December 26, 2003

High-Tech Quirkiness Restores Radio's Magic

T'S 3 a.m. on a bitter, blustery New York night, and from a bedside radio on which the volume is adjusted to a comforting murmur, the voice of an unfamiliar singer calls through my half-sleep, and I have the sensation of being transported to a land of sonic dreams I haven't visited in decades. Not since I was a teenager enthralled by the cries and moans of the Five Satins and the Moonglows on early rock 'n' roll radio — sounds that Paul Simon once described as "deep forbidden music" — has the mystique of pop radio been so seductive.

The source of these sounds is not a local radio station or a bland, faceless cable music service but a satellite pay radio channel. Music beamed by satellite has resurrected the thrill of musical discovery that has all but vanished on what is called terrestrial radio.

From the rock 'n' roll heyday of Alan Freed to the free-form FM rock of the Woodstock era, pop radio has gone through many ups and downs before being creatively smothered by corporate homogenization. At the very moment when terrestrial pop radio has deteriorated into a wasteland in which the role of D.J. is increasingly relegated to announcing songs selected by market research, satellite radio augurs what may be a new golden era of music radio.

Barely two years old, it is already offered in two competing systems, XM and Sirius. These services, which suggest radio's answer to Home Box Office and Showtime, carry the niche marketing of music to a new level of refinement. Satellite radio is unlikely to restore the warm feeling of inclusiveness that free-form FM radio evoked among baby boomers in the Woodstock era, when Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Ian and the Rolling Stones could be heard on the same station. But in its own ultramodern way, it resurrects the kind of intimate musical experience that has all but vanished except on college radio.

With its transparent, static-free reception and digitally perfect CD sound, it is a technological leap beyond anything that has been heard on the airwaves. Satellite radio has yet to reach the point where record-company and independent promoters are beating down its doors to influence programming, and representatives of both services insist they intend to keep it that way. Let's hope so. That purity is one reason that subscribing to a satellite service is the closest you can come nowadays to going to Radio Heaven. But the medium's biggest selling point may be the enthusiasm that informs its programming. The programmers on both services are experts in their genres who return the missing ingredient to radio: real care for what they play, which market-tested music can't begin to match.

Still half asleep, I turn my face toward the orange glow of the dial, read the song title and the artist's name as it scrolls across a small screen, and rouse myself enough to jot down the vital statistics. Come morning, I'll hunt down the recording on Amazon and order it.

The satellite channel that has given me the most epiphanies is XM's Channel 50, named the Loft, which is largely devoted to four decades of singer-songwriters, from early Bob Dylan to the present. Some recent discoveries have been Damien Rice's "Cannonball," Phil Roy's "Melt," Rufus Wainwright's "Vibrate," Jonathan Brooke's "10 Cent Wings," Cassandra Wilson's version of Sting's "Fragile," Matthew Ryan's "Skylight," Coldplay's "We Never Change," Ryan Adams's version of Oasis's "Wonderwall," Patty Griffin's "One Big Love" and Richard Thompson's "I Feel So Good." These more-or-less new recordings are intermingled with the best of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and dozens of other classic folk and rock performers.

Bear in mind that the Loft is only one star in XM's constellation of 101 channels (Sirius has 100) embracing the entire spectrum of radio, including music, news, sports, talk, variety, comedy and children's programming. Out of XM's 101 channels, 70 are music channels, half of them commercial-free. (Commercials are widely scattered and usually unobtrusive.) All 60 of Sirius's music channels are without commercials.

Satellite radio originated in 1992 when the Federal Communications Commission allocated a spectrum of the S band for digital audio radio. Four companies applied for a license to broadcast, and in 1997 two, American Mobile Radio (now XM) and CD Radio (now Sirius), were licensed. Each paid about $80 million to use the space.

XM has a music channel for each decade, beginning in the 1940's. Its 50's music channel does more than play the best early rock 'n' roll. It immerses you in the era by including vintage commercials and media sound bites from the period. In addition XM has 7 rock and pop channels (including the Loft); 6 country and folk channels; 8 urban channels (including 2 devoted to rap and hip-hop); 7 for jazz, blues and vintage pop; 4 for dance; 5 for Latin music; 3 each for world and classical music (classical is divided into instrumental, vocal and pops); 2 Christian music channels; 1 each for movie soundtracks and Broadway; and several eclectic stations.

Sirius has 9 pop channels (including individual decade channels from the 50's through the 80's and 1 for Christian music), 13 rock, 4 country, 5 hip-hop, 5 R&B, 6 dance, 5 jazz and standards channels, and 1 for Broadway. Its 3 classical channels are divided into orchestral, chamber and vocal music. The chamber music channel (XM lacks the equivalent) is especially fine. Sirius also carries National Public Radio, without its popular flagship programs, "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered."

After skipping around the dial of either service, most music lovers are likely to settle on two or three favorites. Besides the Loft on XM, I listen a lot to XM Café (which is similar but has a slightly harder, alternative-rock edge) and Frank's Place (the Frank is Frank Sinatra), which is devoted to standards and is programmed by the legendary New York radio personality Jonathan Schwartz, incorporating his personal record collection. (Most of XM's programming emanates from Washington, but Frank's Place is one of five XM channels based in New York.) Down the XM dial from Frank's Place is its country cousin, Hank's Place (as in Hank Williams), devoted to country standards.

The Loft is the brainchild of Mike Marrone, a 47-year-old old D.J. from a radio and records background. What makes it great is the fervor with which Mr. Marrone, a self-described ex-hippie, communicates his musical vision. His boundless enthusiasm is matched by his fantastic taste. The music he programs pointedly underscores the continuing vitality of a personal, often confessional songwriting tradition that flourishes artistically despite its commercial marginalization after the 1970's.

Mr. Marrone is as cognizant of the past as he is of the present. On the Loft you will rediscover the best recordings by artists seldom heard anywhere on the radio nowadays, like Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, Andy Pratt, Todd Rundgren, Jimmie Spheeris, Garland Jeffries, Nick Drake and John Martyn. Others like Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, Loudon Wainwright III, Bruce Cockburn and Duncan Sheik are played regularly enough to qualify as what Mr. Marrone calls "core artists." He was also one of the first D.J.'s in the country to discover Norah Jones, whose debut album he played weeks before its release.

Both XM and Sirius are growing rapidly. In late October XM, which began broadcasting nationwide in November 2001, passed the one million mark in subscriptions. It has a projected break-even point of three million subscribers. Sirius, which started in August 2002, has just passed the 200,000 mark. It expects to achieve break-even at two million subscribers. The listeners to both services are pretty evenly distributed around the United States. Because XM and Sirius have agreements with car manufacturers to offer the services as a feature on many new vehicles, car radio is a major market.

The two systems broadcast nationally 24 hours a day. A programmer in a studio punches a button connected to a musical storage bank that automatically plays the selection. Sometimes the disc jockeys are live and sometimes not. Although lead-ins and segues are often recorded a day or two in advance, it's virtually impossible to tell if an intro is live or recorded.

Sirius is based in New York near Rockefeller Center. Its closest equivalent to the Loft is called Organic Rock (Channel 24), although the music is scruffier and more eclectic. The Bridge, Sirius's mellow rock station, which has no regular disc jockeys, and the Trend, an adult album alternative channel, also cover some of the same territory. Fantasy Ballroom — whose name echoes "Make Believe Ballroom," one of the earliest radio shows to feature a disc jockey — is Sirius's answer to Frank's Place and features a rotating cast of expert hosts, including the cabaret singers Eric Comstock and Michael Feinstein.

Although XM and Sirius have raided terrestrial radio for on-air talent, XM, whose programming philosophy was conceived by Lee Abrams, the man who helped invent the successful formats known as A.O.R. (album-oriented rock) and Smooth Jazz, has a somewhat more personal touch. Mr. Abrams is a fervent advocate of personal communication between programmers and the public. At Sirius, which has grown more conservative in its pop programming philosophy since a change in management, the mellow rock and pop channels more closely resemble lite soft-rock stations like WLTW (106.7) in New York.

But ultimately it's not its wondrous technology that makes satellite broadcasting pop radio's (and maybe even pop music's) brightest hope, but a phenomenon that in some ways contradicts that technology. For the music of the night requires guiding sensibilities. When presented by an authority, it is not just a sound. Driven by a passionate music vision, it becomes a compelling story that draws you into an imagined world where music harmonizes with your deepest dreams.

Sirius and XM Radio are the service providers for satellite radio service. The equipment consists mainly of the radio and antenna, which can be placed by any window. It can be bought at an electronics store like Circuit City for $120 to $2,000.

The XM receiver, which resembles a television remote control, is $120 for a car radio and $199 for a home system, which includes a portable boombox into which the receiver is fitted. Sirius is about to introduce its own similar boombox, which will cost $100. The cost of a Sirius receiver and its cradle is $149.

Service plans are available for varying periods: from monthly ($9.99 to $12.95); to yearly ($142); to two years ($199 to $272); to one-time lifetime offers ($400).

The unit can be installed in minutes by the purchaser (instructions are available) or through the dealer.

The service can be activated by calling the company's Web site (www.sirius.com and www.xmradio.com) or by calling the toll-free numbers, (888) 539-7474 for Sirius and (800) 852-9696 for XM radio. Both services charge a $15 activation fee and offer a discount online.