
I know those songs. I believe we have both.
Yeah, my alt rock station plays all the artists you mention. I understand the frustration, but just some reasons behind these choices:
"Macklemore," real name Ben Haggerty, refused all major label deals and convinced Warner Bros. music to simply release his songs to radio, which he's been saying is all major labels are good for any more. So, while he is technically a rap/now pop artist, he definitely got to where he is by alternative means and good business sense. Of course, the song we have by him, "Same Love," may be too popular now. I've been thinking to replace it with "Otherside," an older song of his that samples the RHCP song of the same name. People seem to prefer his older stuff, anyway.
Fall Out Boy is just the new Blink 182 et al., so I get that it's not everyone's taste, but pop punk bands have been on alt. rock stations since the early 90s at least, so that's not going to stop happening any time soon.
Imagine Dragons are popular, but they are definitely a rock group, to me they sound like a lot of the bands from the 2000s like Linkin Park etc. that were popular in middle school. I get tired of them, but their performance at the Grammys with Kendrick Lamar was showstopping, and if I find a way to get that performance on mp3, I'd love to have it. It was pure energy.
We have a guy call up and request NIN and tell us we're his favorite station all the time.
We do have Rob Zombie.
I try to keep it so that we're comparable to professional alt rock stations like 102.1 The Edge in Dallas (formerly 94.5, when I was young), but play songs they don't, since we're a non-commercial station and can get away with it.
I'm planning to have my DJs help me with what songs we need/need to take out. One of my better DJs requested more Volbeat, I know we need Eagle Eye Cherry's "Save Tonight," and several songs we have don't belong, etc.