As some others have implied, the main advantage of FM is the people who make the music happen. If I want the best sound, I can load a CD or tap a high resolution stream or play a downloaded file. But if I want to be surprised and delighted by a new piece of music or a new performance or a new artist, and maybe even learn a bit about the artist or composer (for classical) or the structure of the music, FM with a host who knows something can be wonderful, even over a not-very-good car radio.....
Exactly this. Discovery of new music, learning something I never knew about old music, and just plain being surprised, as you say -- that's what made good FM. KSHE in St. Louis! Anyone remember them in the 70s and 80s?
I have a Carver TX12 that I bought at a pawn shop 15 years ago, and it's beautiful (except for the usual Carver interface foibles -- too many identical tiny buttons), but there's just no content worth plugging it in for anymore. FM is a wasteland of nationally programmed pablum. The TX12 is in a closet gathering dust (along with the Nakamichi DR3 that I can't bring myself to part with, even thought I have approximately zero cassettes now).
You know where discovery and surprise have gone? Satellite. I've got more great new music and cool artist info from the Garth channel than I have from any other source in the last 10 years. Sadly, it ain't cheap.
And finally, does anyone under 30 even know what it feels like when no one is tracking every freaking thing you listen to? Remember when Arbitron had to ASK people to tell them what they listened to? Before your listening habits were recorded along with your IP address and email address and cross-referenced with what you buy on Amazon and what news stories you read? Wasn't the privacy wonderful?
At least that part is still mostly true for satellite. As far as I know, satellite radios are one-way devices that can't report what you're listening to. (Of course, that doesn't apply if you stream Sirius on your computer.)