Radio

[Thomas]

Radio is probably one of the biggest ways that we are exposed to music, if not the biggest. Radio encompasses a wide variety of radio types. We have the traditional AM and FM radio, then we have the newer XM and Sirius satellite radio, and now we have internet radio stations that use your own tastes in music to determine what songs to play like Last.Fm and Pandora. Also, there are many music podcasts out there that you can listen to on your computer or stream to your smartphone.

Another thing I should mention is HD Radio. With HD radio we can now get better reception on the FM dial and get a lot more room for stations on our dials. For free. To learn more about HD Radio visit hdradio.com.

• What is the biggest way, radio-wise, that you take in music?
• Is this radio the way you listen to music the most?
• Do you think that personalized Pandora-like radio stations help make discovering music easier?

Discuss.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

The only time I listen to radio is when I'm in the car, and that's only because I don't have an iPod adapter to plug into the cigarette lighter. It's the only place where I hear 'new' music, to a certain extent, as I don't watch music channels and am not massively into music enough to try experimenting with new stuff on my own; however, most of the stuff there is drivvel (oh hey, I'm becoming a music snob!) and not really the stuff I'd ordinarily listen to. And yet, I'll always turn the radio on regardless, due to me not wanting to drive in silence!

Pandora hasn't hit the UK yet, but from what I've gathered, it does sound kind of amazing! The closest thing in Europe is Spotify, which is sort of like a Netflix for music: you pay a monthly fee and can listen to as much music as you want; I think you can even download some of it!

 

[Mahou Tsukai]

* What is the biggest way, radio-wise, that you take in music?
FM radio for me. I usually tune in to the symphony channel.

* Is this radio the way you listen to music the most?
No. I listen to CDs and mp3s more often than FM radio (and I get to choose which specific song I want).

* Do you think that personalized Pandora-like radio stations help make discovering music easier?
Yes. Its easier to discover music that way than listening on old AM/FM radio.

 

[Arma]

What is the biggest way, radio-wise, that you take in music?
FM-radio, I've got a radio alarm-clock, and i usually turn on the radio when I'm at home.

Is this radio the way you listen to music the most?
I've been listening more and more to the radio lately, so I'm going to say yes.

Do you think that personalized Pandora-like radio stations help make discovering music easier?
I don't know much about these stations, but I got the radio to keep me up to date, and I usually search for new music on youtube and google.

 

[Belinda]

I don't necessarily listen to radio unless I am bored. Besides there is always going to be a song I dislike on the radio so I'd just rather stick to burned CD's I made myself or listen to music (on my computer).

 

[Thomas]

@CatDog: I feel like most people listen to the radio in the car, and the only reason they do is basically cause it is better than silence.

Radio stations these days, at last the popular ones, seem to just replay the same 20-30 songs over and over again (at least until a new one comes in a bumps one of the old ones out). I switch between about 5 or 6 different stations that cover pop, rock, country, r&b, and rap which keeps things pretty fresh for the most part, but I just hate the commercials. Which is why when I wanna listen to music a lot of times (even in the car) I will switch to listening to my "Rdio" subscription service (similar to Spotify) or Last.fm radio on my iPhone.

The only thing that I will suffer through the commercials for is for the morning radio show that I listen to: Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. Its a syndicated radio morning talk show here in America. (http://www.kiddnation.com/)

 

[PlatinumDude]

I listen to FM radio on my way to and from school every day.

 

[Esper]

I don't listen to the radio that much. I prefer more control over what I'm listening to. The commercials are also really annoying.

Things that area supposed to suggest music to you like Pandora haven't worked that well for me in the past. Maybe I'm just too particular, but when it tried to tailor its selection to my tastes I rarely liked what I was hearing. It seemed like it would just look at the genres of the music I said I liked and then just pick the most popular music from that genre. I know it's more complicated than that, but that's how it seemed. Anyway, I get most of my new music by word of mouth from people who have at least some knowledge of my tastes. At least other people can say "Hey, this is good. Don't listen to their latest album because it's not that great." That kind of personal touch you can't get from a computer program.

 

[TwilightBlade]

What is the biggest way, radio-wise, that you take in music?
Woah! I voted AM/FM radio, which I would think is uncommon in today's era. I have used Last.fm and AIM's radio to discover some artists. .-.

Is this radio the way you listen to music the most?
During homework crunching time, yeah. It's easy to turn on my radio because it's on my alarm clock... I also turn on the radio in my car. I don't have to fumble with my ipod or itunes. I like listening to new songs or else my brain tends to vegetate. Yep yep, the radio has more variety than my itunes library. Woe.

Do you think that personalized Pandora-like radio stations help make discovering music easier?
I guess they help though sometimes they have steered me in a totally opposite direction... At the same time, I have discovered some pretty hot artists via similar-genre radio stations.

 

[Eliminator Jr.]

I don't really listen to the radio much, mostly because there aren't any great radio stations in Melbourne, and the ones that do play good music (SYN 90.7, PBS 106.7 and Triple R 102.7) are really hit and miss. Honestly, Melbourne radio is terrible. You've got the mainstream radio stations which don't play any music I like, supposed "classic rock" stations that play Meat Loaf (that is why I do not listen to them) and on which I've only heard Hendrix a combined six or seven times in my life (that's saying a lot, I worked for two years as a kitchen hand with Gold 104 in the background and only heard All Along The Watchtower a couple of times and Hey Joe and Foxy Lady once), foreign radio stations, classical music radio stations, Triple J (who HAVE played cool stuff like Foals and Warpaint before but generally work exactly the same as the mainstream stations except with a different playlist) and the aforementioned hit-and-miss stations (which at one moment play cool music and then next are playing European underground dance music or Aussie hip hop or whatever).

That is why I do not listen to radio often. I listen to AM occasionally in the car for news, but apart from that I usually plug my iPod in and listen to music of my choice.

 

[Hikamaru]

I love my Digital Radio, so many variety.

I've seen so many users here with a Last.fm account. Might have to sign up one day...

All my iPod Nano music that I listen to comes from radio because I don't like downloading from music sites.

Favorite radio station - triple j, why? It's got great comedy elements and I love their "strong language warnings". It's also owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (who are well-known for no commercial breaks as they are government owned) which is an Australian plus!

I actually live not far from the ABC studios, which is located in Harris Street, Ultimo, NSW.