9 ms·

It's funny, I really like listening to a number of local stations for the variety of music I get introduced to; but somehow, the fact that there is a real perso

by Frondo 10y ago

It's funny, I really like listening to a number of local stations for the variety of music I get introduced to; but somehow, the fact that there is a real person curating it makes me enjoy it. Listening to spotify, it doesn't do it for me. Something about having someone come on, make a little human conversation, that's part of the experience for me. Algorithms don't cut it.

Razengan 10y ago
Doesn't the Apple Music radio, Beats 1 or what was it, have human-curated streams too?
- k-mcgrady 10y ago
  It does. That's probably the single Apple Music feature that makes me use it over Spotify (although Spotify still has me as a customer too because of discover weekly). I don't know why but like the parent said, a bit of chit chat about the songs they're playing and short phone calls with artists before a track debut make it a much more enjoyable listening experience than putting on, for example, a Spotify radio station.
- petercooper 10y ago
  Yes, and full on shows. I've listened to Elton John's show a few times. Amazingly broad and eclectic music and more eye opening than I'd have expected - he seems to like a bit of everything.
  - wnissen 10y ago
    "Elton John has another habit, a habit he has had since he was an adolescent. Every new-release day, he goes shopping for records. If in England, he does this on Mondays at an HMV in London. In the United States, it's on Tuesdays and usually at a Tower Records in Atlanta. He buys not just every new release but, if he thinks it will be a record he'll like, a copy for every house." http://www.eltonjohnitaly.com/theusual-articolo.html http://www.eltonjohnitaly.com/theusual-articolo.html
    - donretag 10y ago
      Tower Records is long gone (in the US), but Elton John was interviewed for the Tower Records documentary "All Things Must Pass". He states that he probably purchased more records there than anybody else (forget the exact quote). Judging by his enthusiasm, I believe him.
alsetmusic 10y ago
It's strange to me to read a positive comment about terrestrial radio broadcast amid so many complaints about ad blocking on the web. I stopped listening to radio many years ago and now I have an irrational resentment when I hear car stereos blasting pointless, noisy ads at traffic stops. I always wonder what allows people to mentally tune them out rather than decreasing the volume until music resumes. This is in no way pointed at you; just something that struck me while browsing comments.
- danjc 10y ago
  Agreed. You don't realize how invasive radio and TV advertising is until you don't have it.
  - nannal 10y ago
    what's more, it's remarkably annoying, being subjected to adverts on someone else’s TV is absolutely infuriating.
  - kuschku 10y ago
    To be honest, I haven't heard a radio ad or seen a TV ad in almost 4 years. And I use radio daily, and watch some TV every now and then. But I only listen to N-Joy (part of the German public broadcaster NDR). Seriously, foundation-funded and tax-funded media are probably the best at the moment, considering how ad-ridden and biased the private media are becoming.
    - nibs 10y ago
      The only ads I see now are billboards, which leads to weird distortions in what products, cars, TV Shows, etc. I am aware of.
  - flubert 10y ago
    Maybe not for everyone, but my local Christian station doesn't have ads. http://www.klove.com/music/radio-stations/radio-station-download.aspx http://www.klove.com/music/radio-stations/radio-station-down...
techsupporter 10y ago
> somehow, the fact that there is a real person curating it makes me enjoy it. I do this, too, especially when I'm up late at night for my work schedule. Since I'm up well after most channels in the US go to "Paid Programming," I like having international news channels as background noise so I pay for Sling TV. There's something nice, for me, knowing that someone else is awake at the same time. On the other hand, I really love Spotify in my "more awake" moments. It's grand, especially on my bus commute to work, to have a huge cloud jukebox. But, in the quiet stillness of the dark at 1am, live TV or radio is soothing.
adrianN 10y ago
There are some human-curated internet radios as well. I enjoy soma.fm.
forgetsusername 10y ago
>the fact that there is a real person curating it makes me enjoy it. You're lucky, I suppose. Around here every radio station is owned by the same media conglomerate, so we have 4 or 5 stations all playing the same generic top 40 music (with a slight variance by genre). Outside of the CBC, terrestrial radio, for the most part, sucks.
- jandrese 10y ago
  Yeah, around here commercial radio means ClearChannel, which means it's run by robots. Of course there is satellite radio, but it turns out that's all ClearChannel too so no improvement. All of the locally owned/operated radio stations were bought out many years ago. It's just cheaper to have programming piped in from the corporate headquarters instead of hiring local DJs. The only terrestrial radio I listen to now is NPR, and even they have some issues.
- Frondo 10y ago
  Yeah, I think I am. When I'm cooking some elaborate meal, I'll put on the jazz station. I don't enjoy every song, but I do like feeling that sense of connection to the guy in the booth several miles away. It's a sense of intimacy. But I can also totally see how, if you really had nothing but 4 or 5 clearchannel stations, that radio would have nothing for you.
sosuke 10y ago
I do have a had time making my own playlists and the auto generated ones always seem to miss the mark. Going off to Google playlists now maybe someone else has already made the right ones. KIBM Watson radio DJ might be interesting.

by Frondo 10y ago

Razengan 10y ago

Doesn't the Apple Music radio, Beats 1 or what was it, have human-curated streams too?

k-mcgrady 10y ago
It does. That's probably the single Apple Music feature that makes me use it over Spotify (although Spotify still has me as a customer too because of discover weekly). I don't know why but like the parent said, a bit of chit chat about the songs they're playing and short phone calls with artists before a track debut make it a much more enjoyable listening experience than putting on, for example, a Spotify radio station.
petercooper 10y ago
Yes, and full on shows. I've listened to Elton John's show a few times. Amazingly broad and eclectic music and more eye opening than I'd have expected - he seems to like a bit of everything.
- wnissen 10y ago
  "Elton John has another habit, a habit he has had since he was an adolescent. Every new-release day, he goes shopping for records. If in England, he does this on Mondays at an HMV in London. In the United States, it's on Tuesdays and usually at a Tower Records in Atlanta. He buys not just every new release but, if he thinks it will be a record he'll like, a copy for every house." http://www.eltonjohnitaly.com/theusual-articolo.html http://www.eltonjohnitaly.com/theusual-articolo.html
  - donretag 10y ago
    Tower Records is long gone (in the US), but Elton John was interviewed for the Tower Records documentary "All Things Must Pass". He states that he probably purchased more records there than anybody else (forget the exact quote). Judging by his enthusiasm, I believe him.

alsetmusic 10y ago

It's strange to me to read a positive comment about terrestrial radio broadcast amid so many complaints about ad blocking on the web. I stopped listening to radio many years ago and now I have an irrational resentment when I hear car stereos blasting pointless, noisy ads at traffic stops. I always wonder what allows people to mentally tune them out rather than decreasing the volume until music resumes. This is in no way pointed at you; just something that struck me while browsing comments.

danjc 10y ago
Agreed. You don't realize how invasive radio and TV advertising is until you don't have it.
- nannal 10y ago
  what's more, it's remarkably annoying, being subjected to adverts on someone else’s TV is absolutely infuriating.
- kuschku 10y ago
  To be honest, I haven't heard a radio ad or seen a TV ad in almost 4 years. And I use radio daily, and watch some TV every now and then. But I only listen to N-Joy (part of the German public broadcaster NDR). Seriously, foundation-funded and tax-funded media are probably the best at the moment, considering how ad-ridden and biased the private media are becoming.
  - nibs 10y ago
    The only ads I see now are billboards, which leads to weird distortions in what products, cars, TV Shows, etc. I am aware of.
- flubert 10y ago
  Maybe not for everyone, but my local Christian station doesn't have ads. http://www.klove.com/music/radio-stations/radio-station-download.aspx http://www.klove.com/music/radio-stations/radio-station-down...

techsupporter 10y ago

> somehow, the fact that there is a real person curating it makes me enjoy it. I do this, too, especially when I'm up late at night for my work schedule. Since I'm up well after most channels in the US go to "Paid Programming," I like having international news channels as background noise so I pay for Sling TV. There's something nice, for me, knowing that someone else is awake at the same time. On the other hand, I really love Spotify in my "more awake" moments. It's grand, especially on my bus commute to work, to have a huge cloud jukebox. But, in the quiet stillness of the dark at 1am, live TV or radio is soothing.

adrianN 10y ago

There are some human-curated internet radios as well. I enjoy soma.fm.

forgetsusername 10y ago

>the fact that there is a real person curating it makes me enjoy it. You're lucky, I suppose. Around here every radio station is owned by the same media conglomerate, so we have 4 or 5 stations all playing the same generic top 40 music (with a slight variance by genre). Outside of the CBC, terrestrial radio, for the most part, sucks.

jandrese 10y ago
Yeah, around here commercial radio means ClearChannel, which means it's run by robots. Of course there is satellite radio, but it turns out that's all ClearChannel too so no improvement. All of the locally owned/operated radio stations were bought out many years ago. It's just cheaper to have programming piped in from the corporate headquarters instead of hiring local DJs. The only terrestrial radio I listen to now is NPR, and even they have some issues.
Frondo 10y ago
Yeah, I think I am. When I'm cooking some elaborate meal, I'll put on the jazz station. I don't enjoy every song, but I do like feeling that sense of connection to the guy in the booth several miles away. It's a sense of intimacy. But I can also totally see how, if you really had nothing but 4 or 5 clearchannel stations, that radio would have nothing for you.

sosuke 10y ago

I do have a had time making my own playlists and the auto generated ones always seem to miss the mark. Going off to Google playlists now maybe someone else has already made the right ones. KIBM Watson radio DJ might be interesting.