* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is [[Radio/GTARadio Lazlow]] really TheLastDJ like he claims to be, or just a deluded, unlikable has-been/never-was who deserves to fail at his endeavors? [[spoiler:''GTA V'''s story hints ''heavily'' toward the latter being the case, at least for his incarnation in the HD universe.]]
* BrokenBase: Given the large variety of genres represented, this is bound to happen as different people prefer different stations in different games.
** A non music example is the MC of MSX FM in ''III'', Codebreaker. He is either [[TheScrappy disliked]] because of his MotorMouth and [[TheUnintelligible very thick accent]], or is considered very entertaining and suits the high energy nature of the station perfectly. This may have to do with cultural differences, as MC'ing over DrumAndBass was more commonplace in the UK where the genre originated at raves and on pirate radio stations, something that was lost on most players overseas.
** The soundtrack of ''IV'' took a direction of having less mainstream or "classic" tracks in favor of more niche cuts, ''V'' did the same but to a lesser extent. Whether this doesn't matter and the games still have a fine music selection or the soundtracks pale in comparison to those from the 3D era seem to depend on the person you ask. There is also a bit of conflict between fans of the ''IV'' soundtrack and fans of the ''V'' soundtrack.
* CrossesTheLineTwice:
** Everything about James Pedeaston, a stuffy twit and shameless pedophile who can't stop talking about his sex tourism exploits with underage boys. Also helps that his listeners are rightfully revolted and one of his employees stole pages from his diary to give to the authorities.
** Fernando Martinez starts crossing the line twice once he starts doing felonies like arson and statutory rape, all while trying to keep up his seductive latino persona. He eventually gets arrested and tries to control his sex addiction with the help of another radio host but it never sticks.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** ''Chatterbox'' from ''III'' provided the humor on the radio that many players ignored the soundtrack stations. In most of the later games, there are usually a few hilarious talk shows to choose from.
** Hans Oberlander, the DJ of SF-UR has quite a few fans thanks to [[CloudCuckoolander his fun personality]] and for being very quotable. It helps that SF-UR is also considered to be one of the best stations in the series.
** Princess Robot Bubblegum, for being such awesome FanService.
* GeniusBonus: Morgan Merryweather often messes up references to classical culture. How many GTA fans are going to know Creator/MarcelProust is French, not Italian?
* GrowingTheBeard: Either ''Vice City'' for moving away from original music and having a large variety of classic licensed songs in its place, or ''San Andreas'' for introducing randomisation to the radio scripts, allowing the radio to react to the main story.
* HilariousInHindsight: ''San Andreas'' has a radio ad for the American Bank of Los Santos saying that borrowing money for lifestyle is "only a risk if you get into money troubles or the economy changes, which doesn't seem likely!". The game was released in 2004.
** This could also be HarsherInHindsight depending on what you think.
** This was probably intentional. Even in the early 2000's, there were signs that the economy was going south.
** One of the reality-challenged guests on ''Vice City'''s talk radio is a StrawFeminist who has written a book about spending a year disguised as a man, disgustedly recounting the (rather mundane) things men do when women aren't around. Four years later, journalist Norah Vincent published a (much more reasoned and sane) book named ''Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised As A Man''.
** ''IV'' and Episodes From Liberty City takes many jabs towards internet radio, claiming that "no one listens to it". Not only would internet radio become far more popular in TheNewTens only to be defanged by streaming services like Spotify, but Lazlow Jones' real life radio show became an internet podcast in 2010.
** In 2006, a man in UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland started a service similar to Fernando's New Beginnings (a dating agency for cheating spouses) that even used ''the same slogan'' ("Taking the monotony out of monogamy"). When he went on The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_D%27Arcy Ray D'Arcy]] show to advertise, listeners lampshaded the whole thing.
** ''Episodes From Liberty City'''s San Juan Sounds had Henry Santos mention that the Dominican Republic was previously close to becoming a US State, which becomes funnier after the Puerto Rico 2012 referendum voted in favour of becoming one.
---> '''Henry Santos:''' ''We could have become just like Alaska!''
** There's an advertisement in ''San Andreas'' for the sitcome "My Five Uncles", which parodies saccharine programming like ''Series/FullHouse'' while featuring a girl being raised by five gay men in a polyamorous relationship. The whole thing ends up as a hilarious mish-mash of the childhood of Hollyhock from ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' and its own ShowWithinAShow, ''JustForFun/HorsinAround''.
** In ''San Andreas''' version of Radio Los Santos, Julio G thinks he's going to be in legal trouble for playing "I Don't Give a Fuck". Actual legal trouble (that is, licensing issues) means it's not in the remaster nor re-releases.
* NightmareFuel:
** During ''Pressing Issues'' on ''Vice City'''s VCPR, at one point Konstantinos Smith is chanting some sort of spell. In the background you can hear Jenny Louise Crab, the girl traumatized by her parents' murder but dozed up to the eyeball on tranquilizers, go from laughing nervously in the background to sobbing loudly and back to laughing again. The effect is very chilling.
** The ''III'' Rise FM radio loop ends with a LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand effect that comes out of nowhere and can be unsettling to those not expecting it.
* OlderThanTheyThink: You'll be very enlightened if you listen to contemporary hip-hop, then listen to the other radio stations in the games. In addition to [[NothingButHits the obvious hits]] from the different time periods, they included a ''lot'' of songs that have been sampled for famous rap cuts, probably because those are the easiest to license. Examples include the Isley Brothers' "Between The Sheets" (which was turned into Music/TheNotoriousBIG's "Big Poppa") and "Footsteps in the Dark" (whose main guitar riff was used in Music/IceCube's "It Was a Good Day", itself featured in ''San Andreas''), and Creator/DavidMcCallum's "The Edge" (which was the basis for Music/DrDre's "The Next Episode").
** Going off that, in ''V'' you can hear "The Next Episode"... then switch and hear the Trammps' "Rubber Band" (sampled for Music/{{The Game|Rapper}}'s hit "Hate It or Love It"). Shit's like a hydra.
* QuestionableCasting: ''Karl Lagerfeld'' as the K109: The Studio DJ comes off as quite odd in a game where almost every other DJ is a high profile musician or DJ in real life. On a related note, Creator/CaraDelevingne as Non Stop Pop's DJ ''could'' almost count due to her being a fashion model at the time, though she did appear in music videos and has since embarked on an acting career.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The radio stations in ''GTA V'' have been criticized for having songs that aren't as great as the previous games stations (with notable exceptions such as Radio Mirror Park and Non-Stop Pop FM). The next gen versions fixed all that by allowing the [=DJs=] to pick any songs they wanted to add into their stations. Many agree that the quality of the stations have gone up significantly and already great stations are now even better.
* ShallowParody: The {{Take That}}s in ''IV'' got a ''lot'' less subtle, and tended more towards mocking specific people and shows rather than genres. Still didn't prevent it from having its funny moments.
* SongAssociation:
** Lampshaded in ''IV'' when the rap station DJ says you'd better like [[Music/KanyeWest "Flashing Lights"]] because they are gonna play it again, and again, and again.[[note]]Which isn't a bad thing, being that the rest of the station's lineup comes from New York at a time when New York hip-hop was at its lowest point in years. Hi, Fat Joe![[/note]]
** Certain locations or activities always feature the same stations, sometimes even a particular song. After hearing these songs often enough, players start associating these songs with those locations.
* TheScrappy: East Los FM in ''V'' is hated by a lot of people, mainly due to the "El Sonidito" song that plays on there, and also for playing in EVERY taxi, and not being allowed to change the station while being driven in one, unlike in ''IV''. Even worse, it's one of the only two stations[[note]]Soulwax FM being the other.[[/note]] that didn't get new songs for the enhanced versions.
* [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter They Wasted a Perfectly Good Radio Station]]: [=WorldWide=] FM in ''GTA V'' could've played not just ambient & chillout, but pop music from all over the world. Granted, a few more foreign songs are included in the Playstation 4 & Xbox One versions, but the point still stands.
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