There are some days I wake up to crap on the radio. I live in a small city, and we have Three choices of LOCAL (Meaning based in a 20 mile radius) radio stations to choose from.
WLBC 104.1 FM - Sucky top 40 pop, and a lot of overplayed 80's and 90's chart topper stuff. Every once in a great while they will actually play something cool, but it is typically at night. Really SUPER annoying Morning DJ with a screamy voice, that I would love to knock out...
WHTY/WHTI 93.5/96.7 FM - Decent collection of mostly overplayed Classic rock. Sometimes they throw in a little bone now and then. Mandatory Metallica on Mondays at 6 P.M., Nights with Alice Cooper at 7 P.M. Decent Jocks, but all with a face for radio. The best part of the Day is When Alice Cooper's broadcast comes on, because he typically plays a lot of hidden treasure type stuff that isn't as well known in the mainstream.
WMDH 102.5 FM - Country... Sometimes they play some cool country songs, but most of it is tired overplayed garbage.
I don't count the college radio station, because they rarely play anything interesting, although, sometimes late at night, they do play some cool old school pre-grunge underground stuff, and some other ecclectic music. Not a station that I listen to a lot.
Now we do have a few other stations that are based in Indianapolis that are tolerable:
WFBQ 94.7 - Home of the world famous Bob and Tom Show. I get to listen to those chuckled headed, canned laughter spewing apes in the morning, then BTO and John Mellencamp for the rest of the day... WAYYY Overplayed stuff. I mean you can only listen to "Takin' Care of Business" so many times a week (They pay it like clockwork three times a day...) before you want to show their transmitters the business end of a sledgehammer...
WRZX 103.3 - This radio station is weird. Back in the 90's they took over a classic rock station, and changed it to "Solid Rock X-103" They used to play all kinds of metal: Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, DRI, Alice In Chains, Suicidal Tendencies... Then after Nirvana hit it big, the changed to "Indy's New Rock Alternative" and they play a little of everything but they still play a lot (And i mean a LOT) of really overplayed commercialized crap. Lots of Nickelback and Creed, Drowning pool, Stuff like that... Not that there is anything wrong with Drowning Pool, but place my comment about BTO from above here... I think you get the picture.
98.9 FM out of Ft. Wayne is the same as 103.3 but they have a little better playlist to work with.
I guess my point here in all of this is that I am sick to DEATH of hearing the commercialized crap that spews out of Stereo speakers locally. Sure there's XM... But what I would like to hear a LOCAL music station that steps outside the norm, and actually supports LOCAL musicians. Sure 93.5 does to some extent, but I would like to hear some up and coming artists that play ORIGINAL work, the way THEY WANT TO.
In this town, Bands normally don't last long, because there is no real opportunity to break out.
Is there anyone else that see things this way out there? Great bands losing interest in their trade because of lack of local support?