Wynton Marsalis (pictured left) and Quincy Jones have joined the technological revolution. The two music icons will host programs on XM Satellite Radio, a new radio network based out of Washington D.C. Marsalis will host 12 one-hour programs on XM’s jazz channels chronicling his career, influences and own tastes in music. Jones will host several music documentaries on the history of contemporary music and act as a creative consultant for XM, helping shape the new technology.
XM hopes to change radio (which hasn’t seen any significant changes since the introduction of FM in the 1960s) by offering commercial-free programming of every imaginable musical genre. Scheduled to become widely available in the U.S. this summer, the satellite service will cost listeners a monthly subscription fee and offer up to 100 channels of digital-quality sound. At least four of those channels will cover jazz. In addition to music, XM will feature news, sports, talk, comedy and children’s programming.
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