What's the deal with Seattle Radio?

Submitted by Eat_Carbs_OD t3_121w64d in Washington

Seems like the majority of the stations seem to play about four or five of the same songs over and over again on a rotation. Sadly, a lot of songs I used to really like I find myself changing the station.
Alice in Chains for example. They rotate between Rooster, Man in the Box, or Would. Rarely they might play Again or Heaven Beside you. Same goes for Soundgarden.. they have more songs than Black Hole Sun and Fell on Black days.

All the stations running ads at the same time is annoying as well.

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Xbalanque_ t1_jdntcgd wrote

KEXP

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bedlog t1_jdo42bf wrote

can confirm KEXP hands down is the best FM station left. KISW sucks donkey balls Krazee OK is ok, the End it seems like every time i change over to that station Kate Bush is runnin up that hill

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thecatsofwar t1_jdnovwk wrote

Radio is a formula, especially the majority of stations owned by huge corporations.

It’s also designed to attract a mass audience, so that usually means leaving tracks that appeal mainly to group super fans off rotation.

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stev0129 t1_jdopcji wrote

I once worked in radio in this area. All programming decisions are informed by national music charts. Stations can see which songs were added/dropped in any given week and they all just follow those charts.

In addition to that, record labels are always pushing (often paying) for their songs to be added. I once loved this medium but, after seeing how the sausage is made and how little money it provides it's people, I can't stand it.

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zchiezzl t1_jdoilft wrote

107.7 and 90.3 are going to have to be pried from my cold dead hands. i love them.

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FettuccineAlfonzo t1_jdo1hkh wrote

Have you tried 107.7

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flimsyhammer t1_jdo9e52 wrote

My programmed stations are as follows: 90.3 Kexp 95.7 oldies 98.1 king fm (classical, when the kids need to sleep or I need to just relax) 99.9 (2-6pm weekdays is the men’s room, best show on radio in my option) 102.5 kzok (classic rock/overlap with 99.9). Morning show with Danny b and Sara is decent 103.7 (old school hip hop) 710 am (Seattle sports if your into it)

Hope that’s helpful. I drive a ton and have pretty much settled on these as my go to. Lifelong seattlite. They all have their place throughout the day

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Eat_Carbs_OD OP t1_jdoabn7 wrote

I listen to 99.9 BJ Shae in the morning and the Men's room is a great show.
96.5 , 102.5, 97.3 but not so much since Dori passed away, 107.7, 98.1, 94.1 and 103.7 from time to time depending on what song is playing.

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flimsyhammer t1_jdockvo wrote

Nice! Yeah bj and migs are good too. In addition to 90.3 KEXP, there is (or was) also Everett’s version, I stumbled upon it about 5 years ago and was very impressed. I think it was 94.something. If you can find it it’s worth checking out

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BeKindDontBlind t1_jdnrsd2 wrote

If you stream on tune in/apps or live somewhere like Port Angeles where it comes in, check out Victoria's 91.3 the zone.

www.thezone.fm

Edit to add, except at 5:00, I don't like the mixtape

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Ok_Ticket_889 t1_jdoaoia wrote

KNKX 88.5, C89.5, and I think 98.9 (classical) are all public radio and much better to deal with

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renownbrewer t1_jdoxmre wrote

KBCS 91.3 at Bellevue College is commercial free and has a variety of programming by volunteer DJ's. Listen and you might find a fondness for Brazilian music or rediscover the Grateful Dead. It's definitely worth programming into your radio presets and checking out.

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doberdevil t1_jdobql4 wrote

This describes radio for the last ... 4 decades? Longer? It's just gotten worse as a smaller number of companies own a larger share of the stations.

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Eat_Carbs_OD OP t1_jdocoyo wrote

Seems like it's gotten worse over the past several months.

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doberdevil t1_jdoe1eb wrote

Probably.

As others have posted, seems like there are more ads - I wonder if that has to do with there being more choices (satellite radio, streaming services) so radio needs to sell more ads cheaper since they're not reaching as many people.

I bet there is a huge chunk of the population that just streams from their phone and doesn't bother listening to the radio at all. I'd probably do this for the most part but my phone->car audio has barely tolerable sound quality.

EDIT: Yeah, try KEXP. I like a lot of their genre specific shows, they match what I typically listen to.

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Eat_Carbs_OD OP t1_jdoecva wrote

Or they're just trying to get as much money as they can.

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kylebob86 t1_jdote48 wrote

this is the norm for the entire industry. and why commercials at the same time? that's because they are all owned by the same company.

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seancass64 t1_jdowkp4 wrote

Good ?… Kisw is now Seattle’s best Talk and Roll..

Used to be Rock back in the day but no longer!! Advertisement and other BS pay the stations to over see the real music and pay themselves !

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Eat_Carbs_OD OP t1_jdp3xef wrote

I think it changed when BJ Shea and the Men's room came over from talk radio.

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MrsMelanie t1_jds3n3f wrote

I moved away 20 years ago, I see nothing has changed, not even the songs!

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ExtraNoise t1_jdpd0po wrote

98.9 just changed formats and it's been pretty good. Not as heavy with rock or alternative, but I really like how eclectic it is. 70s rock hits mixed with 2000s deep cuts? Yeah, I've been digging it.

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Critical_Editor6494 t1_jdpnidl wrote

I love 102.5, they sometimes play some of the same 80’s rock but have cool segments like psychedelic 60’s and mix it up a bit better than some others around this area.

I don’t listen to 102.5’s morning talk show during the week, or 99.9’s either for that matter, but I do listen to the men’s room when it’s on while driving home from work because the guys make me laugh.

Other than that I like 96.5 as well, as it’s got some pretty good music 2/3’s of the time (imo).

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BeKindDontBlind t1_jdsmtm2 wrote

We like Jack FM, and where we live 103.1 comes, it's Canadian Jack so you get some random songs mixed in

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thoriumsnowflake t1_jdpyas9 wrote

Xm Sirius? Spotify audacy Pandora or you can still bust out CDs

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TheDreadPirateIcarus t1_jdqksop wrote

Now that I'm down south out of range I find myself missing KGRG from Auburn / Green River Community College. In fact, when I travel the college stations are what I look for. Some of the music I went and bought were only ever played on college radio

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hisparia t1_jdrjx4w wrote

I bailed out on “rock” terrestrial radio a while back. I just stream from my phone. The only terrestrial radio I listen to these days is Classic King or KNKX (that Jazz/NPR station at 88.5.)

Edit to add that I DO listen to KEXP on occasion.

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Eat_Carbs_OD OP t1_jdrp6ao wrote

I have a USB port in my car that reads songs.. so I download my own tunes for listening.

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