Confessions Of A Former Satrad Addict

Vols44

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Oct 18, 2008
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When bands relied on album sales the quality of LP's are etched in history. According to wiki Eminem and Adele are the only two artists to have the most sales in a calendar year.

During my rock and roll period it didn't take much radio play for me to be hooked, want to buy an LP/cassette/CD. The creativity started nosediving in the 90's. LL Cool J rap morphed into four letter worded crap. An album would have a hit or two instead of five.

I have to warm up to a track these days and let it grown on me. Frozen with 2.8 million in sales? Nah. Ed Sheeran with 600K, I'm interested.

In the instant age where attention spans are measured in seconds how will the RIAA and motion picture industries cope with a dearth of new themes, ideas, genres of music and marketing concepts who will succeed in a world where everyone wants to be heard, but few are paying attention|
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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Hey Scotch--nowhere did I shit on you.
I'd be curious to know which station you listen to that plays the best of what's out there. I'd like to listen! :)
I wasn't clear, I didn't mean you were shitting on me, but rather "new music".
As I've already mentioned my 2 favorite Sirius channels twice, I won't repeat it again. The college station I listen to is WERS, from Emerson College. You can stream it at wers.org.
 

Kryptonite

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Oct 21, 2008
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Pandora/Spotify/Slacker/others are like the "basic cable" of radio. It's not controlled by the government, but there are ads. Are there as many ads as FM radio? It still kills the momentum of the music for me. It's nice to be able to turn on a music channel and actually hear music instead of a commercial.

Quoted to say... You know how cheesy it is to go in a bar or a somewhere and they have free Pandora? Seriously, use the company account and pay the $36 a year. No one wants to hear commercials in music at a public place unless it's FM radio.

Vent over.
 
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Jon

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Dec 16, 2008
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When XM was no longer XM they lost me. X-Country, Soul Street, Music Lab, Lucy, Fred, Ethel, all 1st row presets. All gone after the 'merger' (read: Sirius takeover). I found the alternative in Slacker a few years later, and now in Slacker, iTunes Radio and Beats Music. iHeartRadio is alright in theory, but it's still Clear Channel.
 

Jon

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So what was wrong with the similar Sirius-named channels?
There was nothing even remotely similar on Sirius. Still isn't. Even if there was the AM radio sound quality thanks to sports and Stern sucking up all the bandwidth would still ruin it.


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scotchandcigar

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There was nothing even remotely similar on Sirius. Still isn't. Even if there was the AM radio sound quality thanks to sports and Stern sucking up all the bandwidth would still ruin it.
Wow, could you be any more dramatic? Seems like Alt Nation, Lithium and 1st Wave are not just remotely like them, they're damn near identical. And what has Stern's channels done to bandwidth since '06? Besides, it's streamed music, which sounds fine on a portable system, as intended. Who does serious listening with streamed music?
 

Jon

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Wow, could you be any more dramatic? Seems like Alt Nation, Lithium and 1st Wave are not just remotely like them, they're damn near identical. And what has Stern's channels done to bandwidth since '06? Besides, it's streamed music, which sounds fine on a portable system, as intended. Who does serious listening with streamed music?
Apparently everyone around here who have cancelled because of sound quality and lack of variety.

I'm glad I did it a long time ago before it got any worse.


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Casual Fan

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Oct 14, 2008
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So what was wrong with the similar Sirius-named channels?

There was no X-Country or The Border. :(

People have bitched about sound quality since the beginning. It's never been great. I think variety kept people around. And then variety took a plunge. There are lots of high-quality, low-cost options now. Still, SiriusXM has enough subscribers to be profitable. I would guess that convenience, as mentioned earlier, is the reason. I remember when Sirius hit 100,000 subscribers and what a big deal that was. Now it's like 26 million between the two brands.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
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For most situations the sound quality is fine. If you're listening on studio quality equipment, broadcast and streaming anything aren't going to be your choice for fidelity anyway.

I picked Sirius over XM on purpose, and it was due to the difference in programming. Who knows what XM would be playing today anyway. Most broadcasters update their play lists anyway. I think people get hooked on their romanticized (if that's the right word for it) idea of what they are used to hearing.

Boombox is the station I miss, and that didn't have anything to do with the XM takeover.
 

Ehilbert1

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Oct 13, 2008
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Sirius sounds great in the house and our cars. I chose Sirius for the bandwith hog Howard Stern. The wife had XM and hated their 80's channel. She loves the Sirius 80's channel.


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Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
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I picked Sirius over XM on purpose, and it was due to the difference in programming.

My wife chose Sirius for me because of the NBA. I used to be more into pro hoops than I am now. It was a good choice, because Sirius signed the NFL soon thereafter. It's great to always get a static-free Redskins broadcast.
 

memebag

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Oct 11, 2008
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Sirius sounds horrible over the satellite. All the transients are smeared. There's some 60s pop that sounds good over AM, but nothing sounds good over Sirius.

"Left of Center" was one of my favorite channels pre-merger. It was replaced with "Sirius XMU", which had a much narrower playlist.
 

Ehilbert1

Ooh-Rah!!!!
Oct 13, 2008
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I have no sound problems over the satellite. We have older radios too. I'm listening to Stern right now and its clear as a bell.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 4
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
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Sirius sounds horrible over the satellite. All the transients are smeared. There's some 60s pop that sounds good over AM, but nothing sounds good over Sirius.

"Left of Center" was one of my favorite channels pre-merger. It was replaced with "Sirius XMU", which had a much narrower playlist.

I like the sound of Sirius over XM. XM sounds tinny. But both are ok to me. Will listen to Internet stream where possible.


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scotchandcigar

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"Left of Center" was one of my favorite channels pre-merger. It was replaced with "Sirius XMU", which had a much narrower playlist.
Same here, but I'm OK with XMU, though I agree it plays their top songs many times a day. I'm curious though; didn't you previously say you didn't know what alternative/ independent music was?
 

memebag

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Everything you listened to on Left of Center - that was it.
Not according to the Billboard Alternative chart. There's a bunch of stuff on that chart that they never would have played on Left of Center, and a bunch of stuff I heard on Left of Center that was nothing like the stuff on that chart.

The problem is defining music by what it isn't. Pop, jazz, rock, gospel, country, these are categories that can be defined by describing the music itself. "Alternative" is some kind of negative space category, where it is defined by what it's an alternative to. But even that isn't consistent, since an alternative to pop can easily become pop.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
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Dude, it's just a commonly used term, chill. It's like you're interpreting the bible or something. I don't get royalties from the proper use of musical categories, so it's not a big deal either way. It's just a comment of yours that I recalled.