I promised in my last entry that I wouldn’t talk about some topic or something, so that isn’t going to happen tonight. Nope. No discussion on a particular topic.
I like varieties of music. I’m not really for or against any particular flavour of music, that is, until it gets excessively too much of that single variety that it just bores me.
Imagine listening to a particular style of music, so much so, that it gets stuck so far inside your head that you would absolutely start listening to classical music, just so you get a change of tune.
That’s what the music scene has been like for me lately. Prior to 2003, there was great variety of music. You could turn the tele on ABC on a Saturday morning and listen to a bit of RnB, some Rap, some 80s, 90s and Today (well, Yesterday).
Now, you can turn the TV on, or the radio for that matter, and guess what you get an earful of?
You guessed it. “I’ll stuff your mother, then your hoe, and when I’m done there, I’ll stuff your stuffing bro”.
Rap. It’s getting a little too overbearing for my liking. I used to listen to the likes of ‘Eminem’, and ‘Twista’, and ‘Ice Cube’ a fair bit. But it got boring fast. So, I moved to Ministry Of Sound, and the like, and it was OK, remixes are cool! But, there isn’t a lot of that, that is easily likable, that blends in well with music to be listening to, often.
So, Off I went, on a search for media streams. The streams needed:
1. A mix of music.
2. Be streaming free on PIPE.
3. Not contain a predominant Rap target.
Well, my search ended at PIPE peering, as per yesterday, there is very few that online radio streams appear on PIPE. In fact, I’m nearly limited to 3FL.
So, looking at 3FL’s variety, it’s certainly a very much welcomed addition, it takes the constant, repetitve music away from my ears for a while. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t remove it completely, I listen to the two Top 40 stations they relay, Club977 Hitz and Hitz Radio, and unfortunately, both those radio stations contain a LOT of rap music, and not so much in “other music”. Sure, it’s OK to hear “Shaggy – It wasn’t me” in as many years as its been, and some No Doubt (I like No Doubt, good band – shame Gwen went the way of Rap, read: Akon).
Unfortunately so, Akon has a lot of music that gets played, and Gwen Stefani’s new hits can only be played so many times before they get boring. I like a little rotation, a little mix up, add some “Martika – I feel the earth move” and some “Nelly Furtado – Turn Off The Light” and .. heck, some Savage Garden, and .. some occasional Outkast, but lose the constant Akon, the constant Eminem, the constant Rap. Mix it up a little. Is that much to ask?
Well, there is a solution! Eye97. A great online radio station (eye97.com). It’s available to Internode users, dang it. I want some more mixed radio. I want it from my machine, so it’s in the same room, without having an “extra device” running.
I’ve asked on the 3FL forums for more, more general music. Let’s hope a solution happens.
In the mean time, let’s try to avoid Akon, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and so on, as much as possible. I just can’t stand Rap anymore. It’s too.. boring. They lose my interest in the first 15 seconds of a 3 minute ‘tune’ (if it can be called that).
Again, I’m no hater of any variety of music, but when I turn the radio on, and find, Rap, Rap, (C)rap, And it’s exactly what I am not looking for, it sort of drives you insane.
The motivation for radio stations to do this, is obviously upstream royalties related to Ring Tones. Think about it. Why else produce a predominantly Rap filled program, compared to the late 90’s, early 2000’s Madonna, and so on music mixes? Only logical explanation is “money”, and “money” for rap, isn’t something that is found as easy as on CD’s, nope, it’s all in the Ring Tones.
Great, now I’m listening to crappy “Outkast – Roses” – yes, your shit does stink.