xm411.com - Top Tracks...you program it

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Thread

michaelgatl
XM411 Nut!

Joined: 02 Oct 2005
Posts: 216
Location: Duluth,GA
Primary Radio: Airware

Top Tracks...you program it

This is something I've thought about alot. I think Top Tracks is possibly one of the most listened to stations on XM. I'd be surprised if it wasn't in at least the Top 5 music stations consistently.

With that said if you were running Top Tracks what would you change? Would you use DJ's? Would you mix it up some more? I was going to do a write up on my blog on what I thought, but I thought it'd be more fun to throw this topic out here....so if you were in charge of programming for Top Tracks...what would you do differently?
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Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:29 pm

gilpdawg
XM Rules my life

Joined: 07 Feb 2004
Posts: 566
Location: New Paris, OH/Richmond, IN
Primary Radio: XM-MyFi

Have a jock on at least some of the time, so you can make requests. And cut back a little on the 80s stuff.

Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:48 pm

GaryGnu
XM411 Nut!

Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Primary Radio: In Dash Unit - 2005 Honda Accord

Make it at least 2 separate stations, and if need be, axe one of the alternative stations to do it.
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Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:55 pm

michaelgatl
XM411 Nut!

Joined: 02 Oct 2005
Posts: 216
Location: Duluth,GA
Primary Radio: Airware

Many of the alternitive stations tend to overlap so I agree with splitting it up...if you split Top Tracks into 2 stations how would you split it up?
_________________
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Check out my XM Blog:
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Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:07 pm

GaryGnu
XM411 Nut!

Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 241
Location: Ellicott City, MD
Primary Radio: In Dash Unit - 2005 Honda Accord

quote:
Originally posted by michaelgatl:
Many of the alternitive stations tend to overlap so I agree with splitting it up...if you split Top Tracks into 2 stations how would you split it up?

Older stuff and newer stuff. I believe Sirius does it this way...

Basically, I just think Rock Music is severely under represented on XM especially compared to Alternative and some others.
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Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:18 pm

vp
I live Here

Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 371

I also like the way Sirius splits its hit classic rock into two channels. Here are some modified descriptions from their website:

1. Classic Vinyl covers classic rock of the '60s and '70s when music came on vinyl. The Stones, Led Zep, The Who, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company and many more.

2. Classic Rewind plays classic rock from the cassette years: Boston, Tom Petty, Springsteen, Van Halen and more from the late '70s and '80s. You'll also hear The Police, Aerosmith, Journey, The Cars and many more.

And there's the Vault: It’s deep album cuts, b-sides and rarities from the Golden Age of Rock. When you’re in a classic mood and want to dig deeper, it’s time to open The Vault. You'll hear Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and many more.

Personally, I probably won't mind Top Tracks as one station if it cut out some of the 80s stuff. Overall, I really enjoy both Top Tracks and Deep Tracks, which may be one of the best-programmed stations on satellite radio. I guess the mid-80s stuff goes a little beyond my nostalgia zone.

Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:21 am

michaelgatl
XM411 Nut!

Joined: 02 Oct 2005
Posts: 216
Location: Duluth,GA
Primary Radio: Airware

Nothing against Sirius here, but I like the way the stations are split up but what drives me nuts is their repetition. I thought Top Tracks was too repititve at times but Sirius is just ridiculous...this goes for just about all their stations though.

That just says something about the depth of XM's playlist Smile
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Check out my XM Blog:
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Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:25 am

vp
I live Here

Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 371

michaelgatl:

I've only had Sirus for about a week and I only listen to it in my car, so I haven't heard too much repetition. Perhaps, there is a lot of repetition. I guess I will find out over time. I expect a bit of repetition on these type of hit stations, whether the Sirius stations or Top Tracks. I guess they are geared towards bringing the listener the familiar. However, both of Sirius and Top Tracks have less repetition than the two local classic rock stations. They played some songs -- for example, Boston's "Party," so much that they actually ruined them for me. Here's to satellite radio! occasion5

Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:04 am

jr461
XM411 Regular

Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Posts: 50
Location: Northern NJ

I have had XM for over a year and got Sirius about 2 months ago as I could not take XM’s representation (or lack thereof) of classic rock. One channel is not enough to stuff everything into. I agree with those who would either split the category into 3 like Sirius does (early, later and hard), or just cut most of the 80s out if left to one channel. And I would definitely add DJs. It is too cold and jukebox-like without one. And besides, adding a DJ would probably reduce those annoying promos that break up the sets instead of a DJ.

The late 70s and especially the 80s saw a change in the sound of rock to the likes of Van Halen, Pat Benatar, Journey, the Cars, Eddie Money, REO Speedwagon, etc. In my opinion, I don’t think these go well with the real classic rock of the Beatles, Zeppelin, Who, Doors, Hendrix, etc.

Just a note on the Sirius repetition reputation, since it was already brought up – yes, it is prevalent and even ridiculous on their alt, hair and metal channels, however, it is NOT a problem on the classic rock channels. You can do a playlist search on siriusbackstage.com for any period of time, and you will actually see that their playlists for classic vinyl and rewind are actually significantly deeper than top tracks. Yes, they may play some songs on consecutive days, but I would rather hear an Allman Brothers song 2 days in a row than Eddie Money and Ronnie Spector! Besides, you will notice if you do a search of the classic vinyl playlist, that when songs are played on successive days, the time of day is generally varied so that you would have to listen almost around the clock to hear them every day.

Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:26 am

michaelgatl
XM411 Nut!

Joined: 02 Oct 2005
Posts: 216
Location: Duluth,GA
Primary Radio: Airware

vp: I know what you mean...I expect certain repetition, but I've just found the repetition on Sirius a bit much at times (my wife likes Sirius but I wont hold it against her Smile ), but I will agree with you about Satellite vs terrestrial
_________________
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Check out my XM Blog:
BeyondXM.com

Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:32 am

Fman99
Postwhore, First Class

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 13163
Location: Deep rough
Primary Radio: Nexus 50

quote:
Originally posted by vp:
I also like the way Sirius splits its hit classic rock into two channels. Here are some modified descriptions from their website:

1. Classic Vinyl covers classic rock of the '60s and '70s when music came on vinyl. The Stones, Led Zep, The Who, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company and many more.

2. Classic Rewind plays classic rock from the cassette years: Boston, Tom Petty, Springsteen, Van Halen and more from the late '70s and '80s. You'll also hear The Police, Aerosmith, Journey, The Cars and many more.

I would also love to see them split Top Tracks up into two stations like Sirius has.
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Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:38 am

Xenju
I live Here

Joined: 07 Feb 2004
Posts: 301
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

I picked up a subscription to Sirius because of their approach to classic rock and classic hard rock. To channels each, and DJ's to give some personality to the proceedings. It's excellent radio, and XM could vastly improve their service if they followed suit.

Which is not to say that Sirius couldn't learn from XM's approach to alternative rock, for instance. The only danger being, of course, two identical services! I guess for now I'll keep both and savor the things each does best.

Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:21 am

AndrewA
XM411 Community Leader

Joined: 07 Feb 2004
Posts: 11993
Location: New Jersey
Primary Radio: Delphi XM MyFi

I Wouldn't split Top Tracks into 2 channels. XM already has them split anyway. Deep Tracks has a lot of DEEP Classic Rock, as well as some popular Rock Songs as well, & Top Tracks supplies the Hits of Classic Rock. And, IMO, I Like the way they are split up. XM also has Da Boneyard, which, with a little bit of work, could be an AWESOME Channel on XM. So, I Don't think they need to split up Top Tracks more so than it is now. I Wouldn't be against a DJ or two on the channel, but again don't mind it how it is with no DJ's. Maybe opening up the request line (Which goes to some other company) would help out a bit as well!
_________________
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Go Eagles !!

Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:55 am

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		Author	Thread
		michaelgatl XM411 Nut! Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 216 Location: Duluth,GA Primary Radio: Airware	Top Tracks...you program it This is something I've thought about alot. I think Top Tracks is possibly one of the most listened to stations on XM. I'd be surprised if it wasn't in at least the Top 5 music stations consistently. With that said if you were running Top Tracks what would you change? Would you use DJ's? Would you mix it up some more? I was going to do a write up on my blog on what I thought, but I thought it'd be more fun to throw this topic out here....so if you were in charge of programming for Top Tracks...what would you do differently? _________________ Michael Check out my XM Blog: BeyondXM.com
		Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:29 pm
		gilpdawg XM Rules my life Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 566 Location: New Paris, OH/Richmond, IN Primary Radio: XM-MyFi	Have a jock on at least some of the time, so you can make requests. And cut back a little on the 80s stuff.
		Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:48 pm
		GaryGnu XM411 Nut! Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 241 Location: Ellicott City, MD Primary Radio: In Dash Unit - 2005 Honda Accord	Make it at least 2 separate stations, and if need be, axe one of the alternative stations to do it. _________________ Support Science, Not Superstition
		Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:55 pm
		michaelgatl XM411 Nut! Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 216 Location: Duluth,GA Primary Radio: Airware	Many of the alternitive stations tend to overlap so I agree with splitting it up...if you split Top Tracks into 2 stations how would you split it up? _________________ Michael Check out my XM Blog: BeyondXM.com
		Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:07 pm
		GaryGnu XM411 Nut! Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 241 Location: Ellicott City, MD Primary Radio: In Dash Unit - 2005 Honda Accord	quote: Originally posted by michaelgatl: Many of the alternitive stations tend to overlap so I agree with splitting it up...if you split Top Tracks into 2 stations how would you split it up? Older stuff and newer stuff. I believe Sirius does it this way... Basically, I just think Rock Music is severely under represented on XM especially compared to Alternative and some others. _________________ Support Science, Not Superstition
		Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:18 pm
		vp I live Here Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 371	I also like the way Sirius splits its hit classic rock into two channels. Here are some modified descriptions from their website: 1. Classic Vinyl covers classic rock of the '60s and '70s when music came on vinyl. The Stones, Led Zep, The Who, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company and many more. 2. Classic Rewind plays classic rock from the cassette years: Boston, Tom Petty, Springsteen, Van Halen and more from the late '70s and '80s. You'll also hear The Police, Aerosmith, Journey, The Cars and many more. And there's the Vault: It’s deep album cuts, b-sides and rarities from the Golden Age of Rock. When you’re in a classic mood and want to dig deeper, it’s time to open The Vault. You'll hear Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and many more. Personally, I probably won't mind Top Tracks as one station if it cut out some of the 80s stuff. Overall, I really enjoy both Top Tracks and Deep Tracks, which may be one of the best-programmed stations on satellite radio. I guess the mid-80s stuff goes a little beyond my nostalgia zone.
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:21 am
		michaelgatl XM411 Nut! Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 216 Location: Duluth,GA Primary Radio: Airware	Nothing against Sirius here, but I like the way the stations are split up but what drives me nuts is their repetition. I thought Top Tracks was too repititve at times but Sirius is just ridiculous...this goes for just about all their stations though. That just says something about the depth of XM's playlist _________________ Michael Check out my XM Blog: BeyondXM.com
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:25 am
		vp I live Here Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 371	michaelgatl: I've only had Sirus for about a week and I only listen to it in my car, so I haven't heard too much repetition. Perhaps, there is a lot of repetition. I guess I will find out over time. I expect a bit of repetition on these type of hit stations, whether the Sirius stations or Top Tracks. I guess they are geared towards bringing the listener the familiar. However, both of Sirius and Top Tracks have less repetition than the two local classic rock stations. They played some songs -- for example, Boston's "Party," so much that they actually ruined them for me. Here's to satellite radio!
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:04 am
		jr461 XM411 Regular Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Posts: 50 Location: Northern NJ	I have had XM for over a year and got Sirius about 2 months ago as I could not take XM’s representation (or lack thereof) of classic rock. One channel is not enough to stuff everything into. I agree with those who would either split the category into 3 like Sirius does (early, later and hard), or just cut most of the 80s out if left to one channel. And I would definitely add DJs. It is too cold and jukebox-like without one. And besides, adding a DJ would probably reduce those annoying promos that break up the sets instead of a DJ. The late 70s and especially the 80s saw a change in the sound of rock to the likes of Van Halen, Pat Benatar, Journey, the Cars, Eddie Money, REO Speedwagon, etc. In my opinion, I don’t think these go well with the real classic rock of the Beatles, Zeppelin, Who, Doors, Hendrix, etc. Just a note on the Sirius repetition reputation, since it was already brought up – yes, it is prevalent and even ridiculous on their alt, hair and metal channels, however, it is NOT a problem on the classic rock channels. You can do a playlist search on siriusbackstage.com for any period of time, and you will actually see that their playlists for classic vinyl and rewind are actually significantly deeper than top tracks. Yes, they may play some songs on consecutive days, but I would rather hear an Allman Brothers song 2 days in a row than Eddie Money and Ronnie Spector! Besides, you will notice if you do a search of the classic vinyl playlist, that when songs are played on successive days, the time of day is generally varied so that you would have to listen almost around the clock to hear them every day.
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:26 am
		michaelgatl XM411 Nut! Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 216 Location: Duluth,GA Primary Radio: Airware	vp: I know what you mean...I expect certain repetition, but I've just found the repetition on Sirius a bit much at times (my wife likes Sirius but I wont hold it against her ), but I will agree with you about Satellite vs terrestrial _________________ Michael Check out my XM Blog: BeyondXM.com
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:32 am
		Fman99 Postwhore, First Class Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 13163 Location: Deep rough Primary Radio: Nexus 50	quote: Originally posted by vp: I also like the way Sirius splits its hit classic rock into two channels. Here are some modified descriptions from their website: 1. Classic Vinyl covers classic rock of the '60s and '70s when music came on vinyl. The Stones, Led Zep, The Who, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company and many more. 2. Classic Rewind plays classic rock from the cassette years: Boston, Tom Petty, Springsteen, Van Halen and more from the late '70s and '80s. You'll also hear The Police, Aerosmith, Journey, The Cars and many more. I would also love to see them split Top Tracks up into two stations like Sirius has. _________________ Support xm411.com by shopping at "A man is what he thinks about all day long." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:38 am
		Xenju I live Here Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 301 Location: Winston-Salem, NC	I picked up a subscription to Sirius because of their approach to classic rock and classic hard rock. To channels each, and DJ's to give some personality to the proceedings. It's excellent radio, and XM could vastly improve their service if they followed suit. Which is not to say that Sirius couldn't learn from XM's approach to alternative rock, for instance. The only danger being, of course, two identical services! I guess for now I'll keep both and savor the things each does best.
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:21 am
		AndrewA XM411 Community Leader Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 11993 Location: New Jersey Primary Radio: Delphi XM MyFi	I Wouldn't split Top Tracks into 2 channels. XM already has them split anyway. Deep Tracks has a lot of DEEP Classic Rock, as well as some popular Rock Songs as well, & Top Tracks supplies the Hits of Classic Rock. And, IMO, I Like the way they are split up. XM also has Da Boneyard, which, with a little bit of work, could be an AWESOME Channel on XM. So, I Don't think they need to split up Top Tracks more so than it is now. I Wouldn't be against a DJ or two on the channel, but again don't mind it how it is with no DJ's. Maybe opening up the request line (Which goes to some other company) would help out a bit as well! _________________ -Andrew Go Eagles !!
		Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:55 am