History YMMV / GTARadio

* CrossesTheLineTwice: "''Dios mío,'' you shot him! There's ''blood!''... and ''pubic hair!''... all over the studio!!" And more.

* WTHCastingAgency: ''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.

** Rise FM is also one of least fan-favorite radio stations in ''III'' due to its overuse of trance music. This is [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'', which was praised for going with [[HouseMusic House instead]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: On Wildstyle, Mr Magic claims that he is playing a world premiere of "More Bounce to the Ounce", a song which came out in 1980.

** Going off that, in ''V'' you can hear "The Next Episode"... then switch and hear the Trammps' "Rubber Band" (sampled for Music/TheGameRapper's hit "Hate It or Love It"). Shit's like a hydra.

** Going off that, in ''V'' you can hear "The Next Episode"... then switch and hear the Trammps' "Rubber Band" (sampled for Music/TheGame's hit "Hate It or Love It"). Shit's like a hydra.

** 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'Arcy Ray D'Arcy]] show to advertise, listeners lampshaded the whole thing.

* WTHCastingAgency: ''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/CaraDelevigne 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.

* WTHCastingAgency: ''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/CaraDelavigne 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.

** A non music example is the DJ of MSX FM in ''III'', MC Codebreaker. He is either TheScrappy because of how [[MotorMouth he never shuts up]], [[TheUnintelligible he has a thick accent and often goes on odd rants]]. Or he is very entertaining and suits the high energy nature of the station perfectly.
** The soundtrack of ''IV'' took a direction of having less classic tracks and more niche ones (This is also the case with ''V'', although to a far 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.

** ''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, but Lazlow Jones' real life radio show became an internet podcast in 2010.
** ''V'' has a radio ad for Cloud devices stating that your data is on everyone else's devices. Much funnier since someone hacked Apple's [=iCloud=] and leaked naked photos of celebrities.
** In 2006, a man in Northern Ireland 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 Ray D'Arcy show to advertise, listeners lampshaded the whole thing.

** During Pressing Issues, 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.

* 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 Dr. Dre'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 The Game's hit "Hate It or Love It"). Shit's like a hydra.

* 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 8th gen and PC versions.

* WTHCastingAgency: ''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.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Obviously, seeing as they ''are'' radio stations. Rockstar usually goes through pains to appropriately pick contemporary and appropriate music for each station.
** From ''Vice City Stories'': "Holy Diver" (by Dio) during the mission "From Zero to Hero''. Also doubles with SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
** Radio Mirror Park is by far the most popular station in ''GTA V'', and for good reason.
** Special mention goes to K-ROSE in ''San Andreas'', and Rebel Radio in ''GTA V''. It's country, but somehow it works when you're driving through the woods.
** From ''San Andreas'': "Personal Jesus" (by Depeche Mode) suits perfectly when you're driving through the desert
** Rise FM from III features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYzPoUWEaM "Innerbattle"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuYZqC7wUSs "Score (Original Mix)"]] and also, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvM_Q30tSkE "Neo (The One)"]], which is named after Neo from Film/TheMatrix. Incidentally, the duo for all three songs formed a band called Shiny Toy Guns that made a song based on the latter song listed.
** To get an idea of just how much this trope applies, look up the Website/YouTube video for ''any'' song ever featured in GTA Radio and check out the comments. If you can make it through the first page without seeing at least three comments about GTA, you've reached the ''low'' end of the spectrum.

* 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.

** 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.

** 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''.

* NightmareFuel: During Pressing Issues, 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.

** Rise FM is also one of least fan-favorite radio stations in ''III'' due to its overuse of trance music. This is [[AvertedTrope averted]] in VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories, which was praised for going with [[HouseMusic House instead]].

** Princess Bubblegum, for being such awesome FanService.

** ''Chatterbox'' from ''III'' provided the humour 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.

* 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 David McCallum's "The Edge" (which was the basis for Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode").

* 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]]

* 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.]]

** A non music example is the DJ of MSX FM in III, MC Codebreaker. He is either TheScrappy because of how [[MotorMouth he never shuts up]], [[TheUnintelligible he has a thick accent and often goes on odd rants]]. Or he is very entertaining and suits the high energy nature of the station perfectly.
** The soundtrack of IV took a direction of having less classic tracks and more niche ones (This is also the case with V, although to a far 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.

* 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.

** 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, but Lazlow Jones' real life radio show became an internet podcast in 2010.
** V has a radio ad for Cloud devices stating that your data is on everyone else's devices. Much funnier since someone hacked Apple's [=iCloud=] and leaked naked photos of celebrities.

** 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.

** 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 David McCallum's "The Edge" (which was the basis for Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode").

** Rise FM is also one of least fan-favorite radio stations in III due to it's overuse of Trance music. This is [[AvertedTrope averted]] in VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories, which was praised for ditching the Trance genre with [[HouseMusic House instead]].
* [[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.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Obviously, seeing as they ''are'' radio stations. Rockstar usually goes through pains to appropriately pick contemporary and appropriate music for each station.
** From ''Vice City Stories'': "Holy Diver" (by Dio) during the mission "From Zero to Hero''. Also doubles with CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
** Radio Mirror Park is by far the most popular station in ''GTA V'', and for good reason.
** Special mention goes to K-ROSE in ''San Andreas'', and Rebel Radio in ''GTA V''. It's country, but somehow it works when you're driving through the woods.
** From ''San Andreas'': "Personal Jesus" (by Depeche Mode) suits perfectly when you're driving through the desert
** Rise FM from III features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYzPoUWEaM "Innerbattle"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuYZqC7wUSs "Score (Original Mix)"]] and also, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvM_Q30tSkE "Neo (The One)"]], which is named after Neo from Film/TheMatrix. Incidentally, the duo for all three songs formed a band called Shiny Toy Guns that made a song based on the latter song listed.
** To get an idea of just how much this trope applies, look up the YouTube video for ''any'' song ever featured in GTA Radio and check out the comments. If you can make it through the first page without seeing at least three comments about GTA, you've reached the ''low'' end of the spectrum.

** Rise FM from III features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYzPoUWEaM "Innerbattle"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuYZqC7wUSs "Score (Original Mix)"]] and also, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvM_Q30tSkE "Neo (The One)"]], which is named after Neo from Film/TheMatrix.

** In ''San Andreas''' version of Radio Los Santos, Julio G thinks he's going to be fined for playing "I Don't Give a Fuck". He must have gotten that fine because it's been removed from the remaster.