Official Slacker Forums

[lfsnz67]

I mean really. The selection on Slacker is ridiculously small. It consists of the classical cd's found in the remainder bin at the local drug store, and not very many of them.
Accuradio, pandora, flycast all have a decent selection.

When do we get real classical music on Slacker?

[Yojimbeau]

Seconding this. A bona fide classical station is a necessity for any serious music service. Unfortunately this doesn't lend itself well to 'select 500 artists, hit shuffle'. Classical is one of the very few things that XM is actually doing OK in my book, it may be good to emulate them in some respect. It's nice to hear entire symphonies all the way through sometimes.

Also, I think an Opera / classical vocals station would be great too. XM * off a lot of people by killing Vox. If Slacker could come up with an alternative for that, it would certainly pick up a few subscriptions/portables.

[oddio]

We recognize the appetite for a Classical station with more depth, and we promise it's in the works. We are very pleased with the variety of stations offered by us right now, and it will only grow and improve!

[Pop1967]

Just wanted to chime in here ... I'd like a classical station that isn't as "hit" oriented as the existing classical stations.

Thanks for reading.

[daren]

edit: nm

[KISSman]

I agree with the OP. The 'classical' stations on Slacker are too 'hit' oriented. The material doesn't seem to be weighty enough (if that makes sense). I would just love to have a channel that plays some beautiful symphony music that doesn't happen to be the most famous pieces. I'm listening to what XM's Pops and Symphony Hall channels have on right now and this is one case where they (unfortunately) have Slacker beat handily.

[Graham Norris]

I agree with the OP. The 'classical' stations on Slacker are too 'hit' oriented. The material doesn't seem to be weighty enough (if that makes sense). I would just love to have a channel that plays some beautiful symphony music that doesn't happen to be the most famous pieces. I'm listening to what XM's Pops and Symphony Hall channels have on right now and this is one case where they (unfortunately) have Slacker beat handily.

I also agree with that, although I find Symphony Hall to be a lot less satisfactory than XM Classics was.

I wonder if what's needed to make this work would be a tie between a broadcaster like KUSC and Slacker, to provide a classical channel. It might end up a bit more like a musical podcast than the other Slacker channels, but it would make for much better listening.

[JDMSlackR]

I agree we should have it broken down into sections like:

Baroque Era(Bach,Vivaldi,Handel)
Classical Era(Mozart, Beethoven,Schubert)
Romance Era(Schumann,Chopin,Rachmaninoff,Wagner etc...)
20th Century and Beyond
Eastern Classical(Asia, Indian, Eastern European)

[Graham Norris]

I agree we should have it broken down into sections like:

Baroque Era(Bach,Vivaldi,Handel)
Classical Era(Mozart, Beethoven,Schubert)
Romance Era(Schumann,Chopin,Rachmaninoff,Wagner etc...)
20th Century and Beyond
Eastern Classical(Asia, Indian, Eastern European)

Personally, I like a variety, but regardless of how it is done, we need more quality and depth. Anyone who thinks that John Williams soundtrack material is "classical" should not be programming the classical radio stations - hits or otherwise. (The other John Williams is another matter.)

[daren]

I agree we should have it broken down into sections like:

Baroque Era(Bach,Vivaldi,Handel)
Classical Era(Mozart, Beethoven,Schubert)
Romance Era(Schumann,Chopin,Rachmaninoff,Wagner etc...)
20th Century and Beyond
Eastern Classical(Asia, Indian, Eastern European)

Personally, I like a variety, but regardless of how it is done, we need more quality and depth. Anyone who thinks that John Williams soundtrack material is "classical" should not be programming the classical radio stations - hits or otherwise. (The other John Williams is another matter.)

oddio's (the station DJ) has said several times that his hands are tied as far as what music slacker owns rights too and is working on it...

Like the categories tho. that would work great.

[EarthMatters]

I agree we should have it broken down into sections like:

Baroque Era(Bach,Vivaldi,Handel)
Classical Era(Mozart, Beethoven,Schubert)
Romance Era(Schumann,Chopin,Rachmaninoff,Wagner etc...)
20th Century and Beyond
Eastern Classical(Asia, Indian, Eastern European)

Adding my vote. This is one area that I find I do not use the Slacker service or my G2. The Sirius Symphony Hall is good, but it would be great if Slacker could break it down into the 5 categories suggested here by JDMSlackR. I find myself tuning into 1.FM's Otto's Baroque Musick these days for my online Baroque fix. It's good, but I can't take it with me on the road with my G2, and that's what I really want.

[oddio]

Hi guys,

Slacker HQ tells me this is very much in the works. Until then I value your input and very much remain your humble servant.

[lfsnz67]

Good to hear.

Since my post in December, I signed on as a paid subscriber and am really enjoying my 1G portable as well as the excellent iPhone app.

Unfortunately the classical selection hasn't improved since December. I look forward to more music!

[gshepherd]

Excellent news! I would love to see the classical library expand and some more genre-specific stations. It seems like the current classical library on Slacker is made up of a dozen or so compilation CDs at most. Fine for background music, sometimes (and sometimes just annoying).

I'd be extremely pleased if you could do an in-depth classical channel with full-length performances as they were intended to be heard, not just bits and pieces of this and that. Add in an optional DJ for background info, and you'd really have something for us classical fans. XM/Sirius still takes the cake on their Symphony Hall channel... I know the talented folks at Slacker can do better and push this new twist on Internet Radio onto the Classical scene in a big way.

Here's what I would do if I wanted to one-up XM on this front:

1. Play entire pieces (a given)
2. Program in appropriate dead-air before and after each piece (XM falls short on this)
3. Provide an optional DJ with interesting background on the piece about to be enjoyed (and if you really want to go crazy, provide two DJs: one being the classic Classical music host, and the other a hipper, younger approach)
4. Skip should skip to the next performance, not just the next movement (maybe I'm not in the mood, at the moment, for the Goldberg Variations, but Chopin's 24 Preludes, let's go)

There's a huge opportunity here to not just equal XM's offering, but pull right past it.

[KISSman]

Hi guys,

Slacker HQ tells me this is very much in the works.

Wow, this is great news! I will love such a station once it materializes.

[Pop1967]

Hi guys,

Slacker HQ tells me this is very much in the works. Until then I value your input and very much remain your humble servant.

Bump.

Still in the works?

[Pop1967]

Hi guys,

Slacker HQ tells me this is very much in the works. Until then I value your input and very much remain your humble servant.

Bump.

Still in the works?

I guess not.

[lfsnz67]

Hi guys,

Slacker HQ tells me this is very much in the works. Until then I value your input and very much remain your humble servant.

Bump.

Still in the works?

I guess not.

It's a * shame as I became a paid user of Slacker and would really like to dump my XM radio in my car. The classical channel frankly sucks big time...

[skippy]

I have to say, I am really sickened and disgusted with the lack of any action on this by Slacker. There have been no responses in quite some time by any member of the Slacker staff and our programmer (Mat Diablo) has not even logged into the forums since March 17, 2008! It is really a sad state of affairs when the person responsible for the programming of this genre/station doesn't even check the forums for comments/suggestions in 1.5 years. If there is someone at Slacker monitoring this station, please address the lack of a real classical channel and actually take some action on it...I believe we have been pretty patient...its only been 10 months since this issue was brought up.

[RomeE]

I have to say, I am really sickened and disgusted with the lack of any action on this by Slacker. There have been no responses in quite some time by any member of the Slacker staff and our programmer (Mat Diablo) has not even logged into the forums since March 17, 2008! It is really a sad state of affairs when the person responsible for the programming of this genre/station doesn't even check the forums for comments/suggestions in 1.5 years. If there is someone at Slacker monitoring this station, please address the lack of a real classical channel and actually take some action on it...I believe we have been pretty patient...its only been 10 months since this issue was brought up.

This is still our #1 project when it comes to music on the site, but it's taking longer than anticipated. There was some things we had to work through (still working through) in order to provide a better Classical Station.. I know that Scott Riggs has commented on this topic a few times already. Yes, we still plan on increasing the Classical Content and stations, but until we can work through some issues, we are unable to at this time. I hope it can be soon (like, maybe before the end of the year) but some of this is outside of our control, so we are still working on it, and as soon as we have some new information, we'll post it. Typically we don't post unless we have something to add or new information.

Best regards,
Rome E
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