You have a great idea for a radio series. You have the skill to create some shows, and the musicians have signed off on the rights to put the music on the air. But you don’t know how to get stations interested in your shows. Well, one of the strengths of the classical radio world is the network of people who know the biz and are always keeping an ear open for great programming. Enter Kathy Gronau and her organization, Creative Public Radio.
Kathy launched Creative PR in 1986, after volunteering in radio and administering arts organizations for three years. As she developed those all-important relationships, several independent radio producers asked her to market their shows to public radio stations.
The business has changed a lot since 1986. It’s more high tech. Their station list has gone from files of index cards to a sophisticated database which holds thousands of U.S. and international radio stations.
You can see more about the organization on the website. This blog is a non-commercial space, and we don’t use it to be promotional, but I wanted to get Kathy’s perspective on the state of classical music radio. My questions are in italics. The answers are hers.
What do you think classical music radio needs most at this time?
More arts Coverage–arts coverage has fallen off in all media, as well as in school. This creates a self-fulfilling prophesy that “the audience is shrinking,” which, in turn, fuels the decline. What classical music radio needs most involves a lot of work, which I understand. Many stations and producers do these already, but my suggestions are:
• More features on artists on The World, NPR News and Marketplace. News/talk programs reach the largest audience. Features on music on the news can whet the listeners’ appetite to hear more.
• More arts coverage. Over the past 15 years, arts coverage of all media has declined. Classical music and the arts are an essential part of every community. Although civic leaders tout their cultural scene to attract new businesses; media coverage of the arts is not equal to how important the arts are to the community. Stations which have a program covering the local arts scene, and an on-air arts calendar encourage more creativity and involvement.
• Promoting and more direct involvement with the local arts community. In LA, when a station promotes a musical event, it brings a much bigger crowd because the audience likes to meet on-air personalities. It also increases listener loyalty.
• Publicizing and on-air promotion of important broadcasts. When we marketed the Playboy Jazz Festival Broadcast, many stations liked it because the big-name artists guaranteed an easy PR boost.
• Relaxing rules for music programming. When researching classical music programming for an article I wrote for the trade publication Tuned In, programmers told me about rules for music broadcast: play little vocal music during the day; contemporary music only after midnight; no obscure music during drive time ( like Josquin des Pres as an example);no harpsichord music, no sopranos and no opera (except the Met). What is great about KCSN is that they play all types of classical music. People may listen to music on their I Pods because they like variety!
• Being local. Classical music streams delivered from a service deprive listeners of DJs who are excited about the music, especially when the DJs chose the music themselves. Local DJs also talk about local events.
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• Encouraging artists to permit radio broadcasts. Radio is great promotion for an artist’s music, no matter what their record company or agents say. With the music industry losing so much money, the whole way to promote music has changed. Some artists, like Radiohead, let people download their album for whatever people wanted to pay. Some artists give their songs away to get more people to come to their concerts.
How do you think we could increase audience size and involvement?
Think cyber. Although the new media marketplace challenges cultural programming on public radio, some outlets are working successfully within it.
• KCRW in Santa Monica has a huge web audience for their three stations.
• At the end of an NPR news story, the host often directs listeners to their web site to get background of stories, extended interviews, and more songs by an artist.
• Videologs on the KCRW website show cutting edge artists performing live at the station. Surprisingly, most artists sign releases to be played on the videologs because the web broadcasts bring more people to their gigs and sell more of their music.
What do you think will be the impact of the Sirius-XM merger?
On the one hand, the Sirius-XM merger could be competition for stations, especially if they add another classical channel as part of their 12 channels for “non commercial educational” programming. On the other hand, it could provide opportunities for stations to attract a stable and enthusiastic audience that prefers being treated as tasteful individuals rather than as a slice of the commodity-consumption pie.
Kathy Gronau lives in the Los Angeles area. You can find her at any of the national radio conferences, PRPD, AIR, Third Coast, IMA and NFCB.
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Kathy really has it right, except for a couple of things. She wrote or reflected,
“…play little vocal music during the day; contemporary music only after midnight; no obscure music during drive time ( like Josquin des Pres as an example);no harpsichord music, no sopranos and no opera (except the Met)….”
I am lucky to be “in charge” of the music streamed in my office. Vocal is out in the office, so thus also sopranos and Opera. But contemporary music is way way in during the day. And, on the two PubRadio services of which I am a member and which I stream, WPRB, Princeton University, and WNYC2, from WNYC, New York, contemporary music is often the rule, not the exception, day or night.
Also, regarding
“…Being local. Classical music streams delivered from a service deprive listeners of DJs who are excited about the music, especially when the DJs chose the music themselves. Local DJs also talk about local events….”
A good streamed service beats boring “same old same old” hosted programming any time. Classical 24 and the not lamented C.P.R.N. just do not cut it. But WNYC2 is a very heavily curated stream empahasizing “500 years of new music” and “non-generic classical music”. It is top drawer. But don’t come there for the three B’s. They are there, but not heavily. WPRB’s hosted classical music programming is superb. Most of the on air people are volunteers, musicians, music department professionals, etc. The mix is very erudite. The most fun hosted programming I have everheard is WCNY, Syracuse, NY, during the Winter. Snow,snow,snow, and as local as you can get.
Also, WCPE is very local and folksy. But the music is music I can hear anywhere.
This “blog” is just the cat’s pajamas.
Most of the writers I have read either get it, or know the questions to ask us to consider. PubRadio is the best and only future for getting music heard, for teaching, and for getting the listener to support composers and artists with their purchases of the music they hear.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thanks, Richard! We’re really glad that you enjoy the blog and that you’re such a devoted reader and commenter.
Mike-
Here’s the deal. I don’t know where else on the internet or in the real world one can find any consideration of the future of Classical Music in broadcast or any other medium, internet, FM, satellite, whatever. The response utility means that this feed can function like a forum for the exchange of ideas.
I have sent links to this feed to everyone I know in PubRadio. I hope that some of them are hooking up.
>>RSM