For many of us in radio, it’s truly been a weird couple years. Many career paths have been redrawn and redefined. Many of us are doing work we perhaps never planned on doing.
That’s been the case for us at Jacobs Media. Sure, we still work with many Rock, Alternative, and of course, Classic Rock stations. But since COVID, we are providing services more and more often to Public Radio. And underneath this increasingly popular non-commercial umbrella, there are several different formats being executed, including NPR News, Jazz, and Triple A.
But the one Public Radio platform where we’ve done considerable work in just the past year is Classical. (Not to be confused with Classic Rock. But there are some fascinating similarities.) My informal census shows we’ve done extensive work for four Classical stations during the past year. And Paul and I continue to marvel at a format that brings with it passion, often with even more emotion than we see with Classic Rock.
I recently conducted a Zoom focus group where an elderly woman complained about our Classical client. Speaking about her perception the station was just “playing the hits” (her words), she said – and I’m barely paraphrasing;
“Beethoven had more great pieces than just the “Fifth Symphony.” Why don’t you guys go deeper and play some of his other stuff.” She could have been talking about Queen or Nirvana in a rock group.
Classical fans love seeing live performances. They adore and worship certain conductors, described in rock star terms by fans. And at many stations we work with, listeners point to knowledgeable hosts with the same effusive descriptors as rockers use t0 describe Pierre Robert, John Holmberg, or Marci Wiser.
In short, radio IS radio. And many of the same tools and techniques to generate consistently good ratings are universal, as common in Hip-Hop as they are in Country. Or Classical.
And we’re beginning to see Classical stations making some impressive ratings progress. Yes, the demos run old – even a more mature audience than the radio averages. But we’re seeing some fascinating numbers in the past year, including WDAV in Charlotte shooting up to #1. Granted it was just one book, but it was an amazing story nonetheless.
So, that why Apple’s recent announcement caught my attention. The Cupertino tech giant has lots of interesting stuff in the works, including the rumored debut of a new AR/VR headset some think could help bring the metaverse to average consumers.
Mac Rumors ran a recent story about a 2024 debut for a gadget that is said to resemble a regular pair of glasses, rather than bulky goggles. Some say a $495 price tag seems reasonable.
But more recent reports out of Bloomberg suggest there are “technical difficulties” that may delay the launch of a product expected to be named Apple Glasses.
And then there’s the updated version of Apple CarPlay, the company’s in-car ecosystem that promises to link and control many of the car’s operating systems, from infotainment to windshield wipers to cruise control. Over time, we’ve watch Apple’s in-car platform become more popular among drivers. In our Techsurveys, we’ve been tracking interest in CarPlay among prospective new car buyers – it’s going straight up.
This time, Mac Rumors is basing its coverage on new CarPlay features on fact – Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference from 2022. Among the other features and enhancements – an FM radio app. With apologies to beleaguered AM radio operators, this new interface not only looks good – it actually utilizes the FM tuner that’s built into the car:
I don’t have to convince you Apple is a forward-thinking, innovative, future-focused tech firm. You know that.
So, it struck me as noteworthy and impressive Apple has launched a new Classical music streaming service. As Tech Crunch recently reported, Apple purchased a Classical music streaming company in Amsterdam – Primephonic – in 2021.
This new Classical app offers subscriber to access to north of 5 million pieces, exclusive albums, and info that includes composer bios and in-depth information on key works.
Apple is designing it to be simple and (hopefully) elegant. Users will have full search (composers, conductor, work, etc.) and a high quality audio experience. Some pieces will be available via Apple’s spatial audio, too.
The service (iOS only, Android “soon”) launches on the 28th of this month, and comes with a subscription to Apple Music. As a standalone app, it costs $10.99 a month, with different deals for students, families, and Apple One bundles.
Why Classical? Why Apple? Why now?
Tech Crunch calls it a “differentiator” for Apple up against Spotify and other DSPs. And in these highly competitive times when streamers need any edge, Classical fits the bill for Cupertino.
But is this move emblematic of something else going on? Music analyst, Ted Gioia, thinks so. Earlier this week, his “The Honest Broker” covered this phenomenon in an aptly timed article:
“Six Recent Studies Show an Unexpected Increase in Classical Music Listening”
Yes, one of these is that one-off rating book in Charlotte for WDAV. And while Gioia acknowledges that Classical tends to capture only about 1% of American tastes back in 2021, he points to 2022 as a very different year.
This YouGov chart shows a crescendo of interest in music that is 200-300 years old, edging out Hip-Hop and Country. Seriously?
Like those WDAV Nielsen numbers, you can’t help but rub your eyes when you see this chart. And you cannot write it off to “just one meter.” (Note that survey takers could mention more than one “favourite” music genres. Still….)
But the evidence mounts. A study of UK holiday trends showed off the charts popularity for orchestral music – particularly among younger demos. Here’s the money quote from Royal Philharmonic Orchestra:
“The national poll of 2,000 adults turned on its head the long-held assumption that orchestral music is a music genre for older people. Instead, the RPO study revealed that 74% of people aged under 25 will engage with orchestral music this Christmas, compared to just 46% of people aged 55 or over.”
The report and press release from the Royal Philharmonic details this trend. They underscore that “more people are listening to orchestral music today as part of their daily lives than was the case before the pandemic” – and get this, the movement to Classical is “strongest among young people.”
We’ve seen the same thing in our research. People – including parents and teachers – are using Classical as a stress relief valve. And when they describe why they tune to this music on the radio, the word association is often “relaxing,” a term that was once reserved for Soft AC, that by the way, no longer exist on the AM or FM bands.
Then there’s this data from YouTube Gioia quotes from Swedish streamer Epidemic Sound – its momentum for Classical among publishers on YouTube. Among the regions/countries noted where growth could best be described as full-on “presto” – the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the U.S.
It’s been especially interesting to watch this phenomenon at what are called Classical News Combos in Public Radio. These are stations that typically carry NPR’s highly popular news magazines – “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” during the two drives, but then play Classical in most of the other dayparts.
Yes, it’s anecdotal, but listeners tell us they get their fill of news listening to “Morning Edition” when their day starts. And once they’ve had their fill of
often depressing current events, Bach, Mahler, and Rachmaninoff come on to provide some relief.
Gioia believes much of Classical’s comeback is organic. As he puts it, “with little or no support from the top.” He cites BBC cutbacks in Classic music exposure and investment that media and networks are tone deaf when it comes to the surge in popularity by a genre that most in power wrote off long ago.
As is always the case, trends in music are driven by audiences, as Gioia reminds us – and of course, he’s right. Radio people, in particular, are often late to the party.
I have received much credit for nailing the resurgence in interest in Classic Rock that occurred on the airwaves in the early-to-mid 80’s. But I’ve seen evidence – anecdotal and data – the format could have exploded a few years earlier, had I or someone else gotten there.
The establishment – of which radio has always been a co-conspirator – is often the last to know, whether it was the rise of FM, Classic Rock, Hip-Hop, or EDM.
In Public Radio, many broadcasters have dutifully stuck with Classical while everyone else eschewed it. It might be safe to say, your tempo is now.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I’ve been immersed in classical music my entire life, so I’m really eating up this column, Fred.
Growing up in a NYC suburb, I had two major stations: WQXR (then owned by the NY Times) and WNCN, a commercial classical station which had an underground, hip persona compared to the starchy QXR. I remember the overnight guy on NCN, who could be compared to Alisson Steele “The Nightbird” on WNCN, taking us on fabulous classical indulgences … one night getting drunk on Vivaldi concertos (“I can’t stop! Here’s another one!”).
Here in the NC triangle, we have WCPE, an independent public station with mostly volunteer announcers. They do their jobs for the love of the music, even as some of them endearingly mangle names of Germanic and Russian performers and composers. This station identifies itself mainly by its online stream (TheClassicalStation.org), between its formal IDs.
I can see where Covid might have given more exposure to classical as locked-in listeners had more time and emotional need to explore outlying realms of entertainment.
I’m also eyeing the influence of Gustavo Dudamel (conductor of the LA Philharmonic, recently signed by the NY PHil to move there in a few years). He can fairly be called a classical superstar whose influence reaches beyond traditional audiences. The streaming TV show “Mozart in the Jungle” was famously (and very loosely) based on him.
Finally — about the “relaxation” thing … I have always disliked that characterization. For centuries, classical has produced dramatic, furious, blazingly virtuosic music. It is unplugged, though, and I guess that alone is inherently calming.
Having worked on air and in programming at both WNCN and WQXR, I am totally with you. WNCN was basically an AC that happened to play classical music.
Classical is most definitely viable as a format, if you do it right.
Appreciate it, Vinny.
In the UK, Bauer launched what might be a younger-focused Classical format on DAB (Scala Radio) a few years ago; notably, for its first couple of years, it had Simon Mayo as perhaps its main personality. Plus, Global’s venerable Classic FM provides another commercial counterpart to BBC Radio 3.
…and now, all I can think of is that 70s TV commercial “…all the classics, including the Polivetzian dance by Borodin. Ahhh, its a priceless collection”
Roll over, Beethoven!
And now, all I can think of is the Crazy Calls version of Beethoven’s Fifth (yes, the infamous “Nobody’s home! Nobody’s home!”)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNXJqHAT4JE
I was fortunate to grow up in a family that had season tickets to the Waukesha (WI) Symphony. So I was indoctrinated at a young age, and when I took a turn in sales, I ended up at Milwaukee’s great WFMR. It increased my interest in classical music and, oh my, did we have fun. The stationality was very foreground with lots of promotions and real personalities (24/7), active in the community and we were pretty darn respectable (but I must admit, the signal has performed much better in recent years as WKLH!) These days, I live in Portland, Oregon where KQAC’s classical format takes a more traditional approach to the format’s presentation, and evidently, has been very successful with it. KQAC has been bubbling around the top 5 for a while. You are absolutely right, Fred, there are so many similarities to the passion we have for classic rock, to what many feel for the timeless tunes, the composers, the directors, musicians and the stations programming classical.
It’s a great place to get away from all the noise.
Milwaukee was an interesting market for Classical: Despite bouncing around on three stations (with the one that’s now WKLH being the first), WFMR was able to survive longer than it likely would’ve in other markets–partly because there wasn’t a real non-commercial competitor.
If anything, it had an indirect commercial competitor starting in the ’80s, when WNIB’s owners took over WKZN (and relaunched it as WNIZ)–even though the goal was just to protect the main (Chicago-focused) signal from interference. (Much of that area–south of Milwaukee–might’ve also had Kenosha’s non-commercial WGTD as somewhat of an option.)
Peter, I somehow forgot about the classical phase of your career. Thanks for that reminder, and reinforcing the Classic Rock connection.
Classical played a big part in my early radio career, and to some degree showed me that I had a programmer’s instinct.
The summer before my senior year of high school, I got my first radio job, a nine-hour Saturday shift at a local FM that had only gone on the year prior and which included a nightly four-hour Classical music program, voicetracked by the station owner. My shift included board-opping (they called it “producer of”) the Saturday edition.
Without even being told, I developed what came to be the defined standard for “Great Music to Midnight”. I put a decent amount of dead air between music and voicetracks, between voicetracks and commercials, between commercials and news headlines. I back-cued the records a full turn so that I could start the turntable before potting it up. Did the same thing with the reel-to-reel voicetracks. Did my live headlines with the same “pot up” technique on the mike. No stray clicks, pops or bumps.
I did such a great job the owner asked me to keep the Saturday shift even when I went to college an hour away (and for which I dutifully came home every weekend). When I decided after one semester to drop out, he quickly offered me the weeknight producer shift.
Even got to host the program live for two weeks during his vacation (which is another story and which led me to be the regular fill-in host for my last 18 months there). And part of it was the fact that — a surprise to those who realized that I was “only” a teenager — I actually liked Classical music. Still do.
Anyway, by the time I left that station I’d had a hand in updating the daytime MOR format to be more contemporary … and I suspect that had a lot to do with another station in the market offering me a first PD gig a little over a year later. That was a colossal success (and I’ve told that story plenty of times already) and it all came from making Classical sound just a little bit better in a medium market on California’s coast.
So … yeah, Fred. Never underestimate the power of Classical music, even today.
Great story, K.M. Thanks for sharing it.
I thought it was Walter Murphy who performed “Fifth Symphony?”
Whoops that was A Fifth of Beethoven.
Jerry, you have to wonder how many people heard that “Dun, dun, dun, DUN” for the first time, thanks to Walter.
There is also the NextGen of Classical coming up. They play the standards but jam hard on contemporary stuff. Look for Tina Guo doing a blazing version of Flight Of The Bumble Bee on cello, and look for her metal videos on cello. Ally The Piper plays bag pipes and played the guitar solo from Free Bird note for note, and Mial Asano playing electric violin. Look her up for orchestral version of Bohemian Rhapsody and then Beethoven’s Virus on Youtube.
THAT, I will check. Appreciate it, Joel.
I think the reason most people find classical music to be “relaxing” is because most of the music aired is instrumental.The exception would be opera where you have vocals to carry the music.
When I was a teenager,I was very attracted to the old MOR format which featured the familiar vocalists of the 1950s and 1960s along with standards instrumentals by the likes of Ray Conniff and Annunzio Paolo Mantovani.For whatever reason,I just took a liking to the instrumentals.
It has been studied that instrumental music allows a listener to focus on the music itself.When vocals are included,the focus goes to the singer with his or hers message,hence more effort is used to listen to the singer.
I normally listen to jazz,but on some days,I will listen to classical just for the change of pace.Too bad these two music formats are not on many commercial stations.I think there is a market for these formats if the right methods are used to attract listeners.
The problems is demographics, of course. There has always been an audience for music that provides a relaxing vibe, whether it Mantovani, Mahler, or Metheny. Thanks for the comment.
I have never heard anyone describe Mahler as relaxing.
OK, “intensely relaxing.”
Great observations! My mind wanders back to Miguel Rios/A Song Of Joy, Waldo de Los Rios/Mozart 40, in addition to Walter Murphy/A Fifth Of Beethoven- songs that co-existed with The Beatles and Steppenwolf on some adventurous Top 40 stations!
I agree with hifi5000’s comments regarding instrumentals. I would add that “no words” compositions provided a different kind of variety that doesn’t exist today within contemporary formats.
The 60s & 70s boasted huge offerings…from Paul Mauriat’s “Love Is Blue” to the Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein” to MFSB/TSOP! Even “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was mostly instrumental as were quite a few Classic Rock and Disco hits.
Country stars like Keith Urban and Brad Paisley can do magic with their guitars.
Perhaps the mostly instrumental nature of Classical music just might be a welcome change or “escape” to something special.
I had not considered the instrumental argument when I wrote the post, but you and others make a compelling case. And yes, songs like “Freeway Jam” by the late Jeff Beck or the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” aided the variety vibe for Classic Rock stations. For listeners, perhaps a welcome change of pass that also shows off musicianship. Missed you at CRS, Barry. Happy anniversary to you and Paula.
Imagine: a commercial classical radio station thriving in one of the most competitive radio markets in North America.
Classical 96.3 in Toronto (CFMZ-FM) ratings:
https://radioinsight.com/numeris-ratings/toronto
Listen to how they do it:
http://www.classicalfm.ca