Today FM

Nightwish

Since entering the world of employment, after college, 6 months ago, I have to listen to Today FM all day, 5 days a week. Now I rarely listen to the radio anyway (ok never). There are many many many things that I hate about the 3 shows I listen to daily (Ray Darcy, Ray Foley, Tony Fenton), but what really irks me the most is the music they play. I am well aware of the fact I'll never find a radio station that plays music I like, but my problem lies in Today Fm basically playing the same songs up to 4 times a day. Theres a pool of about 20 songs/artists I could guarantee get played at least once everyday. There is only so many times I can take listening to that gob****e Amy Winehouse whining about Rehab, every day, but no Tony plays it about an hour after Ray Foley played it.

Tony is by far the worst culperate for being predictable (and also the most vile patronising personality in radio). Bored, one day, myself and a colleague had a 90% accuracy in predicting what songs he played. Amy Winehouse, Snow Patrol, Thin Lizzy, Chrissie Hynde, Razorlight, The Feeling, The Kooks, The Fratelli's (and pretty much any other NME flavour-of-the-month skinny-boys-with-guitars bands).

Now I am probably the only person in the country who is pissed off at the predictable nature of Today Fm, and the rest of you are going to say "switch station", but I can't. Its Today fm I'm stuck with [/rant]

mike65

I have sympathy for anyone who is lumbered with 'group radio listening' Can the radio have an accident?

Mike.

county

the same could be said for most radio stations tbh,they are all guilty of playing the same sh1te an hour after they last played it

RadioRetro

That's because they have a 'music programmer' who selects the music for each show and provides each DJ with a list of what he should play and when. He also schedules in links, ad breaks, jingles, stings and suchlike. The DJs have absolutely NO CHOICE in the matter.

Nightwish

^^^except Tony Fenton. He's the only DJ that plays Chrissie Hynde on a daily basis (the same song too!).

cashback

Nightwish wrote:

^^^except Tony Fenton. He's the only DJ that plays Chrissie Hynde on a daily basis (the same song too!).

Is it Back On The Chain Gang? When you mentioned her and Tony together, the song just entered my head.

Yeah being forced to listen to daytime radio would drive anyone insane.
Except for those annoying people who have to sing along whenever Snow Patrol or Razorlight comes on.

Nightwish

Thats it!!! Is that not a sign of something! How bad a DJ is he that he can be so predictable?

cashback

Nightwish wrote:

Thats it!!! Is that not a sign of something! How bad a DJ is he that he can be so predictable?

That is a bad sign. I would only happen to hear his show on the rare occasion. Thankfully.

Wertz

Phantom has been my saviour for working in dublin the last 3 months...most of the guys I work with will have Nightwish's three hated shows on all day too, but I stick my own radio on to phantom and turn up the volume.

I don't even particulalry like most of the stuff they play, but the unpredictability of a lot of it, the inclusion of Irish bands you never even hear mentioned on the usual daytime radio shows, and just the sheer fact that it sounds like the DJ's actually play what they want to and like what they're playing that make it a breath of fresh air....I just wish they played a little more electronic music (along the same vein, NOT the chart crap)....but you can't have everything.

I've said this before: with radio stations sounding more and more alike and all of them facing competition from the ubiquitous mp3 player/phone/iPod, it should surely be the case that they'd attempt to diversify even a little with their music policy and method of track selection, instead of all of them being the homogenised blend of chart/new MTV hit/predictable golden oldie/whatever the record companys are promo-ing.

It's not even just that....I realise that any station needs to appeal to a broad audience and chart is always going to appeal....it's the way that certain playlist tracks are just hammered into the ground, they can kill even the half decent tunes. There's enough music out there that you should never have to hear the same track twice a day (or even twice a week)....there's so much new music, a lot easily accessible on the net, that never get's heard at the level it deserves. I'm always aazed by the "What tune is this?" threads in the music forum asking about stuff that has been receiving UK and european airplay for ages, that people have never really heard on Irish radio...if Golden Discs ain't selling it, then they ain't playin' it is the impression I'm left with...


Don't even get me started on the ads...

/rant

Bard

Nightwish wrote:

Thats it!!! Is that not a sign of something! How bad a DJ is he that he can be so predictable?

He's got the dreamers disease, you know. *wink*

byte

Of the 3 DJ's you mentioned, Fenton is by far the worst IMO. In fact, he should be with Atlantic252... off air!

Stargal

Bard wrote:

He's got the dreamers disease, you know. *wink*

Nice reference Accurate too - that's another one of the songs that he plays practically every day.

Our man in Havana

mike65 wrote:

I have sympathy for anyone who is lumbered with 'group radio listening' Can the radio have an accident?

Mike.

I would think in a place like Argos, a broken radio would be a matter of little consequence.

Nightwish

I don't work in Argos anymore. I am now a lowly civil servant

and lol @Bard - good pun there

Dudess

Bard wrote:

He's got the dreamers disease, you know. *wink*

SO spot-on!!! He is f**king obsessed, OBSESSED with it! And yes, atrociously patronising.

miketv

Dudess wrote:

SO spot-on!!! He is f**king obsessed, OBSESSED with it! And yes, atrociously patronising.

Used to be his favourite when he was on after ray darcy, the first song to crack into the midday session with a BANG...yeah..yeah...greeeat ..what a great tune! :rolleyes:

Nightwish

Again today, the music was very predictable - Amy Winehouse, Just Jack and The Killers at least 3 times Is "variety" a completely alien concept to Today FM?

grumpytrousers

Nightwish wrote:

Again today, the music was very predictable - Amy Winehouse, Just Jack and The Killers at least 3 times Is "variety" a completely alien concept to Today FM?

course it isn't; i don't know T fenton personally, biut i'd wager his home choices of music would differ to the radio playlist...

it's what the listeners want...ie most of the listeners...ie the ones in the target demographic for that time of day...

more people listen to the radio in short bursts than continuously...hence *most* people don't get hacked off by hearing the killers, for exampple, as it's their first time hearing the song that day.

Y'all have me sympathy...just pointing out the cold hard commercial facts; for what its worth...lots of stations worldwide are a sod of a lot worse and a lot more narrow...

Our man in Havana

Nightwish wrote:

I don't work in Argos anymore. I am now a lowly civil servant

and lol @Bard - good pun there

Congrats on your new job.

mike65

Today FM could be worse - it could be owned by Clear Channel! :eek:

Actually Clear Channel does have loads of themed output but they are hugely dominating.

Mike.

grumpytrousers

mike65 wrote:

Today FM could be worse - it could be owned by Clear Channel! :eek:

Actually Clear Channel does have loads of themed output but they are hugely dominating.

Mike.

That's precisely what i was getting at young Mr65...

manonthemoon

I listen to BBC Radio6 on line. I think its brill!!

All the latest stuff without the crap like JUST JACK. By God that stuff is awful. Not much of the whiny rubbish like SNOOZE PATROL or the KILLERS. A couple of classic tunes as well. STone Roses, Brit Pop, Punk,

Yesterday I Had "WHITE PUNKS ON DOPE" by the Tubes and the Specials.

They are playing some Old school SKA now. "Al Capone" by Prince Buster.

GIDDY UP. GIDDY UP



But Best of all. NO ADS (Hurrah!!

mike65

Ah The Tubes, my youth! :eek: Radio Luxemberg 208!, jumpers for goalposts etc

Mike.

magnumlady

I agree with you, Tony is bad...........but compared to Ocean Fm (Sligo) he's great!!
They keep playing the Lighthouse family, Gilbert O'Sullivan(!) and Paul Brady, day in day out. It got so bad I bought an internet radio and now I don't have to listen to any of them!:D

Liam Byrne

It's funny how things change......I remember that when Atlantic 252 came on, people loved the way it played the same songs almost every hour......now Today FM get slagged for playing the same songs in consecutive shows.

Don't get me wrong; I try not to even play the same songs myself, and Today FM can be very annoyingly repetitive at times, but I just can't help thinking how things have changed if people are complaining about that aspect of Tony's show....

radioman

RadioRetro wrote:

That's because they have a 'music programmer' who selects the music for each show and provides each DJ with a list of what he should play and when. He also schedules in links, ad breaks, jingles, stings and suchlike. The DJs have absolutely NO CHOICE in the matter.

If you're on about Today FM, thats a load of crap. They have their playlist songs but have some freedom to play other stuff too. The DJ's do pick the music for their shows.

Nightwish

I thought that Fenton (or Fagan) picked his music. He admitted on Podge & Rodge he intentionally played a song so much it so would get to no.1. So even if the DJ's dont pick their music, the boffins in Today Fm know a sizable amount of workplaces tune in all day, and therefore, why feel the need to play the same song 4 times in the space of 7 hours? Yesterday in the office, we tuned into the local radio station all day, and not one song was repeated all day.

Chillwithcian

Ireland needs more alternitave stations like those on DAB in england. In america you can just press a button on your radio like 'Jazz' or 'Classical' and hey presto you have dozens of choices... We are SOOO far behind with our genres....:mad:

el diablo

Nightwish wrote:

I thought that Fenton (or Fagan) picked his music. He admitted on Podge & Rodge he intentionally played a song so much it so would get to no.1. So even if the DJ's dont pick their music, the boffins in Today Fm know a sizable amount of workplaces tune in all day, and therefore, why feel the need to play the same song 4 times in the space of 7 hours? Yesterday in the office, we tuned into the local radio station all day, and not one song was repeated all day.

pretty sure Tony Fenton paicks his own music. Haven't heard him in a while but he used to play U2, Thin Lizzy, The Lighthouse People and The Corrs everyday (and always the same song).

seems like he hasn't changed....:rolleyes:

Nightwish

Ray D'Arcy picks his own music too, as he said it on the radio today.

eamon234

Nightwish wrote:

Tony is by far the worst culperate for being predictable (and also the most vile patronising personality in radio). Bored, one day, myself and a colleague had a 90% accuracy in predicting what songs he played. Amy Winehouse, Snow Patrol, Thin Lizzy, Chrissie Hynde, Razorlight, The Feeling, The Kooks, The Fratelli's (and pretty much any other NME flavour-of-the-month skinny-boys-with-guitars bands).
[/rant]

I wholeheartedly agree he's such a pain in the hole with all his Smashie and Nicey-isms

eamon234

Nightwish wrote:

Ray D'Arcy picks his own music too, as he said it on the radio today.

Have to say his taste isn't too bad heard him playing DJ Shadow the other day was well impressed

patrickc

foley prob plays the most unique music during the day... yeh he plays the charty stuff but other unusual music too