What would improve Phantom?

KingOfFairview

Personally I quite like the station, but this forum seems to be nothing but bellyaching. So, what could Phantom do to make you like it more?

lordgoat

Bigger playlist

Better presenters

Presenters that are allowed to choose more of the songs requested and that they would like to play.

less ads for harvey Norman

Better presenters.

ghostdancer

basically if the station was more like The Lounge all day, instead of the same predictable mainstream "indie" songs played from 7am-7pm.

in the last few months I've barely listened to the station at all, and just checked to see what was on the playlist, and it's every bit as predictable as ever. "a new Biffy Clyro single - let's play that every hour for 3 weeks", "everyone used to love The Strokes, bang that on there.". i went back a few weeks and saw the word "Coldplay" several times along the way....
they should try experiment a bit, instead of playing the same generic "indie" that TodayFM and 2FM play at the same time.

they could also stop desperately attempting to hype bands that they think that they discovered, or think will make it big and want to be on that bandwagon, even when they've been playing them for 6 months+. if I tune in at 5pm, I'd be more surprised if I didn't hear Kodaline, alt-J or ****ing Bastille.

i would gladly get rid of the 2 gimps in the morning, but it might mean more Eamonn Fennell and his GAA mates talking in between songs/bands he has clearly never heard of.

but in short, the small and generally awful playlist is the root of the problem. more Pitchfork, less Q Magazine please. or even just scrap the playlist altogether.

SebBerkovich

ghostdancer wrote: »

just scrap the playlist altogether.

That would be brilliant.

I'd like to notice some change at all when a new DJ takes over.

I would (and used to) make time to listen to a particular DJ who plays interesting stuff. Down side is that i'd turn off for particular DJ's as well... swings and roundabouts... still beats turning off completely.

Radio isn't just about music so Bring back:
Anorak Hour
X Minus One (or something equally fun)
Two Pete's Talk Rubbish

Big Nasty

It's simple enough really - whatever formula they were using when the station was at its peak.

I used to listen to Phantom almost exclusively, now I barely listen at all.

lordgoat

ghostdancer wrote: »

basically if the station was more like The Lounge all day, instead of the same predictable mainstream "indie" songs played from 7am-7pm.

in the last few months I've barely listened to the station at all, and just checked to see what was on the playlist, and it's every bit as predictable as ever. "a new Biffy Clyro single - let's play that every hour for 3 weeks", "everyone used to love The Strokes, bang that on there.". i went back a few weeks and saw the word "Coldplay" several times along the way....
they should try experiment a bit, instead of playing the same generic "indie" that TodayFM and 2FM play at the same time.

they could also stop desperately attempting to hype bands that they think that they discovered, or think will make it big and want to be on that bandwagon, even when they've been playing them for 6 months+. if I tune in at 5pm, I'd be more surprised if I didn't hear Kodaline, alt-J or ****ing Bastille.

i would gladly get rid of the 2 gimps in the morning, but it might mean more Eamonn Fennell and his GAA mates talking in between songs/bands he has clearly never heard of.

but in short, the small and generally awful playlist is the root of the problem. more Pitchfork, less Q Magazine please. or even just scrap the playlist altogether.

Don't get me started on him. I don't know how someone that knows so little about music gets a job on the radio.

All I can't stand their 'teme' slot.

Boring boring boring, also stop talking over the intro and outro of songs, no one cares what you're saying.

maximoose

lordgoat wrote: »

All I can't stand their 'teme' slot.

I cannot stand the way that gimp says theme! Also, there is FAR too much talking and attempting to be funny during that slot, those two should be told to shut up and play more songs.

Blackrockcomet

Bottom line is phantom is underperforming from a commercial sense as well as a musical quality standpoint. I think there is an even stronger market for a real alternative station, particularly with Today FM and 2fm pushing back Paul McCloone and Dave Fanning's shows in favour of non-musical/chart shows.

Phantom really shouldn't try to compete with Newstalk and should not morph into Spin FM. Stick to creating an alternative music outlet and the numbers should follow. A lot of Phantom listeners listen to Radio Nova now and with positive changes, these, along with new listeners can be won over.

I agree with the points above that the playlist should be scrapped. I think each individual DJ should be allowed to play what they want (bar request shows) but encouraged to play songs consistently to foster familiarity with the listener but not overkill. If I hear "all the rowboats" by Regina Spector again...

Adiaga 2

Blackrockcomet wrote: »

If I hear "all the rowboats" by Regina Spector again...

Grrr! Thanks pal. It took me about a year to get that song out of my head!

AnTeachBeag

Agree with what is being said here. The station would appear to have a lot of problems, most/all of them are of Phantom's own making. Joe and Keith in the morning are very hard to listen to, mainly because they come across as complete amateurs. And as for the 'games' they come up with - I have to turn over when I hear that trousers of socks jingle.

As someone also mentioned, the playlist is getting ever-closer to that of the main commercial stations. I heard Coldplay on recently (think it was on Stadium Rock on a Saturday) and, to quote Ashley Cole, 'I nearly crashed the car'. There have got to be more talented broadcasters out there than some of the people they have presenting - the aforementioned former Dublin footballer is a particularly grating example. It's sad really, because there is surely a market for a genuine 'alternative' station, rather than one that purports to be but isn't really. And if they are trying to become more mainstream, then for god sake hire some proper djs. At the minute the station is falling between two stools.

strobe

Does payola/pay to play exist in the Irish radio industry?

coolisin

It is so sad to see phantom go down the way it is going.
Since being taken over by today fm its become a mini version, cannot think of a new song I heard on phantom that no other radio station is playing.

I'm not a music snob were I need to hear a song first but 3/4 years ago they had the near perfect line up and new music mix during the day.

It's a pity if joe and Keith stopped trying to be funny and just talked about stuff it could be good.

The breakfast show when phantom went legal was really good, I enjoyed Richie and Michelle.

Don't understand to be a morning show you must be like a child on a sugar high showing off too his mates.

Unfortunately I've slowing stopped listening as cd's are staying on, and in the evening ill listen to John neary on Dublin city's traffic.

You actually hear some less popular music on that!!

AnTeachBeag

Richie McCormack was annoying I thought. Not half as funny as he thought he was & the false indignation got old very quick. It's obviously a tough thing to get right to be fair - people have their favourite presenters etc. But the 2 lads at the minute are very poor. I was actually amazed when I saw them in the promo pics, thought they were in their 20s from the way they went...

SebBerkovich

When Phantom started going all screwy and people started the realize it's changing for the worse I remember Simon Maher posting up here (somewhere) that they'd love to play more stuff like BBC 6 Music but it's not economically viable. At the time i accepted that, but now i really can't understand how it could be all that hard.

Just play good music and the audience will come, that what made it such a popular pirate station.

JJ

I'd agree with all or most of the above and I'd like to add that they should stop playing the same 5-10 songs most hours all day long. This is a trap most radio stations fall into but I'd love to see Phantom stop playing certain songs all the time. I'd also like to see more Irish bands featured. There's a lot of great new Irish music out there that just doesn't seem to get a look in on Phantom during rush hour/peak times anymore.

ghostdancer

just on the playlist note again, here's what Claire Beck played on Sunday morning. it wouldn't all be to my tastes, and it's mostly "easy going" as it was Sunday morning, but this is infinitely better than the usual playlisted guff that gets played to death most afternoon/evenings.

i'd love to know what sort of direction the 7am-7pm presenters are given for what they're supposed to play, compared with some of the night-time/weekend shows. perhaps one of the current/past presenters reading could offer some insight?



Hour 1:

Four Tet - She Moves She
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Moby - Porcelain
Windings - Cleaner
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
Sinead O'Connor - Queen Of Denmark
John Grant - Sigourney Weaver
The Postal Service - Suddenly Everything Has Changed
Bentley Rhythm Ace - Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out
The Beta Band - Squares
Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land
Billy Bragg - A New England
James Vincent McMurrow - Higher Love
Damien Rice - Cannonball

Hour 2:

The Beatles - Across The Universe
Ryan Adams - Two
The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock - The Brutal Here And Now
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
The Knife - Heartbeats
Interpol - Untitled
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Mic Christopher - Skylarkin'
Come On Live Long - Little Ones
Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland 1945
Funeral Suits - Colour Fade
Cake - Long Line Of Cars
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
William Shatner - Common People

PeadarC

A new and expansive playlist. Dear god the playlist is tedious. Biffy ****ing Clyro. Thr stone roses, placebo, muse, the vaccines. Enough is enough.
The nostalgia for phantom pirate is redicilious and not a useful comparison. I listen regularly in the past. While it was usually fun and played deadly tunes, it was often ****.
Less of the airheads too. Eamonn Fennell et al. They appeal to a narrow demographic and won't bring in new listeners.

SebBerkovich

PeadarC wrote: »

A new and expansive playlist. Dear god the playlist is tedious. Biffy ****ing Clyro. Thr stone roses, placebo, muse, the vaccines. Enough is enough.
The nostalgia for phantom pirate is redicilious and not a useful comparison. I listen regularly in the past. While it was usually fun and played deadly tunes, it was often ****.
Less of the airheads too. Eamonn Fennell et al. They appeal to a narrow demographic and won't bring in new listeners.

I think you're missing the point about what made Phantom in the pirate days so good, the important thing about it was that it never even tried to make it a station in which everyone liked every song or every show.
You'd come across some shows that weren't your style, but you'd also have shows that you'd actually tune in specifically to listen to.

Currently they're trying to cast the net as wide as possible with bland inoffensive market tested crap, personally i'd prefer it if they'd realize that having shows that some people are going to love and others are going to dislike is a LOT better than apathy to any give show because it's almost no difference to the one before it or after it.

AnTeachBeag

It's funny, but some of the presenters sound more amateurish now than in the pirate days. Joe and Keith in particular.
Fennell sounds like a parody of a parody - DJ Jayo of Ray Foley's former Today FM show.

I also with they'd give that old ad for Phantasm a run out - the one that took the air from Man on the Moon. That was funny.

"....over eighteens, id required....you won't get in if you're looking wired...."

KingOfFairview

I think the content in the evening is generally very good. I think actually Claire Beck does a good job on drive time too. Obviously some of the stuff in there is too commercial for my tastes, but tBh you sort of have to expect that, given the time of day.

lordgoat

ghostdancer wrote: »

just on the playlist note again, here's what Claire Beck played on Sunday morning. it wouldn't all be to my tastes, and it's mostly "easy going" as it was Sunday morning, but this is infinitely better than the usual playlisted guff that gets played to death most afternoon/evenings.

i'd love to know what sort of direction the 7am-7pm presenters are given for what they're supposed to play, compared with some of the night-time/weekend shows. perhaps one of the current/past presenters reading could offer some insight?



Hour 1:

Four Tet - She Moves She
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Moby - Porcelain
Windings - Cleaner
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
Sinead O'Connor - Queen Of Denmark
John Grant - Sigourney Weaver
The Postal Service - Suddenly Everything Has Changed
Bentley Rhythm Ace - Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out
The Beta Band - Squares
Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land
Billy Bragg - A New England
James Vincent McMurrow - Higher Love
Damien Rice - Cannonball

Hour 2:

The Beatles - Across The Universe
Ryan Adams - Two
The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock - The Brutal Here And Now
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
The Knife - Heartbeats
Interpol - Untitled
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Mic Christopher - Skylarkin'
Come On Live Long - Little Ones
Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland 1945
Funeral Suits - Colour Fade
Cake - Long Line Of Cars
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
William Shatner - Common People

She still isn't a patch on what Pearl played. I view her as safe Pearl.

Unless it's changed the playlist is determined by a computer programme, that inserts all the songs into designated slots alongside ads and news etc. The number of times a song is played a week is pretty much pre-determined for alot of shows so requested during the daytime are often pointless with DJ's getting to 'choose' maybe 1 or 2 songs an hour based on what was played the previous hour etc...

innad

The last time I discovered a new band I now love on Phantom was 2008.

I agree that the playlists have become predictable and far too similar to "mainstream" radio. I rarely listen now for that reason - if I fancy the radio these days it's usually 6music.

I also think an Irish radio station should play Irish music.. Personally I would expect around 20% of what's played to be Irish. It's not like we lack quality bands.

KingOfFairview

innad wrote: »

The last time I discovered a new band I now love on Phantom was 2008.

In the last 12 months, because of Phantom I've gotten into

Ladyhawke
Melody's Echo Chamber
Bat for Lashes
Cast of Cheers
Beach House
Chvrches

innad

KingOfFairview wrote: »

In the last 12 months, because of Phantom I've gotten into

Ladyhawke
Melody's Echo Chamber
Bat for Lashes
Cast of Cheers
Beach House
Chvrches

Phantom have definitely been playing Ladyhawke, Bat for Lashes and Beach House for at least the last 4 years. And Cast of Cheers I feel like have been around of a while, too. Not sure about the others.

I'm not saying that there aren't people who are coming across new stuff through Phantom, just that I stopped looking to Phantom for new music some time ago.