FM Radio is dead ....R.I.P

I listen to FM radio every day. Sometimes in the kitchen, always in the car, and rarely music. I listen to mostly my local public radio station (NPR included) because they have great talk and music shows. I'd be lost without it, because I get to hear interesting stories and I also here new music on shows like Mountain Stage, World Cup Cafe etc.

just a quick update: as omemug suggested, I used the thumbs up/down feature in Pandora & just like he wrote, the music station I was listening to became gradually better & better. I did actually enjoy listening to Pandora's music stream for a change.... :-)

Glad it's working for you.

The "thump up/down" is the key to making a station. I remember when I first started with Pandora, music was going fine then a WTF? song would come on...instant thumb down. I also got more judicious about using the thumb up.

Again, the more you use that feature, the better your station becomes. Enjoy.

I have been spoiled by WFMT in Chicago. It is the finest radio station in the country, in its 60th year now. I purchased a Magnum Dynalab 106 Triode specifically to listen to this station. When they broadcast live performances, as they do several times a week, the sound can be astonishingly realistic. More importantly, WFMT is a very human place, with lively and knowledgeable program hosts, and a constant parade of musical luminaries stopping by to chat. It has a genuine sense of community, something the internet cannot match.

By contrast, internet stations and streaming services feel soulless and empty, like listening to a robot free-associate, like flipping through a wall-paper sample book. Sure, you can tailor your Pandora feed to the n-th degree, but in the end, you are narrowing your horizons and eliminating any chance of surprise. Pandora is the opposite of good radio.

We listen to NPR probably nine hours daily. There is no other station that I would listen to, although when in NM we have a choice of two NPR stations.

Do I consider this quality audio like in the past when I owned a Marantz 10B, of course not. Why do I listen to it. It has quality news coverage of national and international news and several classic and jazz programs give me great pleasure.

Would I miss it? Of course, as I always find as we travel across the cultural wasteland of western Texas.

I still own a very good FM tuner but have not used it in probably 20 years. Why do I keep it? It has no value.