I have a Logitech Squeezebox and listen at home to hundreds of smooth jazz internet stations.

Hey--- I loved the new format when KTWV debuted over 20 years ago...the legendary rock station KMET went belly up and The Wave was born.

It was nearly ALL instrumental, with much more punch. The first song I heard was Spyro Gyra's Freetime. You would NEVER hear that song on smooth atations now...though it is far from the most complex Spyro tune, it would have too many stop time accents and a synth solo far too intense for the broadcast arch focus groups of today.

I;m in the minority, but the days of John Jarvis, Andreas Vollenweider, Skywalk, with more PMG and Spyro were the salad years, before vocals started to dominate the format.

Paul, if you have a specific taste and want to share it with others, why don't just start an Internet radio station. It's really easy nowadays and perhaps you can collect a community of avid fans of that special kind of music. And it's not expensive at all, if you do it at Shoutcast or Live365.

By the way it's a good test, to find out how many share your taste.

I actually disagree with "what was there was better than nothing." For that reason, I stopped listening to the DC radio station years before it finally went belly up. It was too much of a strain on my ears to listen to all the unwanted music just to (possibly) get a chance to hear an actual smooth jazz song (that wasn't 20 years old, or a vocal, or a 20 year old vocal.) I am fortunate enough to live in an area that gets a lot of concerts, so, for the most part, I get my fix that way.

It should be easier to find music! Unfortunately, people continue to sit by their radios waiting for and expecting something good to come from it. By virtue of your reading this post, I know you already have the tools to find what you're looking for. I really never saw the people who selected the music to air as the main problem and the reason for the lack of popularity with smooth jazz music radio.

I put the blame on the people who make the music itself. To me, the solution is simple! Make music that "real", everyday people like and will respond to in some sort of way. Don't make music for day spas, coffee houses, dentistry offices, elevators, radios etc. This is music that real, people out on streets or in 'burbs or at the family get together are not going to notice.

Artist with inferiority complexes are afraid to make music for people and give B.S. excuses about making art and making music from their soul or getting back to what they were.

Bad music will always be sorted out. Every musician is the architect of his own future.

Musicians are trying to make a living, like all of us. Current taste is for instrumental covers of R&B and Pop songs. So that's what the musicians are laying down, in hopes of making money and getting play. Nuthin' wrong with that, IMO.

However, I would prefer to hear newer, fresher stuff. So I buy only tracks I like, seldom complete albums, and am always looking for and sampling stuff online. I listen to my itunes library, SkyFM online, or Music Choice on our cable provider.

I think our genre is going through a massive change right now. This music is not filling the same venues that were selling out a couple years ago. At least in my market (Las Vegas) smooth jazz groups are playing smaller venues than they were just a few years ago; that just started happening.

When the Vegas smooth jazz station switched from Smooth Jazz to a mix of Oldies R&B, Soul, neo-Soul, and Contemporary Urban, they went from #7 or 8 in the market to #2. Huge jump. BTW, I just hate their mix now, and don't listen to it. And of course, with no radio adverts for the smooth jazz groups, there is less opportunity to sell out the venues for smooth jazz groups. Which addresses the point made above.

Anyway, hope this all makes sense. Thanks.

Steve C.