(no subject)

[vicarz]

Jukebox noted that the suckage that is DC radio is canning the last remnants of WHFS music and djs as the classic rock station 94.7 is changing its format to "fresh" (bland mix crap). Amazing that with all the neat types of music in the city that the majority continues to clamor for bland bland bland. Then again, my friends all eat thai but mcD's makes more than all those restaurants combined.

Why is bland so big it eats all in its path? That means the only station left in dc is the douchebag rock station 101. Yeah - party like a date-raping frat boy. Woo.

Comments

[samaritan1975.livejournal.com]

Local radio stopped impressing me when Teapot Tim went off on his own. At least the Hot Morning Mess seemed like they were having legit fun, y'know?

Now and again EITM can make me laugh, but normally it makes me cringe.

This is why I'll be looking into getting a radio transceiver for my MP3 player...

[beatnikbetty.livejournal.com]

thankfully there's still WPFW on 89.3fm.
but you're totally right.

RENEGADE RADIO!!!!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_blackjack_/]

Radio is great down here in Charlottesville. I often hear stuff that's already on my MP3 player.

[jukebox-heroine.livejournal.com]

it is sad indeed. although, 100.3 has some awesome classic rock, which is honestly my fave stuff.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I'm still sad that oldies 100 stopped playing really old oldies and went to almost classic rock, still. I miss the be-bop music that probably predates my parents!

[jukebox-heroine.livejournal.com]

i know. :(

[joanarkham.livejournal.com]

I am so, so happy our car plays MP3 CDs. I can get like 9 hours of music on one CD, and the changer holds 5 of them. I put it on "random" and it's just like having my own radio station.

[calibraxis-x.livejournal.com]

the masses have always been lethargic. the masses have always opposed greatness, because it is beyond them to even comprehend greatness.

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Amazing that with all the neat types of music in the city that the majority continues to clamor for bland bland bland.

No. They buy CDs. Download tracks digitally. Have iPods. Use Satellite Radio in their cars. Rarely has a radio station satisfied my music tastes nor the tastes of most folk I know. WHFS never did.

--k

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I think on this one you're wrong - your friends, and mine, are not representative of the majority. I'm not sure most people buy much music at all, and don't care much what is on. Most people watch reality tv and don't read for recreation.

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Although I quote "most folk I know" my opinion comes from:
1) Working in the radio industry - granted I know more about the Canadian radio industry than the US but from my observations I don't see much difference other than that gov't content regulation.
2) Going over many of the details that factored into the merger of the two satellite radio stations and how their competition was newly defined which in turn led to the DOJ not considering the combined entities as a monopoly.

I'm not sure most people buy much music at all
I don't know who the "most" would apply to in this situation. Regardless, over 151 MILLION iPods have been sold worldwide as of April 2008 and as of July 2008 - 5 BILLION songs have been sold. I think that is a handy enough number to indicate that people are getting their music needs satisfied by something other than the AM/FM band.

--k

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Your radio falls in that specialist set which I would say was the exception, not the rule. If most people got satellite radio it would make money. Sure people buy ipods - but what % of people? Do they get them as trendy things to be seen with or devices to listen to things on - tool or SUV?

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

I mean I understand the business of radio and the choosing of formats as a result of working in radio and working with people that came to satellite radio from commercial radio.

I don't know what percentage buys iPods (and other mobile music devices from phones to other brands). I don't know how many buy an iPod as a trendy device - but I do see quite a few folk listening to them on the street and plugged into their cars. More than half the produced cars are now coming with iPod docks as standard so clearly there seems to be an interest and a demand for that.

My point was that the demise of a format on commercial radio cannot simply be pinpointed to "morons that like bland music" as "alternative folks finding other more alternative means since WHFS is not alternative enough for them".

--k

[vicar.livejournal.com]

That may be - but what is so odd is that as I travel the country I find radio of various formats, mainstreamish and bizarre/alt, in every part of the country _except_ washington dc. We are the capital of radio suckage, ipods or no.

So it sounds like you're saying that people who like music a lot, or like odd music, have many alternatives so big radio isn't supported. That still doesn't explain why rock, dance, jazz, or other popular types of music don't have a "good" station in DC - while mix/light have 4 or 5. I still am baffled.

I blame bush.

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Certainly. Washington DC, however, has a disproportionate number o' folk that work in the government. Of said government folk how many of those are "freaks/alt/bizarre" sorts? I think that, in turn, would help you understand the demographic. Just like Nashville, TN has a whole lot more country/western type stations - tis the area for it.

I'm not saying anything about "people that like music a lot" for that is not genre specific. People that are into more alternative formats tend to be very proactive in finding their music. Given that there are more options than ever, and in the portable way, they will be the first to really grab on to an iPod and download podcasts and freaky music rather than deal with the supposed alternative station who is already six months behind in grabbing on to the next best thing. Or the station that is only playing 'the single' from a great album! Or the station that plays the same artists/songs every hour - how many times can they play The Cure's Friday I'm in Love?!?

Mix/Light stations can work in many areas - they are fairly "non offensive" (except to Alterna-ites) - they reach the broadest possible demographic and given that advertisers are looking for a return on their investments who are they going to pay to run their ads? The station that reaches this undefined "freak contingency" of faceless ageless facts or the middle aged, SUV driving, 70,000+ demographic which is more easily defined as the typical listener for a Mix/Light station.

Glad it has become "Blame Bush" rather than "Blame Canada" -- I can take a break defending my country now ;)

--k

[vicar.livejournal.com]

2 mil government workers in dc http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/content/cgs041.stm
5 mil in the dc metro area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metropolitan_Area
or 8 mil if you consider Baltimore too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore-Washington_Metropolitan_Area

I don't think it's so much about new music...who care about newest and latest? I suppose there is that demographic, but I thought it was more the hot/hit crowd.

I think we're thinking of moving to Canada more than blaming it - cept for the weather.
PS a lot of the music I'm listening to on the internet radio is from toronto!

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I'm drifting into more talk radio, weta and wtop (traffic matters to me)

[shesquint.livejournal.com]

I pretty much stopped listening to the radio after HFS went so abruptly off the air; I was disgusted with the whole situation, and had long been getting sick of radio music, anyway. I had high hopes for 94.7 when it came along, but gave up on it when it started playing less alt/indie stuff and more, to pick an example at random, Led Zeppelin. (Can I really be the only person on earth who finds most of their music grating and repetitive?)

That's why I got an iPod-compatible head unit for my car, and have used that exclusively for all my rocking-while-driving needs. At home it's either iTunes or Pandora. While I'm sad to see the 94.7 that was fail, I'm glad my listening habits aren't affected by it.