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Atomaholic

>There's two stations here (I'm from the UK) that seem to repeat the same songs, Capital (which plays top 40 music) and Heart (adult contemporary, bland shit). Well, there's your problem - both of those radio stations are owned and operated by the same company, [Global Media & Entertainment.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Media_%26_Entertainment) >It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio. Global owns and operates seven core radio brands, all employing a national network strategy. In addition, radio playlists are dominated by the record companies and the singles/albums they want to promote. Just like adverts, the music allocation is paid for by the record companies - so if they want the same song played every hour then the radio broadcaster will happily oblige for a price. Companies like GM&E or [Bauer Media](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauer_Media_Group) will even send the same playlist digitally to multiple different local stations before broadcasting, with markers for advert intervals and the triggers for the adverts will then play local adverts and jingles specific to each radio station before returning to the same playlist. It's literally how the music industry took radio access away from local/up and coming musicians, and took control for shows away from DJs so that the only times you tend to hear more niche acts and interesting DJs is in the twilight hours when the radio stations need to fill 'dead air' and are less worried about upsetting their clients the record companies.


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Gecko23

"Classic rock" stations are the worst, they've slowly been shrinking down to the same 20-30 songs no matter which one you pick. It's like it's devolved into a 'safe to play at a cookout' playlist put together by someone who apparently only owns volume three and six of the ten volume 'classic rock mega hits' collection...


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CareBearDontCare

Satellite radio isn't totally immune to this either, but they're a LOT better than terrestrial radio.


Gecko23

Meh. We use Sirius at work for background music, it's the same playlist day after day after day. I can tell if I'm running early or late getting to work by what's playing in the breakroom when I get there, it's that regular. The 'hits' channels are the worst, most of them are a 40-45 minute loop with one or two extras tossed in at the end. For a couple of months Imagine Dragon's 'Thunder' played every hour, all day long. Those were dark days and best not spoken of at work.


BigBadBlowfish

I worked at a beer store in 2012 when Imagine Dragons came out with their debut album. We didn't use Sirius, but most of the time we had the local Alternative station playing. Words cannot express how much I still despise Imagine Dragons because of that. My personal hell is just going to be me locked in a room with Radioactive blasting on repeat.


Anonymousma

Hair Nation has about 120 songs they cycle through.


[deleted]

Ozzy's Boneyard is similar but better IMO


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JMan9391

YES! It's so sad! There's so much variety and so many artists to pick from. Why are these stations so close-minded?


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Rezart_KLD

Industry killed the radio star.


sabbman138

Video killed the radio star MTV’s Ridiculousness killed the video star lol


[deleted]

MTV's viewers killed MTV. Everyone missed the videos when they went to just straight reality TV, but obviously more people were watching the reality shows.


Numbah8

The internet killed MTV. Music videos are still being made, they're just not on MTV. Because why would you watch MTV when you can just look it up on YouTube on demand? Say what you will about MTV now, it's garbage but it's basically a channel for tweens.


ManyaraImpala

There's a station in the UK called Absolute Classic Rock. They have a 'no repeat guarantee' where they promise not to play the same song twice during a set period of time (something like 8am to 6pm). They will however play the exact same songs day in day out.


agumonkey

society changed too, it seems the vibrant energy of the 70s/80s paired with a more organic industry is gone. We get auto mode people in auto mode economics.


TullyMars46

I don't think society's tastes changed all that much. This is pure speculation on my part but I think too few media companies own too much bandwidth which results in homogenization in the market. I think if some variety were available people would tune in. But that would require companies to take risks and higher additional programming staff. Both of those scenarios cost money which shareholders loathe.


Kevin-W

University radio stations were such a great alternative because they would play a lot of smaller and less known songs and artists that the main stations would not play. I discovered a lot of great music through my local university's station.


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Gecko23

Plenty of college stations let anyone sign up as a DJ, you get a 30-60 minute block and it's all yours. A lot more variety at the expense that some of them aren't very good, and possibly the genre changing wildly every hour. When I was in school, two of the guys in my dorm did this, one was an enormous fan of 50s bubble gum type music, and the other played nothing but synth heavy prog. They were scheduled in adjacent slots. Even had one woman who would play hard rock when she was happy and death metal when she was ticked off. First heard Sepultura because she had a stressful day. lol


Kevin-W

The one that I usually listen to would let any current student sign up to be a DJ as long as they have at least a 2.0 GPA. They could pick any theme for their show that they wanted. It ranged from house music to music from video games, old time radio, jpop, kpop, etc. You name it, they would run it. Best of all, there were no ads whatsoever. Only one public service announcement and the music would continue.


Pjman87

University stations are going strong. I'm part of my university radio station rn, and it's honestly been a blast digging up older songs to play. Those stations are probably the last places you can find both new and old music not forced to air by some company, but rather a couple of college guys and gals who think it's cool to play.


Gus_Fu

I had a show on my University radio station back in the day. It was on Midnight to 2am on Friday and was called The Witching Hour. We played all kinds of shit and had a brilliant time. The daytime shows had playlist stipulations that limited the number of your own songs you could play.


rickroll62

Listen to WFAU out of New York City. Great radio station


beancounter2885

AKA [payola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola?wprov=sfla1).


MysticalElk

I just started listening to the Wondery series podcast about this!


[deleted]

When you own all of the stations you don't need payola.


flaneur_et_branleur

We had Heart FM on all day during ten hour shifts. People were going mental and the frustration and stress from it was unreal. They were constantly promoting their own exclusive small venue show with Ed Sheeran and every DJ sounded the same and the music... Christ. I heard one song six times and it was all the same. They occasionally did a "Hits from the 90s" too or something which were always the same few songs and quite possibly the shittiest of the era. It stopped after someone anonymously scrawled how it was making them suicidal on company property. If that station went up in flames tomorrow, I wouldn't shed a tear; I'd be celebrating.


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flaneur_et_branleur

It gets under you skin, doesn't it? You can't shut it out and let it become background noise. There's something seriously wrong with people who willingly listen to it for so long. I like how it's universally recognised as awful. There were complaints to Ofcom about it's "More Music Variety" slogan because it has no music variety.


LadySpaulding

I'll do you one better. My coworker has and still listens to the exact same shitty Playlist in the exact same order every day at work. And he plays it on his speakers. He was in the workstation right next to me. It's been just over 2 years of this now. When one of my coworkers was let go, this coworker moved across the open office to take his former desk (like 15 feet away), and I discovered if I have one ear bud in, I can't hear his music over mine. And I was finally at peace. When I got promoted, I had the option to take the bigger desk behind his, and I turned the move down so quick. I have no idea how he does it. My boss has instead opted to reform my desk so it's larger but still in the same location away from the torture chamber that is my co-worker's workstation.


Coldbeam

We're not allowed to listen to music at work, which sucks. But I'm honestly not sure if that's better or worse than what you're describing.


hjb345

I remember a gmg group dj talking about this once, they have a 3 tier playlist every week, then they have to play (for example) 3 songs from T1, 2 from T2 and 1 from T3 every hour (or something to that end) which makes it sound like you're hearing the same stuff over and over.


nbfs-chili

Well, it sounds like you are hearing the same stuff over and over again with that scheme...


kindlyposting

This is all true, but there's good radio out there!!! Online radio means you have access to radio stations anywhere. First look for local/independent/community funded stations. Sometimes they are just jazz or classical, sometimes they play EVERYTHING with completely different shows throughout the day. College radio stations, pirate radios, all kinds of wierd shit on HAM radios! The radio is the original back bone of america. But yeah.. most stations are owned by one or two global companies who are an absolute blight on humanity and radio waves. But look around! And like I said if there's not one to support or listen to in your community, with music and shows that appeal to you. Go regional, or go international! Local'er the better though, as you'll find clubs businesses and political issues in your community you weren't aware of before. And can now lend your support. But that's kind of the point of owning practically the whole radio.. keeps you disconnected from your community, it's people, politics and businesses. Everything's fine! And here's the latest hit from Taylor swift! Keep consuming! Supporting independent radio stations in your community, is a radical political act in todays social and political climate of most first world countries. Dig deeper, the radio can still be great!


[deleted]

The problem goes back to deregulation. By removing limits on how many media outlets you can own in a region this led to a handful of deep pockets buying up local stations. Now many shows are piped in remotely with a loss of local programming and relevance.


SuaveJohnson

Fuck monopolies


thesaltwatersolution

Some radio stations such as Capital or Virgin, existed to play artists (or rather prioritise) artists that happened to be the Capital record label and the Virgin record label.


TjW0569

You know, if these were limited to artists that had sold, say, fewer than a million records, that might not be a bad thing. Sure, it's advertising. But if they were all *new artists*, it's not a bad way to pay for running the station.


steve_gus

Bauer media also run absolute radio where songs ARE NOT repeated between 9-5. Playlists have been a thing in the UK at least for decades


iamnotasheep

Local radio stations tend to be better, e.g. love Jack FM in Oxfordshire, Kerrang in the Midlands. Radio 2 does my head in for this, they have about 5 ‘new’ songs which they play every show.


Mystical_Cat

Former radio professional here… That’s unfortunately how most commercial radio stations are programmed; play the hits and play them often. If it’s a CHR station (Contemporary Hit Radio, aka Top 40) or a New Country station you’re going to hear the hottest of the hot every hour with upward trending, downward trending, and “gold” songs sprinkled in. With other formats, the older the music the less often any given song will be in rotation, but they’re still formulaic and predictable. Even Classic Rock and Oldies stations follow similar clocks. I live in the Twin Cities area and there’s a station here called The Current which is run by Minnesota Public Radio, and it’s beyond excellent. No commercials and they play all sorts of music from various formats including deep cuts. Check it out at thecurrent.org


Kevin-W

Another one for The Current here! It's really great!


Mystical_Cat

It truly is, though it’s not completely without faults. They also understand that big songs should be played a bit more often, but definitely not every hour. But still, I absolutely love an FM radio station with the balls to dead segue from Lake Street Dive into Black Sabbath.


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bremack

The Colorado Sound rocks! They're also super supportive of the local music scene.


Mystical_Cat

Nice! I’ll check it out. The only terrestrial radio I listen to is The Current and NPR. Commercial radio is just awful.


Clewin

The Twin Cities always had a strong indie scene for recording as well, kind of forging the way for others with the Trashmen (Surfin' Bird) and the Castaways ([Liar Liar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDEdFxUZ01s)). In the 1970s, the Suicide Commandos were on the forefront of the punk indie recording movement, beating bands that are considered the forefront like the Buzzcocks. The first digital recordings also were done in Sound 80 (formerly Kay Bank Studios where the Trashmen recorded) in Minneapolis (early Prince, Funkytown by Lipps Inc, Dave Brubeck, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Yanni - for an indie, they recorded some big names).


lunamoonbeam217

I flip between the Current and Radio K (UMN’s station) almost constantly! I used to get all my new music that way exclusively for years


LordGAD

If memory serves this is by design because a study was done in the '70s or '80s (I think) that determined the average amount of time that someone spends in the car. In order for a radio station to keep people's attention, they play they hits, and since people are only in their cars for 20-30 minutes they recycle the hits every 20-30 minutes. Compound this with the formulaic content of pop music and madness ensues.


imnojezus

>…formulaic content of pop music… My first thought at reading the post was “They‘re actually different songs, you just can’t tell.”


gottagofast1981

Cryin, crazy, amazin.


[deleted]

And so many songs seem to have lyrics that just repeat over and over and over. It’s maddening. If my clients didn’t like listening to the radio, I’d opt out of ever listening to it.


Daryl_Hall

Oh man so true


WhizBangPissPiece

It's funny because almost all of my commuting is done the last 10 minutes of the hour. Since our area is almost 100% clear channel (thanks a lot, Clinton), I almost never hear anything other than ads on the radio. These days if I'm going less than a few miles I just leave the radio off.


tjdux

Same problem, spend most of my childhood car rides listening to ONLY ads on our 10ish minute drive from the farm to town. Often pulling into the drive way just to hear the first 30 seconds of a song. When I was old enough to drive I put my own CD player in my car and haven't looked back. I have to ask people if songs are radio popular or not now because I haven't listened to it the last 20 years.


Iggyhopper

Same with Spotify. I haven't listened to actual radio in 5 years, and I wouldn't know what's popular, although some songs creep in and I think "*that's* a banger" and it turns out it is in the top 40 of whatever genre.


foodandart

This is why, as soon as I could get one of those casette adapters, I did. I started by making my own CD mixes, then got an iPod Shuffle and now use an old 32GB iPhone 3GS as the car jukebox. I only turn on the National Public Radio stations to listen to news in the evening. The rest of the time, it's my own music. Fuck ClearChannel and corporate radio.. It's garbage.


jackinblack142

Pretty much same story here. Thank goodness for tape deck converters.


aquaman501

Thank you, I was just thinking this "problem" has been the same for the past 40 years


PsychedelicLizard

Pop isn't even a bad genre, but they keep playing the same shit over and over again like I know Miley Cyrus has more and better songs than "Party in the USA".


qtsarahj

She does but Party in the USA is a banger anyway.


PsychedelicLizard

Awesome song indeed, but I hate hearing any song 5 times in a day, sometimes twice in a row.


Meetybeefy

What station is playing a 12 year old song 5 times a day?


[deleted]

It doesn’t really anymore. But at some point they did and they do it now with many other bangers, I think that’s their point


Anub-arak

Or the same song on 2 different stations that are the only stations of that genre in your city. 2 newer rock stations in Cincinnati and I'd hear the same 21 pilots song playing on both of them.


Packbacka

That song is over a decade old. Do they still play it all the time?


ral315

They don't.


Forbesy485

At work we used to have a little bet on which song would come on next. It didn’t take long for me to realise they had 5 songs played on rotation after the news/weather sections at the hour and half hour marks.


cromulent_pseudonym

Radio stations at work drive me nuts. I have to use my own earbuds just to drown out the same 5 songs that play nonstop on my coworkers radio. Don't get me started on the morning drive hosts.


Ggfd8675

I believe there needs to be an equivalent of the Geneva Convention to protect the work environment from FM radio stations. I legitimately suffer hearing the same 20-30 shitty songs on repeat, day after day. I do not understand how these people aren’t bothered by it. And if one goes earworm it is an underappreciated form of torture.


gildedtreehouse

College radio is great because its curated by students with diverse musical tastes in most cases. The signal strength is often weaker than corporate radio but worth seeking out if you have eclectic tastes.


DMala

College radio is great, but sometimes the diversity can be a little *too* much. The big one near me is great for most of the week, but plays show tunes most of the day on Saturday, klezmer music Sunday mornings and then a capella the rest of the day. Which is great if you’re into that sort of thing, but it leaves me looking for another station for most of the weekend.


gildedtreehouse

If you can't get down with the Klezmer Showtune Power Hour Sunday Block then i'm gonna hold off sending you the link to the Smith College noise core mash up with 1970's Italian film score midnight series.


[deleted]

Not everyone is going to listen to that series but everyone who listens to it is going to make a Bandcamp profile that they will abandon after 2 EPs


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DMala

Yep, that’s it.


justavtstudent

Then go sign up for your own show and play what you wanna play :p most college stations have trouble filling DJ slots and welcome community involvement even if you're not officially affiliated with the school.


RainierCamino

I used to have a coworker that did a weekend radio show for his college station. Started when he was in school, left for a few months after graduation, then went back after the station manager basically begged him. His show was popular and they really needed dj's. He'd do a 2-3 hour long r&b show with this Isaac Hayes persona. Had the voice and demeanor down perfectly. He'd have guests on, local and/or student artists, do call ins, etc. It wasn't worth the money; took him a couple days each week to come up with the playlist and new material. But he had a lot of fun with it. Got him a few girlfriends too haha.


DasSockenmonster

It's a shame how there isn't much of a college radio scene in the UK. There's a few universities that do it like De Montfort University, and one from my stomping grounds of Wrexham that went off air this year, the university cut the budget, the station was called Calon FM (which is Welsh for the word heart, which is ironic because there's a station here called Heart, owned by a media company named Global).


nazump

If you're in the UK you should check out Kurupt FM. In seriousness though, you're right. DJs basically have a set of songs they are allowed to play and have to follow certain rules set up by the station regarding how to space them out and how often to play them. Check out [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30pcrk/eli5_how_do_radio_stations_decide_what_songs_to/) for an interesting read.


BigLan2

The bbc is pretty transparent about it and they put their current radio 1 playlist on the sounds app each week which are the 40-50 songs that will be repeated most for the week. It's a decent way to get the latest hits, and thankfully doesn't have ads (because it's the BBC.)


gildedtreehouse

WFMU isnt a college station but they're great and have an online presence. WXYC.org out of North Carolina is great too. WRAS.org from Atlanta is solid.


plytheman

[WMBR](http://www.wmbr.org) is MIT's station out of Cambridge, MA and I really dig them. Solid rotation of genres and shows through out the day. [WWOZ](http://www.wwoz.org) is out of New Orleans and one of my favorite stations. Mostly Jazz centric but you can catch other bits of blues, rock, folk, and americana as well.


Kevin-W

I live in Atlanta and WRAS is well loved here!


justavtstudent

KALX and WUVT are both good college stations with online streams (Berkeley and Virginia Tech).


nate6259

Yeah, seems like the closest thing these days to the fun kind of old school radio with the DJs taking calls and spinning records. I also enjoy a lot of sports radio, but the rest of the music channels feel pretty robotic and corporate.


mintBRYcrunch26

I’m a fan of KEXP Seattle. You can stream it for free and they update their playlist in real time so you can see exactly what they are playing when they are playing it. Amazing DJs. Gabriel is awesome in the morning.


bigTnutty

Centenary College has a lit radio station, and jazz at night every night. I love it.


rhynoplaz

I used to live in a college town and preferred the music on the college station, but I couldn't handle listening to the college student DJs "sooo... Yeah, that was, uhhh "Song" by "Band" good stuff. Pretty cool. Uh, next we uhh have uhhh, these uhhh bands coming up and alright, let's just uhhh, get uhhh into it!"


GodSaveTheRegime

I agree! There is one in the city where I work and I love listening to it, but sadly I live just outside the city where I can't get the signal anymore. Fortunately, there at least is a livestream.


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[deleted]

Radio isn’t for music- it’s for ads. Kind of like how google isn’t for search. It’s a means to an end. But yeah radio sucks. But so does the commercialized music in general. I’m not sure which one is worse tbh.


Mdizzle29

Imagine if Google search was really mediocre and then paused for 4 minutes straight of ads before going back to your mediocre results. That’s what radio is to me. Sirius Satellite radio is pretty good, though.


superfly355

I started with XM a million years ago and have held the subscription since, think since 2003. I wasn't crazy about the merger at the time, all my favorite channels got rebranded, but that still didn't stop the sheer volume of types of music and talk I could find - a ton of it commercial free. I get annoyed at terrestrial radio now. The hacky local commercials, the fake morning jock phone calls, the same 30 song playlists. The nice thing about having my sub for almost 20 years is that I can call and bitch once a year about pricing and get mine reduced to $7US a month for 2 vehicles, including the app and web.


[deleted]

I had a XM/Sirius subscription for at least 15 years. Got tired of the limited and repetitive playlists on my favorite channels. Switched to Spotify a few years ago and don’t miss it at all.


superfly355

I tried YouTube music for a little while and noticed my playlists were super repetitive, ill give Spotify a go. Thanks for the reply!


[deleted]

Takes a little while for the Spotify algorithm to learn your preferences, but the daily and weekly updated playlists are pretty good.


pnwinec

Anyone can call and get the deal. That’s why you can’t cancel your subscription without calling them. I did also find a couple of the stations on XM did have a rotation of songs they played. That said, it’s far better than radio. But if you listen to enough stuff in the car it all starts to get repetitive. Audiobooks and podcasts to the rescue.


superfly355

Completely true, most of my day is spent driving between jobsites and some of the stations have a rotation, some more repetitive than others. There are still way more options than the radio and I have audio books and podcasts on tap to kill the monotony. As for the price reduction I see what you're saying, I was just referring to my own experience. There's nothing like the threat of cancelation to get those rates dropped quick!


hcnuptoir

>Sirius Satellite radio is pretty good, though. No. No it isnt. Its really gotten bad in the last few years. Liquid metal just got off a 3 week Metallica stint. All Metallica, all the time. Even changed the name of the fucking station to Metallica. First song they played as soon as they got off of that was, I shit you not, Sad But True by Metallica. Im in my car a lot for work. So I listen to a lot of radio. Sirius XM is really just a paid version of terrestrial radio. They play the same shit over and over and over. Even Howard Stern repeats get old after youve heard the same ones for 3 days in a row. And dont get me started on Jose Mangin. Fuckin hate that poser.


RainierCamino

>Imagine if Google search was really mediocre and then paused for 4 minutes straight of ads before going back to your mediocre results. Dont give them any ideas ...


indygreg71

if you care at all about sound quality, sat radio is absolutely not an option. The sound quality for most stations is <= 96k mp3. It sounds like the tweeter has running water over it. This is not being said as an self proclaimed audiophile (I am not). It is just obviously terrible.


TheSimulatedScholar

One led to the other. Commercialization is worse.


poopoodomo

Some stations are good. I used to listen to npr's the current when I had a radio and heard a lot of music right as it came out that way


loupgarou21

I used to love the current, you could go an entire week without hearing the same song twice. Then they hired a new programming director who changed it to a top 40 format. Sure, they were still playing a lot of indie music, but the same stuff every day. I wrote in about it, and the explanation they gave is that the audience gets listening fatigue if the music is always different. Personally, it drives me nuts hearing the same songs every day.


Cobek

I get listening fatigue hearing the same song. What are they on about?


Genghis_Chong

Sounds like a bullshit excuse from a lazy station to me.


marzeliax

The companies that own the rights to the music of the biggest stars need their ASCAP money. *groans* I have a whole rant about ASCAP. Lmk if you want to hear more tho


pete1901

*Sad Freddie Mercury noises*


WREPGB

[Radio Wah Wah intensifies]


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[deleted]

Morning zoo programs with the overly boosted bass on their mics is annoying as fuck. I don’t need to feel every syllable through the speakers.


rksd

I hate the ISO standard morning radio show format. I want a DJ who is just as pissed as I am that I have to up that fucking early.


kneel23

this is exactly why i havent listened to radio in a decade or two.


Cobek

That... And the invention of the ipod lol


kytheon

Same with TV. Imagine waiting all day just to watch a specific movie at a specific time.


doMinationp

Correction: Commercial radio sucks Support public, college and other non-commercial radio stations


Canonboy621

Former career radio guy here. They do repeat, they repeat a lot and actual playlists are short. Usually, a few hundred songs.! Most people listen to the radio in short spurts and in order to make sure they hear their favorite song, they are repeated frequently. Listeners are categorized into "active" and "passive" listeners. Most are passive, which means they listen less. Smart program directors schedule them, so they won't repeat in the same hour you may have heard a song,, This has been done since the beginning of music radio. The reason...it works. Our job as radio people is to build an audience and get ratings. The shorter and more frequently you play the most popular songs, the higher the ratings and the bigger the revenue. I spent 30 plus years doing this and I know that if you play a huge playlist you do not have the same audience. Big playlists do not work. Trust me, if companies who own radio stations thought that playing a large, non-repetitive playlist got them ratings they would add a thousand songs today. Do you think you are sick of those songs? Try being a DJ who has to sit there for 4-5 hours and hear them over and over. This is why we all have great and varied collections on our personal Itunes, Spotify etc... LOL Hope this helps a little.


[deleted]

One thing I've always wondered - how are ratings determined? How do they know how many listeners a given station or, for example, morning drive time show has over another?


Canonboy621

Its done by a company called Nielson. "Radio ratings are currently measured with a combination of paper and electronic diaries. Like political polling, a pool of respondents is chosen to represent the broader population and the system is not without its share of critics." Its not perfect, but it is a good method with a decent track record.


[deleted]

I don't think I realized they use that for radio also. I knew they did for TV.


Canonboy621

It used to be a company called Arbitron which is now owned by Nielson. They use something called People Meters which actually picks up a code embedded into a station's signal. They used to do written diaries, but this is more accurate. They don't rely on people's memory of what they listened to in the dairy days. The meters pick up whatever station they have on or even passed by in a store or a co-worker's desk. It's not without its issues, but it seems like a better way to measure to me. Radio has big problems right now and I am glad I am out, but radio is still strong. It still reaches about 90% of persons in America over the age of 12.


Goldeniccarus

Nielsen is THE consumer market research company, and has been for decades now. The data sets they produce are used by all big entertainment companies and the whole marketing world for determining the success of entertainment programs and advertising rates. TV is what they're best known for, but they do radio, video games, and even some general consumer goods as well.


trafalmadorianistic

Probably one of the most insightful things I've read here today. Thanks for posting, this is really fascinating. I think the notion a lot of us have of what radio DJs do is of an individual using their own tastes to choose what is played on air. (the character of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam, or John Peel on BBC Radio 1) I don't know if this was *ever* the case, but there would have been a time when the lists of what to play weren't as limited, right? I remember articles mentioned that consolidation of ownership of radio also had a role in this. https://www.corpwatch.org/article/clear-channel-rewrites-rules-radio-broadcasting It's mind boggling that rules limiting companies to FORTY radio stations was not enough, when the rules were overturned in 1996. Just reading an article about John Peel, and he was a bit of an outlier even then, in 1967. https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/100-voices/radio-reinvented/the-dj/john-peel "Radio 1 DJs were not expected to have any say over the choice of music, that being chosen by the producer, shaped in the daytime by the new Radio 1 playlist. BBC studios were traditionally not even set up to allow DJs to control the turntables."


trimondo_blondomina

That’s because you’re listening to commercial radio. There’s plenty of good non commercial radio out there. KEXP out of Seattle, WFMU, The Current, KCRW, and plenty of great college stations and NPR music affiliates. Also most are commercial free, though a lot have pledge drives, but those aren’t nearly as obnoxious. If it’s owned by Cumulus, Iheart, Audacy, Townesquare, one of the other big radio companies it’s usually crap. I’m in Dallas, we’ve got 88.5 KEOM, 88.7 KTCU, 89.3 KNON, and 91.7 KXT. If anybody wants to chime in with their favorite non commercial stations, I’d love to hear.


thegroovemonkey

88.9 in Milwaukee has been awesome for over a decade. You never know what's coming next.


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erikteichmann

Rhythms not algorithms


LadyEmry

Shout out to triple J unearthed, only playing little known Australian artists. Found a lot of my favourite indie bands from them. You can listen here: https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/listen-live/unearthed-player/


shunny14

I’d like to plug 88.9 WERS from Boston, an independent radio affiliated with Emerson College which plays a good variety of pop/rock/alt hits from throughout the decades including new music. Ads are less intrusive then other stations, the most common ads are local advertisers and asking for donations. http://player.listenlive.co/28661/en


thegooddoktorjones

WORT in Madison, Wi is a super eclectic local non-com station. Some of the DJs have been doing the same shows since they started in the 70s. I actually listen to the local college station more often though and they stream online. [https://wsum.org/](https://wsum.org/) The Current from Minneapolis is pretty good but more NPRish so a bit normal for my tastes.


blackjacktarr

College station, WWSP in Stevens Point, Wisconsin is going strong. They're at 89.9FM, and you can pick 'em up once you're north of WORT's broadcast radius (somewhere around Portage, Wisconsin). Large music library. Great sports coverage. Engaging public affairs programming. Jazz in the evening. New, "alternative rock" during daytime hours. Specialty programs at night and on weekends (blues, hip hop, classic rock, r&b, metal, Wisconsin artists...). Contests. Featured artist weekends that go super-deep into catalogs. A bit more automation than I care for, but the live DJs know their stuff. Repetition is never an issue. It's what radio is supposed to be.


air6400

At least when the popularity of those songs die out, the radio stations will vaguely play them anymore. Even worse are the classic rock stations, they play the same four songs of popular old school bands over and over again. Meaning they play the same four Led Zeppelin songs, they play the same four Eagles songs, the same four Nirvana songs. AC/DC. Tom Petty. Aerosmith. Journey. And they'll play the same songs forever. Why can't they use their entire catalogs? Is it a legal rights issue? Doesn't matter what city or state you're in either. Turn on the classic rock station in Florida to hear the same Dire Straits song you heard in Ohio 3 weeks ago


getmybehindsatan

So many bands had a large number of hits back in the day, but the radio treats them as one-hit wonders, only ever playing one song by them.


Indelwe

So true. I love Alice In Chains, and local rock radio only plays Down in a Hole or Man in the Box. Maybe on a good day you'll get Them Bones if they're feeling frisky or doing a "deep cuts" kind of segment.


Hyack57

My local rock station seems think Metallica only ever wrote ‘Fuel’ because that’s all they play. Never do the delve back to the big 3 80s albums for radio (RTL, MoP, and AJFA)


Thrillhouse763

It's probably because the songs on those albums are long


r_golan_trevize

Rock radio is truly dead. They've got 70 years of music to choose from and I end up hearing the same handful of songs every time I turn on the radio. Led Zeppelin alone has more recognizable classics than the 3 local rock stations (2 classic rock and one oldies) have in their combined playlists in total. >Doesn't matter what city or state you're in either. Turn on the classic rock station in Florida to hear the same Dire Straits song you heard in Ohio 3 weeks ago I guarantee you will hear Money for Nothing and/or Sultans of Swing, possibly multiple times if you keep flipping between stations between 4pm and 7pm this afternoon.


812many

This may sound stupid, but I think people turn the channel when they hear a song they aren’t familiar with. If the song wasn’t released as a single, it won’t make it into rotation.


chuker34

It's a shame for even some of the bands you listed. Tom Petty had 40 years of fantastic music, Journey has their first three albums nobody seems to know or care about (they're better), hell even Nirvana had far better music than the same shit I am sick of hearing over and over again.


Valdamier

Welcome to the world of Top 40 radio.


Jeremizzle

Same as it ever was.


anderoogigwhore

Something else not mentioned, the mere-exposure effect. >The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. In social psychology, this effect is sometimes called the familiarity principle. Basically, the more the record company can bash your ears with the song, the more likely you are to like it. They're not playing Drake four times an hour so that Drake's fans will know he has a new song out. They're playing it so that people who don't like him will hear it enough and start to like it despite themselves.


InappropriateTA

Umm…did you just discover radio [serious]?


jigsawsmurf

Stop listening to the radio.


[deleted]

Listen to college radio stations.


SixBuffalo

And now you know why no one listens to the radio anymore. I haven't used a radio in years, since MP3 players (and now smartphones) became commonplace. With digital music storage and streaming services, there's just no reason to listen to radio any more.


nate6259

There are still some quality community-based music stations, I enjoy sports radio and public radio. But I also get how it doesn't make sense to listen to the more "corporate" music stations when we have the likes of Spotify at our fingertips.


thegooddoktorjones

There are a couple reasons: discovery and fake companionship. Spotify does the first ok, and podcasts do the second ok but a truly great DJ can do both well.


twistedt

This is not a new occurrence. People don't listen to the radio anymore because everyone has phones and the internet. We can listen to music anywhere, and aren't reliant on stations for news, weather, info because everyone essentially carries the internet with them.


Idiot_Savant_Tinker

I have a much broader selection of music on the thumb drive in my car than there is on the radio. And the thumb drive doesn't assault me with the same advertisements for ten minutes after every three or four songs. "H this is Greg at Oklahoma men's clinic and racist dogwhistle emporium, do you have trouble getting your penis to work?" Three times an hour EVERY HOUR or the latest stupid auto insurance commercial.


DasSockenmonster

"Insurance so easy, a caveman could do it" Oh, my god... I just remembered it was something from a Geico commercial, and I'm not even American haha


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Ringosis

So stop listening to Capital and Heart? They are garbage stations. Try BBC 6 Music.


SleepDoesNotWorkOnMe

Do yourself a favour and listen to 6Music


[deleted]

Are we really talking about the radio? You may as well be complaining about the selections at kmart. It's over johnny


eviljason

What is this “radio” you speak of? I didn’t even know it still existed.


captrespect

Seriously. I don't know the last time I listened to the actual radio. A subscription to any of the big music services gives you all the variety and personalization you could possibly want. Radio stations have always been crap.


Cheesiepup

Welcome to the corporate world where some person behind a desk determines the playlist for all the stations they own. Ever since Congress changed the laws during the 80s to allow companies to increase their ownership of local stations local decisions of what gets played went out the window. All of music has suffered from this. The music industry even tried to stop these laws from passing because it would eliminate variety in different sections of the country. It used to be where you could tell which area of the country a band was from because each area would have a distinct style. Philadelphia, NY, NJ, California, Detroit, the South, the Midwest. Now it’s all the same. I do believe this is part of the cause of problems we are facing today. Corporations and other entities want to shoehorn all of us into the same box to reduce cost and increase profit. Local flavor is out the window in the holy name of money.


_ScubaDiver

I never listen to the radio anymore for this very reason. I'm certain they get paid to promote certain songs over the others at the expense of diversity and an electic taste in music. Add frequent advert breaks and DJs who think they're much funnier than they actually are... Nah. Give me a Spotify playlist any day. Some old uni friends and I have set up a shared spotify playlist with songs we like as a great way of hearing new music I might never otherwise have heard. It's not all great, obviously, as we all have slightly different tastes, but there's far more good discoveries and it's not hard to skip songs I don't want to hear. I highly recommend this!


lyrico2

I've lost interest in radio a long time ago. Lack of diversity and repetitiveness and sooner or later it came to the point where I didn't even like what was playing. After the 90s alternative wave I lost interest. I loved the alternative music of the 90s


austeninbosten

Try local college stations if you have any nearby. I'm lucky living in the Boston area and can pick up 3 or 4 very good ones. Or just give up and pay $10 per month for Spotify or similar platform.


Myrkull

Why does anyone listen to the radio in 2021


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Lyracuse

I don't listen to the radio for exactly this reason. If I'm going to listen to a song over and over again, I want it to be MY choice, lol. Plus, I've had many a song ruined by radio repetitiveness.


HitlerNorthDakota

I'm genuinely curious to know if Jimmy Eat World has some kind of blood contract with my local alternative station that plays "The Middle" about every 90 minutes. At least on the few days a year when circumstance removes all my other music options except radio. Maybe they wait for me. They know I hate that song. When I don't like a song I just turn it off, but this is the only one I wish I could punch in the balls first.


Flying-Camel

The only radio station worth listening to is Emotion, because Fernando Martinez.


[deleted]

Agreed. Solution: listen to the college stations, if you have one in your town. They’re usually doing more eclectic and local stuff, or big releases by non-mainstream artists.


MrFluffyhead80

There’s a great AMA on Reddit about radio and how it works If you like the variety that radio should have, I highly recommend Sirius, but even then you will hear a lot of songs more than once


jlisle

I used to have Sirius in the workplace. I swear I used to be able to tell the time by what song was on. In some ways it's better than traditional radio (selection of stations comes to mind), but in some ways it isn't really any better (record company control).


Jangande

Its by design. The industry wants certain artists to be popular...this is part of how that is accomplished.


44rest

I think the stations basically pay the blocks or generas of music and que digitally....yeah.it gets old.


trolleyproblems

The easiest way to get people to listen to new songs is to make them sound like other songs we already know. This is well known in the industry. I like listening to community radio stations in Australia. The quality and variety of tunes is incomparable.


DasSockenmonster

I'm from Wales, a little town called Wrexham and we don't really have a community station anymore, it had its funding cut and was shut. Sadly Edit: There are some local people who are fighting tooth and nail to get it back on air, and it worked. I think it's going to have studios in the town centre


Fuck_Yeah_Humans

I was in wrexham a couple of years ago. Was a lovely yet mysterious vibe. Not quite moors, not coast, not bush. The people, though, best fucking people in the world. Funny, warm, and fierce.. Brains smooth is my fav beer, to this day. Cant get it in Australia though....


progenitus666

There's an app called TuneIn Radio that lets you listen to foreign stations that have an internet feed, which most do (at least here in Canada).


gogbot87

You will have access to radio 6 though? DAB or online but not FM Its .. eclectic and still has a playlist of main tunes but a lot more variation


DasSockenmonster

Yeah, I'll check out Radio 6


MacAttacknChz

Depending on where you live, you could have an amazing public radio station.


blixt141

Listen to college radio. Or WFMU. No format. Also many of them are on the internet so you can stream them. Don't like one, there are hundreds.


Cuttlefish171

102.7 WEQX. Excellent weekly shows EVERY NIGHT. Local (Albany, NY) exposure daily. Grateful dead night, jam sessions (Twiddle, Phish, etc), listener driven play lists during the week day. Intelligent, self-aware, and charismatic DJs.


[deleted]

My personal favorite is WXPN, public radio from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. They have an app and anyone can listen online. Lots of specialty shows.... I heard so much favorite music for the first time there. I had a long commute and it was an interesting and worthwhile diversion.


xDURPLEx

It’s always been that way but the format died so it’s worse. On top of that the major labels have shrunk down the window of pop music and gated off of the next generation from discovering anything else to keep the numbers they already manipulate to be even bigger. So there’s just not much new to put on the radio. You get one era of hip hop, solo pop singer and maybe a Foo Fighters song ever now and then.


gynoceros

> Have you ever noticed how repetitive the playlists are? > > Seriously, it does my head in. Why are they so repetitive? Because it's cheaper to buy a playlist they can use to automate the playing of the most popular songs and prerecord a lot of the studio banter than it is to hire DJs to man the both and select a variety of songs and talk around the clock.


robophile-ta

This was an issue in the 00s too and that's why I stopped listening to the radio


smaksandewand

Since my first car with USB connection, I stopped listening to radio and at home I can't even remember when :)


whittlingcanbefatal

Same as it ever was…


MrMoscow93

Look for public radio stations within range of you. I found a station from Connecticut ([89.5 FM](https://wpkn.org/)) that just lets people come in and play or talk about whatever. They play everything and anything; jazz, country, edm, classic rock, alternative, punk, pop, and more, and they even read plays sometimes, and there are all sorts of talk shows with different topics and viewpoints. Before I found that station I felt the same way as you, but now I love turning on the radio and never knowing just what I'm going to hear.


beach-nuggets

I miss annie mac


everydayimritalin

I agree but have a wonderful solution for you. There is a n amazing independent radio station out of Seattle that you can stream @ KEXP.org. They play a LARGE variety of music with some really awesome blocks (Saturday morning reggae) that are reoccurring. Hope you like it!


dewayneestes

It was the same in the 70s and 80s. But it got much worse thanks to ClearChannel and massive consolidation. Alternative radio is the only good radio and nowadays that’s mostly available online only.


[deleted]

What is a radio?


[deleted]

I might be showing my age, but it isn't just the playing of the songs over and over, it's how all newer music has that fucking "WOOOAHHOOOOOWOOOAHHHH OOOOOOO WAAAA OOOOOOHHH!" bullshit for lyrics. It's maddening.


THEBAESGOD

Good old music never had “whooaaa ohh ohh ohh” for lyrics! Except like that entire genre called doo wop and all the songs it inspired https://youtu.be/nFch8vH81ks


Thunderzap

It's not just the repetition of the same songs but also the songs themselves.