Anybody out There Still Listening to Music on AM or FM Radio?

I listen to entertainment news (AM republican radio lol), sports radio , talk shows and the music drives me nuts (it is pre-recorded and nation wide how interesting!)
 
Like everyone else here, in the car. I would listen to the local college jazz station (KNTU, 88.1) at work, but the reception is horrible inside the building. So I do Amazon or Pandora while at work from my phone.

Everything said about the repetitive nature of the primary stations is right.

Sirius/XM music gets repetitve too, just not as bad as regular radio. And during a recent road trip I was shocked at how frequently it cut out, even in fairly clear skies. Power lines, etc would cause it to blip sometimes.

I only listen to AM (1080am) for news/weather/traffic and only in short bursts... the tinny AM sound annoys me.
 
I'll listen to AM sports here and there. Sirius XM keeps moving the non-ESPN stuff around or behind an additional paywall.
Beyond that, I don't listen to terrestrial radio anymore. My car came with Sirius XM and I'm too used to it now. I've grown used to threatening to cancel service every 4 months to only pay $6 per month.
 
Listen to the local NPR morning programs on my Sansa Clip +.
Just about only thing good the player is good at since the OLED screen died.
 
Not sure what people don't understand, the ads are the reason the music is free on FM. If you don't want the ads then pay for a subscription based stream.
When the music sucks (because it's controlled by the riaa and not the listeners), and the ads overwhelm and outplay the music, what's the point of even wasting your time with a "service" that is only a "service" for the very corporations trying to take your listening rights away? Even when you pay, you still get a nice bum-tickle when the RIAA slides its hand in there.

Pirate radio FTMFW.
 
I cannot say I listen to AM or FM anymore. When I was on the road alot I listened to talk station but almost never music. I hate country and find what they call "music" in the past 20 years is crap.
Now when I take a trip; It is a book on MP3.

Funny thing is as I get older I appreciate more an more the music from my parents generation.
Big band music, Jazz, Bossa Nova. To think this was the music that they listened to as young people really shows the generational divide. No wonder heavy metal sounded like nothing but noise to them.
What's funny is there's an element of "metal" and rebellion in their music, as well. It just comes off differently.
 
I think this is probably only including the U.S. Other Countries, especially the poor ones, depend on it for emergency broadcast, etc. I think it funny that some think the U.S. is the center of the universe.
It's absolutely hilarious how self-centered we 'Murkins are...
 
NPR only. Other than that, all music listening is done through a bluetooth connection and Spotify on my phone. I have access to just about any album I could ever want (other than Tool) and have pre-made playlists that are 40+ hours long. Radio can't come close to touching that, and the "Dingo and the Baby" type morning shows make radio unbearable on the ride to work. I'm so mentally tired on the ride home that I couldn't stand to joust with local radio in hopes of finding 1 decent song on the ride home.

Streaming (and ineptitude) killed the radio star......
 
Radio is still the most accessed media of all typed. I think it's something like 97% of all people hear the radio. Advertisement space on Radio is huge it's NOT going anywhere
 
NPR in the morning drive in and music from a USB thumb drive on the way back home in the evening if I listen to music. Unlimited mobile data has really spoiled me to even listening to music, since i can just have YouTube TV running instead - even if I have the screen off and just listen to it.

I have version unlimmited and yes it will spoil the piss out of you.
 
I listen to some talk shows usually on the drive to and from work, but that is it.
 
I've also just run Youtube vlogs in the car on long road trips with bluetooth audio going through the cars speakers. Having a bunch of computer or camera geeks talking about something I like really makes the time pass by (especially if you also have YouTube Red = no / very little ads).
 
The Detroit Cast, or streaming my collection from home. In the rare event that I don't have my phone for those primary options, then silence.

I'd rather drive in silence than listen to NPR.
 
I personally listen still in the car. I have a few local sports stations and NPR on the drive into work. Also I generally enjoy the commentators for one broadcast for a local college team way more than national broadcasters, so when i watch their games I just put the tv on mute and listen to the radio for those guys.
 
I used to Listen to Kevin Klein, on the radio. That was the only time I touched the radio band. When he was booted off, I went to just streaming music.
 
The death of AM/FM radio is at the hands of the same thing as traditional TV, advertisements. Too many, too often, too loud, and often irrelevant.

I would agree. Competition from satellite and internet radio has pulled radio listeners away. To make up the loss they double down on the amount of advertising which will drive even more people away.

It reminds me of the old movie theater that was in the small town I was from. It was a old 2 screen theater and it was falling apart. Very ragged furnishing; no heat in winter and just dirty. Movie would go out of focus and nobody would fix it.
So everyone quit going. What did the owner do to get the customer back? Of course, double the price of tickets. Place was out of business in a year.
 
I thought the BBC had ceased shortwave transmissions in the Americas and Europe, only maintaining it for Africa and the middle East and parts of Asia.

Correct! Which is mostly why I enjoy tuning into it. Shortwave is at just the right frequency that it will actually propagate through the Earth's Ionosphere allowing it to travel practically the globe over, so it's something I enjoy tuning into whenever I can catch the signal because of just how far it has to travel to get to my house. Here's NOT MY VIDEO that has a guy actually showing where a BBC transmitter at Ascension in relation to where he is in the US and the kind of reception that is possible:



And yes, as posted prior, no license is required for any kind of reception. You can receive shortwave, satellite signals and even radio astronomy if you have much better gear than my cheapy rtl-sdr w/ a really long wire :D.
 
I listen to the radio for new stuff - Cellphone data plans in canada, for that price, I might as well just go out and buy CDs again.
 
Correct! Which is mostly why I enjoy tuning into it. Shortwave is at just the right frequency that it will actually propagate through the Earth's Ionosphere allowing it to travel practically the globe over, so it's something I enjoy tuning into whenever I can catch the signal because of just how far it has to travel to get to my house. Here's NOT MY VIDEO that has a guy actually showing where a BBC transmitter at Ascension in relation to where he is in the US and the kind of reception that is possible:



And yes, as posted prior, no license is required for any kind of reception. You can receive shortwave, satellite signals and even radio astronomy if you have much better gear than my cheapy rtl-sdr w/ a really long wire :D.



Cool. I am aware how far shortwave transmissions can propagate.

I was just concerned about localized content. Would a BBC transmission from - say - Africa be as relevant to a US audience as the local licensed versions rebroadcast over local FM stations?
 
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No..all the good music stations around here got converted to shitty top 40 stations. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "Hur dur all modern music especially pop sucks" types..but god damn if 95% of it isn't complete garbage. What isn't a top 40 station is christian..So I have my choice between noise..and noise with a guilt trip. So I extremely grudgingly subscribe to XM.
 
Yep, listen to it every night going to work, I actually have two good classic rock stations and a current/classic rock station.
House of hair with Dee Snider rocks.
 
No..all the good music stations around here got converted to shitty top 40 stations. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "Hur dur all modern music especially pop sucks" types..but god damn if 95% of it isn't complete garbage. What isn't a top 40 station is christian..So I have my choice between noise..and noise with a guilt trip. So I extremely grudgingly subscribe to XM.
Yeah, even if only 50% of it was garbage, the fact that those types of stations only have seemingly 2.5 hour long playlists on shuffle is lame.
 
Yeah, even if only 50% of it was garbage, the fact that those types of stations only have seemingly 2.5 hour long playlists on shuffle is lame.

That actually brings up my biggest gripe with these stations. They play the Same God F$##ing Awful song so many times in one day. I don't understand how anyone can stand that shit. I was running errands with my wife one day and she wasn't in the mood to hear rock (I get it, I go through my moods also) and just wanted to listen to some pop. We heard the same song 8 times in the course of 3 hours..8...Seriously why the F do they need to play one song 8 times in 3 hours? I don't give a shit how popular it is, That is just too damn much for any song.
 
That actually brings up my biggest gripe with these stations. They play the Same God F$##ing Awful song so many times in one day. I don't understand how anyone can stand that shit. I was running errands with my wife one day and she wasn't in the mood to hear rock (I get it, I go through my moods also) and just wanted to listen to some pop. We heard the same song 8 times in the course of 3 hours..8...Seriously why the F do they need to play one song 8 times in 3 hours? I don't give a shit how popular it is, That is just too damn much for any song.
Because that's what people are willing to pay for I guess(as in, marketing companies). Clearly you can't have a radio on while working an 8-10 hour shift, because you'd just go insane hearing the same song 20+ times a day, 5 days a week. People on road trips can't be listening to this crap either, and kids in their way to school are just going to use headphones and their phone rather than dictate what the parent driving them to school listens to.

Sirius XM does the same crap. Bought a car with a trial of their terrible service, figured I'd at least give a shot... nope horrendous quality on anything but the top 20 hits stations for each genre, constant dropouts(the local HD FM broadcasts were better), so I tried listening to stuff like the comedy channels... and I'd hear the same routines driving to work as I was leaving every day, played in the same order.

It's not like people over 70 are listening to 90s rock, 2000s rap, the latest pop hits, etc. so I really wonder where the hell these radio stations are getting demographics that justify their operating costs or even existence(clearly the advertisers are still willing to pay for them based on what they're giving to advertisers).
 
Because that's what people are willing to pay for I guess(as in, marketing companies). Clearly you can't have a radio on while working an 8-10 hour shift, because you'd just go insane hearing the same song 20+ times a day, 5 days a week. People on road trips can't be listening to this crap either, and kids in their way to school are just going to use headphones and their phone rather than dictate what the parent driving them to school listens to.

Sirius XM does the same crap. Bought a car with a trial of their terrible service, figured I'd at least give a shot... nope horrendous quality on anything but the top 20 hits stations for each genre, constant dropouts(the local HD FM broadcasts were better), so I tried listening to stuff like the comedy channels... and I'd hear the same routines driving to work as I was leaving every day, played in the same order.

It's not like people over 70 are listening to 90s rock, 2000s rap, the latest pop hits, etc. so I really wonder where the hell these radio stations are getting demographics that justify their operating costs or even existence(clearly the advertisers are still willing to pay for them based on what they're giving to advertisers).

Interesting thing about their trial..It is fucking awful. I used it one time and had the same terrible dropouts. The only thing that got me on the service was the lack of stations and they sent me a offer of $25 for a year. The actual service seems to run way better for me. As for station content, they seem to vary quite a bit..I generally listen to Octane and Lithium and they don't seem to repeat too terribly much. I throw in a few other channels depending on my mood but those are my two staples. You are correct though, the comedy channels are hot garbage of repeating fragments.
 
I have to have music on almost constantly when home (don't have a car or drive one) So I bought one of those Directed HD Car Connect DMHD-1000 from the worlds largest auction site and I rigged it up with a 12V power adapter and I bought a two pack of solder-less Motorola plug for the antenna with a pair of rabbit ears and I found a lot of different stations that I like (WPLR HD2) and the sound quality is pretty decent (Not quite CD quality as described but close) HD Radio and RDS requires and almost perfect signal or you lose the HD signal (Much like ATSC DTV)
 
Driving a car today with SiriusXM, wow are they using a 32KBPs MP4 encoder from 1996? Every song is the swish swish swish of poor compression.
 
I listen to radio on the way and from work only but I don't listen for the music but for news/relevant topics. I don't know what radio's like in US but in Finland they bring up a lot of political stuff both local and nation-wide and bigger foreign happenings so that's what I mostly interested in, not so much the music which hardly ever pleases me anyway.
 
I pay money for XM, purely to listen to freaking CNBC all day(my weekly commute might total 1 hour)...


God I'm fucking spoiled.
 
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