City Radio

[Giulio]

On this blog, I often see references to Radio Paradise, and I've brought Mother Earth to your attention, but no one has ever talked about City Radio. This is a shame because this "all music" lossless radio is excellent. Carefully crafted programming and perfect streaming parameter selection make you forget that its stream is "only" of a high-quality CD level (16/48).

It's a Chilean radio station primarily oriented toward jazz (in the sense that its programming preferably selects genres that, for its operators, are somehow related to jazz, blues, etc., not that it exclusively plays jazz). As with all the radios I choose, there are no DJ interventions or advertisements. If you want an "all music" station to have in the background, this is the radio for you.

FLAC stream: http://cityradio.ddns.net:8000/cityradio48flac

 

[d6jg]

On this blog, I often see references to Radio Paradise, and I've brought Mother Earth to your attention, but no one has ever talked about City Radio. This is a shame because this "all music" lossless radio is excellent. Carefully crafted programming and perfect streaming parameter selection make you forget that its stream is "only" of a high-quality CD level (16/48).

It's a Chilean radio station primarily oriented toward jazz (in the sense that its programming preferably selects genres that, for its operators, are somehow related to jazz, blues, etc., not that it exclusively plays jazz). As with all the radios I choose, there are no DJ interventions or advertisements. If you want an "all music" station to have in the background, this is the radio for you.

FLAC stream: http://cityradio.ddns.net:8000/cityradio48flac

Again it’s on LMS’s Radio Now Playing plugin which as well as being something of a directory also adds cover art and metadata. The author hooks into the stations api in most cases

 

[Giulio]

Again it’s on LMS’s Radio Now Playing plugin which as well as being something of a directory also adds cover art and metadata. The author hooks into the stations api in most cases

I don't doubt that it exists, but online radios are countless.
Providing only links without at least briefly explaining why one has chosen to recommend one, the characteristics of its programming, those of its stream, and so on, is like giving someone a phone book without telling them who will answer the highlighted phone number.
In other words, it doesn't serve any purpose at all.

 

[Johnny]

City radio is in my network stream I wouldn't be without it.

 

[Mr Ee]

I don't doubt that it exists, but online radios are countless.
Providing only links without at least briefly explaining why one has chosen to recommend one, the characteristics of its programming, those of its stream, and so on, is like giving someone a phone book without telling them who will answer the highlighted phone number.
In other words, it doesn't serve any purpose at all.

Did you never use a payphone as a kid and just punch in a load of random numbers, then chat to whomever answered?

 

[Giulio]

City radio is in my network stream I wouldn't be without it.

Music can be divided into two categories (categories, not genres): what we could call listening music and what is suitable as background music. Radios, whether "normal" or online, are primarily oriented towards the second category, where "background" doesn't necessarily have its literal meaning but represents all the moments when you enjoy listening to music without focusing on it. It can be the music you like to have playing at home, perhaps while cooking, what's playing in a store, or simply what you listen to on headphones while walking your dog.

Of course, this task can be accomplished by playlists offered by all subscription services, but I consider radio superior for one characteristic that sets them apart from these: playlists are composed by an algorithm based on the average preference of the mass of subscribers, whereas the programming of a radio is decided by the judgment of one or more individuals. The result obtained is entirely different.

For example, this morning, City Radio is not playing music typically associated with its preferred genres but music from another genre that features a lot of saxophone. Why? Because the person responsible for its programming this morning chose to maintain the connection not with the musical genre but with a wind instrument that plays a fundamental role in jazz. These kinds of choices are, for now, unique to human minds. Perhaps in a few years, next-generation artificial intelligences will be able to do it too, but for now, it's an exclusive human characteristic.

Returning to our radio, City is not the only one that, thanks to careful programming and streaming parameters, is suitable for such use without making you regret choosing a radio instead of a playlist, but there are not many. But how do you decide on WHICH radio to focus your attention on, considering there are so many? There are only two ways: the first is to spend many thousands of hours narrowing the choice down to a manageable group, and the second is to rely as a starting point on those who have already done so, and then personalize the advice to suit your taste.

Clarification: This is a thread that has City Radio as its specific theme, as well as topics directly related to it. On the other hand, it is NOT a thread about the devices used to index streaming sources, and even less so is it a thread about children's games. Since I opened it, I would be happy not to see excessive off-topic discussions. So, it's great to talk about your experience with the vast world of internet music streaming, preferably limited to the category of lossless and "all music," but not so great if it ventures into software for managing phone directories.

 

[Mr Ee]

I think you need to relax and let the discussion take you wherever it goes.
There is often a bit of banter in this forum, which I believe helps to stop it degenerating into the dog fights you see in many other places online.
Sometimes it's quite tangential, but thread topics are generally adhered to.
A bit like any normal conversation.

So, on topic I assume as it's specifically referring to your post, I disagree with your two category statement, I believe it's too simplistic and there are more than that. Unless we are literally splitting music consumption into times we actively listen to it to the exclusion of any other activity, and everything else.

I do think your explanation of why city radio had an 'unusual' playlist today is interesting.
Personally, I very rarely listen to radio because I often find myself simply not enjoying much of the music they play. Maybe some of that could be due to the predictability involved. Maybe a counter argument to that is that I ought to expand my horizons and appreciate the talent in music I don't normally listen to.
But maybe it's like food - you probably wouldn't actively seek out a style of food you're not very keen on, no matter how well prepared it is. Or is that analogy too off topic?

One thing I definitely agree with - how to find the 'right' radio station.
From the posts over the past couple of days I think I will give both city radio and mother earth a spin.
Radio Paradise gets a lot of praise, but somehow it's just not for me.

 

[Wiimer]

I think you need to relax and let the discussion take you wherever it goes.
There is often a bit of banter in this forum, which I believe helps to stop it degenerating into the dog fights you see in many other places online.
Sometimes it's quite tangential, but thread topics are generally adhered to.
A bit like any normal conversation.

So, on topic I assume as it's specifically referring to your post, I disagree with your two category statement, I believe it's too simplistic and there are more than that. Unless we are literally splitting music consumption into times we actively listen to it to the exclusion of any other activity, and everything else.

I do think your explanation of why city radio had an 'unusual' playlist today is interesting.
Personally, I very rarely listen to radio because I often find myself simply not enjoying much of the music they play. Maybe some of that could be due to the predictability involved. Maybe a counter argument to that is that I ought to expand my horizons and appreciate the talent in music I don't normally listen to.
But maybe it's like food - you probably wouldn't actively seek out a style of food you're not very keen on, no matter how well prepared it is. Or is that analogy too off topic?

One thing I definitely agree with - how to find the 'right' radio station.
From the posts over the past couple of days I think I will give both city radio and mother earth a spin.
Radio Paradise gets a lot of praise, but somehow it's just not for me.

This is the first time I've seen @Mr Ee speak seriously without breaking jokes.
How are you?