Here are some online radio stations and new applications worth exploring this weekend.
oWow radio in Cleveland is getting a lot of positive media attention, and it’s all deserved as far as I can tell. oWow is basically a revival of your rock FM station station circa 1976 or so, with actual live local deejays, like, actually talking to you and no suits upstairs asking why the bleep they played that tune instead of something else that the Format Dude said has to be played.
oWow launched in late February, describing itself as “regionally based, hyperlocal, online radio station.” I never quite got the term “hyperlocal.” I mean, it’s local to Cleveland, right? Anyway, I’m listening and it’s a great station, so give it a chance.
For the somewhat more courageous, there’s urRadio, which combines playlisting from a huge library with gear that lets the playlist creators (or deejays, or curators, or whatever) talk live to their listeners. This could be cool. HypeBot has a review. I’m liking some of the channels. Tell us what you think.
Finally, it’s been about a year and a half since WQXR in New York launched its 24/7 Jonathan channel, dedicated to the tastes of jazz/Broadway/song aficionado Jonathan Schwartz. I do hope that QXR thinks the channel works, because I sure do. Schwartz is just perfect. He picks great music and maintains a wonderful low key keep-you-company monologue between songs that is both challenging, charming, and undisruptive. I don’t care if you don’t usually listen to Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan; you’ve got to check this guy out.
