I have strong feelings about this because I wanted to work in radio a long time ago, am sure glad I didn't end up working in it as I probably would've hung myself by now. I've always had criticism of it since the 80s, mainly that the "hit music" stations would ONLY play songs released as singles and nothing else off the album. Still there were a FEW exceptional stations that shaped my musical taste and were important parts of my life. There were a few that took chances and had personalities I could identify with, giving intelligent info about the music.

One of those stations was "Live 105" in San Francisco- I always thought that name was lame, but just recently learned it was named partly after KSAN's nickname "Jive 95" (I never got to hear that station, it was a legendary rock station in San Francisco that later went country) and also because it had a live morning show with a studio audience, hosted by Alex Bennett who I considered a god back then. He was controversial since he had more talk than music, but before the internet he would say stuff that made me think "This guy gets it!" He didn't get political but he'd do things like rag on TV station managers for pre-empting shows, also thought it was funny that he said he couldn't stand to have a scrambled signal so he just subscribed to every cable channel.

A couple weeks ago, this station was awarded "Legendary" status by the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame, details can be found here:
https://bayarearadio.org/featured/live105-event

Of course, they didn't address the elephant in the room- while this station still exists today, it does so in name only. If you listen to the speeches given at the event, people talk about how the station exposed people to new music that nobody else would play, and plenty of stories about the people at the station. NONE of the memories were from any time past the year 2000 however- for me this station died by the end of the 90s because the music became more focused on grunge (stuff like Nirvana and Pearl Jam) and very little else- the electronic, pop and dance music that was part of the format was phased out. KROQ in Los Angeles is the most famous and longest-running station with this music format, and they suffered the same fate (they're also now owned by the same big company that owns Live 105). On top of that, there are NO live DJs anymore which seems to be the standard practice at EVERY commercial station now. All the music is stored on a computer, and any DJs you might hear are also pre-recorded as computer files, sometimes from out of town. Back in the 80s, I remember only the real hole-in-the-wall stations used automation, I don't know how it worked back then but it sounded almost like it does now- dull and lifeless without that human element. Ironically, they're doing this as there are far more sources for music online- which by its nature is also played by a computer but at least the listener is in more control or the station is more focused on music they might like better. (Online stations are often run just by one person programming everything into a computer, which isn't ideal but there's really no other practical way to do that. If you own an actual transmitting radio station worth millions of dollars, it seems the least you can do is pay someone to host the music on it and give it that element online music can't match, even if the music might have to appeal more to a lowest common denominator.) Remember when stations would put listeners on the air when they called in? That's long gone now. As far as you know, you could be the only one even listening right now and boy does it suck to be you.

One thing that should have been GREAT for radio was the availability of it online- it was a rare treat for me to be able to listen to KROQ as I lived 6 hours away from Los Angeles. I still know the points on the freeway where the Los Angeles stations start coming in on the car radio, it used to be the sign you had arrived there. Today you can listen to almost any station from anywhere in the world, but they're so bland and all sound so similar that you just ask why bother? Many stations run promos on the air letting you know that they can be heard online- most of the time nowadays when I hear commercial radio, it's in the car where I don't have a built-in online music system- these promos make me laugh because I think "If I've got access to online music, why the hell would I listen to your tightly-formatted station when I could hear something much better?" When traveling out of my area I like to check out stations in other places, but the last long trip I took (about 3/4 across the country and back) almost every station sounded similar. Of course a big reason for that has been that the ownership laws have relaxed and the result has been just a few companies owning every station. It used to be that one company could only own one FM and one AM station in an area, and even then there were limits to how many they could have altogether. In the 80s a problem was that some stations would adopt the same format and compete with each other, often playing the same songs at the same time, but overall this consolidation has made radio even worse and much less enjoyable to listen to. Again, the main problems are that the selection of music has gotten very repetitive and limited, and it's presented without even any live personalities which could have even saved a bad music format in some cases.

Using Live 105 as an example again, in the 80s they had club DJs on the air Saturday nights doing electronic dance mixes. Tonight, the studio is empty and a computer is playing the usual playlist. Going online I can see everything that's been played for the past 2 and a half hours- there's nothing new or exciting included. Among the songs played tonight have been "Lithium" from Nirvana's Nevermind album which is nearly 35 YEARS OLD. Checking this station's activity the past few days, it seems they can't go for more than a few hours let alone a day without playing Nirvana. Now I think they were a great band and it was cool that they had mainstream success, it's also sad what happened to Kurt Cobain, but goddamnit Nirvana as a band hasn't recorded a new song in over 30 YEARS! I bought the "Nevermind" CD shortly after it was released, I'll get that out and play it if I want to hear it again. There's NO logical reason to play anything on the air from that album more than maybe one time per month, if even that often. Other stuff on tonight's lineup has included "Dreams" by The Cranberries- which is also more than 30 YEARS OLD. That and "Zombie" by that group still get played every day it seems- they were already quite overplayed when they were brand-new but at least back then it was understandable. LONG past time to give it a rest and let us hear something NEW that we haven't heard a billion times! Green Day's "Welcome to Paradise" was also played within the past hour, which I heard them play a couple days ago- again that song is more than 30 years old and Green Day has far more recent music that doesn't get played at all. One of my favorite artists Depeche Mode only has a few songs from their 1990 "Violator" album played every now and then, they've had a new album out within the past year or so but that's gotten ZERO airplay. Checking sister station KROQ, once the home of everything new and exciting, their playlist is similar- Nirvana's "Come as You Are" is included- I liked that song when it was new, but it's been played SO DAMN MUCH on the radio and has never STOPPED being played for 35 YEARS that I honestly don't ever want to hear it again. Even the best songs can be ruined by being played too many times! Live 105 used to call itself "The Station that Dares to be Different" and even ran on-air promos making fun of other stations playing "the same old tired songs from the 70s" (referring of course to rock stations playing The Eagles ad nauseum)- they've since become the very thing they used to rail against.

I hang out on RadioDiscussions.com with this same username and every now and then offer my thoughts on current radio. Some in the industry make excuses that it isn't worth paying for live on-air personalities anymore, but if that's the case how is it worth anyone's time to listen? Some have also said that the "average listener" only tunes in for about 25 minutes a day, so they should hear their "favorite" songs during that time. When stations were GOOD, I'd often listen as much as I possibly could, all day and night and enjoying the surprise of what I'd hear next- and I'd be listening on a REAL sound system, not a car radio or any cheap portable equipment. Nowadays, I'd probably hear many songs repeated and just go insane. It's also ridiculous that people only want to hear music that's familiar- I've been increasingly critical of repetition the older I get, I buy the music I actually DO want to hear often on CD (or play it online repeatedly). If I turn on a radio station, hearing a couple favorites might be good but I also want to hear new songs I haven't heard a million times before that could potentially become NEW favorites! (Of course, the top-rated station here in Sacramento for the past year or so has been "The Eagle", which is a Classic Rock format. That started in 1990 and back then I thought for sure it would fail, as who the hell would want to listen to a station that restricts itself only to old songs with nothing new ever added? I've never listened to it long enough to know if they've actually considered any post-1990 songs "Classic" now.)

It's just sad to see a medium I loved and wanted to work in reduced to what it is now, with even stations I once would have fought and died for being empty shells of what they used to be and a big market like Los Angeles isn't even immune from it. The only bright spot is that at least there are still some non-commercial stations where people are allowed to play whatever they want, and of course there's a wealth of sources for music online. If I owned a commercial station, I'd be trying to get people to listen to it rather than online music and also for extended periods of time. I've heard many people say they've long given up on radio, not even turning it on now with all the alternatives out there. Can anybody even NAME a prominent music DJ in their area now (excluding talk radio which is a whole 'nother subject)?

I worked at a small radio station from the age of 15 to 18 (1988 - 1991 for those playing at home) and got to cut commercials, spin records of my choosing (within reason for our format, of course) and even co-hosted a Saturday night oldies show with the creator, called "Hubcap Classics." The main DJ's name is/was Tom O'Brien (not sure if he is still alive and I am pretty sure that last name was just his "radio name") and he had an outstanding, amazing, classic sounding radio voice. He should have been a bigger name in the area or in all radio (in my opinion). My real name is Brian, so he called me Brian O'Brien, naturally.

I then worked at a Turtle's Music and not long after starting, Blockbuster Video bought it which then became Blockbuster Music. Does anyone even remember those...or even music stores in general? But I digress.

All that is to say that I have a great love of radio and music in general, especially Top 40 stuff due to the above, but I mostly like and listen to all genres to some extent. So, I am stunned that anyone even actually listens to radio stations anymore. Too many ads. Shitty music. Annoying announcers (true DJs died a long time ago), weird or non-existent formats that have zero cohesiveness, etc. etc. etc.

When XM came on the scene, I was an early adopter of that. Then Sirius bought XM and basically ruined it. XM's playlists for its channels were insanely deep, and they had real cohesion and felt truly curated. I still miss "IT" if any of you remember that. You know exactly what I am talking about if you do. Sirius keep getting worse and so I finally dumped it 5 or so years ago and strictly use Spotify for playing music now.

Why even listen to radio now when you can pick exactly what you want at the push of a button? And you can't say it is because you want to discover "new, related" music to the format of your choosing because that simply does not exist anymore, at least not anywhere near I live or can pick up. And you can do that easily with the thousands of playlists updated regularly on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music, or whatever your pick of the litter is.



ps. I have receipts on the radio job. One Xmas, Tom gave me my very own "DJ-ish" red satin jacket that he had embroidered. Fun times. I wish I had appreciated him more at the time. It would be interesting to talk to him as an adult now though I have zero idea where he is.

We have a high school radio station that's great, a community radio station, a college radio station, a nonprofit jazz radio station. I never lack for interesting stuff to listen to on the radio.

I'll listen to the radio during Christmas season for the couple channels that go all holiday music. Otherwise I have given up on commercial radio. I just can't handle the unending parade of commercials anymore for talk radio.

Talk radio just has too many commercials. I don’t even care what political agenda they’re trying to push, there’s so many commercials you can’t follow it anyways.

Don’t remember when the adult-contemporary stations started going all-Christmas but that gets the highest ratings of the entire year. I don’t know what the numbers mean but the average station ratings are in the 3’s or 4’s, but one station here went up to 10 during the Christmas format. I’d like to see just one station try Christmas music year-round, wouldn’t be too hard to do if a computer is running the show anyways.

On a previous road trip a few years ago, I actually did run into ONE interesting station, in Salt Lake City of all places. It was called The Wave and played mostly 80s new wave music, my favorite genre. I was certainly surprised to hear that coming in, and getting home I put that station’s online stream on my presets. I STILL think any station that only plays old music is a waste of air space, even if it’s music I like. Most of the songs they played I already had on CD, they did work in a few new songs now and then and did it better than what KROQ currently does, but it wasn’t enough to be a dedicated listener. They kept at it for a few years but went all-Christmas recently, and then launched a boring soft rock format.

Many people say this wouldn’t work, but I’d love to launch a station that plays a ton of different genres mixed together. Heavy metal, new wave, country, easy listening all together. I kinda get that with Shuffle on Pandora, though that gets VERY repetitive after a while. Having a live person pick and play the songs would make it more interesting.

Same. Definitely. And one thing: with apps like Radio Garden or TuneIn you can find these stations wherever they are. I live where there are good stations, but I pipe other good stuff in from all over - like I forgot KEXP is still a thing! Now I'm playing it here.
I kinda live for nonprofit radio and community stations. It's the last free, local, quality media that's out there. We've got to keep this alive.

The Cincinnati area lost its last (and arguably only) great FM station in 2004 when 97X went off the air after being sold. One of the local college-owned FM stations switched formats about a decade later to focus on indie and local music, not unlike KEXP, but that only lasted a couple of years before that station was also sold.

The best option we have now (and it is a pretty good one) is Inhailer Radio, which has a similar focus. They started off as a streaming option only, but have been simulcast on one of the local HD Radio stations for the past five or six years. I can't get it on my car's stock radio, but it's the only thing I listen to whenever I'm driving my wife's car.

Working in a warehouse for 17 years and only having access to a local radio station completely ruined multiple bands and albums to this day. I can’t listen to any AC/DC, Zeppelin or most hard rock singles.
I’d rather drive in silence than listen to the radio now.

I do like the stations that stream, too. I listen to the college station where my kid goes sometimes. But for me, a true oldie myself, there's nothing quite like actual radio.
Whenever they push those call your representative to keep radio free things I participate, and this year I have been planning to tweak my giving so I can support the jazz station and our PBS affiliate in particular.

Sunday mornings I hang out in the kitchen and listen to classic top 40 countdown with Casey Kasem. A lot of cool trivia.

We have a fantastic public radio station here, it's called the Colorado Sound and you can listen online. Super eclectic.

I live in a major metropolitan area and I swear the vast majority of the English speaking stations are all owned by the same company, to the point where you can turn the dial and the exact same songs are playing.

On a side note I was watching something with my kids yesterday and there's a scene where they go to the CD store to check out some music after school, and the first thing I thought of was "that's not something my kids will ever experience" and it made me kinda sad.

They’ve been playing those Casey Kasem reruns for a while now, would be a lot better if they included the original commercials. Those shows were originally played off of records and I have a few of them, though only the ones after 1980 include commercials on the records themselves.

I was just talking with a friend about this very subject the other day. Not only can I not stand radio stations for all the reasons you listed, but even iHeart stations are the same. They play the same shit day after week after month, etc. I listen to the nearest college station that has NPR and several shows that play a legitimately good variety of music. Other than that, when I'm in the car I have to rely on making sure I have a good array of cds on my phone to play via Bluetooth over the radio.

One thing I mentioned to my friend is that someone needs to start a radio station that plays nothing but deep cuts; no hits whatsoever.

College stations vary wildly.

For my particular musical tastes, the college radio shows is highly dependent on whether the dj is well informed (ie. a fan) about the music being played. If the dj is mostly playing the first songs on side 1 or side 2 of a vinyl record (back in the day), then it is likely they don't listen to that particular band (or subgenre).

Seriously, y'all should give the Colorado Sound a listen, it's really great.

I rarely listen to AM/FM radio besides an occasional sports game and quick news/traffic updates. AM in my area is mostly a mix of news, politics/talk, religious, and foreign language stations. The FM stations largely the same 10-15 songs. Even the "Jack" stations that advertise themselves as playing a variety of music. Which is essentially 2-3 songs from the main music genres (rock, pop, rap etc).

Me sitting in a Radio Station/Network reading this post

I'm from the Bay Area and listened to LIVE 105 back in the 90's - when it was good. I even went to one of the live tapings of the Alex Bennett show back in 1993. I remember Gay Talese was one of the guests there. I won concert tickets and free CDs from that station all the time!

KFOG was also my favorite radio station back then, along with KOME, KRQR (both rock stations).

But over time the music being played on those stations changed. No more "classic" stuff. I never cared much for a lot of the "alternative" music - including Nirvana. That's when those radio stations went downhill for me.

I live near Austin. TX now. One of my favorite stations I listen to now is KUTX, which is an independent radio station. They are pretty eclectic and play a whole range of stuff. Lots of classic stuff and the new as well. But none of the Top 40 crap that is played elsewhere.

Wish I could’ve gone to see Alex Bennett. We need more like him.

KFOG seriously declined and then switched to all-sports a few years ago (it was rumored Dead 105 would go all-sports but KFOG beat them to it.)

Someone just mentioned the new Depeche Mode song, checking playlist history online nobody’s been playing that but they HAVE still been playing Policy of Truth for the billionth time.

And guess what? Dead 105 played Smells Like Teen Spirit this morning at 8:45! In the 6 AM hour they also played Nirvana’s Unplugged version of The Man Who Sold The World, which I’ve heard so many times (despite not owning an actual copy of it) that I know just when you’re gonna hear that feedback. (Who knows? Not me. FEEDBACK!)

I'm of the understanding that my local "quiet storm" radio station has something like a 50 song playlist. Maybe, just maybe, 5 songs enter and leave the rotation per month. If I were to take a screenshot of their song history, I bet that every 3 hours, it'll look identical.

50 songs is 10 more than the traditional Top 40 stations of my youth. I remember you would hear the exact same songs driving to work as driving home from work. FM got to be the same way. Everyday in the summer of 1978 I'd hear "Wheel in the Sky", "Life's Been Good" and "Miss You" driving both ways. Later, in December, you couldn't drive anywhere without hearing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", "Roxanne", "Hold The Line" and something from the first Cars album. Every fucking time.

Can't argue that corporate radio sucks. It always amuses me when I can toggle between two stations playing the same song at roughly the same time.

And both stations are owned by the same corporation.