[jprjr_]

FM radio is dead and has been for years. I haven't seriously listened to FM radio since I got a portable CD player and that was in the late 90s. I can't imagine anybody trying to get into it now.

Why would I subject myself to obnoxious ads every few minutes and music I don't like when I can just listen to what I want, when I want, ad-free?

AM radio is still going with conspiracy talk and maybe sports radio? I honestly don't know, I've never given AM radio a real listen.

Sometimes I get nostalgic for the radio. I remember calling in to stations and requesting songs, contests, morning zoo hosts, and so on. But it's probably not coming back.

[gazook89]

I’m not trying to argue the point, but I listen to FM about every day, or at least every day I’m in the car. It’s much easier for me than getting music from my phone going, even with Bluetooth.

And I have come to the conclusion that I like talk intermixed with music, even if the talk is an ad. It’s weird, I never thought that’d be the case, but I do. In fact, I wish I could easily mix my music library into my podcast library— specifically, interrupt podcasts with music (maybe replace the ads with a single song).

I also like how easy it is to switch channels to something different. I could do that with CarPlay or something too with my own music, but then I probably have to actually think about it (when I should be thinking about driving).

And for people who care about live music events (shows etc) it’s a great way to find out about those things, particularly if your city has a good public radio station and not just iHeartMedia.

I’m not sure I Love radio, but I would probably really miss it if it wasn’t in my car.

[inferiorhuman]

Dunno where you are but local radio programming disappeared in most markets years ago. Even in the Bay Area. All of what you've said about radio content was true a decade or more ago, but much less true now.

  And for people who care about live music events (shows etc) it’s a
  great way to find out about those things

Big stations promote big acts, sure. But that's easy enough to find information on elsewhere (e.g. Youtube). Smaller stations (e.g. KXSF, KPFA, KZSU) out here promote smaller venues but I'm typically out of range and end up listening to their content via the good old internet.

  I’m not sure I Love radio, but I would probably really miss it if
  it wasn’t in my car.

There was a time I would (late 90s, early 00s) but now? Not so much. The ratio of music to ads has gotten awful. Even stations that have ostensibly gone back to their roots like KITS are a pale imitation of their past glory. Like they'll wear the meat suit of genres that were previously popular but make sure to mix it with plenty of mediocre top 40 and a suffocating amount of ads.

[vlowther]

Give monthly donations to your local NPR affiliate. Most of them have decently middle-of-the-road biased news, and a few have really good music programming (looking at you, KUTX).

[talldatethrow]

As someone who doesn't listen to the radio in FM or AM, does it really make sense to comment on your thoughts regarding how often and why it's listened to by most people? You're not one of them.

I've owned CDs since the early 90s. I e owned several good MP3 players. I have several USB drives with music on them. I haven't touched any of those in about a decade, and instead listen to the radio every day.

[eichin]

Some time in the early 2000's I heard a Microsoft ad, on FM radio, for FAT32. I turned off the radio and basically never turned it on again (and made sure my next car had mp3 player support.)