Poll: Is radio still relevant to you?

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm wondering how many people here still listen to radio, either at home or in the car.

So many people seem to spend all day walking around with earphones in, I'm wondering how much mp3 players have moved people away from normal radio. It used to be a choice of radio or the half dozen tapes or cds you had brought with you, now it's no effort to bring hundreds of albums.

Personally I don't listen to the radio as such, but I do stream selected shows from the BBC site, mainly Radio 4 Extra (previously 7), the comedy and drama station.

There's been great coverage of the Edinburgh comedy festival, far more than TV could afford to cover.

I remember going back even 10 years however, if there wasn't a TV on, the radio would be, in most homes.

 

[Ethan Asia]

I listen to local radio in the evenings. I like to listen to voices and imagine what people look like.

 

[Jedoro]

I listen in my car, but sometimes I get sick of commercials and just hook up my iPod.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

A thought just occured after posting that.

If the younger demographics are not listening to radio so much, how are the marketing people going to convince them to listen to what they 'should' be listening to?

Is it not going to get harder and harder to essentially forcefeed people bands and artists?

I think that's a very good thing btw, having a hundred mildly famous, reasonably well off bands is a much better situation than 5 super rich ones being played on rotation.

What annoyed me about radio when I worked in places that played it, was there'd be a playlist of 20 or so songs and that's all you'd hear on repeat all day every day until the next week's new releases, where 2 or 3 would be swapped out for new ones.

 

[Thaius]

Oh yeah, the stereo in my car has radio... I forgot about it in the midst of the ability to burn a CD full of MP3s and listen to whatever music I like, or plug in a portable music player to a similar effect.

In short, no. I've never found a radio station that didn't have some annoying tendencies or the occasional irritating song, so what's the point in listening to it when I can have whatever music I like in my car? And on my computer, I can also listen to my own music.

As for music discovery, there's Pandora. It actually takes the music I like and finds music that's similar in some way, meaning it will give me new music based on the fact that I might actually like it; it's like a radio station but tailored specifically to me. That's far better.

So yeah, radio is entirely irrelevant in my life at this point. There's just no reason to listen to it in the face of all the ways I can customize my own listening experience.

 

[Merkavar]

i listen to triple j in the car or at home. and jelli radio at home. i like the radio cause it has a variety of songs and exposes me to music i probably would never have heard on my own.


anyone know what the J stands for in triple J

 

[ReincarnatedFTP]

I commute to UAB this year, and I leave early early in the morning to get a parking space.
While in the car I usually have NPR on.
If there's no news of interest on NPR, I switch between 99.5 (classic rock), 103.1 (modern rock) or 103.7 (pop)if I feel like listening to something other than the CDs I have.

 

[Username Redacted]

In my area we're down to 1 Rock station and they haven't altered their rotation since I was in high school so I'll be listening to my CDs thank you very much.

 

[trollnystan]

I listen mostly to radio nowadays instead of my own music. There's a radio station called Bandit Rock that I quite like, although like most radio stations it gets repetitive. (If I have to listen to Tenacious D one more time... *twitch*)

The memory card in my phone is at the moment full of the Dresden Files books on audio, but I also have one or two podcasts that I keep forgetting to listen to.

Even though I have no car (don't even have a license) I voted for "I listen at home or in the car". I do listen to the radio on my bike if that counts.

 

[zombiestrangler]

Yup. If I have to wake up early in the morning, these are the guys that are on:

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I used to listen to the Don and Mike show and, Love Line back when Adam Corolla was on it but that's really all I used to listen to. Don and Mike went off the air a few years ago and I haven't given Loveline a chance in a long while.

I listen to the radio every now and again in the car. It's rare though.

 

[Exile714]

I listen to a radio show in DC which is very entertaining on my car/subway rides in to work. I think of the music as a kind of commercial, just something to get through so I can get back to listening to the show.

They do this one segment where they call men who are suspected of cheating on their significant others, pretend that they won a free prize (usually roses), then see if they give it to their significant other or someone else. The significant other is on the line, waiting to rip into them when they confirm they are cheating. It's hilarious and totally makes my morning.

So, yeah, the radio is relevant. The music... not so much.

 

[Trololo Punk]

I'll listen to radio in the car of i can't find a aux plug for my ipod or i dont have cd's with me. Other then that, no, not really.

 

[synobal]

I listen to audiobooks while driving.

 

[Dags90]

Is it not going to get harder and harder to essentially forcefeed people bands and artists?

Nah. With "Featured Content" on Youtube, it's pretty easy for record labels to push bands.

 

[DannyJBeckett]

I listen to radio at almost every opportunity, except when the sport is on. I'm afraid I can't stand sport when I'm forced to watch it by virtue of my Dad having the remote, let alone voluntarily listen to it.

 

[Dismal purple]

Yes, I bought a pocket-radio a few weeks ago. And I listened to the radio at home last night when one of the channels were playing classical music hours on end.

I'm not a huge music buff so I wouldn't be able to make a large playlist for an mp3 player.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I listen to the radio all the time at work and occasionally at home. I tend to listen to the local rock/hard rock station though, so I miss out on most of what ends up on the Top 40 lists.