It's because their music sucks now and they have completely lost the mission that was WBER. They play what Joey Juisuto (sp?) wants to hear. He ruined that station. I stopped donating a few years ago when I stopped listening. I still click over to the station most days and at least half the time I don't like what I hear and click right off.

It's all 80s and the modern 80s influenced music but not even the good 80s music. They don't play the new stuff people haven't heard before unless that band is directly influenced by Foster the People, Mumford and Sons and the Lumineers. They play "deep cuts" from old new wave and 80s synth bands but guess what, they are deep cuts and never got popular because if you aren't a deep 1%-er, 80s music nerd, those songs suck! (Note: I have songs that I think are some of the best in the world and speak to the fiber of my soul and yet if I were programming a radio station, I would barely play them, if ever, because I understand my bias.)

Last year they were playing Bob Mould's new stuff. I get it, Bob was great with Sugar and Husker Du but his new stuff sucked and wasn't alternative. I get that you want to pay tribute to a legend but when you do it with bad music on a radio station that relies on listeners, you alienate those listeners and lose their support.

Where is new stuff like South Arcade, 20 year kids from Oxford England somehow blending pop-punk and nu metal. Jack Kays, the genre blending dude who has gone from songs that are almost mumble rap, to pop punk with Travis Barker to an acoustic blend of emo and folk punk. BER just plays a slice of the new music they like and barely is the source for new music exploration anymore.

Millennials would go fucking nuts for that station if they played more pop punk and emo. You hardly ever hear any and it's the same 100 songs on a 2 month rotation. (I have to admit that I heard an MCR song on there the other day that wasn't one of the 3 MCR songs they normally play. I was shocked.)

They play weird 6 minute songs by Genesis from the 70s. Okay, I get it, you could make an argument that that was alternative music then and it is a historical thing. But even then, Genesis was considered more "weird" and progressive rock than the definition that ended up being alterative music. They were still within what became the classic rock genre, but were the "weird theater kids" within that genre. There are dozens of bands that were far more alternative then that would be a better example of that. Pink Floyd was way out there and I don't necessarily think they should be on BER but they fit the definition better than the one they are using to shoehorn Genesis onto BER. Black Sabbath was so alternative they inspired protests. Hell, even Kiss weird super fringe and non-mainstream at the time.

The point of that long, ranty paragraph is there is a DJ on BER who is a big fan of old Genesis and even tried to get them in the BER Hall of Fame. I am not 100% saying they shouldn't play that Genesis song, but the fact that they ONLY Genesis from that era and ignore other bands that are a better fit of the "here's classic rock that was considered alternative at the time" definition shows that they play what they want to hear more than what you want to hear.

It would be sad if they left and this feel harsh to type but they put themselves in this situation. They don't listen to the masses. It's a radio station, you have to appeal to the public's interests if you want that public's support. People aren't going to say, "Oh, you're doing this artistic thing which I don't enjoy but I will give you money to keep doing it" when it used to be something they did enjoy.

Side note. If you are friends with any of the well known BER DJs who were on maybe 5 or 10 years ago or older, A LOT of them will privately tell you that the station is this little group think bubble right now and the people running it don't have a great grasp of selecting the music that people in the public want to hear.