Pirate Stations

[Anonymouse]

What kind of music do most pirate stations around the US play?

[FrankF]

What kind of music do most pirate stations around the US play?

 
 Whatever they want to.

[TimeIsTight]

What kind of music do most pirate stations around the US play?

In the New York City area, most of the pirate stations are targeted at immigrants from the Caribbean, Mexico, South and Central America.

So, you hear a lot of  Jamaican music, Dominican music, and various flavors of music aimed at specific groups from small countries like Guatemala, and various sections of Mexico.

Other than Creole stations for Haitians, and English stations for Jamaicans, most of what you hear is Spanish.

 

[LibertyNT]

The Pirates of America generally have all kinds of Formats.
The most common I see is Rock, followed by the ethnic formats, or the niche formats.
There's probably an oldie or two also.

[d21ofnj]

Ironically, there's a CHR pirate which leans more towards an Uptempo direction in Upstate.  Not sure if it's still there since the last time I was up there was this past halloween weekend.

[Jeffrey]

What kind of music do most pirate stations around the US play?

In NYC, especially Brooklyn and the Bronx they are primarily geared towards the ethnic community. Probably 90% are geared towards Haitians, Jamaicans, etc. basically caribbean niched formats playing rhythmic carribean sounds, r & b, hip hop and reggae.

[ansky212]

Has anyone ever heard a pirate station in a suburban area?  I'm not talking about a pirate based in the city that is strong enough to reach the suburbs, but a pirate that actually broadcasts from out in the 'burbs.

[collegeDJ86]

If you consider Paterson and Passaic, NJ as "suburbs" of NYC, then yes, there are plenty.  On the I-80 corridor through Paterson you can get pirates on 89.7, 90.1, 90.9, 91.9, 94.3, 95.1, and 102.3 just to name a few.  I've also noticed a 107.3 lately around the NJ-3/NJ-495 intersection, if you consider Secaucus to be a "suburb".

[Tom Wells]

Chicago doesn't seem to have any pirates today that I can find.   
Going back 20 years, I was 100 watts on 7.415 Mhz with the same format I now run 100mw on 1620 AM.
Difficult music.   Oldies/20's-30's swing/jazz/new alternatives that sounds like mid 60's psychedelic/doo-wop/eclectic/texas swing/TV themes/old commercial spots/gospel/punk/thrash/bluegrass, psychobilly/garage rock/ska/comedy audio clips/etc.
It is interesting to note when I listen to old airchecks of the pirate days, how much my vision is true over the last 25 years.
A playing of a cassette mix tape I made in 1985 might easily drop into my playlist with no notice except for no songs newer than
the date of recording. I play a good deal of new music now, but the casual listener might think they are old recordings.
King Khan (with or without BBQ) is a great example of new rock that doesn't care about years and time.
It's NOW, but could be from any year 1960-forward and as grungy as Link Wray in his gnashiest moment.
The vocals are a cross between Bo Diddley and Andre Williams singing "Agile, Mobile and Hostile".

Y'know, just regular music. Except what you can hear everywhere else.
Back then I was nationwide, and paid a fine for all the fun I had.
Today I go 3-4 blocks and am very happy that thousands of people live in that tiny circle.

[ansky212]

If you consider Paterson and Passaic, NJ as "suburbs" of NYC, then yes, there are plenty.  On the I-80 corridor through Paterson you can get pirates on 89.7, 90.1, 90.9, 91.9, 94.3, 95.1, and 102.3 just to name a few.  I've also noticed a 107.3 lately around the NJ-3/NJ-495 intersection, if you consider Secaucus to be a "suburb".

Yeah, I know about the ones in Paterson and Passaic, but those are still cities and not really suburban areas.  The one in Secacus is interesting as I would consider that suburban.  I would be really curious if there are any pirates in outlying suburban areas (places like say, Rockaway, or Mahwah)