is it just me or is FM radio unlistenable these days?

Besides wwoz and the occasional wtul, I have not listened to FM radio in over 10 years.

It is not just you.

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am i wrong that fm radio growing up in the 70s & 80s had a lot more variety?

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You're not wrong, but top 40 has always been just that, 40 songs in a rotation at a time. The difference is, top 40 encompassed more styles than just hip/hop and teenybopper pop. Back in the 70s, it had hard rock, folk rock, disco, soul ballads, power ballads, country, ect. Top 40 had more variety of musical styles. It stopped when they split the charts in the late 80s and early 90s. Once everyone had their own chart (country, rock, ect) they didn't all have to be on the top 40 radio station. Rock and country were completely cut off from pop radio.

Also, FM radio IS garbage these days. There's no money in recorded music anymore. This has led record companies to be very very safe when picking new artists and marketing new acts on their stations. Everything is a packaged product designed to cater to a very specific demographic that still buys CDs and downloads itunes pre-teen girls and teenagers. To cater to everyone means to really cater to no one very well, so they focus on one group. This has caused popular music to essentially be in stasis since the mid 90s. There's no room for creativity or innovation on the radio.

However, there is a ton of wildly innovative music with a great variety in the indie scene, but they don't play indie music, for the most part, on Top 40 radio. It's indie because it's not as accessible to people. If it were accessible to everyone, it wouldn't be as good. Just think of how much more popular Applebees is compared to Galatoire's. One tries to cater to everyone while one caters to a small group. The one catering to that small group has rave reviews from that group, but no nationwide renown while the other is at every other interstate exit across the country. The same is true of music. Just look at 92.3 in New Orleans. It started playing more indie rock and quickly went kaput and switched to pop country to make money. 93.7 had the market cornered on new hard rock and heavy metal and they just got bought out by a Bible channel.

In most places, the only profitable radio station formats are:
non-profit religious
classic rock
oldies
hip/hop
top 40
old country
new pop country

Some places even have stations that play classical music or smooth jazz if they're REALLY adventurous.

Radio will suck as long as sucking is more profitable than not sucking.

I jam 96.9 and 91.1 every now and then. 97.7 occasionally, but its pretty much 24/7 70s soft rock, so I don't spend much time on there

But yea, the radio sucks. Every other channel is terrible. Thank god for ipods.

The only thing saving the radio are the drake songs everything else is stupid generic bullshite that the sheep listen to

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the song about 99 problems

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Yeah...no. I doubt you hear that song a lot.

Ask CP or another MB oldie for some grandpa stations I'm sure they can play the Beatles or Beethoven whatever you guys used to listen to

Brando, Got any recs for some good Mexican stations? My lawn guys have been complaining about the geezer music I play for them

The only station I listen to is 95.7 out of Hickory. Not a clear-channel outfit, thank goodness. They play deep cuts, live stuff, and really mix it up.

In all seriousness, there are still PLENTY of stations playing what you want to hear. They outnumber the amount of pop stations.

But with all due respect, the generation above the current one has always hated what is going on in the current generation.

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should i hate the fact these stations rotate 10 songs these days instead of 100?

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Oh absolutely. But that also just has to do with the stations. Sure there are shitty radio stations as there is always an inferior product in the business world. But in that world there are also superior products.