# How is the constant music repetition these days?



## NJRonbo (Dec 24, 2005)

Been a subscriber since XM Radio was in existence.

The worst thing about Sirius taking over XM was that their philosophy was aligned with AM and FM radio where only short playlists would exist on all their channels which meant that the same few songs would be played over and over again.

This kind of issue has plagued the decades' channels since day one. The same approx. 200 songs get played over and over again on a daily basis. You begin to realize this if you listen to a single channel for an extended period of time.

There have been complaints across the Internet for years about the manner in which SiriusXM programs its channels. It's a wonder they even have music programmers on the payroll as there is just no thought put into music rotation.

I did hear that perhaps as of recently, SiriusXM actually has finally introduced less-familiar music into their daily programming. It may have only happened on their new 60s Gold channel. The change was so radical, in fact, that I am hearing they received complaints from people that only wanted the Top hits to be played...

...so obviously, no matter what you do, nobody is happy.

However, I still hear the same tired playlist on the 70s channel from a decade or more ago. Same songs every day.

What are your thoughts on this subject?


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

NJRonbo said:


> Been a subscriber since XM Radio was in existence.
> 
> The worst thing about Sirius taking over XM was that their philosophy was aligned with AM and FM radio where only short playlists would exist on all their channels which meant that the same few songs would be played over and over again.
> 
> ...


Must be doing something right.

"Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, said Thursday that it added 616,000 self-paying subscribers in its satellite radio unit in *the third quarter*, beating the 169,000 additions recorded in the same period in 2020 and exceeding its full-year growth target nine months into the year.Oct 28, 2021 "


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## B. Shoe (Apr 3, 2008)

I can't speak to the decades channels. Aside from live sports and sports talk channels (the main reason I keep a SXM subscription), any music I listen to on SXM usually comes from The Highway (emerging new country), Shade 45 (top rap/R&B) and Hits 1 (Top 40 hits). In that small sample, the playlists are pretty limited; maybe 25-30 songs before I start hearing repeats. If I leave a channel on during the entirety of my workday, I'll hear multiple repeats. Anymore, I give those channels an hour of listening time, tops. For longer listening sessions, I'll tap into a Daily Mix playlist on Spotify.

Still very happy with the service, overall.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

I mostly listen to Little Steven's Underground Garage channel (21). Not much repeating there!


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

I have not noticed excessive repetition on the music channels I listen to. They have to do something with the 16 minutes per hour that they are not playing commercials. I tuned to a local station yesterday to catch a weather report, heard the weather but went back to SIriusXM after they started their third commercial break in a half hour.


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## gjrhine (May 16, 2002)

"
Does SiriusXM have ads?


Will I hear commercials on SiriusXM? *Almost all of our music channels are commercial-free*. There are a handful of music channels not programmed by SiriusXM that air commercials. Many of our sports, news, talk and entertainment channels also carry limited amounts of commercials."

*Will I hear commercials on SiriusXM?*
https://listenercare.siriusxm.com › SupportCenter › article


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Sorry if I was unclear. I was comparing SiriusXM to local radio. SiriusXM and local radio both play music. But most local radio plays commercials (the ones that don't play commercials ask for donations). Comparing a local station with 16 minutes of commercials each hour with the commercial free SiriusXM version means SiriusXM has 16 more minutes per hour to play songs. Which means more repetition unless deep cuts are used to fill that available time.

If you have ever talked to a music director at a radio station you might be stunned. Some believe that their listeners want to hear the most popular songs (the station's top 10 or 20) often. So they put them in high rotation. A rotation designed so a listener will hear a top ten song three times an hour (do the math - the song repeats every three hours). One of the next 10 (top 20 but not top 10) might play twice per hour (the song repeats every five hours). Randomized the repeat isn't exact. This accounts for five songs an hour - 20 minutes of music. Add another five songs from the rest of the library and there is 20 minutes left for commercials and endless chatter from DJs that think they are more interesting than the music they were hired to play. (Endless chatter is only good if the DJs _ARE_ more interesting than the music. Most are not.)

So back to the music director who is trying to make sure they deliver a top 10 song every 20 minutes and says "people only listen for 20 minutes so we have to repeat songs often". I'd argue that people only listen for 20 minutes because they get too much repetition ...people might listen LONGER if the station didn't sound like a five disc CD player on shuffle.

No commercials and better DJs help SiriusXM play more music ... which is what music subscribers want.


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## TXD16 (Oct 30, 2008)

Have been a subscriber to Sirius (now SiriusXM), pretty much for as long as they have existed, and at various levels of discounts (mostly significant). That said, the playlists on the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s channels, which are the ones to which I most often listen, have always been more than sufficient for me.


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## DesertWind53 (May 29, 2007)

The repetition problem? Much better than a decade ago on the decade channels, Classic Rewind & Classic Vinyl - those channels make up 90% of my listening. Also sound quality has improved incredibly, from the days of everything sounding like ultra-low-bitrate garbage emanating from the bottom of a giant metal garbage can, to sounding pretty decent nowadays. Now that I live in the sticks it's a godsend. 100% happy subscriber here.


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## Getteau (Dec 20, 2007)

On the music side, I mainly listen to Turbo, Hair Nation and Ozzy's Boneyard. I wouldn't say they repeat the same songs every hour, but if you listen for 3 or 4 hours, you'll hear a core set of songs repeated. If you listen to them every day, around the same time each day, you will definitely hear the repeats.


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