If you’ve gotten in your car and tuned in to Sirius XM‘s Jam On station over the last few days, you’ve probably noticed that something’s a little… different. The satellite station that regularly plays full live Phish performances, up-and-coming jam bands, and the like–music with a niche yet incredibly enthusiastic audience–has been transformed into Coachella Radio, airing performances and interviews from the mainstream California mega-festival as well as studio tracks from the generally pop-facing acts on its lineup. While Jam On’s regularly scheduled programming is continuing on without interruption via the Sirius XM website and mobile app, your car tuner will take you to Coachella territory when you tune to Channel 29 until April 25th.

Since Channel 29’s temporary shift to Coachella Radio began, it’s safe to say that jam band fans as a whole are less than satisfied with the change—Okay, that’s an understatement: People are pissed. Baffled posts have popped up across jam-oriented pages and forums commenting on the jam band station playing a Cardi B song, or tracks by The Weeknd, or even a live Beyonce performance. Jam band fans are crying sacrilege, canceling subscriptions, and generally melting down all over the Internet.

[Screenshot via Reddit]



[Screenshot via Phish Tour 2014]

[Screenshot via Phish Tour 2014]

The overwhelming distaste for the move among jam fans isn’t all that surprising. Sure, Jam On goes live from music festivals all the time (likely a reason the Sirius brass thought this was the right call). However, Coachella’s musical offerings are just about as far away from Jam On’s core demographic as you can get within the insular world of live music.

In addition, while there were surely some great performances at Coachella over the course of the weekend (that Beyonce show was a spectacle worth seeing and hearing, even if it’s not usually your cup of tea), the extensive coverage of the two-weekend festival takes away valuable airtime from the many acts who rely on Jam On as a main source of national exposure. In general, the bands that get played on Jam On are bands that don’t get covered on pop stations, college radio, or other platforms. That visibility is often an integral factor in a given band’s growth in this particular scene. It’s what makes the station such a valuable and important facet of the jam band world: Jam On provides a service that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the radio.

The unhappy fans argue that Coachella Radio’s occupation of Channel 29 effectively takes that publicity away from underserved jam bands and fans and replaces it with music which, making no comment on its quality, you can probably also hear on a dozen other stations nationwide at this very moment. The move feels like a reverse-Robin Hood situation: The provider is pulling coverage from those who truly need and rely on it and is giving it to what is already perhaps the most highly-publicized and extensively-covered music event there is.

Take a peek at some of the melts below via Twitter:

So for now, all disgruntled jam fans can do is voice their disappointment online, get their Jam On fix outside their ride til the 25th, and hope Coachella picks a new station to cannibalize next year. However, while you wait for things to go back to the way they should be, you might as well take advantage of the bright spots that do come along with Coachella Radio on Jam On–maybe even listen to something new and expand your horizons. Don’t worry, the jams will be back in due time.