Testing Sirius

New York City has the worst radio in the United States. There's no rock station worthy of the name. The rock that does exist has a narrow playlist ( WCBS is now something called "Jack FM" ). WPLJ is still around, with their own playlist and their "Scott and Todd" in the morning. WNEW still exists, and this is what they do, whatever that is.

I don't want to listen to endless Doors reruns and I don't want to listen to shock jocks of any kind. I'd like to hear some good music from today, and its just not available in NYC.

There's no country station, period. Since I like rock and love country, this is a major problem.

We do have some college stations, who at certain times of the day will provide what I want, but they're hit or miss. What's a listener to do?

Well, opting out is one solution.

I'm experimenting with Yahoo Music Player which provides you to select "on demand" play from a vast library. I'm also looking at Rhapsody, which offers a cleaner, and slightly more expensive version of what YMP offers. Both services come via the Internet. Both offer you the option of downloading onto a portable device, and both offer commercial free "radio stations" some which you can tailor to your own taste.

But there's also the two satellite "pay radio" stations. There's XM Radio and Sirius.

They were designed for in-the-car use, with special satellite radio receivers, at a cost of $13 a month. You can get either over the Internet, and I'm testing Sirius right now. They give a free three day trial. Their "Coffee House" station is very good. It has no commericials and features "singer-songwriters and acoustic rock". Am now listening to an acoustic "The One I Love" from REM, which followed about ten great songs which came before it. More tomorrow.