Satellite Radio & The New Culture of Music

My new car, which I purchased almost three months ago, came with a free, three-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio.  They'll let me continue for another six months for only thirty bucks or so.  Frankly, and I would never tell the kind folks at SiriusXM this, but nine months of satellite radio for thirty bucks is an incredible bargain.  They could charge me more, and I'd be forced to take it.  I'm addicted to satellite radio.

Why is this the case?  Inevitably, the first advantage to satellite radio that people bring up is the lack of commercial interruptions.  This is a clear benefit, but it's not entirely true - some programs, such as Opie and Anthony, have occasional commercial breaks.  And indeed, in general, listening to virtually zero commercials on the radio is better than listening to local hacks pitching non-essential services on every radio station at the exact same time (:50 past the hour or so).

(SOMEWHAT RELATED RANT: Though, local hacks pitching non-essential services is much better than non-local hacks pitching non-essential services.  We now use Verizon FiOS for cable at our home, which is generally speaking a vast improvement over evil fascist-run Cablevision.  However, FiOS erroneously thinks that the entire New York City metro area is interested in hearing the same commercials.  New York City is not Akron, Ohio.  I live in the suburbs, but there are one million people who live in a twenty mile radius of me, and literally everything I might possibly need, from pest removal to appliance repair to Ethiopian food, is available to me within a ten mile radius.  I do not need to hear TV commercials for random kitchen and bath contractors who operate fifty miles away from me.  I would never use them, and even if I were interested, it would be economically infeasible for them to consider selling to me.  The way FiOS defines "local" with regard to commercial transmission makes zero sense - maybe someone out there can explain it to me.  I can't be the only person upset about this.)

Anyway, I feel there are more reasons why satellite radio kicks terrestrial radio's ass than you would be interested in reading.  I'll list a few of the reasons why I feel this way below, and then we can argue, banter, have fisticuffs or whatever you'd prefer regarding the topic.

• Variety of music.  At present, the New York City FM dial is a barren wasteland for people who aren't fifteen years old and/or mentally retarded.  To the best of my knowledge, there exists zero modern rock, alternative rock, or hard rock FM radio stations broadcasting out of NYC right now.  But let's be fair; even when K-Rock existed (R.I.P, 1996-2009), one halfway decent radio station could only do so much.  The business model of terrestrial radio requires a steady and large stable of listeners in order to provide advertising revenue.  Satellite, on the other hand, doesn't give a damn whether you want to listen to 1st Wave (classic alternative, 1989 and earlier), Lithium (classic alternative, 1990-2000 c.f.), or Alt Nation (modern alternative, 2001-present) - you've paid your dues already, so you can listen to whatever you want.  The end result of this is that terrestrial rock radio always needed to play Matchbox Twenty back-to-back with Metallica, even though the fan bases for the aforementioned bands did not overlap.  They assumed, in what was a safe assumption until fairly recently, that listeners would suck it up and listen to both groups on the same radio station.  Satellite, on the other hand, can cater to finicky tastes by compartmentalizing music genres in so many different ways, it's amazing (and at first, overwhelming).
• Variety of non-music content.  I mentioned Opie and Anthony before.  They were once simulcasted on terrestrial radio in my area even while on satellite radio.  This doesn't happen anymore, which is a shame because O&A, while filthy and repulsive, are also incredibly awesome.  I work in an office, doing corporate work, and my long drives to and from work are where I am able to let my id free.  Opie and Anthony's constant comedy and vitriol help me considerably in this endeavor.  Also amazing is Jason Ellis Live, a drive time show on XL Faction.  Regardless of your poison, it's important to laugh out loud in your car, and with the incredible amount of talent leaving terrestrial radio for satellite over the past several years, it's now only possible to do this on satellite.
• Satellite technology.  Except for underpasses and driving rainstorms, I've never had any issue listening to satellite radio at any time.  This contrasts with terrestrial radio, which is obviously constrained by transmitter power (and, also, weather).  Theoretically, if I were to drive from my home in New Jersey to the Pacific coast, I would be able to listen the same radio station.  This would be patently crazy, but theoretically possible.  (NOTE: I'd like to someday drive to Canada in this car.  Does satellite radio work in Canada?  That would be a little racist if it didn't.  Maybe it's similar, but they play lots of Barenaked Ladies, Sarah MacLachlan, and NHL broadcasts on "XL Hoser".)
• Complete lack of censorship.  Back in the day, before our litigious society went berserk on musicians dropping the F-bomb in the vein of artistic expression, you could hear raw, unedited versions of fairly explicit music on terrestrial radio.  I, for one, grew up with Tom Morello screaming repeatedly that Fuck no, he wouldn't do what they told him.  At some point, this shit no longer flew on the FM dial, and songs were entirely dubbed clean - often at the expense of the core intent of the piece.  This does not happen on satellite radio, thankfully, and it's cathartic to hear songs performed the way they were intended to be performed.  Remind me again, why do people get so up in arms about profanity?  These people, clearly, should go fuck themselves.
• In a sense, it's good for the music industry.  I mentioned earlier that satellite radio has more musical genre "cuts" than one might expect (or, in some cases, want).  What's nice to me about some of these stations is the extent to which they promote new, independent, and unsigned music.  It's common for a song to debut on XM U (the indie, college radio station) and end up on Alt Nation (the modern alternative rock station), and if it becomes popular enough on Alt Nation, that goes a long way to international super-stardom - which is what any musician who puts his or her music on the radio should want.  What I don't know is how music gets to XM U in the first place, but judging from the personalities they have on that station, I'm assuming that lots of it is researched from the ground up and is completely unsigned.  If so, that's a good thing for the music industry (where traditional avenues of developing talent are dying rapidly).

Is there anything I miss about terrestrial radio?  I haven't voluntarily put on the FM dial once since I purchased my new car last November, so I suppose there isn't much.  One thing I do miss - and I miss it a great deal - is the locality of terrestrial radio.  By this I mean that until recently, it was possible for a radio station to stick around long enough, and make enough money through advertising, to become a stakeholder in a community's musical culture.  They were part of a city's language, the on-air talent (if talented enough) became an adopted member of the community, and they were able to interact with their listeners in ways that were meaningful.

In the late fall of 1997, my mom wrote K-Rock in New York City a letter (maybe it was an E-mail, but I doubt it) explaining how much her son loved the radio station.  She was thinking they might be nice and send her a bumper sticker or something else to put in my Christmas stocking.  They actually sent a few bumper stickers back to her.  They also sent a long-sleeve T-Shirt (NOTE: I write this in February of 2012.  I'm married and have a mortgage, and I still own and fit in this T-Shirt.  It survived literally 25 moves I've made over the past fifteen years.  It is by far the oldest piece of clothing I own, it is a unanimous first-ballot Clothing Hall of Famer, and I will cry out loud like a baby when it eventually rips).  Oh, and they also threw in demo copies of the top ten alternative rock albums of 1997.  At a value of over $100, they sent these gifts to my mom at no charge.  This was my Ralphie Christmas, it's the Christmas I will always remember.

Fast forward twelve years later.  In early 2009, a friend of mine won floor tickets to see Metallica at the Prudential Center in Newark from the same radio station (though by then K-Rock was in its death throes, about to be consumed by the Demons of New York Radio and turned into Dance Music for Adults with Severe Autism).  Through the radio station promotion, I tagged along with him and spent an evening about ten feet from James Hetfield.  This was one of the concerts I will always remember.

Satellite radio, at least right now, cannot come close to matching the type of emotional connections that were once made easily by local, terrestrial radio stations.  I would love to see it happen in the future; maybe they could vary the on-air talent by region?  Or simulcast more local radio stations?  (They currently do this for a few radio stations in the New York market, such as Z100, though I'm not sure if this is a national or local thing.  I really need to drive my car outside of the New York metro area for once to figure this out.)

For now, it's clear to me that satellite radio is an improvement over the status quo.  It does change the way we connect with our communities as a result of listening to the radio, and it's a little sad to think that one day, the "local one dollar concert series" or the "radio station street crew" will go the way of banks handing out toasters to new customers.  Having satellite radio is like being one of the cool kids in a nationwide school with twenty million students.  You know where you stand, you like where you stand, but you don't know anyone around you.