TXFM (formerly much missed Phantom) line up

The_Captain

I listen to TXFM because it's better than most of the stations out there. I give out about TXFM because it's gone massively downhill since the Phantom days

ghostdancer

Clem_Fandango wrote: »

Hello Thread Followers,

This is Clem Fandango. Can you hear me?

Just out of curiosity - and please don't bite my head off - but, why do you care what a radio station plays so much so that you will both give out about it, but also continue to listen?

I don't really think Caddell is going to swing by, read your comment, and think to himself "I should listen to these guys. They are the chosen ones."


Why not just switch the dial?

Or pop on a track you do like?

It just seems a bit silly to give out about a commercial radio station for the things that are clearly commercial. Like, heavy rotation for example, it's kind of a big formatting component of 7-7 radio. You're not gonna get away from it.

"Man I looooove me some milk but I f****in hate cows."


I say, if you like it, hey great... support it.

If you don't, hey great... go support something else.

Personally, I don't really listen to the station because my musical tastes have changed and I'm reminded of this when I do occasionally tune in.

So, I listen to something else without major drama. It's pretty easy.

Anyone who answers has my appreciation.

Good Luck.

FAM

CLEM FANDANGO

i don't really "continue to listen". i've pretty much given up listening between 7am and 7pm as the music is mostly samey rubbish. i listen to the evening shows less than i used to as a result, even though they're mostly still great.

the "commercial radio station doing commercial things" argument gets repeated every now and again and is one of the stupidest i've seen.
Phantom became popular playing non-commercial music (ie. music that other stations weren't playing).
over the last few years it has played more and more poppy MOR rubbish that can be found on TodayFM, 2FM, etc. (Hozier, Adele, Snow Patrol, etc.).
during those years, it's listenership has plummeted.
just because other commercial radio stations are lazy and have heavy rotation doesn't mean TXFM has to do the same.
the "everyone else does it so we'll do it" logic is pretty stupid really.
maybe if they stopped playing the same songs every couple of hours less people would tune out?
most businesses would stop doing something new if they lost loads of customers. Phantom/TXFM seem to have doubled-down hoping that eventually some new customers will come along. a few years later and it still hasn't happened...

several past and present TXFM presenters/producers/staff do read here, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Cadell would too.
maybe it will be food for thought, maybe he already thinks that, maybe he'll never read it. either way, the odd post every few weeks/months is a minuscule amount of my time so it's not an issue for me anyway.

as for why I care, I'd like to hear good, varied music played like I did when I first started listening to Phantom. none of the other stations offer that.

Clem_Fandango

ghostdancer wrote: »

i don't really "continue to listen". i've pretty much given up listening between 7am and 7pm as the music is mostly samey rubbish. i listen to the evening shows less than i used to as a result, even though they're mostly still great.

the "commercial radio station doing commercial things" argument gets repeated every now and again and is one of the stupidest i've seen.
Phantom became popular playing non-commercial music (ie. music that other stations weren't playing).
over the last few years it has played more and more poppy MOR rubbish that can be found on TodayFM, 2FM, etc. (Hozier, Adele, Snow Patrol, etc.).
during those years, it's listenership has plummeted.
just because other commercial radio stations are lazy and have heavy rotation doesn't mean TXFM has to do the same.
the "everyone else does it so we'll do it" logic is pretty stupid really.
maybe if they stopped playing the same songs every couple of hours less people would tune out?
most businesses would stop doing something new if they lost loads of customers. Phantom/TXFM seem to have doubled-down hoping that eventually some new customers will come along. a few years later and it still hasn't happened...

several past and present TXFM presenters/producers/staff do read here, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Cadell would too.
maybe it will be food for thought, maybe he already thinks that, maybe he'll never read it. either way, the odd post every few weeks/months is a minuscule amount of my time so it's not an issue for me anyway.

as for why I care, I'd like to hear good, varied music played like I did when I first started listening to Phantom. none of the other stations offer that.

---

Cheers for the reply, I appreciate it.

I agree with you that the commercial model is flawed when applied to the "alternative/Rock/indie" sphere.

When I nodded to that argument it wasn't a defence of the default, I was trying to be diplomatic about the state of BAI license criteria in conjunction with the decline of that spheres quality output: X % Irish, X % post '96 etc. vs. Hozier ticks boxes.

It was more of a 'hate the game and not the player' sentiment. TXFM is a Communicorp product, with, most likely, fairly clear lines of delineation for USP, but still all within that encompassing BAI license.

to follow on with your business model - TXFM is hardly a sole trader, who can shift on the fly. I think they're taking on a tough task with limited resources in a declining market.

This is why I've shifted from the Irish wireless; I don't like the game.

I'm sure a lot of them read the comments on here and a few might even agree with some of the things being said, but I don't think the comments will make a difference. Maybe I'm wrong.
That's why I was stunned to see 46 pages of them.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Good luck.

Oh, I don't work for Communicorp or TXFM or any other station. Not a plant.

The_Captain

The thing is, we already know that guys like Caddell are big into music. His afternoon show on Phantom was one of the most popular slots and you'll be hard pushed to find anyone slating him.

Left to his own devices, John would be playing top tunes, so it's obviously the constraints of the management or licencing.

I know nothing about royalties/artists rights but I get the feeling the repetitive nature of the songs is a cost saving exercise, or else they've literally just copied the Spin format with the playlist changed.

Birneybau

The_Captain wrote: »

The thing is, we already know that guys like Caddell are big into music. His afternoon show on Phantom was one of the most popular slots and you'll be hard pushed to find anyone slating him.

Left to his own devices, John would be playing top tunes, so it's obviously the constraints of the management or licencing.

I know nothing about royalties/artists rights but I get the feeling the repetitive nature of the songs is a cost saving exercise, or else they've literally just copied the Spin format with the playlist changed.

Yeah, I always liked John. Jeez, he should be doing the "What did you have for lunch, Text us, 51052" 3-7 slot. He had a bit of personality and a hell of a lot more of a clue about music than the current incumbent.

L1011

The_Captain wrote: »

I know nothing about royalties/artists rights but I get the feeling the repetitive nature of the songs is a cost saving exercise, or else they've literally just copied the Spin format with the playlist changed.

This isn't the case. Royalties are a fixed % of turnover, doesn't matter what is being played. How much is being played is somewhat up in the air currently as the rights holders are looking for a bigger % but currently how much doesn't matter either.

Oasis_Dublin

The point about all of this is two fold.

The first point to be made is that the stations have no choice in terms of who they play during the day (more or less). So when MCD decides they are going to put a gig on, they go to TXFM and say, "play the sh*te out of the band's music, so you can mention the upcoming gig at the end of the song." If TXFM decided they weren't going to do this, MCD wouldn't give them money or prizes.

The second point to be made is that the presenters aren't DJs. Anyone who has been to the Workman's of a Thursday evening can testify that even the presenters who run event nights aren't DJs. So they aren't going to put a mix together. John Cadell had as much control over the PLAYLIST as Kildare Joe has now - maybe a song per hour, if he's lucky.

The era of the proper DJ is long, long dead. Stations that play music are just trying to plug events your way; no more, mo less!

Birneybau

Yuss! Cadell in for Claire "Everything is Awesome" Beck today.

Twizzler

Clem_Fandango wrote: »

Am I correct in surmising your response as "Begrudge whatcha love" ?

Erm, no, Clem. The things you love getting on your nerves occasionally and begrudging something or someone are two different animals.

Never mind. Let's park it.

Clem_Fandango

Twizzler wrote: »

Erm, no, Clem. The things you love getting on your nerves occasionally and begrudging something or someone are two different animals.

Never mind. Let's park it.

All good, Twizzler. I understand your point. Not trying to stir negativity.

Clem_Fandango

Oasis_Dublin wrote: »

John Cadell had as much control over the PLAYLIST as Kildare Joe has now - maybe a song per hour, if he's lucky.

I dunno, I reckon he's still head of music and has the most control within the restraints.
I might be wrong, so feel free to correct me, but doesn't the software used need you to only input a song and basically determine if it's A, B, or C, with A being heavy rotation? So in that vein, I'd think he was the person charged with inputting, but I totally get what you're saying about label pressure etc.

John has serious chops when it comes to music knowledge. Fact.


Quick question though - Who programs the overnight?

I'm gonna sign off on this and like Twizzler suggested - park it, bc I'm not trying to sanction a DJ bashing.

Thanks to those of you who answered. Good luck to everyone.

Twizzler

Clem_Fandango wrote: »

All good, Twizzler. I understand your point. Not trying to stir negativity.

Fair enough 😊

Edit: I typed that on my phone & inserted a smiley face...if you're seeing what I am seeing above, it's not a cryptic message - merely a misbehaving smiley. They mustn't like Fridays.

Twizzler

room_149 wrote: »

I've mentioned it before but you can pick it up as far south as Tullamore and as far west as Ballinasloe (I travel a bit with work and often have it on in the car)
They tend to get a sizable amount of texts/tweets etc from places outside the old Pale & all over Leinster/outer commuter belt- Joe Donnelly regularly gets messages from a 'Mary in Mullingar' & some fella down in Carlow.
I'm a regular festival goer and many of the non Dublin based types I bump into at the Picnic or Body & Soul regularly listen to it and Phantom prior to that. So it has got a reach beyond Dublin which makes me wonder how its ratings would fare if non-Dublin based listeners were taken into account.

Currently commuting from Dublin to Galway & we had TXFM until somewhere between Athlone & Ballinasloe. Not bad going.

The_Captain

If you go west, you'll get it almost to Longford. North and it will be there until you reach Monaghan/Dundalk.

Go south and it's gone when you get past Blessington

Liam92

Serious mess of things this morning with Dee Reddy's show not synced up (must have been a pre-record).
Then the news stings keep playing every few minutes?

total former

The_Captain wrote: »

If you go west, you'll get it almost to Longford. North and it will be there until you reach Monaghan/Dundalk.

Go south and it's gone when you get past Blessington

Mountains

Birneybau

Embarrassing Thursday survey from Partridge today, Would you save the XX's debut album or some Faith No More album from a burning house?

Dunno Joe, but I'd save my football over a banana!

thalia_13

This lunch hour request show, its nonsense, its supposed to be people requesting songs that are not typically heard on the show hourly. So far it's Catfish and the Bottlemen (stupid name for a band) and the new Blur song. Which are already on heavy rotation.
I don't expect the show to play slipknot or really random Led Zeppelin B sides but they could at least attempt something other than the playlist already in place.
Also listening to Claire last wk talking about Led Zeppelin and 'that famous song of theirs' that she couldn't name because I don't think she actually knew. Also the Forbidden Fruit overkill, everyone going on about Run the Jewels, Earl Sweatshirt and Joey Bada$$ and how aaaaammmazing they are, yet they never blooming play them!!!!!

Junk Adele

Yeah, you got there before me. Request show Me hoop! S*it Fish and the Bottlemen, That"I want you, I want you I want you" song and a few other songs that are played nonstop. It's an insult to the people who are paying money to request songs, having been told to keep the "Summery" theme up, only to be ignored by Playlist songs.

Junk Adele

P.S. A Girl I work with walked in when Florence was playing and said "Jesus, is that Bloody song on again"!

thalia_13

I absolutely hate Catfish etc coz of name.alone. Today in work someone asked me when did we switch over to listening to Spin or FM104. i told them no its Phantom,or what used to be it, and they genuinely thought the music was too insipid and poppy to be from an alternative channel!

Liam92

thalia_13 wrote: »

This lunch hour request show, its nonsense, its supposed to be people requesting songs that are not typically heard on the show hourly. So far it's Catfish and the Bottlemen (stupid name for a band) and the new Blur song. Which are already on heavy rotation.
I don't expect the show to play slipknot or really random Led Zeppelin B sides but they could at least attempt something other than the playlist already in place.
Also listening to Claire last wk talking about Led Zeppelin and 'that famous song of theirs' that she couldn't name because I don't think she actually knew. Also the Forbidden Fruit overkill, everyone going on about Run the Jewels, Earl Sweatshirt and Joey Bada$$ and how aaaaammmazing they are, yet they never blooming play them!!!!!

Totally agree about the Forbidden Fruit thing. They were all waxing lyrical about how amazing the line-up was, yet it felt like they only played the odd Fatboy Slim or Jamie xx tune.

That playlist of theirs just gets very stale and it needs to be constantly updated, which they don't seem to do at all.

And all the promoters are definitely getting their money's worth with the constant live guide ads. Or ads for The Who's gig.

whiskeyman

Junk Adele wrote: »

P.S. A Girl I work with walked in when Florence was playing and said "Jesus, is that Bloody song on again"!

That song is getting unreal airplay.
We popped out for lunch yesterday and it was on the radio in the car before and on the way back!

ken76

Is Claire Beck the most annoying person on radio? Annoying laugh, laughs are clearly unfunny things, have to turn her off when she comes on. The other DJs seems embarrassed when talking to her. The interaction between ehr and Cathal are painful

Twizzler

ken76 wrote: »

Is Claire Beck the most annoying person on radio? Annoying laugh, laughs are clearly unfunny things, have to turn her off when she comes on. The other DJs seems embarrassed when talking to her. The interaction between ehr and Cathal are painful

She gets very fixated on certain issues....she spent a good few minutes giving out one day when talking to Joe about how too much noise is so bad for the eardrums, and volume levels should not be allowed to go over a certain point so that people can't damage themselves even if they want to turn the music up high...she felt very strongly about it. I got the impression Joe was thinking "This isn't a very rock and roll conversation for an "alternative" radio station to be having..."

marwelie

I like Claire, shes definitely the best female dj on the station. As for Cathal, hes getting to me. I dont know if he scripts his shows but he doesnt actually sound like he has any idea what hes doing in the mornings. As for his playlist, he played Big Star this morning (thumbs up) only to follow it by Hozier (Jesus wept).

thalia_13

Request hour playing Circa Waves TShirt Weather. I refuse to believe people requested a heavily rotated song during the only hour they can request usually unheard songs...

But hey, it just gave Claire a chance to bring up how she is going to Body and Soul again... I like the girl, I'm sure she is a great person but she is a dreadful radio dj with her giggly nonsense

And roll on end of month and no more Who and Counting Crows ads. Goddamn I hate the C Crows!!!

Max Headroom

whiskeyman wrote: »

That song is getting unreal airplay.
We popped out for lunch yesterday and it was on the radio in the car before and on the way back!

Which one.....?? "What kind of man looks like theeese"....or "did i built this ship tourettes....:)

ghostdancer

marwelie wrote: »

As for Cathal, hes getting to me. I dont know if he scripts his shows but he doesnt actually sound like he has any idea what hes doing in the mornings. As for his playlist, he played Big Star this morning (thumbs up) only to follow it by Hozier (Jesus wept).

really? i get the impression like it's basically scripted to a tee.

08:11 - phantom 500 - "pick a number blah blah blah"
08:17 - pick the year these 3 songs were from
08:24 - name the acts covering this song
08:31 - phantom fantasy festival

each with numerous mentions of FIVE-ONE-O-FIVE-TWO

it's the exact same crap any time I flick over.

just play some music and shut up about the text-in boll0cks!!!

Liam92

'The Wolf' by Mumford & Sons just being played by Tara Harrison about an hour after it was already played by Joe.

So soon, it appears twice on the website.

You'd imagine they could actually find some other songs to play.