Music Choice returning this week?

[Joe891]

Well technically low volume leaves a lot of room for dynamic range without clipping...

While true it scares the crap out of me when I go back to tv channels and it’s turned up

 

[cypherstream]

So did Sonic Tap go out of business? I don’t know anyone else that carries them, unless it’s a provider in another country.

 

[whitewolf8214]

While true it scares the crap out of me when I go back to tv channels and it’s turned up

Don’t blame you on that wish all channels would be same when you turn them on too

 

[TheTechGuru]

So did Sonic Tap go out of business? I don’t know anyone else that carries them, unless it’s a provider in another country.

Remember SonicTAP used to be DMX which was being used by the other half of cable companies that were not using MusicChoice. I believe DMX/SonicTap have been under the MoodMedia umbrella for years now.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

So did Sonic Tap go out of business? I don’t know anyone else that carries them, unless it’s a provider in another country.

I believe that Sonic Tap was just a rebranded version of DMX.

 

[EarDemon]

I find this kind of confusing, but here the gist the way I understand it.

Digital Music Express (DMX) has been around for decades as a competitor to Muzak, Music Choice and Galaxie in Canada. DMX was the digital audio provider that Primestar used and they were on some smaller cable systems. In the early 2000s a new company called Mood Media came to be. Mood Media specialized in digital signage and other touchy feely marketing type crap used to draw people into retail businesses. Mood bought out DMX at some point, and then around 2010, Mood bought out Muzak. It seems like they are two unique services with their own unique line ups that happen to now be owned by the same company. Similar like how Sirius and XM had their own lineups still in place for a while after the merger before they combined.

Why DMX on DirecTV was branded as Sonic Tap, I have no idea, but in looking online, I have seen the DMX line up on small cable systems, and maybe in Canada as well. It wasn’t the 80+ channel lineup DirecTV had, but it was called DMX, not Sonic Tap. And I don’t believe DirecTV got the full DMX line up. Looking on their website, they had a bunch of channels not on DirecTV.

I cannot find specific examples, but I’d be willing to bet, there are some cable systems of small fiber based TV systems around the country that still use DMX. Like with similar services, these are programmed for retail and commercial environments. I’m convinced the only reason satellite and cable cos make them available to residential subscribers is to inflate channel count numbers. Mood Media seems focused on custom music mixes for specific retail chains..

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

DMX was awesome in the 90's with the remote control which showed the the artist and title info of what was playing.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Having had both DMX and MusicChoice on C-Band satellite available to me at the same time thus being able to compare them side-by-side I've always liked MusicChoice better.

 

[cypherstream]

Thanks all. I was just curious if DirecTV was the only carrier of SonicTap, and now they are not... surely that isn’t good for business if you work over at Sonic Tap.

We have mood music at work. It comes in over a Dish Network receiver. It’s a commercial receiver with a much older UI. I think for the most part they play the station Hot FM. It’s a tad bit overpriced, but I guess they feel they can charge that for a business.

 

[dishrich]

I think for the most part they play the station Hot FM. It’s a tad bit overpriced, but I guess they feel they can charge that for a business.

Because those "overpriced fees" for businesses/commercial environments included paying copyrights for playing music in said facilities...which those fees include such (higher) royalties, than for a residential customer. While those same places could play things like CD's or radio stations, they would STILL have to pay some sort of copyright fee for "public exhibition" of those services...so most places will contract with a service such as Muzak/Mood Music, etc, as it's simpler to go this route & NOT have to deal with separate copyright issues/payments.

We had a local health club many years ago, who's owner got busted TWO times for playing the radio in the facility & NOT paying proper copyright...she finally went with a Muzak service after getting caught the 2nd time.

 

[dishrich]

DMX was awesome in the 90's with the remote control which showed the the artist and title info of what was playing.

Yep, back around '87, our system at the time was Cox & we were one of the 1st systems to get Digital Cable Radio...which was renamed into the current Music Choice service. It started out with 19 music channels & 5 digital stereo simulcasts of MTV, VH1, HBO, MAX & Showtime & then the music channels were expanded to 30 residential & 4 commercial channels. (see attached pic of what our standalone DCR receiver looked like) Since they had not come out with the remotes that showed the song titles yet, they had a phone# that you could call at anytime, punch in the channel# you wanted & it would speak back the 3 last songs played on that channel.

Jerrold radio tuner DCR-3000 In Great condition | eBay

This was before there was any "digital TV services" deployed & the service usually cost around $10/month. Once digital cable started being deployed with music channels included, the standalone services began to disappear fast.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Because those "overpriced fees" for businesses/commercial environments included paying copyrights for playing music in said facilities...which those fees include such (higher) royalties, than for a residential customer. While those same places could play things like CD's or radio stations, they would STILL have to pay some sort of copyright fee for "public exhibition" of those services...so most places will contract with a service such as Muzak/Mood Music, etc, as it's simpler to go this route & NOT have to deal with separate copyright issues/payments.

We had a local health club many years ago, who's owner got busted TWO times for playing the radio in the facility & NOT paying proper copyright...she finally went with a Muzak service after getting caught the 2nd time.

I always thought you could play FM radio stations (with the radio station's permission) and the radio station's license covers it...

*Edit* Found the following...

 

[cypherstream]

At any rate, it’s expensive which is why those Barix instreamer and extreamer become so popular for retail stores. Source once, multicast everywhere over the wan. Now if I could only find a cheap easy equivalent for video.

 

[TheTechGuru]

At any rate, it’s expensive

Ya, lately I've noticed it is pretty dead silent in stores that are not national chains. Some cheap skate national chains like Dollar General and Family Dollar are also silent...They should at least loop a CD of royalty free classical music or something...

 

[EarDemon]

Why? Most of my shopping is done on Amazon these days and I make it a point not to visit brick and mortar stores, but for the rare once or twice per month (if that) I step into a retail establishment, I don't care to listen to the type of music they think I should be listening to, if I even notice it anyway. If not having that junk helps keeps prices low, then I'm all for it. Last night I was looking at Mood Media's website and had to laugh, do people actually fall for going to businesses with upbeat music and fancy digital signage displaying company propaganda? If I step foot in a store it's because I know what I want to buy, I find it and head to the nearest checkout. I'm not in there to have a good time and hang out and listen to tunes. If I'm going to be in a waiting room for more then two minutes, I'll listen to my own music on my phone.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Anyone know if MusicChoice plans to add DirecTV to the log in options for their app? Would love to have MC in my vehicle...

 

[TheTechGuru]

Anyone know if MusicChoice plans to add DirecTV to the log in options for their app? Would love to have MC in my vehicle...

I asked the MusicChoice PR Director directly and he only replied with "Please stay tuned for additional feature announcements." --Josefa Paganuzzi

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Channel Lineup

Ch. Order Channel Name
801 Music Choice Big Band
802 Music Choice Malt Shop Favorites
803 Music Choice ’60s Movement
804 Music Choice ’70s
805 Music Choice ’80s
806 Music Choice ’90s
807 Music Choice Singers & Swing
808 Music Choice Classic Country
809 Music Choice Country Hits
810 Music Choice Americana
811 Music Choice Honky Tonk
812 Music Choice Bluegrass
813 Music Choice Folk
814 Music Choice Today’s Country
815 Music Choice Sounds Of The Seasons
816 Music Choice Hit List
817 Music Choice Y2K
818 Music Choice Music Choice Max
819 Music Choice Love Songs
820 Music Choice Contemporary Instrumentals
821 Music Choice Pop Hits
822 Music Choice Movie Scores
823 Music Choice Broadway
824 Music Choice Lounge
825 Music Choice Hip-Hop And R&B
826 Music Choice Contemporary Christian
827 Music Choice Gospel
828 Music Choice Gospel Hallelujah
829 Music Choice ’80s Rock
830 Music Choice Metal
831 Music Choice Indie
832 Music Choice Adult Alternative
833 Music Choice Classic Rock
834 Music Choice Alternative
835 Music Choice Hard Rock
836 Music Choice Coffee Shop Cuts
837 Music Choice Rock Hits
838 Music Choice Classic Alternative
839 Music Choice New Wave
840 Music Choice Pop & Country
841 Music Choice Rock
842 Music Choice R&B Classics
843 Music Choice R&B Soul
844 Music Choice Funk
845 Music Choice Classic Dance
846 Music Choice Rap
847 Music Choice Mainstream Rap
848 Music Choice Throwback Jamz
849 Music Choice Soft Rock
850 Music Choice Jazz Vocal Hits
851 Music Choice Smooth Jazz
852 Music Choice Jazz
853 Music Choice Easy Listening
854 Music Choice Blues
855 Music Choice Jazz Vocal Standards
856 Music Choice New Age
857 Music Choice Soundscapes
858 Music Choice All Xmas
859 Music Choice Dance/EDM
860 Music Choice Workout
861 Music Choice K-Pop
862 Music Choice Retro Workout
863 Music Choice Reggae
864 Music Choice Symphony
865 Music Choice Classical Masterpieces
866 Music Choice Light Classical
867 Music Choice Teen Beats
868 Music Choice Kidz Only!
869 Music Choice Toddler Tunes
870 Music Choice Romances
871 Music Choice Pop Latino
874 Music Choice Tropicales
875 Music Choice Musica Urbana
876 Music Choice Mexicana
877 Music Choice Brazilian Pop
878 Music Choice Rock Latino
879 Music Choice Latin Jazz
880 Music Choice Party Favorites
881 Music Choice Taste Of Italy
882 Music Choice Italian Favorites
883 Music Choice Irish Favorites
884 Music Choice Nature Sounds
885 Music Choice Filipino
886 Music Choice Vietnamese

 

[TheTechGuru]

Hey Scott, can you go though that and asterisk* the ones that are on 119 and add a footnote...

 

[jamieh1]

815 Sounds of seasons
824 lounge
852 jazz
853 easy listening
855 jazz vocal
861 k-pop
865 classical masterpieces
870 romances
876 mexicana
877 brazilian pop
880 party fav
881 taste of italy
882 italian fav
883 irish fav
884 nature sounds


Think these are all the 119 music choice channels.

I get all the MC channels with preferred xtra except these

865 classical materpiece
877 brazilian pop
882 italian favorites
886 vietnamese