XFM Manchester 97.7

I moved from the Midlands to Manchester. I believe that in many ways this was a good choice, especially now I’ve got Rock Radio. You see, for years I was looking for a replacement for my beloved Kerrang Radio. For years I had to make do with XFM.
Actually, it wasn’t all bad. In my XFM days I felt a lot more clued up about current music. Expect to hear the indie-​er portion of the current charts such as Florence and the Machine and Kate Nash, alongside indie classics and Manchester music such as Oasis.
However, I found Clint Boon more than a little bit annoying and there seemed to be more adverts and nonsensical chit-​chat than music, particularly on the drive time shows. Don’t get me started on Richard Skinner! The only decent shows seem to be in the middle of the night, such as the X-​posure show which x-​poses new talent.
Goodbye XFM, hello Rock Radio.

XFM is an awesome radio station that Manchester is truly lucky to still have. When all you can find on Radio 1 and the like is Lady Gaga over and over again, it’s great to switch over to this station and have a chance of listening to some real music.
Recently the ‘man’ has been squeezing and cutting out XFM’s operations all over the country, with their stations in Scotland and Wales being shut altogether.
Manchester’s output has been decimated, meaning that just a couple of DJs, mainly the bastion that is Clint Boon, have been carrying the Manchester flag forward. Mostly everything else now is syndicated from the bigger (but equally getting trampled upon) XFM in London.
This has resulted in XFM Manchester seeming a lot less, well, about Manchester. Sarah-​Anne is so right about Richard Skinner, I just don’t get why he’s allowed on-​air, he seems so out of touch.
I love XFM, and always tune in when I’m driving about Manchester. Hopefully they can get some money coming in and make it the exciting hub of Manchester music that it once was.

Ok Xfm is good. It bridged a huge gap in the market by playing indie music in Manchester, something the city is more than well known for.
But it could be so much better! First of all, recently the daytime shows have been horrendous, Clint Boon is very good from 3pm but before that you have the worst presenter ever (Richard Skinner)! It honestly sounds like crappy instore radio!
Secondly the adverts are beyond repetitive and not relevant at all, which just makes it annoying to listen to. I can’t usually bear more than an hour.
Another thing is that the playlist is very very limited and the presenters seem to have little control over it which means that requests get ignored quite often.
However I agree with Sophie’s post about the competitions, I too know quite a few people who have won gig tickets just by texting in so that’s pretty damn cool. Not that I’ve ever won any myself!
I just think that radio stations so much competitions nowadays with internet radio and DAB stations, XFm should realise that too and pull their finger out!

I’m Unilocaling about Xfm Manchester because this alternative and indie radio station is such a good way to get in to the city’s music and nightlife scene. DJs in the know include Clint Boon and John Kennedy.
They ‘Xpose’ new Manchester bands, sponsor ‘Friday Night Live’ at Tiger Tiger and, most importantly, they have local competitions that people actually win.
I have won a pair of Creamfields tickets from texting into Xfm plus a couple of friends of mine who are regular listeners have won gig tickets more than once. Unheard of? Well try your luck.