D'Arcy playing the same songs again and again and again.....

Oafley Jones

Let me first state that I still like Ray, as a kid and teen I loved the man on the DEN and later in college would listen to the radio show whenever I could. Sure, nowadays he tends to get on the soapbox a bit too much but that's part of the ageing process so I can accept that. What I can't accept is the way he constantly plays the same songs.

So far this morning, we've had the Ting tings 'That's not my name' and the same tune from the Sons of the High Kings and I've had enough... I can't stand another second of the show. I'd love to know how many times he's played these over the last few months. If I hear that tune with the lyrics 'time they are changing' and a chorus that to me sounds like small dogs yapping I swear I'll throw the radio out the window. Does anyone know if Ray is contractually obliged to be play these songs into the ground?

Maybe it's always been this bad and the fact that I could only listen to the show for a minutes a day in college disguised this. Does anyone have the number to text the show? The Today FM site, which is amazingly awful, causes my browser to close after a few seconds so I can't locate it.

Robbo

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Maybe it's always been this bad and the fact that I could only listen to the show for a minutes a day in college disguised this. Does anyone have the number to text the show? The Today FM site, which is amazingly awful, causes my browser to close after a few seconds so I can't locate it.

085 4 100 102

The D'arcy playlist moves at the pace of glaciation. Once something gets on there, it's not moving for at least 3 months and you're going to hear it every day.

Big Tone

I dont think there's meant to be much focus on music on TRDS but nonetheless this is format radio which means heavy rotation of the same dozen or so songs, so this is pretty much par for the course.

alpha2zulu

The whoosiers, worried about Ray song, feels like a constant aswell

caspermccormack

Why not write in on fix it friday!:D

Heckler

Used to be a fan of TRDS but sadly no longer. Along with his increasingly annoying superior attitude his constant playing of the same songs is wrecking my head.

He sometimes alludes to the fact that when he goes home he spends time picking out the songs for the next day. He must do this once every three months. He can fla a song to death like no other. He like a certain type of "quirky" song and he'll play it to death i.e. the TingTings, Noah and the Whale etc. You can tell from the first song of the morning what the playlist is going to be like. If he starts with some ****e like Declan Rourke then you know its going to be paddy ****e like Mundy, Paddy Casey and Juliet Turner for the next 3 hours.

He's as predictable as my lunchtime ****. Although not as boring.

kippy

In fairness, the music on TRDS is not the biggest part of it.
I dont particularily like any of the music on main stream radio any more and listen to the radio for the chat and the talk-sad as it may seem. Thats obviously the type of audience they aim for and its a good show in my opinion.
Kippy

GeturGun

Last year - Duffy - Mercy - Every Goddam Day :mad:

Paddo81

Wait for the guy after Ray - a fella called Ray Foley i think it is! I think hes had the same mixed cd for 2 months and just puts it on shuffle every day.

More Music

Just wondering if the programme director/head of music actually selects the music for these shows. It happens in nearly every station in the country these days.

The DJ's usually get a free pick once or twice an hour.

deadwood

I texted them about some annoying dance tune that, thankfully. escapes my memory now. He was playing it daily last year and it's reared its ugly head again recently.
Is he trying to be "the man that made 'band-X' what they are today" like Dave Fanning/U2?

Oafley Jones

kippy wrote: »

In fairness, the music on TRDS is not the biggest part of it.
I dont particularily like any of the music on main stream radio any more and listen to the radio for the chat and the talk-sad as it may seem. Thats obviously the type of audience they aim for and its a good show in my opinion.
Kippy

A listener asked a few weeks ago how long per programme do Ray etc. actually talk? The answer... on average only an hour and a quarter! I was surprised at first but when you listen to a full show there's surprising little content.

Mackman

there are so many reasons why i hate D'Arcy, the music is probably the biggest problem i have with him though. i think he doesnt know anything about music what so ever, and when he finds a some song that some 13year old texts in sayin "OMG like,dat is d best sng eva!", he sticks with it and plays it to death :rolleyes:

jor el

Commercial radio stations have a fixed set of songs that get played constantly. Why? Because that's how they make their money. Playing the popular songs brings in the advertising revenue. Daytime DJs get little choice in what to play, if you want to blame anyone for the songs that are there, blame those who buy/download the singles to put them at the top of the charts.

It's not just D'Arcy either. If you listen to the same station all day, you'll hear the same songs 3 or 4 times, with the odd DJ choice thrown in once or twice an hour.

For anyone who doesn't like Irish music, it's not going to change any time soon. The BCI decree that the national stations must have a minimum of 20%, Irish produced music. That's 2 or 3 songs every hour.

Nightwish

Today FM is dreadful when it comes to its daytime playlists. Ray D'Arcy is not the only one. The other 2 - Ray and PhonyTony are just as bad, if not worse. D'Arcy must have some control oser the content of his playlist as he always plays "quirky indie" songs which when played are always followed by a rake of texts that go "Lovin' that song Ray...keep playing it and I love the show. Keep up the good work". I'd love to find out who these people are and ensure that they never breed, because our future doesnt need their kind.

Yes I know I'm angry but that's what 2 years of listening to Today FM does to you.

Our man in Havana

I am sure you can get help for that.

I remember reading here that the BCI decrees that an old song (more than 6 months old) cannot be played more than once every 10 days.

jor el

Bond-007 wrote: »

I remember reading here that the BCI decrees that an old song (more than 6 months old) cannot be played more than once every 10 days.

They obviously don't listen to Tony Fenton then. He plays the same Thin Lizzy and Morrissey songs every day.

MarkN

Bond-007 wrote: »

I am sure you can get help for that.

I remember reading here that the BCI decrees that an old song (more than 6 months old) cannot be played more than once every 10 days.

Not true.

And the dj picks one or two an hour theory is not true either. If a station is playlisted it's not up to the dj. There are shows without playlists but usually it'll be the whole show in that case - not just a song or two.

More Music

The BCI thing about a song more than 6 months old is defo not true.

The DJ song selection is not a theory. It's common practice.

If you take a particular hour you might fit in 10 songs. However, there would be 12 or 13 songs on that hours playlist. The DJ can sometimes pick what 10 songs to play from the 13 on the list.

I am aware that some shows are not playlisted at all. These are usually the specialist music shows.

Our man in Havana

The BCI thing about a song more than 6 months old is defo not true.

I didn't think so myself but someone apparently in the business posted that a few months ago. How could you get a licence for an oldies station otherwise? Not that one exists or anything.

MarkN

More Music wrote: »

The DJ song selection is not a theory. It's common practice.

If you take a particular hour you might fit in 10 songs. However, there would be 12 or 13 songs on that hours playlist. The DJ can sometimes pick what 10 songs to play from the 13 on the list..

Where is this common practice?

phelixoflaherty

Change the channel or even better use the off button.

Robbo

Nightwish wrote: »

Today FM is dreadful when it comes to its daytime playlists. Ray D'Arcy is not the only one. The other 2 - Ray and PhonyTony are just as bad, if not worse. D'Arcy must have some control oser the content of his playlist as he always plays "quirky indie" songs which when played are always followed by a rake of texts that go "Lovin' that song Ray...keep playing it and I love the show. Keep up the good work". I'd love to find out who these people are and ensure that they never breed, because our future doesnt need their kind.

Yes I know I'm angry but that's what 2 years of listening to Today FM does to you.

Ah, D'arcys "quirky indie covers". Soon enough we'll have David Kitt whelp his way through "The Vengabus is Coming" in prissy dirge format whilst people text in with "crshed car bcos i waz moved2 tearz".

It's a shameless formula.

The Muppet

Bond-007 wrote: »

I didn't think so myself but someone apparently in the business posted that a few months ago. How could you get a licence for an oldies station otherwise? Not that one exists or anything.

Stations are expected to adhere to their format and schedule they submit to the BCI but apart from that the BCI have no input into a stations playlist.

I don't know why Ray or any present mentioned here is getting blamed for a repetative playlist, Thye don't pick the songs they play, They play what is on the playlist and programmed into the system.

Our man in Havana

I don't know why Ray or any present mentioned here is getting blamed for a repetative playlist, Thye don't pick the songs they play, They play what is on the playlist and programmed into the system.

That is the point is lost on most people. Management dictate the playlist not the presenters.

Royal Seahawk

Nightwish wrote: »

Yes I know I'm angry but that's what 2 years of listening to Today FM does to you.

Know exactly how you feel. I had to take it off my preset stations in the van, it was so f****** bad.
I hate the station from top to bottom, i do not know how anyone can listen to it regularly,
It is the LCD of Irish radio IMO.

DenMan

There is no doubt it is what appeals to the masses is what determines the stations output. Revenue gained from record labels for promoting their signed acts is also another huge incentive and suicidal for radio stations to turn away from. Regarding the anonymous texts that are sent in by users to compliment the DJ's playlist, a year ago I decided to write some of them down, just to get a picture of people's tastes. On three occasions I have encountered the same message(s) by the same user. It is difficult to say it is completely genuine as ratings determine success. Hopefully the daily downloads will change this and it will encourage the DJ's to expand on their playlist directory. Am in an advantage here as I do have control over what radio station I listen to. Most people working in the morning and during in the afternoon don't (at least not as an individual). Last.fm should be looked at more closely by national/local radio stations alike as it garners interest in people's tastes. Just bought the new single from Amon Amarth, Twilight of the Thunder God online. A step in the right direction methinks.

I hope in the future it gets an airplay by both Ray D’Arcy and Tony Fenton. Optimistic I know!!!

grumpytrousers

Robbo wrote: »

Ah, D'arcys "quirky indie covers". Soon enough we'll have David Kitt whelp his way through "The Vengabus is Coming" in prissy dirge format whilst people text in with "crshed car bcos i waz moved2 tearz".

It's a shameless formula.

I know - now if D'arcy was any good he'd get the Prodigy to do a Paddy Casey song.

---

Now playing: Guns N' Roses - November Rain
via FoxyTunes

_feedback_

I realise 100% that most radio stations today are playlisted completely. But a lot of what posters here are saying is very true. I would confidently say that Ray D'Arcy isn't playlisted. I'd love if there was a way of proving it, but the best I can do is mention that Ray very often mentions "picking the music for the show at home last night" Plus the repetitive nature of the music.. like Ray L'Amontange (SP) 'Trouble'. He played that constantly for a long time, and I don't think that it's a song that would repeatedly appear on his playlist. Everything about the programme suggests he chooses the music. Is there any way of finding out for sure?

In fact, by the sounds of it, Ian Dempsey seems to be the only one on the programme who sticks to a playlist... Tony Fenton has the same repetitive syndrome as Ray D'Arcy, and Ray Foley isn't playlisted either IMO. Maybe to a certain extent he is, but yesterday for example, he passed his driving test and the first song on the show was that annoying "I go driving in my car -beep beep" song. Surely it wasn't there on a playlist and he just happened to pass his test the same day?

MarkN

DenMan wrote: »

. Revenue gained from record labels for promoting their signed acts is also another huge incentive

Could you explain this a bit more?

DenMan

Hi MarkN

Sure thing man. In the US there is a practise known as Payola. It is an illegal method in which record labels pay radio stations for airplay on their signed acts. Despite being part of the American music industry similar distribution is happening in both Europe and Australia. When I lived in Malta I helped out with a local station. We received royalties from an Italian label because we played a lot of their signed acts and Italian is the official second language in Malta. It was done quietly and without that revenue the station would probably have collapsed due to it being a small island and not self sustaining.

In Ireland, like the UK the stations pay fees to the labels who represent the songwriters. It is fixed on a rate that is in direct relation to the stations revenue, i.e different stations pay different rates. Artists will only benefit if they wrote the song. For every scandal that is heard coming from the music industry there are many more that I am sure are not talked about. I won't say anything about RTE because the company I am with do work for them. However RTE as the main national broadcaster in Ireland are not supposed to accept royalties for advertising, they shouldn't have them in the first place. It is a legal loophole that has been used here since the first broadcast in Ireland and goes back to before the founding of the state (1922) when Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom. The BBC are the UK's main national broadcaster and do not not show/air ads, and as a result do not earn from it. A new European law being made in Germany is going to put a stop to that, and both RTE, the BCI and all national and local radio stations are not happy about it. It is due to come into effect in three years time.

From a legal point of view radio stations here can claim royalties at the end of the tax year depending on radio airplays and chart successes of certain singles/album sales if they meet the criteria (which most of them do, and this keeps them ticking over nicely).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4788762.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4462674.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola