The National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America, which have often bickered over royalties rules, have agreed that your iPhone and iPod need to have built-in FM radio capabilities via special microchips and want to push laws to make it happen.
The Consumer Electronics Association isn’t happy with the plan. A representative told Apple Insider: “Rather than adapt to the digital marketplace,” NAB and RIAA act like buggy-whip industries that refuse to innovate and seek to impose penalties on those that do.”
If you’ve got an iThing, do you wish it had FM radio?
NAB, RIAA seek to push FM radio into iPods and iPhones [AppleInsider]
(Thanks, fantomesq!)
More From Consumerist
-
Broadcasters Would Rather Not Have To Post Political Ad Rates Online
-
Sick Of Being Forced To Pay For Channels No One Watches, Cablevision Sues Viacom
-
Time Warner Cable Considers Offering Broadcast Channels Over The Internet
-
Viacom Takes Down Full Episodes Of TV Shows To Punish Everyone For DirecTV Dispute
-
By The Numbers: Why 3D TV Still Has A Long Way To Go
interesting question. On the one hand, I can receive FM radio streaming on my iPhone using the Stitcher app. On the other hand, point-to-point streams are much less efficient than broadcasts. Regardless, the whole idea of the broadcast industry dictating the configuration requirements of my mobile or music device is ridiculous.
If I wanted my device to have an FM tuner, I’d buy one that included this feature in the first place. Sorry mainstream radio, you did this to yourself through centralization and crappy programming.
If the NAB wants this to pass, I will assume they will happily make all radios sold have access to satelitte radio. They of course wanted it REQUIRED that all Sirius XM radios be equipped with FM on them. Sirius said it would not do that under any circumstances. The NAB is a group that wants to be a cartel. The problem is it is a cartel of things that is rarely used anymore.
But what if the iThing is used to make perfect digital recordings of radio broadcasts?
So what? A perfect digital recording of crap songs with crap sound quality is still crap.
Someday the RIAA will embrace technology instead of fighting it. They would be so much richer today had they embraced MP3 technology and file sharing so many years ago. But not they wanted to keep thier cash cow going, force us to spend 10-15 bucks on a CD when all we really wanted was 1 or 2 songs.
These guys are really attached to thier tried and true revenue streams and won’t consider budging from it no matter what the rest of the world is telling them.
FM? What about AM? Isn’t this discrimination at its worst? What’s the matter? AM doesn’t rate? It’s been around a lot longer than FM. In fact, I can make an argument that AM tuners should be included, since the signal travels further and you can use it for emergency broadcasting. But then, no one would actually broadcast anything on it, as we already know.
It would be rather difficult to stick an AM radio antenna in an iThing. With FM, you can simply use the headphone wire as an antenna. AM radio antenna wire needs to be tightly wrapped in a coil in order to receive the signal. Which means the antenna would have to be built into the iThing somewhere. That, let me assure you, ain’t gonna happen in the Happy Land of 1 Infinite Loop.
My MP3 player has one already…that I never use. In fairness: I rarely use my MP3 player either.
I wouldn’t mind having one in my iPod. Dunno if there ought to be a law making it mandatory to include it, but I wouldn’t mind having it if it were there.
Or something.
I would actually like a radio tuner in my phone/iWhatever (HD radio please!).
A law mandating it is rigoddamndiculous however. And why am I not surprised to see who’s behind it?
What’s FM???
While I do sometimes wish my iPod Nano (2nd Gen) had FM radio capabilities … I don’t think there should be a LAW about it, at all.
They don’t care that you get your tunes, just as long as you get the advertising back. keep the devices with songs only and keep commercials OUT
CARRY OUR TECHNOLOGY, YOU GOTTA DUDE
Let’s not forget the obnoxious, moronic morning radio idiots who think they’re hilaaaaaaarious and are anything but.
And commercials. I f-ing hate commercials.
Ah, yes, the cackling jackasses like Bob & Tom. Prime reason I avoid radio.
They got voted off the air in Columbus, OH. Made me love radio all over again.
Sure. No prob. But I demand a “record” and “edit” button to the iWhatever in the new law, so I never have to pay for iTunes purchases again! Mwa-ha-ha-ha!
Ok….for that, I’d be willing to let the radio folks slink onto the devices.
Has it ever dawned on them that maybe people buy these because they DON’T want to listen to the crap on the radio? Why not force pop corn poppers to be built into DVD players too on behalf of the movie theater industry? At least that might be useful.
I listen to FM radio between 0-3 minutes a day, depending on whether or not I wake up before the clock-radio beside my bed clicks on. I couldn’t care less whether anything that has a headphone jack and fits in my pocket has a built-in FM radio. I sure as hell don’t miss listening to 3 songs picked from some playlist from (insert radio conglomerate here), 2 minutes of inane DJ banter, 10 minutes of commercials, then repeat the process.
Didn’t they did the same thing with cd players before? I remember when cd players were still big (not entirely too long before mp3 players) they started coming with fm tuners. I used to use the tuner on those only because I didn’t like carrying a lot of cds around with me and if I happen to get tired of the songs I was listening (like when I was going somewhere kinda far) I’d use the tuner. But with ipods having as much storage space and apps (at least with itouches) there’s no real reason to have one unless you’re that much into listening to the radio which is understandable. Also with there being podcasts there’s even less of a reason to need an fm tuner.
Hey, I owned a couple of “portable” Panasonic CD players (yes, back around 1999 or so–heck, I think I still have them) that have both FM and AM tuners. One screwed up at the headphone jack, the other got wet one day. But those were great back before the days of iPods. Hell, when the 2nd one of those died, I bought another “portable” CD player that could also play .mp3 files burned on the disc (more music, less carrying) but alas only came with an FM tuner, not AM. Eventually I wanted something that would fit in my pocket, thus I had to accept reality and buy an iPod.
Every time there’s a severe weather system, I wish that the mobile devices I carry around could pick up FM or AM radio.
Hopefully this is the last cough of this dead media. Terrestrial radio is dead.
I can’t get FM reception on anything where I live, why would I want it on my i-Things?
I still listen to FM radio. Columbus, OH has one decent rock station with an excellent morning show. I like my old-school terrestrial radio in the mornings because I get some local news and weather thrown in. However, I am the ONLY one of my friends who listens to the radio anymore, and my younger friends have absolutely no use for it. Ever. Mandating that a useful device makes room for a dying medium is absurd. That’s more cost that’s going to be passed on to consumers, and we’re poor enough already.
My IPod has an FM radio AND I never have users it.
I rarely even listen to FM in my car. Except for baseball games (on AM), I listen to my iPod exclusively. That said, give me some good music programming and I’ll gladly tune in.
It would be nice sometimes, but by no means should it be mandated. What would be useful is if the FM chip would transmit as well as receive, so I wouldn’t have to buy a separate device to listen to my iPhone audio in the car.
I think it would be a great thing, since manufacturers have forgotten about it this digital device generation.
I would almost never use it, but in emergencies I think it would be essential. If there is some natural disaster or other event that you need immediate info on, voice and data are down, it would be really sweet to have a low-power consuming radio feature to check for emergency info.
I’m not a doomsday-pusher, but I do think about a lot of our equipment in those situations. If the cell tower goes down, or you are just out of area, your phone becomes a brick when it comes to getting fresh data. A radio capability would really be nice in those situations.
I have NOT listened to FM radio since Frankie Crocker, the chief rocker, on WBLS died.
Umm…. OK ok let me get this right, they want you to have FM stations so you can listin to the same 10 songs all month long? But the iPod has over 100 songs… that is way more then any FM station can give you and you do not even have to listen to commercials or boring DJ’s talking about there lives that you do not care about… So yea not like having the FM station on the iThings will give em more ratings >> just prove they are dieing out
100 songs? Must be a small one.
I can cram about 500 songs on my MP3 player and it’s only a 4 gig.
If they mandated HD Radio, I’d be more okay with it. I’m sure that some devices would run LInux and be able to become “personal radio recorders” that record songs off the air, and then split the up into individual MP3s. That would be so convenient, and save me a lot of money buying music.
The last gasp of what I hope to be an organisation on life support. “Lets get FM radio on all phones, so we can continue our faltering business plan” What next from them, “The internet is a fad, cmon people get off of it!”
RIAA, listen up, your time has come, and gone, either come up with a new business model that works for you and the consumer (Highly doubt that) or pack it up.
Litigation does not a business model make
The only problem is that if FM radio was so great, most of us would have bought portable FM radios to carry around instead of mp3 players.
I have an FM radio in my Sansa Clip, and my phone has one. I used to listen to one show on the radio before the station flipped to a different format. The problem was that the reciever on both devices wasn’t strong enough to pull the station when I was in the office, and I sit next to a window. Given the option, I just downloaded podcasts as they were posted. No reception problems, and I could pause if I got a phone call or had to head to a meeting.
With that station gone, I only use FM radio for traffic updates on my commute. I already have a radio in my car. Other than that, my iPod Touch is more than useful for podcasts from shows (such as the one I used to listen to on FM radio) that are podcast-only now and of course music I would never hear on DC 101 or any other terrestrial station.
If there was such a pent up demand for FM radio on portable devices, I am sure the manufacturers would make sure there was one included. The fact is, today’s corporate radio station sucks and is the reason why every new car these days comes with an Aux input, USB port, SD card slot, Sirius/XM, or even a built in HDD for people to choose their own media other than what Clear Channel decides to offer.
This is ridicules. Pretty soon the RIAA will be looking for a way to fine people for not buying their crap whenever anyone walks into a Wal-Mart.
I have an fm tuner in my sansa mp3 player. I never use it. These companies have no business trying to control the market in this way.
Until recently I listened to FM in my car on my commute to work and back, but that was because my car had no IPOD/USB plug.
So I channel surfed for the 25 minutes each way, occassionally finding a song I wanted to listen to.
I absolutely hate and detest listening to the weather forcast and the traffic info. I hate commercials. I hate DJ banter. I hate radio news and especially entertainment news and sports news.
Since I don’t want to buy a new car I broke down and spent $850 on a Navigation head-unit that has built in blue-tooth, and IPOD support. It also has both AM and FM, but I don’t turn to those.
Now I’m happy on my commute.
No thank you. Please.
Because a radio station isnt charged royalties for the playing of music, the RIAA is looking to push FM transmission onto mobile devices because it would open the market to assume added cost for the inclusion of said transmitter. I dont see this as a necessary addition whatsoever, and if i were going to be charged for this crap i’d charge my provider back for it. I havent listened to terrestrial radio in years because of what i own digitally or that which can be accessed for free.
RIAA… just another dying and decrepit group of old people looking to push un-wanted and un-needed technology on us in order to make a buck. They arent making out like they figured they would with the file sharing lawsuits and are, in the end, losing money in their court battles even if they win.
I like the idea of an FM tuner on my MP3 player. And my MP3 player has one.
While my phone can play music (in stereo via bluetooth even), I don’t tend to use it for that. Battery life isn’t that great for a phone, let alone an MP3 player.
So I have to say, kiss off.
My Zune HD has a built in FM tuner – it was one of the deciding factors in purchasing it over something like an iPod (the fact that it makes good use of this built in tuner by allowing me to instant-download any songs I hear over the air is also a huge plus). My last cell phone also had a tuner – which came in handy when I didn’t have an mp3 player.
I use the tuner quite regularly at work to catch my favorite radio morning show once I’m at the office and out of the car (Preston and Steve are VERY popular in Philadelphia, it’s really not just a typical morning show).
I find that there is a LOT of value in having this feature in portable devices.
That being said – what the hell is the point of forcing it into everything? That’s just plain stupid. The radio industry is throwing itself in the same group as the newspaper industry, whom wants us all to be forced to pay a tax just to keep them afloat.
Of course not. There’s a reason why FM radio is doing poorly– it’s saturated with adverts and the music is as bland as possible to prevent innocent children from accidentally hearing inappropriate things.
My parents have that Sirius thing which is pretty cool but to me it’s not worth the price of paying for special equipment and/or subscription fees.
When I do listen to music I go to Winamp radio. Some channels are better than others. I mostly listen to SKY FM 80s, which is heavy on music and light on WEB EX ads.
I do have an oldschool AM/FM radio but it’s only for my birds, who can’t tell the difference between an ad for Pampers and Mozart anyway.
Why stop at FM? Why not require AM as well? And NOAA weather radio. And shortwave. And television.
Terrestrial radio is just about DONE. Horrible corporate conglomeration ownership, “consultant” generated automated playlist of the same 10 washout songs in every format, annoying segues and voice tracking, all killed the once viable, FREE medium.
Ibiquity screwed up and allowed Sirius/XM to make it into the dashboards of new cars, despite HD radio costing nothing. HD radio offers quite a bit more variety of programming, but availability of receivers are limited, they’re expensive, and in many cases, perform poorly. Too bad, as this could have saved it.
The future of radio will be from streaming media via technologies like cellular and MediaFLO. Once mass produced receivers are pumped out at a low cost, your AM/FM radio will make it to the same pile as your 8-track deck, cassette player, and VCR made it into. Technologies of yesteryear now rotting in the graveyard.
I do think radio will go back to it’s genesis: a handful of LOCALLY owned and operated stations, run by enthusiasts (read non-profits) with limited ad revenue, to serve the community. But Crap Channel, the Cloud Company, and their ilk will soon go the way of other corporate failures brought down by themselves.
Nope