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php (http://www.whfs.com/most_played.php)
I listen to four. Six, if you count the Strokes and Jet, but I don't have albums by either band.
That's exactly what I said, that the area's alternative radio is skewed for a super young audience. If I'm stuck somewhere and have to listen to radio, I'll take "hot adult alternative" 104.1 or DC 101.
I think it's a no win for me. There are probably one five or six cities in the country that have a radio station I'd really listen to, so it doesn't matter much. But, if they want to try, bless 'em. [/b]
Get XM, it changed my life. I could never live without it now... [/b]
I can definitely agree with that! They play loads of stuff that I've never heard before and much more.
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Originally posted by bellenseb:
Spinner online has a dozen indie-oriented stations alone. It's almost too much choice, and it's great.
XM has some appeal, but from what I can tell there's only one "alternative" station. So, I'm not too likely to pony up for it.
Exactly my worry.....
There appear to be three stations I'd listen to regularly, and Lucy and Fred both play stuff I own:
54 Lucy, Classic Alt Hits
43 XMU, New Music
44 Fred, Classic Alternative
I'm sure I'd occasionally listen to some talk or some acoustic, American standards, lounge, classical...but I'm not sure it's worth paying for.
Redsock, I'm curious to hear what you love about it and if you listen to many stations or found a couple that are just right for you.
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Originally posted by redsock:
Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by Rutherford J. Balls:
[qb] [/b]
Get XM, it changed my life. I could never live without it now... [/b]
I second that...XM is the only way to go. My roady had to be shipped out for warranty exchange so was without XM for a couple of weeks and if I forgot to grab a cd just had silence in the car... I couldn't even listen to the fm shit. Just got the roady back today..YEAH!
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I want a music radio station where the DJ doesn't try to always sound so hip, mellow & with-it. In point of fact, I'd prefer a radio station without a DJ at all. If it was possible, maybe some kind of Max Headroom/Stephen Hawking vocoder-thingee could do all the intros...so's you'd know what was playing at a given time. I'd buy that for a dollar!
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Originally posted by Bags:
Seriously? XM? It's so hard to imagine I'm gonna pay for radio (I appall my friends by refusing to get more than basic cable; $100 a month for t.v. seems insane), and then that they have more than one or two stations -- though, I will say, I LOVE Spinner online. Don't know if that's at all comparable... Maybe I should look into it.
Spinner online? Tell me more....
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Originally posted by Dupek Chopra:
In point of fact, I'd prefer a radio station without a DJ at all.
You're talking about Spinner.com. Too bad it's internet and not satellite.
Redsock, spinner.com is an online music site with about....175 channels. And they're split into much more specific channels: 80s Alternative, 90s Alernative, Alternative Mix, New Alternative. And they also have new wave, hardcore, ska, punk, electronic, chill, Indie (as in 80s indie, 90s indie, new indie, indie mix...).
No commercials, you sign up and download the spinner player. You can set up your favorite stations so they're in a pop up list on your player -- and you can have up to 40 favorites, which is tons. It gives a "coming up" listing when you float the cursor over it, which is cool as hell, and you can see what's playing on other stations when you float your cursor over them!!!!
I've sworn by it at work, though I had some computer issues and don't have it right now. I've been listening to KEXP and WOXY on my realaudio, but I miss my spinner.
OOPS. I was just looking it up, and now spinner is "Radio@Netscape Plus"!!!??? Here's a FAQ, but I don't know what this means for spinner:
Migration FAQ
Q: Is Spinner going away?
A: Spinner is not going away, it's simply moving to Netscape and becoming fully integrated with the AOL Music platform. While the player and Web site have a new look and feel, you will enjoy listening to the same great stations programmed by the same people who brought them the Spinner service, and convenient access to the same functionality, detailed music information and more.
Q: Why are you shutting down Spinner?
A: Combining the Spinner and Netscape Music services allows us to bring you even more great programming and features, providing you with a one-stop-shop for all of your radio and music needs.
Q: What is the new player called?
A: The Netscape Player is called "Radio@Netscape Plus". It is powered by Spinner programming and technology.
Q: Do I need to have the Netscape browser in order to use Radio@Netscape Plus?
A: Radio@Netscape Plus is a stand-alone program. What this means is that you do not need a specific browser in order to use the player. Just think of Radio@Netscape Plus like your current Spinner player, but with a different face on it. Everything else functions the same as it currently does.
Q: Does Radio@Netscape Plus offer the same features as Spinner?
A: Radio@Netscape Plus offers the same great features you love on Spinner, including synchronized song information, 40 station pre-sets, "Now Playing", "Coming Soon", "Related Stations", "Top 25" station pages, an equalizer, song ratings, detailed artist information and a "toolbar" listening mode.
Q: Are there any enhancements to the new player?
A: Radio@Netscape Plus features a new design that offers enhanced station navigation, and adds new programming that was not previously available on Spinner, including local radio stations, a dedicated AP News station, and sports programming.
Q: Where can I download Radio@Netscape Plus?
A: Click here to check out Radio@Netscape Plus.
Q: Is Radio@Netscape Plus free?
A: Yes! There is no charge for this player.
Q: What will happen to my Spinner stations?
A: Radio@Netscape Plus is programmed by the same DJs (Mark, Cameo, Michele K-Tel, Stan, Catherine, Davey D & more) that programmed Spinner for the last few years. Same great DJs, same great programming!
Q: What will happen to the Spinner Web site?
A: The Spinner.com Web site will become part of Netscape's Music Channel. Visitors will have convenient access to the Radio@Netscape players, the same "Now Playing" listings, station and artist information pages, and DJ bios that Spinner has. It also features exclusive content such as "First Listens", music video premieres and more.
Q: How does this affect Mac and Linux users?
A: Mac and Linux users are still able to listen to our programming via an updated version of Spinner's Station Sampler player by visiting the Netscape Music Channel.
Q: What if I have comments or concerns?
A: If you have any trouble downloading, need technical support or have any questions/comments you'd like to bring to our attention, please email NSRadioHelp@aol.com.
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I find that putting my ipod on random and plugging it into the auxillary socket in the car a pretty good way to go. No annoying adverts or Djs and guaranteed hits of the 80s every single song.
Its not a good way of discovering new music, but that is what WOXY, POLLARD and support slots are for.
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Markie, you're so kewl. When I grow up...I wanna be just like you! I sleep with your picture underneath my pillow.
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Yeah, Mark, I think the iPod has obviated my need or interest in satellite radio. For my car, I'm in good shape. I listen to spinner and internet stations at work because I have a PC and can't hook up the ole pod here at work, which REALLY bums me out sometimes.
So how the hell does Pollard find/discover/listen to so much new stuff?
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I thought everybody knew that I am a pitchfork whore
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Originally posted by Bags:
I have a PC and can't hook up the ole pod here at work, which REALLY bums me out sometimes.
If your PC has external speakers, unplug them from your PC and then plug into the ipod. If you dont have externals. Spend $100 on a pair and then just switch between the PC and ipod. You will be glad you did.
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Originally posted by Bags:
So how the hell does Pollard find/discover/listen to so much new stuff?
It's a liitle-known fact, but Pollard works for the RIAA in their stealth-marketing program. Passing himself off as "the cool music guy" he undertakes a viral strategy in which he attains the alpha-male position among various music-related chatroom packs and then pimps his employers product to the clueless sheeple.
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
It's a liitle-known fact, but Pollard works for the RIAA in their stealth-marketing program. Passing himself off as "the cool music guy" he undertakes a viral strategy in which he attains the alpha-male position among various music-related chatroom packs and then pimps his employers product to the clueless sheeple.
looks like I will have to be moving along to the WOXY board now that my cover has been blown here
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Originally posted by mark e smith:
I find that putting my ipod on random and plugging it into the auxillary socket in the car a pretty good way to go. No annoying adverts or Djs and guaranteed hits of the 80s every single song.
Its not a good way of discovering new music, but that is what WOXY, POLLARD and support slots are for.
it's a shame that itunes can't be used like napster... i'd pay $10 a month for that :p
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
i'd pay $10 a month for that :p
So would I. But, apparently, as napster is not making money we would be in the minority.
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Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by bellenseb:
Spinner online has a dozen indie-oriented stations alone. It's almost too much choice, and it's great.
XM has some appeal, but from what I can tell there's only one "alternative" station. So, I'm not too likely to pony up for it.
Exactly my worry.....
There appear to be three stations I'd listen to regularly, and Lucy and Fred both play stuff I own:
54 Lucy, Classic Alt Hits
43 XMU, New Music
44 Fred, Classic Alternative
I'm sure I'd occasionally listen to some talk or some acoustic, American standards, lounge, classical...but I'm not sure it's worth paying for.
Redsock, I'm curious to hear what you love about it and if you listen to many stations or found a couple that are just right for you. [/b]
Well XMU is super duper. I hear new stuff I love on it all the time. I've recently discovered +/-, Snow Patrol, Los Halos, The Swords Project and others.
Ethyl and Lucy play alt hits, but they range from Nirvanna and STP to Postal Service and D-Plan. You get the occasional bad song, but most of it is good.
Fred is cool, for the older stuff, but they tend to play more obscure, at least to me. There is a different New Order song on all the time, and I don't know if I'd recognize a one of them. Thats 4 of my 20 programmed.
I have BPM and The System, cause I like to dance in my car. 80's and 90's, though 90's plays all shit and is in danger of being dropped off my favorites(how many times can you listen to Keith Sweat?). MTV radio for shits and giggles. U-pop for hits from around the world (lots of TATU and Mel C.)Fungus for punk, Music Lab for my Peter Gabriel fix, 20 on 20 so I stay hip with all the kids, a couple hard rock stations for the random Def Leppard song. Maybe a random other station or 2. I prolly listen to no more than 7 or 8 on a regular basis. But I LOVE it!!
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thanks to anyone that took the survey.
I love how most conversations that I have about music here in DC starts with how much radio sucks then quickly turns into a lovefest for the ipod or XM.
I love my ipod and don't have as much of a desire for XM now.
If you haven't taken the survey it only takes about 4-5 minutes tops. Go to dcmusicsurvey.com
Thanks
cbro
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Originally posted by cbro:
thanks to anyone that took the survey.
I love how most conversations that I have about music here in DC starts with how much radio sucks then quickly turns into a lovefest for the ipod or XM.
I love my ipod and don't have as much of a desire for XM now.
If you haven't taken the survey it only takes about 4-5 minutes tops. Go to dcmusicsurvey.com
Thanks
cbro
What about my Stephen Hawking suggestion? Good idea, or not?
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I like the idea but almost every station already uses it. It is called Voice Tracking. There is no dj there. It is all run by a computer. You simply record your voice before your "shift" and tell the computer when to play it. You could do this days in advance if you wanted.
You can thank CC for that one but if they wouldn't have done it someone else would have.
there was a good article on the wasteland of radio in the latest issue of Tracks.
Peace Off
Bro
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You missed my point, I already know all about Robo-Jock. I just want to do away with the voice altogether. I want a 100% artificial voice, sort of like Ned (http://www2.burn.com/content/wave/wav-sp3/ned-oh_rabbit_rabbit_five_oclock.wav) from Colorado. I'd buy that for a dollar!
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Actually, I think that would be a great idea. I'm surprised it hasn't been done before, to be honest. Seems to me that independant radio or college radio would've used this technique to further distinguish themselves from corporate radio. Regardless, I don't know what I hate about FM radio more: the playlists or the DJs. It's a tough call.
Originally posted by Dupek Chopra:
Originally posted by cbro:
thanks to anyone that took the survey.
I love how most conversations that I have about music here in DC starts with how much radio sucks then quickly turns into a lovefest for the ipod or XM.
I love my ipod and don't have as much of a desire for XM now.
If you haven't taken the survey it only takes about 4-5 minutes tops. Go to dcmusicsurvey.com
Thanks
cbro
What about my Stephen Hawking suggestion? Good idea, or not? [/b]
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would you still want info about the band and the music or just a joke between songs?
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Originally posted by cbro:
would you still want info about the band and the music or just a joke between songs?
Of course the pertinent data about band names & song tracks would be given. You could have your band-promo stuff available on your website. Ned could say, "If you liked that track much more info is available on www.yourdcradioweb.net (http://www.yourdcradioweb.net)"
I'd focus the promo on the website. Use the airtime to draw to your website. You could offer loads of promo audio via jocks thru your website, if you wished...for those who wanted it. Just keep the airwaves free of jocks, okay?
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well the radio in my cooper displays song title and artist info when tuned to big oldies 100 and it's not a fancy xm tuner. now obviously not all radios are equipped with that technology, but the broadcasters do and it's just a matter of exploiting it for the purposes of good. dumping the dj ;)
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I agree with the less is more for DJs and would definitely try to promote the website like kexp.org. NPR does a great job at that too...if you'd like more info go to our website.
I still think we need humans. Maybe more then ever. My ipod can't talk to me...well not yet anyway and I am not sure I want "ned" selling me anything anyway. A bit too creepy? Too big brother is watching me.
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your loss...
My idea would've made you one rich bastard.
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I don't want to be rich...that was never my intention. All I want is to open up the music. I don't think you need to pluck down $10 bucks a month to hear good music. Radio use to be the curator--it would filter out the bad and djs were trusted. Now we need a "cool" friend that burns us a cd or emails us a MP3 with the subject line "listen to this now"
I don't think that my taste is the end all but I want an openness of the playlist.
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Originally posted by cbro:
Now we need a "cool" friend that burns us a cd or emails us a MP3 with the subject line "listen to this now"
Or a message board with folks listening to all the new stuff and passing on links, info, reviews and opinions.
;)
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very true.
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Originally posted by cbro:
I don't want to be rich...that was never my intention. All I want is to open up the music. I don't think you need to pluck down $10 bucks a month to hear good music. Radio use to be the curator--it would filter out the bad and djs were trusted. Now we need a "cool" friend that burns us a cd or emails us a MP3 with the subject line "listen to this now"
I don't think that my taste is the end all but I want an openness of the playlist.
nkotbie liked my idea.
And nkotbie thinks I'm an asshole, so it must hold water. One day someone will take that route with success.
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So c-bro, whatever became of this new radio station?
I still advocate the jock-less format. Weather-band radio already utilizes vocoder announcers. They sound loud & clear to me. Plus, I rather fancy the personality of the synthetic weatherperson...he/she's my kinda guy!
The vocoder-jock just needs a little tweaking, a little spice. Perhaps he/she could sound a bit like the Demonic V-Tech (http://www.pillshovel.free-online.co.uk/chitchat.mp3) toy from this (http://www.pillshovel.free-online.co.uk/soundz.html) webshite?
Cheers! (http://www.socalgal-1.net/wav/dollar.wav)
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its all about news, traffic and weather...wtop. i'll take that over hfs or dc101 any day of the week.
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Originally posted by andyrichter:
its all about news, traffic and weather...wtop. i'll take that over hfs or dc101 any day of the week.
Yeah, I can appreciate why you listen to WTOP over HFShit and DipChit101 but I want my music too. Only so much talk for me. In fact, all the obnoxious talk and the commercials are exactly why I refuse to listen to WOXY. I like their music but I go insane after about 15 minutes of their crap. I have plenty of alternatives (providing I'm online), so I go there. A little talk is fine and can even be great but too much will make me run far away. It's very, very rare when I find a music station that has a lot of talk that I can enjoy because there is such a fine line between when it's appreciated and when it's not. It's a true art form for we music lovers that many of us can only tolerate for only so long unless there is something very good about it that captures our interest. Yeah, I know some of you WOXYites really, really love your music too. I just can't figure out how or why you put up with their crap blasting. I don't know, maybe you just like commercialism. WGTB FM use to have it mastered back before they were forced off the air. They spoiled me to no end! Rotten knows what I'm talking about.
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I don't know about you, but I'm sick to death of chit-chat. Small talk should be kept off of FM. If you wanna chatter, go to AM. Another thing I'm weary of is radio-personalities. Just give me the facts. Maybe a few weird bleeps or buzzing noises would sound okay too. But cut the "cool-sounding-jocks-in-the-know" crap, posthaste. We're onto your schtick already. Enough's enough. Evolve.
The weather sevice synth voices (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/newvoice.htm#voices) are quite clear.
Listen to the IMBE (Improved Multiband Excitation) speech vocoder samples from this (http://daniels.tf.uni-kiel.de/staff/weh/coding.html) website. Judge for yourself. Is it as clear as human?
More technical stuff here (http://iwce-mrt.com/ar/radio_improving_digital_radio/).
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The Sonic Attack (http://www.hwcn.org/~ac096/sonicovernight.html) program from CFMU 93.3FM in Hamilton, Ontario sounds like a grrrrrreat idea. Why can we take a cue from the Great White North, eh?