GTA V's radio soundtrack is a mess

[yungstirjoey666]

After posting in the general forum about missing soundtracks, I've come to realize how messy the soundtrack from V was. Don't get me wrong, I still love the music, but there were still problems I had.

 

First of all, there were too many radio stations. I would've rid of The Lab and instead put songs in other radio stations like Radio Mirror Park.  Also there were too many hip-hop stations, like four?

 

Second of all, as much as I love 80s music, there was just too much of it. For example, Non-Stop Pop was inconsistent; they should've kept it as a contemporary pop station with songs mainly from the late 2000s-early 2010s. There were only two 2013 songs: Applause and Tennis Court. And they focused too much on LSRR when they could've included more for Vinewood Boulevard; LSRR didn't feel like that much of a rock station tbh (still a more authentic rock station than real-life ones these days). I feel as if Rockstars was trying a bit too hard to bring back the Vice City nostalgia, but it really did not fit the 2013 Los Santos vibe.

 

My other problem is East Los FM. I thought it was pretty lackluster for a Mexican radio, especially since Los Angeles in real life is almost half Hispanic.

 

 

So what are your thoughts?

Edited December 7, 2021 by yungstirjoey666

[B Dawg]

30 minutes ago, yungstirjoey666 said:

First of all, there were too many radio stations. I would've combined Space 103.2 with The Lowdown.

Oh hell nah. They go for completely different vibes. One has soul, the other one leans towards disco. I love The Lowdown but don't give a damn about Space, mixing the two would be a disaster. Also, how can too many radio stations be a bad thing?

Edited June 23, 2021 by B Dawg

[Ash_735]

It's known that GTAV had the most trouble radio wise during development due to the constant delays, which meant they lost the rights to original song choices, some stations completely changed genre, etc which left us with the mess we had by the time the game went gold (and why Non Stop Pop is a huge mess as that changed from Contemporary, to Dance Pop, to Current and then all mashed together by the end). By the time the game went gold there was three known cut stations, an 80s station, a jazz station and a 90's rock station. Thanks to Steve Walsh back when he had his website up we know about more cut stations too as his example images included the radio wheel which featured these icons:

 

  

 

The one on the left being an early icon for P.M.R (the 90's rock station), the middle being a previously unknown station called "Santos Surf" (though assumed to be a surfer rock station) and the last being the placeholder for ANOTHER rock station (LSRR was already listed in that as was Channel X).

 

As for now, Rockstar's current hard on for Ibiza dance is why we have like 3 Dance stations and possibly more coming in future.

[Cutter De Blanc]

It felt like in all the other GTAs the radio songs were just kinda ones that the protagonist would like, and not change the station for, but in GTAV it's a mishmashed hodgepodge, like for example I can't ever really see Franklin getting down to "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago, but Fortunate Son he'd leave on

[HEUL]

I miss doing my own soundtrack.

[REVENGE777]

The lowdown is soul with some remnants of disco  and space is like funk and very early r&b. They don’t really sound the same when you listen to the side by side, but I love them both equally. The lab was included mostly because of the IRL album released by the game soundtracks producers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Santos surf was the original concept for vinewood boulevard radio. It would make a lot of sense. The radio is a mess and with more songs likely coming in the E&E, I don’t know what to expect next. radio Los Santos is completely outdated at this point with most of the songs approaching 10 years old, or older in some cases. Are they gonna just dump a bunch of new songs into all the stations without cleaning everything up? What I really don’t understand, and what irritates me more than anything, Is why did we need so many new radio stations when the songs could’ve just been placed in existing radio stations relative to their genre. did we really need Ifruit? Couldn’t almost all of that been added to RLS? As well with a large portion of blonded FM. either that or conglomerate it with FLYLO FM and have the station switch DJs from flylo to frank ocean after a certain point, like the beat 102.7 in gta Iv. Grime could’ve had its own station, which I think would’ve been fair. But a lot of stuff could’ve been condensed down. 

[Zello]

 

 

I still can't get over this sh*t

[REVENGE777]

22 minutes ago, Zello said:

 

 

I still can't get over this sh*t

Atleast “winnin” made the cut eventually. I don’t think he was lyin, but I think something fell through along the way

 

i also think that kavinsky dude was lying the whole time. People still believe he had an entire station cut but I don’t believe he ever had any involvement to begin with.

Edited June 24, 2021 by REVENGE777

[Zello]

29 minutes ago, REVENGE777 said:

Atleast “winnin” made the cut eventually. I don’t think he was lyin, but I think something fell through along the way

I think he ended up getting mad at Rockstar for some reason and said that he was going to rob them

[CynicalMexican]

22 hours ago, yungstirjoey666 said:

After posting in the general forum about missing soundtracks, I've come to realize how messy the soundtrack from V was. Don't get me wrong, I still love the music, but there were still problems I had.

 

First of all, there were too many radio stations. I would've combined Space 103.2 with The Lowdown. I also would've rid of The Lab and instead put songs in other radio stations like Radio Mirror Park. 

 

Second of all, as much as I love 80s music, there was just too much of it. For example, Non-Stop Pop was inconsistent; they should've kept it as a contemporary pop station with songs mainly from the late 2000s-early 2010s. There were only two 2013 songs: Applause and Tennis Court. And they focused too much on LSRR when they could've included more for Vinewood Boulevard; LSRR didn't feel like that much of a rock station tbh (still a more authentic rock station than real-life ones these days). I feel as if Rockstars was trying a bit too hard to bring back the Vice City nostalgia, but it really did not fit the 2013 Los Santos vibe.

 

My other problem is East Los FM. I thought it was pretty lackluster for a Mexican radio, especially since Los Angeles in real life is almost half Hispanic.

 

 

So what are your thoughts?

I read this post and legit thought I had posted this because these are my EXACT thoughts.

 

- The reggae station should've been cut. KJAH made sense in GTA SA because the music fit the very somber vibe of drug ridden Los Santos and San Fierro. Not so much in a game focusing on 2013 Los Santos. I rarely listened to it.

- Agree with Non Stop Pop. The station should've focused solely on 2009-2013 pop music. It felt like a mess. No need for the 80s/90s music in it either, ugh.

- Modjo and Stardust on NSP make me feel like the game should've had a 1998-2002 house station.

- Los Santos Rock Radio needed to be trimmed. It took up too much attention because of Rockstar's hard on for the era.

- Vinewood Boulevard should have instead been larger. It's a f*cking alternative radio station in LA, it should have way more music.

- I liked Soulwax but I kinda now wish they made it into an EDM station with lesser known artists. EDM was huge in those days.

- In general, so much of the music feels old that I feel like the game was supposed to be set in 1987. Should've been balanced much more.

- The whole radio soundtrack feels like a hodgepodge that tried to please everyone. Was it to appease the 80s lovers? Idk. Each previous game from GTA 3 had a consistent soundtrack that sucked you into the game. I don't feel that with 5.

[REVENGE777]

3 minutes ago, CynicalMexican said:

I read this post and legit thought I had posted this because these are my EXACT thoughts.

 

- The reggae station should've been cut. KJAH made sense in GTA SA because the music fit the very somber vibe of drug ridden Los Santos and San Fierro. Not so much in a game focusing on 2013 Los Santos. I rarely listened to it.

- Agree with Non Stop Pop. The station should've focused solely on 2009-2013 pop music. It felt like a mess. No need for the 80s/90s music in it either, ugh.

- Modjo and Stardust on NSP make me feel like the game should've had a 1998-2002 house station.

- Los Santos Rock Radio needed to be trimmed. It took up too much attention because of Rockstar's hard on for the era.

- Vinewood Boulevard should have instead been larger. It's a f*cking alternative radio station in LA, it should have way more music.

- I liked Soulwax but I kinda now wish they made it into an EDM station with lesser known artists. EDM was huge in those days.

- In general, so much of the music feels old that I feel like the game was supposed to be set in 1987. Should've been balanced much more.

- The whole radio soundtrack feels like a hodgepodge that tried to please everyone. Was it to appease the 80s lovers? Idk. Each previous game from GTA 3 had a consistent soundtrack that sucked you into the game. I don't feel that with 5.

I agree with everything except with blueark and soulwax. Soulwax should’ve been the station that was cut as it doesn’t even really solidify itself as a station beyond just being electronic noise. Reggae music is one of the most popular genres in the western world. It may seem a bit out of place but the Hispanic community especially loves reggae. Like you said tho, nonstop pop could’ve been broken up into 3 different stations.

[Ivan1997GTA]

1 hour ago, REVENGE777 said:

Soulwax should’ve been the station that was cut as it doesn’t even really solidify itself as a station beyond just being electronic noise.

Yeah. I believe Soulwax should've had their own mix on LS-UR instead of having their own radio station.

[CynicalMexican]

4 hours ago, REVENGE777 said:

I agree with everything except with blueark and soulwax. Soulwax should’ve been the station that was cut as it doesn’t even really solidify itself as a station beyond just being electronic noise. Reggae music is one of the most popular genres in the western world. It may seem a bit out of place but the Hispanic community especially loves reggae. Like you said tho, nonstop pop could’ve been broken up into 3 different stations.

Oh yeah I like reggae myself and I loved Massive B in GTA 4. Personally though, I felt it was a bit out of place in 2013 Los Santos; it was perfect in the 3D 1992 rendition because the song selection fit so well with the somber, depressing, and crime ridden communities of that city (Pressure Drop fit driving Los Santos ghettos with that iconic orange sunset). 2013 Los Santos was centered a lot more on the "Hollywood" lifestyle; the ghettos are much less represented in GTA 5 and even in 2013 Los Santos, it's obvious that the street gang culture has largely declined from 1992.

 

Perhaps if there was much more representation of lower, working, and even middle class neighborhoods in the city (like in IV), it would've fit much better. But it is what it is. Difference in perspective. 

Edited June 24, 2021 by CynicalMexican

[Zenit]

I would have made the next things:

• Revamping Non Stop Pop, getting rid of 80's and 90's tracks and focusing more on early 2000's-2010's hits, add a segment of "indie" artists (which aren't alternative at all like Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, Magic, Foster The People...) and a EDM mix (of whatever overrated DJ) segment inside of it.
• Radio Mirror Park adding some chillwave, indie neo psychedelia and more dance punk.
• East Los FM adding more songs, narcocorridos would have been good if we talk about the Cayo Perico Heist Update, I would also add Chicano rap songs and cumbias.
• For Soulwax, I would add more songs for the mixtape, of course that used to be part of Radio Soulwax mixtapes.

 

And to improve a bit more:

• Add a modern alternative r&b station as a counterpart of Lowdown, alternative r&b is also getting popular in the last 10 years.
• Add (for god sake) an ambient station that is owned by Children of the Mountain, just like Self-Actualization FM in GTA EFLC.
• Add an exclusive 80's music station.
• Add a heavy metal station.
• Add a classical music station.
• Add a reggaeton/moombahton/latin trap station, well LA has not too much Latin-Caribbean immigrants compared with the East Coast, and also that would give a bit of jinx towards players, but it is in the boom in the entire latin community, artists like Ozuna, Bad Bunny, Anuel AA, Karol G, Rauw Alejandro would be on the roster.
• And finally bring back some beta stations like:
  • PMR (90's alternative metal, alternative rock, britpop and post-grunge)
  • Santos Surf (surf punk, surf rock, vocal surf)
  • KWKR (K-pop, it was meant to be part of the soundtrack but it was just a rumor, and that would give jinx to players (just like my idea of reggaeton station)).

The rest in my opinion doesn't look bad either.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Matsukine

[CynicalMexican]

Reggaeton would've made sense and probably could've been integrated with East Los FM; Latin Spanish music in general is listened to across the region - for example Colombian cumbia is VERY popular in Mexico. Hell, Selena, an American born Chicana artist, was and is extremely popular in the region. So much I'm shocked there's no Selena in East Los FM. What an underrepresented station, the cameo of La Sonora Dinamita on there was the best part of that station.

 

Personally I don't like corridos and banda music. If East Los were just reggaeton, cumbia, and Spanish rock, I'd have loved it.

 

Otherwise I agree with your post.

Edited June 24, 2021 by CynicalMexican

[kobeni]

They already done a definitive 80s station back in EFLC called Vice City FM, I don't think any of the 80s tracks in V could top that.

[REVENGE777]

1 minute ago, DownInThePMs said:

They already done a definitive 80s station back in EFLC called Vice City FM, I don't think any of the 80s tracks in V could top that.

Buffalo stance was goated 

[Ondr4H]

GTA V radios are bad, because they truly feel like real world radios . With boring DJs most of times and song in bad order. For example I can listen to Non stop pop esque radio daily IRL. 

I always seen GTA radios like beautifully crafted mix of songs. In GTA 3D era it was one hour playlists with song even in great order to archieve maximum joy.

 

[Cutter De Blanc]

The infantile "dick and fart joke" humor of the commercials and Weazel News broadcasts in V (and IV to a lesser extent) makes me always want to change the station, and they come on so often, its too much like regular radio in that regard. The commercials in the older games used to be funny, now they're just annoying, like real commercials 

[kobeni]

tfw some of the songs in radio los santos are literally west coast classics this year and some of the tracks in west coast classics are comparatively as old as that one marvin gaye song in gta iv now

Edited June 28, 2021 by DownInThePMs

[CynicalMexican]

On 6/25/2021 at 12:22 PM, Cutter De Blanc said:

The infantile "dick and fart joke" humor of the commercials and Weazel News broadcasts in V (and IV to a lesser extent) makes me always want to change the station, and they come on so often, its too much like regular radio in that regard. The commercials in the older games used to be funny, now they're just annoying, like real commercials 

Possibly unpopular opinion but I'm not the biggest fan of R*'s potty humor especially when it's very obvious. Just because it's vulgar doesn't always mean funny.

 

GTA 3's toned down,dark, and sardonic humor was my favorite. Hope they go back to that.

[LittleJesus]

East Los FM is the most inconsistent, it should be exclusive to Mexican Regional songs... Corridos are very popular between LA chicanos & Don Cheto was the perfect host for that.

[Lock n' Stock]

The PS4/Xbox One re-release had the best lineup imo. The lackluster soundtrack from the original release was heavily updated for a start, and it wasn't over-crammed with a dozen sh*tty hip-hop/R&B/dance mix stations that all feel indistinguishable from each other.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Lock n' Stock