Official Slacker Forums

[Stephen]

About the Classical Hits station, DJ Zed Magellan says (in that forum):

...No, you won't hear any deep cuts from Somebodykovich's lost symphony fourth movement allegro in d minor here.

But can't we be treated to the Somebodykoviches somewhere? please?

[Alexander FoxyTango]

I am in total agreement. I may only dable in classical music, but that kind of deep classical stuff is what my tastes find appealing.....and my girlfriend is in love with that kind of classical. So really yall, help a poor boy out?

[fredpb]

What is a "serious classical" station? Sounds like people want the more unpopular stuff. Yech. Beethoven...YES! Shostokovich...YECH.

[Stephen]

What is a "serious classical" station? Sounds like people want the more unpopular stuff. Yech. Beethoven...YES! Shostokovich...YECH.

Mainly, it means that I don't want to hear music in small snippets. I prefer complete works to highlights. We should have a long-form option with entire symphonies, concertos, etc. I'm thinking mainly instrumental. Perhaps a separate station could feature opera or vocal works in general.

[krosstown86]

That sounds interesting

[PatentGuy]

Mainly, it means that I don't want to hear music in small snippets. I prefer complete works to highlights. We should have a long-form option with entire symphonies, concertos, etc. I'm thinking mainly instrumental.

I am with you there. It would be great if we had a station that would play a series of complete works. Although, I am not sure the licensing would allow it. Not even the PBS stations play complete works unless it is a live (recorded) broadcast.

[Stephen]

I am with you there. It would be great if we had a station that would play a series of complete works. Although, I am not sure the licensing would allow it. Not even the PBS stations play complete works unless it is a live (recorded) broadcast.

Sirius has a station that, as far as I can tell, always plays complete works. I understand that giving up satellite for Slacker means giving up the live programming I listen to (news, sports), but I don't see why Slacker can't be as serious as Sirius is about classical music. My guess is...

(1) that giving users the ability to personalize classical music is in some aspects beyond the current capabilities of the Slacker software. It involves categories and groupings beyond the typical artist/album/song. Gracenote and iTunes are two examples that come to mind. Both have recognized the inadequacy of their initial designs where classical music is concerned and have worked to add features targeted specifically at this genre. It's a different animal, requiring solutions all its own.

and

(2) that classical music rights add up to more expense on the part of service providers. They have to provide more than one recording of a particular composition to satisfy listeners, because people disagree on which recordings are best: period vs. modern instruments, quality of the performance vs. quality of the recording, how a work should be interpreted, etc.

[kindofblue]

I too would like to see a more serious classical station. The current options are way to "pop" for my tastes. I liked XM's Classical stations. Could we please have something like them? Thanks.

[Yojimbeau]

Sirius also is also paying Howard Stern three-quarters of a billion dollars to throw coldcuts at strippers over the radio, so I think they were able to afford paying whatever it took to get the rights to a couple full symphonies.

I'd love to see a "deep" classical station. The pre-merger XM classical stations were a perfect blend: Hits, Deeper Cuts, and Classical Vocals (not just opera).

[Pop1967]

I'd just like to throw in my "me too" here. Slacker could definitely use a new classical station that's less "hit" oriented than the existing ones.

I tried creating my own, but it seemed to ignore most of the artists I added to the station ... not sure why. It seemed fascinated with the soundtrack to the movie "The Bridge Over The River Kwai".

[AOlson]

Might want to check out some of the little College FM classical stations. There's one here in Baltimore that is AMAZING. They will even play full Operas as well as Symphonies and whatnot. I mean like 4-6 hours on Sunday afternoon. It's really cool.

But they aren't held to the same restrictions as commercial radio, either. They're actually a public station and the licensing is very different. I actually don't know if there's a surviving commercial Classical station left. But a lot of the school stations now broadcast on the web and you can get them streaming.

I can well understand why Slacker doesn't want to stick their hand in that meat grinder. For the very limited audience it will bring the costs of trying to get commercial licensing to play multiple items by a single performer in sequence are prohibitive. This is not including the people who aren't on Plus or Premium where you have to try to cram commercials in alongside the music.

Myself, I'm happy to see Slacker stick with what it's good at. 'All Things To All People' rarely is.

Andy

[gshepherd]

Just throwing my vote into a serious classics station - something missing from any of these streaming internet services. I loved XM's channel 110, now Symphony Hall on Sirius. Often I would hear music I would end up seeking out on iTunes or on CD and adding to my personal library, and the hosts provided great background information on the music, performers, upcoming live concerts, etc. It may be the one channel that keeps me with a toehold on my XM sub, at least for the house.

I'd even pay a modest ala cart premium fee if slacker added such a station, and I'm sure it would draw lots of new subscribers.

[JAdamz]

Another vote here. Also, what about a classical/easy-listening station strictly for piano pieces?

[JDMSlackR]

You got my vote!!!

[Geronimo]

I have to agree. I greatly prefer Slacker to Pandora but classical music is one of the few places where pandora has a clear edge. I suspect it is a rights issue.

[Pop1967]

Not strictly related, but:

Amazon.com, "The 99 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music", $7.99. Fire up that MTP, boyz!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U1J2S4/

[neverOwnediPod]

I second the idea of more serious classical stations. Nothing really cuts it for me either and I also happen to be a Dmitri Shostakovich kinda guy :)

[LiverpoolFAN]

omg please! And make it great classical! like neo classical!

My favourites are:

Saint-Saens / Rimsky-Korsakov / Vivaldi / Rachmaninoff / Debussy / Tchaikovsky / Dvorak / Puccini /

[KISSman]

I also agree with Slacker needing a real classical station. The two existing channels are just not my cup of tea. I never really hear anything of real substance on them. In this genre of music, listening to four to five minute 'hits' just isn't very satisfying. Anyhow, I really hope that there is a true classical station on the horizon.

[KD5XB]

Somewhere to listen to Bach, Beethoven, Shastokovich, Pucini, R-K, etc. would be INCREDIBLE!

And probably not so popular, but if I could get all of Bach's Cello Suites perhaps once every week or two, well -- I NEED MY FIX!!!

Ah -- er -- I mean -- it would be very nice.