OTHER TECH

The Hard Sell

Perhaps the most telling aspect of XM Radio's approach to programming is the fact that, of its 101 channels - 71 of them are music-only, with the remainder covering news and talk - nearly two-thirds carry varying forms of advertising. (While none of Sirius's 60 music channels carry ads, all 40 of its talk and news channels do.) Even more significant, though, nearly all of the remaining three dozen commercial-free music channels (that's as long as you don't count the many in-house and self-promotion spots as ads) specialize in the kind of music associated with "older" listeners - Classic Rock, blues, traditional country, jazz, classical, and so on.

That's probably neither here nor there, except that the channels for the most narrowly defined of these genres - say, bluegrass or folk - often carry the kind of formulaic, antiseptic atmosphere associated more with prerecorded in-flight airline programs than "live" radio. Sometimes there are hosts, sometimes there aren't - it seems fairly haphazard and gives older listeners the impression that they're not quite as important a component of the XM audience as, say, the Bone Yard hard-rock crowd, where the more serious advertising bucks are. (To be fair, even the channels that carry ads don't play that many - yet.)

In addition, some channels continually remind you of their targeted "uniqueness," almost to the point of parody. Hank's Place, for example, one of five XM channels devoted to country music, features a generally fine selection of mostly '50s to '70s mainstream hits by classic artists like Marty Robbins, Faron Young, Jean Shepherd, and Jeanne Pruett. Unfortunately, the vibe is seriously undermined by fake barroom banter between song sets that comes straight out of the "You May Be a Redneck" textbook. Similarly, the '50s channel, while at times displaying a strong and hip playlist - Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush," Sonny Knight's "Confidential" - tosses in snippets of old ads and news items that fairly scream nostalgia. It's precisely these sorts of age/genre stereotypes that this particular music-loving critic has spent a lifetime trying to demolish - and that ultimately make the XM experience less than meets the ear.

By contrast, I suppose the best way to describe listening to Sirius is to say that it's "minimally invasive." Sirius's approach to programming makes clear that it wants to make good on its basic promise of delivering "100% commercial-free music" (outside of the network plugs and channel cross-referencing, that is). And it uses a generally low-key hosting staff of, as its introductory literature claims, "master music programmers and on-air personalities," who only speak "to give information regarding the music being played." Accordingly, Sirius often sounds like a college radio station in terms of both format and identity, with the scope and liveliness of the music and atmosphere on individual channels largely dependent at any given time on the DJ riding the airwaves.

So for me the better moments happen - not surprisingly - when some of the many veteran DJs on the Sirius roster are hosting shows. Admittedly, some of it has to do with familiarity: the Sirius studios are in New York City, and as an area resident, I have a built-in comfort zone associated with names like Meg Griffin (heard on the Folk Town and Organic rock channels), Ed Baer (the Sirius Gold oldies channel), and Jeremy Tepper (the classic-country Road House channel). Regardless of the degree to which the hosts make their presence felt in their song choices or words, however, what's probably most noticeable across the board at Sirius is a subtle but underlying sense of basic respect for the audience. And in these days of sledgehammer radio, that's no mean feat.

- Billy Altman