[therealpygon]

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.)

[samtp]

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.

[tempaccount5050]

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.

[samtp]

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.

[tempaccount5050]

On actual radio waves?

[evmaki]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_independent_radio_stat...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_radio_stations...

^ One of those might be in your area :)

[bluGill]

Might is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. There are several dozen radio stations in my area, and the only one on that list is a college station that just barely has the signal strength to reach me.

[malnourish]

Minnesota has a number of independent and college stations reachable throughout much of the (populated) areas of the state.

[adw]

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

[samtp]

Yes.

[tempaccount5050]

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

[therealpygon]

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.

[samtp]

> 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.

[therealpygon]

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.

[samtp]

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.

[therealpygon]

I mean you can make up things all you like, it won’t magically make them true. In either case, you might try actually understanding what I said instead of only trying to inject your own nonsense into every conversation and then act like that was the discussion the whole time. You started by claiming to know what I listen to and passing judgement (the thing you then attempted to claim I did — funny that, my reasoning was more about stupidity and how you must have the only line on where music can be discovered) in your very first comment that was an entirely unrelated comment about AI and soulless mass market stations. But hey, I’m sure if you repeat it just one more time you can make you made up narrative become true:

[gwbas1c]

> 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.

"My favorite radio station" (see my above post) was a mix of "the list" and songs that they would curate themselves, plus great personalities. (We had Opie and Anthony for a few years.) A lot of the older songs were timeless classics in the 1990s, like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

I appreciated hearing some of "the list" because it was an easy way to hear new music in the 1990s without spending lots of money on CDs that I probably wouldn't like.

---

That being said, there was one really annoying song (that I can't remember the name of) that made it into the mix for one or two months, and once it came off "the list," Opie and Anthony did a bit making fun of it.

[bluGill]

> A lot of the older songs were timeless classics in the 1990s, like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

The music industry allows those as well to "create variety". And they of course are perfectly happy to sell you a [possibly remastered] Pink Floyd CD.

[gwbas1c]

Pink Floyd is happy to sell you a remastered CD. They hated the first CD pressings because they weren't mastered correctly.