OT - Classical Music: A sign of the times

[Louis]

IMO this is a real bummer. The FCC recently approved the sale of KFUO-FM St Louis' only classical radio station. I'm not sure what it says about folks around here, but if you read the details here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFUO-FM) you'll see what I mean.

Maybe they'll be closing down the bookstores and libraries next.

Louis

[gone]

And classical record labels (Telarc is a recent example but there are lots of others) are also shutting down. A quote from one of the founders of Telarc was "the straw that broke the camels back was that retail outlets were returning more than 50% of their classical CD's because they were unsellable."

Fortunately, a number of good online resources have sprung up and smaller boutique labels are buying the catalogs of those that have gone under. Still, very few people have the patience anymore to sit and listen to a 45 minute symphony. Sad and a statement of our instant gratification, short attention span times.

[hookookadoo]

I assume the station went bankrupt as is happening to many stations around the nation. Not sure why the FCC did not open the bidding to the public but if the community could not support classical music it likely was not going to re-emerge as a classical station.

I'm a fan of classical music, but as I think your "sign of the times" comment may have been referring to, it is fading into the sunset...sad.

[Ozz]

Seattle if fortunate in that the Bullitt sisters that owned a couple stations here set up under the ownership of the classical staion as a non-profit foundation.

"Following the death of Dorothy Bullitt, her daughters, Harriet Bullitt and Priscilla Collins decided in 1990 to sell the King Broadcasting empire and devote themselves to philanthrophy. Sharing their mother's passion for classical music, in 1991 they bought KING FM themselves so they could ensure that Seattle would always have a classical radio station. Then in 1995, in an extraordinary act of vision of generosity, they created a new non-profit owner called "Beethoven" and gave the stock to the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, and the group now called Arts Fund. From 1995 through 2009, KING FM generated nearly $7 million for the Symphony, Opera, and classical music grantees of Arts Fund."

Listen online if you like: http://www.king.org/pages/4017021.php

This and a news / traffic station are about 90% of all I listen to.

[Ray]

Maybe they'll be closing down the bookstores and libraries next.
Only to the extent people stop using them. Which is as it should be, no?

-Ray

[SEABREEZE]

The same with Smooth Jazz, many closing down


If you have difficulty finding it in your local community, let me introduce you to a website that plays Smooth Jazz from around the world.

http://delicast.com/radio/smooth/t:3/WSBZ_106.3_The_Seabreeze

[csm]

between xm radio, my ipod and lastfm.com... I never listen to terrestial radio.

[93legendti]

I agree with Ray.

A station being sold and changing its format could be the result of many factors, so I'm not sure WHICH "'sign" of the times is being indicated.

Who exactly are the "they" who are closing radio stations???

[fiamme red]

I read that the station will now play "Christian contemporary pop music." I have no idea what that is, but obviously there's some audience for it.

We used to have three stations devoted to classical music in New York City, WNCN, WQXR, and WNYC-FM (first two for-profit, the last non-profit). WNCN became a rock station (WAXQ) in 1993 (read The Day the Music Died (http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/19/nyregion/the-day-the-music-died-mourning-classical-wncn.html) in the NYT). After 9/11, the president of WNYC, Laura Walker, decided to use the opportunity to eliminate as much of the classical music as possible, switching over to news and talk radio. Then last year, the New York Times Company, which owned WQXR since 1944, decided to unload the station, because of their financial woes. To make a long story short, WQXR still exists, but now as a publicly-funded station, at the bottom of the dial, and WNYC-FM has eliminated all classical programming. WQXR's old signal was 6,000 watts ERP, and its new signal is only 600 watts, so many people who live in the suburbs now have no classical station.

[johnnymossville]

It's just the natural ebb and flow of listening tastes and economics. The companies that support classical music stations probably are more worried about making payroll and paying the bills in these tough economic times.

Not to mention, there's a ton of places online to get your classical music fill. Last time I checked there are over 75 classical stations on iTunes alone.

[fiamme red]

It's just the natural ebb and flow of listening tastes and economics. The companies that support classical music stations probably are more worried about making payroll and paying the bills in these tough economic times.

Not to mention, there's a ton of places online to get your classical music fill. Last time I checked there are over 75 classical stations on iTunes alone.What's iTunes? :rolleyes:

For me, nothing can replace a local classical radio station.

[johnnymossville]

What's iTunes? :rolleyes:

For me, nothing can replace a local classical radio station.

I agree with you,... except replace classical with smooth jazz. Baltimore's jazz station changed formats a few years ago now. I miss it.

I suggest getting pandora and streaming through Ford Sync, like I do. :)

[Kevan]

That was the argument I had with my father when he complained about the increase of rock-format stations that flooded the fm dial. That conversation was held back in the mid to late 70's when NYC was reduced to just 2 stations with classical formats while there were umpteen "Yah, I love you baby"" (his rock reference term) stations. My dad's brother at the time owned a radio station in Iowa City and he and his partners sold the station to a new owner who brought in a rock format there. The fact was and is, there isn't sufficient advertizing time in a radio hour if the station is going to play Beethoven's 9th. Poor Ludwig.

Poor us...

[Ken Robb]

Leslie and I have been attending performances of symphonic orchestras other than "first tier" groups. We prefer having wonderful seats for the Pacific Symphony in Orange County or Orchestra Nuovo in San Diego rather than crummy seats for better-known groups.

I suggest trying great seats for a good group to see what you have been missing sonically and visually. Sitting in the first 8 rows orchestra center lately I've had fun watching the musicians as well as listening to the music.

[johnnymossville]

...I suggest trying great seats for a good group to see what you have been missing sonically and visually. Sitting in the first 8 rows orchestra center lately I've had fun watching the musicians as well as listening to the music.

It sounds so much better out there in the seats. As a former 1st chair Clarinet player I would much rather listen to it in the seats than up on the stage!

[TAW]

Only to the extent people stop using them. Which is as it should be, no?

-Ray

This is probably true in certain avenues, however, considering that music sales are largely driven by the teenage market, and given that teenagers don't always know what's good for them, I think that the demise of certain good things is detrimental to our society. I'd rather have a kid reading than playing video games, but if you left that decision to teenagers, probably the video store would survive long after the library closed.

[fiamme red]

There may still be some small hope for classical music on the radio. From a recent NYT article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/business/media/26radio.html?src=buslnReport Abuse):

Just 19 commercial classical stations remain on the air nationwide, by one count, down from about 50 in the early 1990s. But as ad-supported programmers also decide that the classical format is no longer practical, the music has started to find a new savior. And, to the surprise of many, it is public broadcasting.

In New York, WNYC did not win fans in the classical world when, in April 2002, it dropped music from its day hours on the FM station, substituting public affairs talk shows.

So there was some trepidation among classical radio listeners when WNYC bought the commercial classical station WQXR from The New York Times Company last year.

Despite moving to the frequency 105.9 FM, a weaker signal on the dial, WQXR, under its new owners, has thrived. In January 2009, under its previous owners, the station was reaching an average weekly audience of 706,700 listeners; by February 2010, that number had jumped to 834,400, according to Arbitron figures supplied by the station.

That is enough to make it the top Arbitron-rated station in all of public radio, WNYC officials said...

[nickb4]

I Then last year, the New York Times Company, which owned WQXR since 1944, decided to unload the station, because of their financial woes. To make a long story short, WQXR still exists, but now as a publicly-funded station, at the bottom of the dial, and WNYC-FM has eliminated all classical programming. WQXR's old signal was 6,000 watts ERP, and its new signal is only 600 watts, so many people who live in the suburbs now have no classical station.

A sad day in 2009 when I heard about WQXR. I grew up listening to that station from the '60s while my mother blasted it all day every day. I knew all the DJs names , saw Robert Sherman host a live "listening room" broadcast when my mother dragged us kids into NYC from N.J. and of course remember the Texaco operas that aired every Saturday from the days Milton Cross was still hosting them. I'm not a classical music afficionado by any stretch but I really did enjoy listening to that station right up 'till the end of the 96.3 days. As you mention at least it's still there in some form, a few of the DJs carried over and it's nice to hear they are getting decent ratings but argh, times do change.

[Dekonick]

My cousin is the GM of a radio station outside of Seattle - it is a tough business.