My Music

My musical tastes change every now and then. Right now I’m in a dance/electronic music phase. I have been for a very long time. I have no interest in rap or country music and vocalists (like American Idol contestants) are boring to me. For me, a song needs a good beat and some sophisticated rhythms. Dance, trance, techno and house music has all that. It’s upbeat, fun and great to dance to.

Radio is useless, they play mostly crap and I can’t stand the commercials. And they don’t play any dance or electronic music. I can’t remember the last time I actually listened to the radio. When I do tune in, it’s usually the local jazz station. They play some great music but it’s the same songs over and over. I read somewhere listeners are migrating away from radio in droves and listening to this jazz station shows me why.

The radio industry had better rethink their programming and start innovating. More competition would be nice and satellite radio is a good start. Podcasting is even better. I want radio that I can tailor to my own tastes - not from some corporate suit using irrelevant focus groups that tell me what I should be listening to.

Technology should help. I imagine something like “Radio On Demand” isn’t far off. To be effective, it should allow me to choose what I want to hear and give me enough choices to customize my listening to suit my tastes. For now, I use my “favorite gadget of all time”, my iPod.

With the purchase of my iPod a year ago, my interest in music gained a new momentum. Now a good portion of the time at my computer is spent acquiring music and copying it to my iPod. I take it with me everywhere and listen to music any chance I get. Crammed full of songs, I make playlists to suit my every mood. “Driving Home Tunes” and “Gym Mixes” are my favorites. I also like my “Working at the Computer” and “Ambient Traveling Tunes” playlists.

So who needs radio? I’m creating my own station that plays only the stuff I like. Without commercials.