Got a Droid...do I still need Satrad?

dualsub2006

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Sounds like quite a playlist dualsub2006, especially with the finds you get from Aquarium Drunkard, My Old Kentucky Blog and Gorilla vs Bear.
I wish I had the time and passion to pull together something like that.
The passion to discover new music I certainly do have, the time I make.

I can't always listen to the new music the day that I download it, having a backlog of over 250 songs right now, but I adjust a smart playlist to add all of the songs from the days that I have just downloaded. I then whittle the list down as I can. Using comments and stars I move the keeper songs in to other smart playlists and on to an iPod.

Unlike Slacker, Pandora or even XM my music library gives me exactly what I want the instant that I want it. Classic rock, classical, country, alternative rock, indie or even doo-wop. My musical interests tend to be schizophrenic at times but I like it like that. It may be old fashioned or old school to be in to MP3's but I doubt that iTunes Music Store or Amazon MP3 or indie music blogs will disappear in my lifetime.
 

Jon

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Dec 16, 2008
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The passion to discover new music I certainly do have, the time I make.

I can't always listen to the new music the day that I download it, having a backlog of over 250 songs right now, but I adjust a smart playlist to add all of the songs from the days that I have just downloaded. I then whittle the list down as I can. Using comments and stars I move the keeper songs in to other smart playlists and on to an iPod.

Unlike Slacker, Pandora or even XM my music library gives me exactly what I want the instant that I want it. Classic rock, classical, country, alternative rock, indie or even doo-wop. My musical interests tend to be schizophrenic at times but I like it like that. It may be old fashioned or old school to be in to MP3's but I doubt that iTunes Music Store or Amazon MP3 or indie music blogs will disappear in my lifetime.

Oh yeah, shuffle mode is quite an adventure. One minute Van Morrison, next minute, Twisted Sister. :scared:
 

dualsub2006

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Oh yeah, shuffle mode is quite an adventure. One minute Van Morrison, next minute, Twisted Sister. :scared:
I have plenty of scary transitions in my time, but some pleasant surprises as well. I mean, who knew that going from Vivaldi to Radiohead could be so smooth and graceful.
 

Jon

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I have plenty of scary transitions in my time, but some pleasant surprises as well. I mean, who knew that going from Vivaldi to Radiohead could be so smooth and graceful.

I have those too, one in particular that lasted well over an hour.
 
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DAB

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But see, the millions just don't matter to me because I wouldn't care about most of it.

You stated that you have around a 500 song playlist in Slacker. As I stated, my main playlist on my iPod is over 1,200 songs deep and it changes nearly daily. Now I don't have millions of songs in my library but I do have nearly 100,000 from all of my CD's, iTunes and Amazon buys and blog finds and it isn't made up of stuff that

Well of course some folks only like what they like and don't ever venture outside the box. I and others like me love to venture outside the box and so just having certain songs in our own library means nothing to us. Owning that music is useless to me what do I need it for? Why would I want to make that kind of investment and continue to do so in the future? I understand that is what works for you, but to me that is a total waste of good money and space on my hard drive. It is an impressive library none the less, I wish I had what you spent on it! :)

Yes, I have 24 stations currently that I created with over 500 plus songs in most, some very specific genres, some sort of a shuffle, some dedicated to a specific thing like love or one hit wonders etc. 70s Jukebox, 80s Explosion, 90s Eruption, 2K Throwdown, Decades of One Hit Wonders, 70s Love, American Bandstand, Billboard Hot 500 Hits AudioSerenity Spa, Beautiful Escape, Country Blend, Country Christian, Easy Listening, Mellow Rock, Shuffle the Decades, Southern Gospel, Spirit Message, Sweet Zydeco, Lite Office, Christmas Mix, Peaceful Christmas, New Age Piano.

No way with your 1200 or even 100,000 song potential library that you could create what I have with no investment whatsoever except $3.99 per month. I understand that you have no interest in creating such, but my point isn't to say this is what everyone wants. Like someone else said some will be drawn to this model and see the value and others will find sat radio is all the need and yet others will do what you do. Choice is a great thing! I just think mine is smarter and more economical! hehehe :)

In what I have created I don't hear bands/groups/individuals or even songs I don't like. Since I hand pick all the songs and all the artist the stations ONLY play what I like and to me the spontaneity of not know what is going to play makes it more like radio. Rarely am I in a predictable mood that I want to hear a certain thing and a certain time. Yes the iPod could give you that if you want to make that investment, which I do not.

When I want to be turned on to new music or hear other music outside of what I've created then I have that too. I can also just change a single setting even on my customize channels Slacker will throw in some pretty cool matches to what is in my library already. I just don't think people realize what Slacker really brings to the table. They get the service and listen to the pre-programmed stations and come away feeling a bit empty because they are use to DJ's and a bit of interactivity. I understand that too, but for me the customization and access to that library is much more important than those things. To each his own as I said choice is a great thing! On my stations that play currents when I hear something new I like, I can immediately add it to the rotation and even on stations where I hear music that I may not have I can do the same on any of my stations. Just last week for example, I added about 24 new songs to my AudioSerenity Spa station which is very, very specific to a certain type meditation music.
 
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Kryptonite

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Oct 21, 2008
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I do still feel that Sat Radio is worth it at this stage, but more and more as we move forward you and I are quickly becoming the minority in that opinion and that can't bode well for Sirius XM long term.

"Exclusive" to Sirius XM:

Howard 100/101 (BTLS being the exception. If someone curses on the FM show, you will hear it on the Sirius airing. BTLS does have 4 hours exclusive on Fridays. Shows played on Howard 101 during BTLS show vacations originally aired on Sirius.)

Mad Dog? (I don't know his situation.)
O&A
Ellis
Oprah/Martha (not really, but the channels exist. I suppose they're "exclusive" just in the same way BTLS is "exclusive.")

You couldn't even include sports leagues, as you can legally get some radio commentary from the radio stations' websites. (Note: I'm saying "legally" here, since you can DL 100% of Sirius XM stuff elsewhere, if you know where to look, thus making this list a somewhat moot point.)

Now, sports PbP "on the go" could be an entirely different story.


What else is there that could be considered exclusive? Catholic Channel?
 

Jon

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Technically, the Catholic Channel is ETWN (or something like that) right? They have a channel up in Northern Colorado that's an ETWN affiliate (and I'm sure in other places as well). So that would be no.
 

dualsub2006

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Well of course some folks only like what they like and don't ever venture outside the box.

The blogs that I read and download from are all about discovery and these guys wouldn't know a "box" if it walked up and spit in their mouth let alone try to conform their recommendations to one.

I just think mine is smarter and more economical! hehehe :)

Well, I do get your point but economical is in the eye of the money holder. And smarter is as smarter does. Owning your music doesn't make sense to you so it is smart for you to subscribe to Slacker. Owning my music IS important to me and makes total sense so it is smart for me to own it. Besides, you would be shocked at the number of songs that came for free from Paste, Pitchfork, Spinner, Daytrotter and the like.

Have I spent a lot of money? Yes, as a matter of fact I have but economical means different things to different people. We are just going to have to agree to disagree.

R.I.P. Jay Reatard 1980-2010. You will be missed. It's sad to think about all of the music that you didn't have time to create.
 

Jon

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The blogs that I read and download from are all about discovery and these guys wouldn't know a "box" if it walked up and spit in their mouth let alone try to conform their recommendations to one.



Well, I do get your point but economical is in the eye of the money holder. And smarter is as smarter does. Owning your music doesn't make sense to you so it is smart for you to subscribe to Slacker. Owning my music IS important to me and makes total sense so it is smart for me to own it. Besides, you would be shocked at the number of songs that came for free from Paste, Pitchfork, Spinner, Daytrotter and the like.

Have I spent a lot of money? Yes, as a matter of fact I have but economical means different things to different people. We are just going to have to agree to disagree.

R.I.P. Jay Reatard 1980-2010. You will be missed. It's sad to think about all of the music that you didn't have time to create.

See, I go both ways here. I use Slacker, Pandora and services such as that, as well as the Shazam iPhone app, to find music to buy later. I haven't bought music lately for economic reasons but once that changes I plan on resuming. I do like owning the music, and I do like having musical discovery, as well as creating my own playlists (as iTunes allows) and my own stations (as Slacker and Pandora allows).

After reading the posts on this thread I went over to MOKB and downloaded a few bands that caught my ear after listening to their MP3s.

What I used to use XM for, before it went south, but that's another thread. :blah:
 

DAB

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Well, I do get your point but economical is in the eye of the money holder. And smarter is as smarter does. Owning your music doesn't make sense to you so it is smart for you to subscribe to Slacker. Owning my music IS important to me and makes total sense so it is smart for me to own it. Besides, you would be shocked at the number of songs that came for free from Paste, Pitchfork, Spinner, Daytrotter and the like.

Have I spent a lot of money? Yes, as a matter of fact I have but economical means different things to different people. We are just going to have to agree to disagree.

What you do doesn't have to make sense to me and what I do doesn't have to make sense to you. The reason is because it is all about choice!

In my opinion we don't have anything to agree to disagree about simply because we made difference choices.

My point has never been to convince you that what you are doing is wrong or bad. My point was to explain what I do and why I do it to help others understand the full benefits of Slacker and having access to that full library without a huge investment that someone such as yourself is willing to make buying their own music. I think in the current economical times there are folks out there that would find value in a service like Slacker. Having access to millions of songs at $3.99 per month equals about 4 songs a month if you were buying music.
 
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Kryptonite

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Technically, the Catholic Channel is ETWN (or something like that) right? They have a channel up in Northern Colorado that's an ETWN affiliate (and I'm sure in other places as well). So that would be no.

Straight off my SL2:
159 - Catholic Channel (Exclusive??) These guys also air Notre Dame football and men's basketball, last I checked.
160 - EWTN Catholic (may or may not be audio from the TV channel. I have 0 clue.)
161 - FamilyNet Radio - Smells like a simulcast from somewhere else.
 

atlwxman

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Oct 14, 2008
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Thought I'd update my experience so far.

Really liking Pandora and the music channels I've created. Should be even better as I add a few more channels.

ESPN Radio app has not been a good experience. Lots of dead air as the feed buffers. Very annoying. Might be annoying enough for me to keep one of my subs...most likely XM as they have a terrestrial repeater in my area.
 

DAB

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Thanks for the update alt! Glad you are enjoying your new toy and the add on features it brings to you.
 

Araxen

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Oct 13, 2008
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If you can play shoutcast radio on Android you really don't need anything else when it comes to music. I listen to 181.fm on it and they cover just as many genre's as Sirius does and they have miles better playlists. Their classic rock station The Eagle is miles better than Sirius's offering.
 

Jleimer

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I am glad to hear ATL is doing well with the droid. I personally am looking into it and from what I am reading it is a kick ass device. Hopefully MLB will have a better at bat app for 2010 for the droid.
 

Jon

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I can't speak for the Droid, personally, when it gets the number of Apps that the iPhone or Blackberry has (which its rapidly approaching the latter), I could easily see it as a replacement for satellite radio. Services like Slacker, Pandora and Shoutcast have more music than satellite can ever dream of, NBA Game Time on the iPhone covers audio broadcasts of NBA games, home and away, MLB At Bat does the same for Baseball. The ESPN Radio app for iPhone works flawlessly, I can only imagine they're working on a fix for Android to work just as good. The nice part about it is, I don't have to listen to just the national feed if I don't choose to. When Cowherd is on, for example, I listen to Tony Kornheiser in DC.
 

vinnyv07

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Feb 28, 2009
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I currently have a lifetime sub (4 years and running) which is the best money I have spent in a very long time. I also have a second radio for my car. I really could see me getting the Droid or the Iphone and replacing my 2nd radio with the phone to listen to music. I don't like paying the 10 bucks a mth for the 2nd radio but I really hate listening to my ipod all the time in my car. I like Mad Dog and Howard and NFL network. Some of the talk chs make Sirius worth paying for in my mind. It really is a service that is worth it if you are in your car a lot. I just don't want to go with the droid because of all the apps I currently have with the Itouch. I am hoping that Verizon gets the Iphone in June like the rumor says. We will see. I am also excitied about the Slingbox App that is about to become active through the 3g network for streaming from your dvr. But that is a whole other topic all together.
 

shabadoo25

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Oct 12, 2008
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I currently have a lifetime sub (4 years and running) which is the best money I have spent in a very long time. I also have a second radio for my car. I really could see me getting the Droid or the Iphone and replacing my 2nd radio with the phone to listen to music. I don't like paying the 10 bucks a mth for the 2nd radio but I really hate listening to my ipod all the time in my car. I like Mad Dog and Howard and NFL network. Some of the talk chs make Sirius worth paying for in my mind. It really is a service that is worth it if you are in your car a lot. I just don't want to go with the droid because of all the apps I currently have with the Itouch. I am hoping that Verizon gets the Iphone in June like the rumor says. We will see. I am also excitied about the Slingbox App that is about to become active through the 3g network for streaming from your dvr. But that is a whole other topic all together.

Over the last month, I had close to a week's worth of days where I was on the road for work and had no cell signal at various times. Of course, my XM worked just fine.

Cell distribution may be a workable solution someday, but it isn't yet.
 

Jon

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Over the last month, I had close to a week's worth of days where I was on the road for work and had no cell signal at various times. Of course, my XM worked just fine.

Cell distribution may be a workable solution someday, but it isn't yet.

That, of course, is where Slacker caching comes in. Once it's made available you will be able to listen to your stations with no cell signal, and a lot less drain on the battery.

Someday is here.

EDIT: Slacker caching IS available on Blackberry, will be available on iPhone and other platforms soon.
 
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DAB

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Over the last month, I had close to a week's worth of days where I was on the road for work and had no cell signal at various times. Of course, my XM worked just fine.

Cell distribution may be a workable solution someday, but it isn't yet.

I think the biggest issue with most cellular networks such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and likely even Verizon in some places isn't so much that they don't have coverage, though that is a factor too, but no 3G or higher coverage which most of these apps need to run properly. Edge level of data service just don't cut it. So, while I can make a call almost anywhere that I am on AT&T in my particular area, 3G is only in the major metro markets.

This is why I've always disagreed that Wifi and Cellular are ready to take over the world above and beyond Sirius XM's satellites. Those sats still reign as king in terms of reception almost everywhere.

I do think the 3 of them together (Wifi, 3G and Sats) are a win, win! I never find myself without something to listen too.. EVER!