Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?


Number2Fan

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I have a few podcasts that I download and can rely on for a few good new tunes, just for recreational listening, but I never listen to the radio anymore. I miss that feeling of being tuned into something that lots of other people are also listening to at the same time. I also miss that connection with the DJ that you get with radio.

I was playing a download from here yesterday, from Kiss in 1992, when I almost permanently had the radio on, for fear of missing an amazing tune that I couldn't hear anywhere else. I realised I missed listening to Jules, but not only Jules, just radio in general.

Anyone, get what I mean?

:smirk:

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I listen to the radio a lot but not at all for music. I have speech radio (BBC 4 and 5) on while I am at work.

I completely know what you mean about the collective experience. Was listening to a Jules' UK Saturday Warmup last night from the early 2000s. The 'Noticeboard for the Deranged Generation' feature came on and it was hilarious listening to all the people call in and talk about how 'battered' they were going to get. I remembered thinking how cool it it was to have a shared live experience. I think that collectivity still exists if you listen to main-stream music radio at peak time, though I am not sure how much is pre-recorded these days - I suspect a lot.

My tastes are, alas, no longer catered for on the BBC and I am too old and grumpy to bother staying up till midnight on a Sat to listen to Dave Clarke on RTE, especially as it is pre-recorded anyway. Podcasts/downloads are the most accessible way to get new programmes.

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I concur with a lot of what is said above.

Radio back during the late 90s and millennium period was, for me, the only gateway to underground music. The "specialist" music shows where a DJ would showcase his personal record box, like Jules's 9-11pm Friday night shows, were absolute gold dust and for me were the only source into the murky world of DJs and clubbing. Not only that, but you could find out the name of these underground tracks and then spend your precious tenner if you were lucky enough to find the vinyl out in the shops that weekend. Every show was exciting and I'd be gutted to miss even 5 minutes of a show for fear of missing out on Jules putting on some obscure Belgian white label that would totally blow my mind.

Jules's live broadcasts were jaw-dropping because for 2 hours you could put your earphones on and be totally transported right into the club, non-stop - and I mean fully immersed. Nothing beats that as a music-loving teenager raring to actually be there but isn't quite old enough.

I loved Jules's 9pm studio broadcasts on a Friday even more, because again all normal radio protocol was cast aside and you just had an expert DJ in the room putting on some new tunes. It was as if Jules was in your sitting room, privately spinning some new tracks and doing some mastermixes for you. Uninterrupted, pure bliss where music rightly took the front seat above any DJ chit-chat. Wonderful. No radio boss will ever allow that again, and that's a shame.

Nowadays, that old "specialist" radio show magic seems lost amid a swirl of annoying jingles, adverts, and radio edits heard a million times. Podcasts and the internet provide so much choice now it is almost overwhelming where to start.

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Podcasts and the internet provide so much choice now it is almost overwhelming where to start.

Though I do partake in a few podcasts, I couldn't agree more. Diversity and choice come with many negatives to negotiate.

To uncover the high quality offerings amongst the myriad options available, you need to put in too much energy and effort. Many of them don't add much value at all and are very generic: a few tunes and 'exclusive' guest mix.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I no longer listen to radio 1 live, or any station on FM live that often. R1 does not cater to my tastes enough for me to sit down and listen to a 2 hour let alone 3 hour show in one go. I listen to the odd essential mix that interests me in full on the iplayer.

The short 30 second clips of every track played on every show is a god send, if I like the sound of it I will seek out elsewhere on youtube or soundcloud or wherever I can hear a longer version (unless it is a exclsuive first play and the only way to hear it is to actually listen to the show).

I listen to the 6 Mix a lot also on iplayer, also Solarstones weekly show I listen to on mixcloud too. I have gone the podcast route for dance shows.

R1 has really gone to crap, they have given Mac, Tong , Traits and Friction another hour, which mostly is just wasted. Gone are the days when Tong when he was still doing The Essential Selection could fill 3 and for a few years 4 hours full of top new tracks. Now it seems either theres not a lot of good music around (which we know is not true) or everybody has become very narrow minded with what they play. Or maybe Radio 1 has more control over what the supposed specialist shows play these days.

I would not be surprised, since they decided their weekly daytime playlist by the popularity of stuff on social media and youtube rather than actually quality or 'musical merit' which a R1 spokesman said (which is total tosh).

Again though R1 does not need to cater for everything these days as there are stations and podcasts and every man and their goldfish who can be a DJ, do a mix / radio show /podcast and upload to the net for listening. so R1 just caters to attract keep and be down with their target audience.

Rant over! I am old before my time at age 31 I think... :mrgreen:

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  • 2 weeks later...

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