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It's a shame what's happened to radio

blog.jimgrey.net

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Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#191

Post by libraryatnight »

mobilene wrote: post #138

I'm the OP, and I'm surprised to find this article on HN at all, let alone the front page! Many comments are focusing on music but the thing I tried to get across in the article was that good radio wasn't primarily about the music, it was about fun and connection. A good DJ kept you from just turning the radio off when you heard that same hit the fourth time today -- you wanted to keep listening because the DJ made i…

I used to work graves and some stations would have shows at odd hours that played variety you might not hear during the day. The DJ as a curator is a role I miss. I also miss the notion someone else local was awake. Other night owls might call in and comment or make requests.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#192

Post by tinyplanets »

Uhhrrr wrote: post #39
runarberg wrote: post #36

For those of is living in and near Seattle (and as of recently San Fransisco) KEXP is still on the air and is still amazing as ever (if not even more so).

Yes! Eclectic, and if you text or call, a human will often respond.

Long Live KEXP!

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#193

Post by gabriel666smith »

NuclearPM wrote: post #178
carlosjobim wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fine - but young people don’t yet have a complete mental map of what culture they enjoy. Spotify and the likes will suggest new and different things for people to listen to. Apple has a special app just for classical music, which is the highest level of musical culture. > Even worse: many of these (eg, Spotify) hide real access behind subscription fees. If you grew up broke, like I did, you will understand how inac…

> Apple has a special app just for classical music, which is the highest level of musical culture. Really? Why?

The metadata matters in a different way. A single piece with a single composer can be interpreted very differently, over time, by different conductors and orchestras.

This means classical music is very badly organised in most streaming apps. Sorting by "artist" doesn't really work if the artist is listed as an orchestra, which has probably recorded the work of more than one composer.

Roon is another example of a streaming platform that treats this metadata with the same importance.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#194

Post by Ntrails »

gabriel666smith wrote: post #107
Ntrails wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the UK, funding for libraries [] has been increasingly cut in the name of austerity. Focusing on one thing here, for convenience. The problem remains that costs are up far in excess of budgets - austerity be damned! We are forced to prioritise, cutting the generally useful but "non-essential". (There is often a legal duty to the essential things) https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-have-english-councils-fu... Is…

Yeah - I used "austerity" as a slightly sloppy shorthand in my comment. My two closest local libraries were closed due to cuts made during "the credit crunch" by the coalition government (from memory!), when "austerity" was the buzzword, so I felt it'd communicate most broadly (to HN's international userbase) the phenomenon I was gesturing at. From what I can understand, these sources are saying: "because costs are u…

> Super bleak reading - it's a very dark rabbit hole!

That it is! It will require an actual change to the societal contract to resolve as best I can tell - and it remains unclear to me what direction the change will take.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#195

Post by PaulHoule »

mobilene wrote: post #138

I'm the OP, and I'm surprised to find this article on HN at all, let alone the front page! Many comments are focusing on music but the thing I tried to get across in the article was that good radio wasn't primarily about the music, it was about fun and connection. A good DJ kept you from just turning the radio off when you heard that same hit the fourth time today -- you wanted to keep listening because the DJ made i…

My son got used to listening to the local classic rock station i100 and one thing that is really fun is that the DJ's are local performers and celebrities. The station promoted an event for Ronnie James Dio last weekend

https://mastodon.social/@UP8/tagged/dioday

and this guy and another DJ were there with their own bands

https://mastodon.social/@UP8/116954456921377276

Even though the station is run by remote control much of the time and the sales manager recently got poached by the Buffalo Bills it's so much fun to get to know these people in real life. (I appreciate it how Billy, pictured, plays alternative rock, kinda like Green Day, even if the station's playlist got closed out around 1992)

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#196

Post by PaulHoule »

mobilene wrote: post #183
JohnFen wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A good DJ kept you from just turning the radio off when you heard that same hit the fourth time today -- you wanted to keep listening because the DJ made it fun. I'm old enough to remember when radio was king, but if that's what a good DJ does, then I suppose I've never heard a good DJ. Personally, I preferred the DJ who talked as little as possible and had good taste and variety in the music they chose to play. Bu…

In commercial radio, DJs haven't selected the music in 40 or more years. I used to show up for my shifts to find a printed playlist from a software product called Selector. I had to follow it.

There was that time I was tripping on acid at 2am and was offended by hearing the same Doobie Brothers song that plays during my drive in and my drive out and called up the college radio station thinking, "I'm either going to talk to the janitor or the program manager", turns out the program manager picks up the phone and I ask him, "Who picks this music out?" and he says "I do" and that it's programmed on the computer. I told him "Come on, you can play anything you want to play" so he put on a Miles Davis disc.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#197

Post by proee »

One radio program that's withstood the test of time is "Echos" with host John Diliberto. I ran across the program the other day and it blew my mind that it still sounds identical to when i first heard it 30 years ago. The guy is a legend and clearly devoted to his listeners and the musicians he promotes.

https://echoes.org/

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#198

Post by madebychives »

Glad to see this sentiment expressed. I got extremely tired of the stream-ification of everything on the web, and how something as simple as getting music playing has turned into an involved process with too much of my own data forfeit.

My solution is a small, self hosted PWA that simply has a list of a few dozen of my favorite internet radio stations. Loads quickly, no sign in or subscription, no add, just music. In the past month I have hardly even opened Spotify!

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#200

Post by ge96 »

mobilene wrote: post #138

I'm the OP, and I'm surprised to find this article on HN at all, let alone the front page! Many comments are focusing on music but the thing I tried to get across in the article was that good radio wasn't primarily about the music, it was about fun and connection. A good DJ kept you from just turning the radio off when you heard that same hit the fourth time today -- you wanted to keep listening because the DJ made i…

I remember I had a data entry job and we were only allowed to bring in old tech like a CD player or radio. So I was listening to a local radio station and they posed the question "would you go back in time and kill Hitler" which I was like "shit I gotta call in and say my opinion".
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