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I like listening to the radio sometimes because it takes away my control and having to think. If I'm shuffling Spotify for example I tend to dedicate a small sl

I like listening to the radio sometimes because it takes away my control and having to think. If I'm shuffling Spotify for example I tend to dedicate a small slice of limited brain power to thinking about what is playing, if I really want to listen to that song, if I want to queue something up next, etc. With the radio it doesn't matter because short of channel hopping all day I don't control any of that. Makes it better as background noise while I work. This is something video streaming services haven't gotten quite right yet. I have a Plex server with 14TB of media on it and sometimes end up with a slight anxiety of having to pick what I want to watch when I turn the TV on. I'll waste 15 minutes scrolling through stuff when it doesn't really matter because I'm just using it for background noise anyway. With cable you just pick a channel and it goes.

fred_is_fred 7y ago
Can't Spotify also do what you want? There are all kinds of official or unofficial playlists which you can play on random, and actually get the type of music you want - without 15 minutes of ads per hour that is the norm here in the US.
- somehnguy 7y ago
  Sort of, but the experience isn't the same. Theres something about the shuffle in Spotify/Apple Music/etc that just doesn't feel the same as having a radio station select the music for you. Partly because I still have to manage it. I will think if I like the song, want to save the song, skip the song, etc. The radio completely removes that control so you don't think about it at all. Also, I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. But internet streaming just feels so sterile to me, while radio feels more alive.
  - derekp7 7y ago
    There is actually a lot of art that goes into programming a radio station. One of the radio formats that was out a few years ago had a slogan "We play what we want". They purposefully crafted the playlist to create "train wrecks", where one song was periodically followed by another that didn't feel like it belonged there. The same thing with a live DJ -- their job is to watch the crowd, and the dance floor, and if the crowd looks like it is losing interest they alter the selection that makes everyone wake up and start moving. Or if it is getting too crowed, they put a song that has less appeal which causes a lot of people to leave the dance floor and head to the bar.
    - mark-r 7y ago
      You're talking about Jack FM, right? They have a ton of stations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM I suspect their playlists are generated at HQ and shared between all the stations. That's one benefit of not accepting requests.
jborichevskiy 7y ago
> I like listening to the radio sometimes because it takes away my control and having to think. Been noticing the same lately! Spotify radio still has the next button so instead I've been listening to After Hours trance radio. http://ah.fm/player/ http://ah.fm/player/

fred_is_fred 7y ago

Can't Spotify also do what you want? There are all kinds of official or unofficial playlists which you can play on random, and actually get the type of music you want - without 15 minutes of ads per hour that is the norm here in the US.

somehnguy 7y ago
Sort of, but the experience isn't the same. Theres something about the shuffle in Spotify/Apple Music/etc that just doesn't feel the same as having a radio station select the music for you. Partly because I still have to manage it. I will think if I like the song, want to save the song, skip the song, etc. The radio completely removes that control so you don't think about it at all. Also, I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. But internet streaming just feels so sterile to me, while radio feels more alive.
- derekp7 7y ago
  There is actually a lot of art that goes into programming a radio station. One of the radio formats that was out a few years ago had a slogan "We play what we want". They purposefully crafted the playlist to create "train wrecks", where one song was periodically followed by another that didn't feel like it belonged there. The same thing with a live DJ -- their job is to watch the crowd, and the dance floor, and if the crowd looks like it is losing interest they alter the selection that makes everyone wake up and start moving. Or if it is getting too crowed, they put a song that has less appeal which causes a lot of people to leave the dance floor and head to the bar.
  - mark-r 7y ago
    You're talking about Jack FM, right? They have a ton of stations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_FM I suspect their playlists are generated at HQ and shared between all the stations. That's one benefit of not accepting requests.

jborichevskiy 7y ago

> I like listening to the radio sometimes because it takes away my control and having to think. Been noticing the same lately! Spotify radio still has the next button so instead I've been listening to After Hours trance radio. http://ah.fm/player/ http://ah.fm/player/