> this is not replacing your favorite station

My favorite radio station was replaced years ago by an automated playlist. They just kept playing the same 5-6 songs that were popular on the station in the 1990s.

It was fun for about 2 hours before I realized the station was devoid of all the personality that made it worth listening to when I was younger.

The playlists of nearly all radio stations are far too short for me. I finally just quit listening to the radio.

Comcast has a bunch of channels with various music categories. They all repeat after about 2 days. So much for that.

With all the zillions of songs available, I don't get why they do that.

You've got to find the rare radio stations with public support and human djs. kexp.org is a great one based out of Seattle with a wild variety of shows and decades of history. Are all the shows to my taste? No. Have I ever heard something being played that was total crap? Honestly, maybe? Because there's genres I don't know enough to gaugue quality, but I haven't twigged to it.

The dial on my receiver is permanently on 90.3 FM. Such a good radio station. I remember one fun drive a couple of years back was themed around “Don‘t let the robots win”[1]. Perhaps it is already time to re-use that theme.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/KEXP/comments/1459ahb/dont_let_the_...

Money probably? That's the number of song licensed to maximize profit without hurting 80% listeners.

Have you tried KING 98.1? They seem to have a vast playlist.

My local: https://threedradio.com/

("My" meaning local to me, not that it belongs to me)

It’s like people don’t realize that the “hits” played on radio are entirely manufactured by the music industry. They literally provide lists of songs for the radio station to play that month in order to generate interest so that then people either go play or buy or whatever those songs making them more likely to reach #1 that month. It’s entirely manufactured and people try to point to it as being “real” radio. It’s why you are only likely to hear this months new hit and one or maybe two of the previous month or two “hits” from the same artist in the rotation, if they are popular enough with the focus groups to be promoted. (Outside of their older songs.) Then they play it on repeat to make people think they like it, because everyone else is liking it and it’s making its way to number one!

People are so easily manipulated and then they will go argue with others about it.

(Point of clarification, that’s not to say people can’t like songs. However, if I gave you a hundred similar songs from unknown artists and didn’t tell you which is which, it’s questionable whether people would have any interest in said popular song.)

You should find some better radio stations. There are tons of independent stations the play excellent non top 40 music and have been for years.

This is like saying the the movies that people like are manipulated but only focusing on what is played at big box theaters.

You're missing the point. Radio was consolidated into Clear Channel and took away what made radio radio. Local radio. Like what made Chicago jazz different from New York jazz etc. Not internet stations that may as well be podcasts. Regional culture.

You are missing the very simple point: there are tons of independent stations the play excellent non top 40 music and have been for years.

Just because you don't choose to tune into them doesn't mean they don't exist. And it also doesn't mean that those who do should lover their standards for what constitutes good radio.

On actual radio waves?

kexp.org in Seattle and San Francisco for a start.

Yes.

What stations? All of the stations I can pick up in my area are top 40 country, rock, and pop, + npr.

Do you live near a city? Because pretty much every major city has a few. KEXP, WPFW, WUSC, KNHC are all local stations playing interesting non top 40 music that have been operating for decades in places that I have lived. Dublab & The Lot radio are also really good over the internet.

If there are non around you just pick a random place in the world here and listen: https://radio.garden

It's certainly 100x better than corporate and/or AI slop streams

I don't live near a big city and that's the point I'm trying to make. Yes I know the Internet exists. That isn't radio.

Sorry what FM or AM channel was this AI experiment on?

Case in point. “Independent stations are totally better and I’m going to go argue on the internet when it’s something completely unrelated to small independent stations, unlike the mass media market stations the vast majority of people in the world ACTUALLY listen to.” Bravo, you are very unique and original, you special snowflake you.

You should go DJ at one of those independent radio stations and play some rather filthy uncensored songs, and let me know exactly how your programming “didn’t get manipulated”. I’m sure you won’t get fined…probably…which makes it totally the reality that independent stations are totally independent without any sort of manipulation. Sheep, meet shepherd.

> You should go DJ at one of those independent radio stations

I have for years.

> and play some rather filthy uncensored songs, and let me know exactly how your programming “didn’t get manipulated”.

What on earth are you talking about.

Honestly your reply comes across as extremely insecure and just weird.

Insecure people tend to think such things when called on their ignorance. Can’t be helped. What can be helped is trying to understand what is being said before attempting to discount it with an example that is just as manipulated in other ways, in order to maintain their ability to broadcast and not be fined. Beyond that, it’s pretty clear that the comment and the prior comment it supported was in reference to mass market radio, not tiny broadcasters with audiences reaching wholes of thousands. But sure.

Yeah and my entire point is that the quality standard that artificial intelligence developers should be aiming for is not soulless corporate mass market media. Because our world world is already swimming that nonsense. So there's absolutely nothing novel in finding a new way to create beige bs.

Once again, I have no idea what you're talking about when talking about fines or manipulation, I'm talking about quality. But it seems pretty damn clear at this point that you have never listened to any local independent radio station.

You should really try it out sometime. It's a lot better. And it'll save you from calling people snowflakes because you feel insecure about what type of radio stations they like.

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Radio stations are like baseball games. I listen for all the unusual moments, not the core baseball game. That’s actually the filler.

My first thought when I saw the headline was, "Did anyone even notice a difference?"