Is Alternative / Rock Radio Dead???

[beatlemanu]

Okay, I'm getting a little pissed off. Call me old fashioned, but I like rock music. Nothing against hip hop or rap or whatever, I like some of that too, but I just prefer rock and alternative rock music. Now rock radio stations are being closed down and/or switched to easy listening or spanish language formats. Now nothing against those, but get your own frequency. Now yes, I know this old news, and it's been happening for a long time now, but basically the biggest alternative rock station in the bay area is struggling now, Live 105.3 out of S.F. I'm just wondering, what the hell do people listen to these days??? Does everyone listen to hip hop and rap or easy listening??? How many freaking Celine Dion songs do they have anyway??? And when the hell did "Rock" music become "the alternative" anyway. I remember they first called it "Modern Rock" in the early 90's, now it's not even Rock. What the hell happened to instruments??? And real vocals that aren't sung by some 14 boy band, teenage girl and or sampled in to the chorus... Cover this, cover that, how about writing some damn songs, singing them yourself and actually playing the instruments too...
Okay, I'm done now, just had to say that, even though I'm sure you've heard the same before...
Here's the station I was talking about thats going under...
http://www.live105.com/
You can go there and sign up to try and keep them alive if you like...
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[655321]

Dude...you're OLD.

[beatlemanu]

Dude...you're OLD.

Thank you very much. :rolleyes:

[Claymore]

It's still alive on 10-Watt college FM stations and internet radio, but it's effectively been dead on commercial radio for the last 15 years or so.

[servotron]

Dude, you seriously need XM. I'm not joking. It's worth its weight in gold. No ads, better music selection, MUCH better rotations on the channels (like for instance, Classic Rock will have WAAAAY better music than the local FM classic rock station, and you won't hear the same 30 songs every day, you probably won't hear the same song twice in a week), and you get it anywhere in the friggin country for 10 bucks a month.

Not to be an XM salesman, but dude... you're old. Spend some money and enjoy your music again.

[ndp21f]

My recommendation to you -- get XM.

Lots of rock options, depending what your tastes are. The four rock stations I primarily listen to are:

43 - XMU - Indie rock from the past year or so
44 - Fred - New wave
47 - Ethel - New-ish alternative, with some older stuff mixed in.
54 - Lucy - Alternative hits from the past 20-odd years, with a focus on the 90's+

[kopiteinkc]

My recommendation to you -- get XM.

Lots of rock options, depending what your tastes are. The four rock stations I primarily listen to are:

43 - XMU - Indie rock from the past year or so
44 - Fred - New wave
47 - Ethel - New-ish alternative, with some older stuff mixed in.
54 - Lucy - Alternative hits from the past 20-odd years, with a focus on the 90's+

I enjoy all of those but when I am away form my satellite radio I listen to Woxy online.

Alternative Rock Internet Radio at http://www.woxy.com -- highly recommended. They have winamp and WMP streams so you can download their live winamp audio stream also :D

[beatlemanu]

Doesn't Sirius carry the EPL though???

I've heard that XM carries MLB, but Sirius has the NFL too...

Hmmm...

[kopiteinkc]

Don't worry within 6 months Sirius and XM will have merged anyway.

[chrisinho]

Even in this vapid wasteland lately overrun by red state rejects, Los Angeles has THE best rock radio station on the planet: Indie 103.1FM where one can hear Interpol, The Bravery, The Clash, The Used, Futureheads, World Party, Elliot Smith, Fugazi, Peter Tosh, Peaches and Wilco back to back. Yaye!

[Claymore]

Don't worry within 6 months Sirius and XM will have merged anyway.

That will present one helluva technical challenge, as the receivers don't share a common platform. Also, that would open up a slot for another licensor for that bandwidth; XM and Sirius are the only two currently licensed by the FCC.

BTW, I worked on the XM terrestrial repeater project.

[ndp21f]

XM doesn't have the EPL, but it does get one game per week on the BBC World Service station (#133).

[655321]

Thank you very much. :rolleyes:

I'm 31 years old...I was only joking.

[beatlemanu]

I'm 31 years old...I was only joking.

Thanks gramps, I feel better now... :D

[servotron]

Even in this vapid wasteland lately overrun by red state rejects, Los Angeles has THE best rock radio station on the planet: Indie 103.1FM where one can hear Interpol, The Bravery, The Clash, The Used, Futureheads, World Party, Elliot Smith, Fugazi, Peter Tosh, Peaches and Wilco back to back. Yaye!

You can get that on XM, but either all at the same time (on different stations) or in a row on some stations... AND with no ads, and you could be listening in LA or Miami.... or anywhere inbetween. Besides being great for local use, it's the PERFECT road-trip device.

[Footer Phooter]

I try listening to DC101, but this afternoon I heard 3 Pearl Jam songs in 3 hours. Now I like Pearl Jam and all.........but really, what does that say baout your stations playlist?

[Danks81]

The only alternative rock station in Philly (100.3) just switched over to rap. Not a big deal to me, I mostly listen to WXPN. However it's kinda silly that this metro area has 5 rap stations and not one alt rock station.

[CHICO13]

I try listening to DC101, but this afternoon I heard 3 Pearl Jam songs in 3 hours. Now I like Pearl Jam and all.........but really, what does that say baout your stations playlist?
Playlists are exactly what's wrong with FM radio. Now I understand it's a business and all but DC101 (and the now deceased WHFS) were powerhouses back in the day that succumbed to corporate pressure and the God forsaken playlist. WHFS especially was probably the best at playing off the cuff selections and actually helping artists gather a following in this area. Bands like Little Feat and Bonnie Raitt owe WHFS huge in this area. They still continue to sell out shows because of the exposure afforded them by these stations. It's all dead now of course, thank God for my XM Radio...

[bukie2k]

Cover this, cover that, how about writing some damn songs, singing them yourself and actually playing the instruments too...

Rap or hip hop or whatever the hell it's called is all about flash over substance, pure and simple.

[Renegade of Funk]

Even in this vapid wasteland lately overrun by red state rejects, Los Angeles has THE best rock radio station on the planet: Indie 103.1FM where one can hear Interpol, The Bravery, The Clash, The Used, Futureheads, World Party, Elliot Smith, Fugazi, Peter Tosh, Peaches and Wilco back to back. Yaye!

It's a Clear Channel "experiment", ironically.