alt Hacker News> 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.
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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.)
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?"
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.