6 ms·

I don't know about where you live, but where I am in Canada the majority of FM radio is as bad or worse than cable television; constant ads, stale "radio friend

I don't know about where you live, but where I am in Canada the majority of FM radio is as bad or worse than cable television; constant ads, stale "radio friendly" music and DJ's with inane banter and making bad jokes. It's painful to listen to.

noarchy 6y ago
And don't forget the mandated CanCon that radio stations have to play.
reaperducer 6y ago
I don't know about where you live It really depends more on what you're into than where you live since so many radio stations stream. There are plenty of great radio stations out there still, but on the internet people think it's cool to pretend the stations don't exist and burrow themselves deeper into a more and more Balkanized niche echo chamber, never exploring anything outside of their comfort zone. FMs I've listened to this week: WXRT/Chicago, KCSN/Northridge, KING-FM-HD2/Seattle, KTNN-FM/Tohatchi, K279BO/Palm Springs. If you want to hear the same old thing over and over, by all means wallow in Spotify or whatever you loaded onto your iPod a decade ago. I do that sometimes, too. It's comforting. However, there's a world of good and interesting music out there. You just have to make an effort beyond tapping the play button and letting a computer decide what you hear.
- krallja 6y ago
  The AM/FM headset linked in your grandparent does not support streaming.
- randlet 6y ago
  Of course there are some great stations to stream; there is infinite musical content online that I use to great advantage. But we're specifically talking about FM/AM broadcast and the chaff heartily outweighs the wheat in most locations.
  - reaperducer 6y ago
    I understand that, and all of the stations I listed are broadcast FM, so my point stands: There are plenty of great FM stations, if you bother to look for them instead of wallowing in your already-selected music. Just because they also stream doesn't mean it's not useful to know about.
    - icebraining 6y ago
      No, there are very few great radio stations, covering a small slice of the world's population. That there's a great station transmitting 3000 miles away doesn't help me. The internet was a boon exactly because I was sick and tired of all the FM stations that I had available, with their narrow and small playlists, and it allowed me to discover whole new genres and authors (including by listening to online radio). In the mean time, FM just become even worse. The first half is essentially all I have available, do you care to choose a great one? https://radioonline.com.pt/ https://radioonline.com.pt/ You shouldn't assume everyone has the same access to good things you did and must be lazy and narrow-minded.
shoes_for_thee 6y ago
College radio stations remain interesting.
- golem14 6y ago
  E.g., if swing/big band is your thing and you live in the Bay area, https://www.kcea.org/ https://www.kcea.org/ on 89.1 MHz is pretty awesome.
- randlet 6y ago
  True. I sometimes stream university stations in Canada but there are no college/university stations that I can get on broadcast radio.
- dylan604 6y ago
  Sadly, with a coverage radius only slightly larger than the campus.
  - shoes_for_thee 6y ago
    Yeah, not great for road trips... On the other hand, you get a new one every 20 miles down the freeway.
adrianN 6y ago
What makes you believe that satellite radio would be better?
- icebraining 6y ago
  Satellite radio already exists, they can just compare.
BrandoElFollito 6y ago
It is interesting how this varies by country. I am French and our FM radios are good in average. Some are excellent, some are poor. The distribution is skewed towards good. I have the same impression when listening to German ones, though I listen only occasionally and just a few stations. Then going further east, you have the Polish ones which sound unbereable to me, everyone is unnaturally shouting, or behaving in a very unnatural way (I belive this is copied from the US, despite French radios such as FUN betting precursors of modern FM there in the 90's). There are exceptions though, such as Tok FM.
- Tade0 6y ago
  Tok FM was the only station that was listened to in my household exactly because of those reasons. Small, regional stations in Poland are much better in this regard than the big ones with national coverage. Still, barely anybody invests in licensing the latest songs so there's a more or less stable list which is repeated over and over.
DrScump 6y ago
The parent commenter may have meant why not use a low-power FM transmitter for your own mobility needs (source to FM transmitter to any FM radio)? They are cheap and ubiquitous now.

noarchy 6y ago

And don't forget the mandated CanCon that radio stations have to play.

reaperducer 6y ago

I don't know about where you live It really depends more on what you're into than where you live since so many radio stations stream. There are plenty of great radio stations out there still, but on the internet people think it's cool to pretend the stations don't exist and burrow themselves deeper into a more and more Balkanized niche echo chamber, never exploring anything outside of their comfort zone. FMs I've listened to this week: WXRT/Chicago, KCSN/Northridge, KING-FM-HD2/Seattle, KTNN-FM/Tohatchi, K279BO/Palm Springs. If you want to hear the same old thing over and over, by all means wallow in Spotify or whatever you loaded onto your iPod a decade ago. I do that sometimes, too. It's comforting. However, there's a world of good and interesting music out there. You just have to make an effort beyond tapping the play button and letting a computer decide what you hear.

krallja 6y ago
The AM/FM headset linked in your grandparent does not support streaming.
randlet 6y ago
Of course there are some great stations to stream; there is infinite musical content online that I use to great advantage. But we're specifically talking about FM/AM broadcast and the chaff heartily outweighs the wheat in most locations.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  I understand that, and all of the stations I listed are broadcast FM, so my point stands: There are plenty of great FM stations, if you bother to look for them instead of wallowing in your already-selected music. Just because they also stream doesn't mean it's not useful to know about.
  - icebraining 6y ago
    No, there are very few great radio stations, covering a small slice of the world's population. That there's a great station transmitting 3000 miles away doesn't help me. The internet was a boon exactly because I was sick and tired of all the FM stations that I had available, with their narrow and small playlists, and it allowed me to discover whole new genres and authors (including by listening to online radio). In the mean time, FM just become even worse. The first half is essentially all I have available, do you care to choose a great one? https://radioonline.com.pt/ https://radioonline.com.pt/ You shouldn't assume everyone has the same access to good things you did and must be lazy and narrow-minded.

shoes_for_thee 6y ago

College radio stations remain interesting.

golem14 6y ago
E.g., if swing/big band is your thing and you live in the Bay area, https://www.kcea.org/ https://www.kcea.org/ on 89.1 MHz is pretty awesome.
randlet 6y ago
True. I sometimes stream university stations in Canada but there are no college/university stations that I can get on broadcast radio.
dylan604 6y ago
Sadly, with a coverage radius only slightly larger than the campus.
- shoes_for_thee 6y ago
  Yeah, not great for road trips... On the other hand, you get a new one every 20 miles down the freeway.

adrianN 6y ago

What makes you believe that satellite radio would be better?

icebraining 6y ago
Satellite radio already exists, they can just compare.

BrandoElFollito 6y ago

It is interesting how this varies by country. I am French and our FM radios are good in average. Some are excellent, some are poor. The distribution is skewed towards good. I have the same impression when listening to German ones, though I listen only occasionally and just a few stations. Then going further east, you have the Polish ones which sound unbereable to me, everyone is unnaturally shouting, or behaving in a very unnatural way (I belive this is copied from the US, despite French radios such as FUN betting precursors of modern FM there in the 90's). There are exceptions though, such as Tok FM.

Tade0 6y ago
Tok FM was the only station that was listened to in my household exactly because of those reasons. Small, regional stations in Poland are much better in this regard than the big ones with national coverage. Still, barely anybody invests in licensing the latest songs so there's a more or less stable list which is repeated over and over.

DrScump 6y ago

The parent commenter may have meant why not use a low-power FM transmitter for your own mobility needs (source to FM transmitter to any FM radio)? They are cheap and ubiquitous now.