adio sucks.  I think we can all agree on that. But why? Well, besides the homogeneity brought on by continued corporate consumption of independent stations (perfectly typified by the monolithic, insipid, and widely-loathed Clear Channel Corporation), they play way too many commercials, play way too little music, play the same songs over and over and over again, and have DJs who all sound like they were programmed with the same boring microchips.

More recent additions are on top.

March 5, 2002

Pet peeve time.

Am I the only one who is driven nuts by idiot DJs talking over the entire first half of songs on the radio?  The odds of them playing anything I want to hear are maybe 1 in 10, and half the time they do, I can kiss the first 30 or 45 seconds goodbye since the DJ just can... not... shut... up!

I was motivated enough by them ruining the start of a good song over the weekend to want to call and scream at the idiot, but I couldn't remember their number, and couldn't find it anywhere on their website. I did however find their email or submit your comments or whatever address, and sent the following to the station manager, where I'm sure it will make no difference whatsoever.  I've received no reply from them as of yet, at any rate.

My mail:

Is it some sort of requirement that the DJs talk over the first minute of every song? It drives me nuts, I mean most songs are 3-4 minutes, and they might have 30 or 45 seconds of music at the start before the lyrics, and virtually every song the goddamn DJ has to yap until right when the lyrics begin, with the music turned way down so you can't even hear the song behind them. Shut them up, please, I'm begging you.

Oddly enough, I don't listen to the radio for the DJ's babbling. I listen for the music, and on the rare occasion that a song comes on that I actually like, it sure would be nice to be able to hear it. There is a reason songs have music, then lyrics, then music, etc. The intro music gets you into the mood of the track before the actual vocals begin, assuming you can hear it over the DJ, that is. 

If the DJs must talk, tell them to do so with bumper music or silence behind their voices. They have nothing to say and are all idiots, but at least if I know they'll be shutting up when the songs come on, I can tolerate them for a minute.

Fire them all and just play recorded songs and commercials, station promos, concert promos, etc. It would be fine with me. Probably save money too.

PS, this goes for all of the Rock 105.3 DJs too, as the stations are the same company, and interchangable. The DJs all sound the same, and the play lists are about 75% overlapping also, so I seldom know which station I'm listening too since I click back and forth, unless some god awful old reggae/Pretenders or god awful old ACDC/Jimmy Hendrix comes on, then I know (and switch stations).

The other San Diego rock station is indeed 105.3, and you can see their website here. It's unremarkable, and their taste in music is pretty mediocre, not that there's any real "taste" involved, they are both owned by Clear Channel, a massive, monopolistic, soulless, profit-obsessed media giant, dedicated to buying up and removing any individuality or quirkiness that a local station might possess.

91X here was a long-time classic, great station.  I didn't really care for their music in the '80s and early '90s, it was too wimpy and sort of college/alt/pop in style, but at least they had an identity, playing stuff you'd never hear otherwise. Since Clear Channel swallowed them up, they suck, as I said in the mail 75% overlapping with the mindless rock station.  They play everything semi hard-alternative, all popular rock songs, heavy rotation. The only stuff they play that's unusual tends to be stuff I can't stand, old reggae, 80's alternative like Pretenders and Cure, and they do play a lot of sort of amateurish local surf punk stuff, all of it sounding like really bad Green Day.

The point is... well, there's no point.  The point was that DJs talking over the start of songs sucks, and I'm sure they do it under orders from the program director since god forbid we have any actual music.  It's lucky there aren't any bands doing instrumental stuff anymore, or the DJ wouldn't know when to stop.

Radio sucks.  It's only of use to hear new bands you might want to get into, so you can go get their CDs and listen to something besides the radio.  But they play so little actual music, and so little new music, that even that is hard.

The other annoying thing is when they play one song just to death.  Popular new single from some band, and they'll play it every hour for weeks.  Which isn't so bad if I like the song, but what I can't stand is they never play anything else off of that album. Do a "two-fer", play the popular one and then another one.  I often sort of want to get an album by a band I don't know well, but since I hear nothing but the same one song over and over again, I figure the rest of the album must be utter crap.  Sadly, this is often the case.

Feedback

Long after this article was first posted, it was seen by someone training to be in the actual radio industry. His comments are both depressing and enlightening.

This is regarding your "shut up the DJ" article.

I recently started attending Specs Howard, a broadcast school and we learned how to DJ recently. I know the article is over a year old, but this may still be of some interest.

Is it some sort of requirement that the DJs talk over the first minute of every song?

The answer is yes. The DJ is supposed to talk during the intro to the song up until the music starts. And, if the intro is reasonably short, he should get as close to the lyrics as possible. The reason for this is that the radio station wants no "dead air", or gaps between the songs. I certainly do not agree with it, it's just the way it is.

They turn the volume down at the beginning so the song isn't "competing" with their voice. Yes, it's pretty disgusting. Just about all radio stations use this format with the exception of most rock stations(I mean classic rock, not "here's the new one from Linkin Park" top 40 stations). Though I'm sure most rock stations do it as well. They just aren't as strict about it.

DJs are also supposed to start talking when the song starts fading. And if he isn't supposed to talk, the next song starts when the song starts fading.

I totally agree with your article, these policies are pretty shitty. But I guess they have marketing research that shows that this sells.

It's lucky there aren't any bands doing instrumental stuff anymore, or the DJ wouldn't know when to stop.

Someone just asked about that today. The answer? "Just go with the flow, and try and finish before it starts picking up." Yeah, that isn't at all ambigous, eh?

Again, I'm sure you are far past thinking/caring about this, but I've been constantly reminded of that article today, so I thought I should say something.

-Josh-

Join me in saying a prayer for quality rock and roll music on the radio ever again in our lives? And many thanks to Josh for his insightful email.

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