Reader Mona Seghatoleslami of West Virginia Public Broadcasting was kind enough to pass along her uber-list of blogs about classical music within the world of public radio. Perhaps “uber” is an overstatement, however — of the 150 public stations out there airing classical, nearly all of which probably have websites, more than the 10 listed below ought to have blogs.
People turn on classical stations to hear new music. I hope they would then read blogs on their favorite stations’ websites to learn about new music and keep abreast of happenings in the local arts community. I know that some of the websites I value most highly are those that tell me about the exhibits, concerts, films and lectures in the Washington, D.C., area. With their connections to local presenters, stations can be stepping into this arena and finding success.
And no wonder public radio station websites have pathetically low penetration among their broadcast audiences, or so I’ve heard. Most listeners to stations rarely even visit their stations’ websites or spend much time on them if they do. One possible reason why: Fresh content keeps readers coming back to a website. Station websites can be more than just static online program guides. They should be as lively as a station’s on-air programming (and if the on-air programming is dull, admittedly that’s a bigger problem than a dull website).
Yet I didn’t intend for this post to be a rant. Funny how that happens. Without further ado, here is Mona’s list of classical radio blogs. Know of any others? Tell us. And commercial stations are allowed, too. Thanks, Mona!
Stations
- Classical Notes, Minnesota Public Radio
- Classically Speaking, West Virginia Public Radio
- Evening Music, WNYC, New York
- Georgia Public Radio
- KBPS, Portland, Ore.
- San Antonio’s Classical Oasis by KPAC
- WETA, Washington, D.C.
- WITF, Harrisburg, Pa.:
- Composing Thoughts
- Dr. Dick’s Blog (UPDATE: David Duff (see below) writes that “Dr. Dick’s blog is no longer associated with WITF, and for that matter, I’m not even sure he’s still doing one (Dick was let go by WITF a couple of months back).” When I click on the link, I’m taken to a Blogger page that says “This blog is open to invited readers only” and that I haven’t been invited. The same happens with the Composing Thoughts blog, above. Neither are listed on WITF’s blog page.)
- WITF New Releases
- WUOL, Louisville, Ky.
- WXXI, Rochester, N.Y.
People
- Classically Hip by John Clare, host at Texas Public Radio
- Daily Fredlines — Fred Child, host of Performance Today
- David Duff’s Classical Blog — music director of Alabama Public Radio in Tuscaloosa and president of the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio
Subscribe Via Email
Enter your email address to subscribe to Scanning the Dial and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.
Dick Strawser blogs on the classical scene at: http://thoughtsonatrain.blogspot.com/
There is also Arizona Public Media’s KUAT’s blog:
http://blogs.azpm.org/b/cue-sheet/
Thanks John! That solves the mystery of where the KUAT blog had gone — Mona had an address for it, but it no longer went to the blog.
WKSU has remade the lead page in its Classical section as a blog: http://www.wksu.org/classical/
Along with general updates, it includes links to WKSU news stories with a classical theme and extras – like the video of Franz Welser-Most
Here I am again about WNYC.
You all know that I am a WNYC zealot. But WNYC’s “blogs” for Evening Music, are not blogs at all. They are much more like this Comments page, except that here, Mike or Marty will answer a comment. At WNYC, not so much. David Garland Or Terrance McKnight might pose a question, or give a bit of text and maybe a photo or two. Then, it is up to us, the listeners, to comment in response, ask questions, whatever. Maybe if I want to know about a composer, maybe another listener might write an answer. But, unless I refresh and go back, on my own, I will never see it. There is not even a reply box like on a forum.
I have been bugging WNYC for a real forum for months, and it may come yet.
But for now, yuck. I recommend that anyone who want to see it should go there and take a gander. Tell me if YOU think it is a blog, or worthy of the name.
>>RSM
Ann, thank you for pointing out WKSU’s blog–I’d watched and really enjoyed the Franz Welser-Möst video (someone on twitter linked me to it), but I forgot to add it to my list!
Sorry for being out of date on some of these (KUAT and Dick Strawser)–glad to be sent in the right direction to keep up with them.
Richard–I’m torn on WNYC’s blog-you might want more content, but they get a lot of reponse. we would love to have even 1/2 the comments they get!
On the paucity of classical music radio blogs relative to the number of stations broadcasting classical music–how many of those 150 stations have locally programmed/hosted classical music?
And how does each station that decides to blog carve out a niche for ourselves when there’s other stations covering some of the same things–definitely local focus can help, but in some cases we overlap– will we all have our 15 minute Joshua Bell interviews and a link to the Raisin Brahms video? From planning what I would blog about to actually doing it, I have changed by approach, because some of my favorite things are already being covered.
ok, enough rambling from me–back to writing up descriptions of fund drive gifts!
Mona-
You are absolutely correct about the response that WNYC gets. It’s just that it is not a blog. Remember also, the WNYC demographic, lots of Upper West Side and Upper East Side Manhattanites, who like to hear themselves talk, and one-up each other about how much they like or dislike what Terrance is doing.
WNYC has this Comments thing for all of the programs. What we really need is a forum.
>>RSM
From WFMT in Chicago:
Peter Whorf’s blog (he’s the program director)
http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=17,4
Production Blog
http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=17,5
Andrew Patner’s Blog (commentator)
http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=17,2
Mona:
On the paucity of classical music radio blogs relative to the number of stations broadcasting classical music–how many of those 150 stations have locally programmed/hosted classical music?
That’s a good question. Most of them? Are there that many that are totally satellite-fed?
And how does each station that decides to blog carve out a niche for ourselves when there’s other stations covering some of the same things–definitely local focus can help, but in some cases we overlap– will we all have our 15 minute Joshua Bell interviews and a link to the Raisin Brahms video? From planning what I would blog about to actually doing it, I have changed by approach, because some of my favorite things are already being covered.
Also good questions. Do you have a sense of what your listeners value most from their responses to your blog?
I also wonder if perhaps one of the most important qualities a blog can offer to its readers is a chance to interact with each other and with the station’s music staff. They might go elsewhere online to see a Joshua Bell interview, but only on your site can they have a conversation with you. Beyond that, I do think it’s key to provide as much unique content as possible that can’t be found anywhere else. Maybe just letting some music hosts find a voice in blog form has its value — letting them reflect on the music they played on a given day, a concert they saw recently or a new recording they’ve heard. If they’re real personalities and that comes across in their writing, listeners won’t find an equivalent to that elsewhere.