Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio 
Spring 2003

     From opening speaker Bob Hurwitz to closing speaker Evans Mirageas, AMPPR 2003 challenged, informed, and even inspired. Two dichotomous ideas percolated through the conference in multiple guises: (1) that the quality of our programming is key and a clear reason to subscribe to satellite services and (2) local content and connections are crucial to a station’s–and community’s—health.

Quality Programming

     On the issue of quality, opening keynote speaker Bob Hurwitz, veteran of the recording industry, said record producers in the past relied on their instincts to produce some of the greatest recordings of all time. They didn’t try them out on focus groups first. Quality and freshness were the keys, and if they sounded good to trained ears, they would do well in the marketplace. The courage of convictions.
     Valerie Geller, a well-respected media consultant, was a powerful proponent of personality radio, of making a human connection with the audience, particularly with the 30 percent of Americans who live alone. She convinced me that QUALITY and PASSION are good; BORING is bad.
     Ben Roe of National Public Radio has been a constant positive voice for classical music on the radio, defending it continually at NPR against the encroachment of news/talk and reminding us in the field that what we do is NOT dying. He gave upbeat reports about the growth of public radio in general, and also about the numbers of people who use classical radio. 
     Roe was joined by his statistics guru at NPR, Benjamin Robins, who revealed solid and amazing statistics compiled by NPR, which are unfortunately proprietary information. 
     Ted Libbey, now director of Media Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts, made strong comments about quality in the media. On the positive side, he advocates increased funding from the NEA for good classical radio. On the negative side, he slammed what he perceived to be the poor quality of the PRPD Classical Core Values study. The word he used was “execrable.” The NEA will be funding a new, broader study about classical listening. 
     Libbey’s comments were ably challenged the next day by PRPD president Marcia Alvar. However, if PRPD, the NEA, and NPR are all charging about collecting the same statistics, maybe some of that money could be better spent. Is it time for a summit among these three organizations?
     The issue of quality also came up in the session on reaching a new generation of classical listeners. A few quality children’s services are now available over the air and on-line, and panelists were unanimous in voicing their sincere desire that all stations would carry programming for younger listeners, but only if it is the highest quality available. 
     Fred Child, host of NPR’s “Performance Today,” Judith Krummeck of WBJC, and Alan Chapman from CPRN demonstrated first-hand the qualities of great interviews. 

Using the Internet

     Ben Roe joined researcher Dr. Alfred Eckes in an examination of globalization and how technology is changing the delivery of content. And an acrimonious session about internet streaming left more questions than it answered about the cost, value, and reporting requirements of internet streaming. 
     Mark Fuerst who directs the CPB Internet Assessment project gave the most cogent explanation I have ever heard about the benefits and drawbacks of stations’ use of the internet. Fuerst concluded that current best use of the internet is to support stations’ broadcast services. 

Local Connections

     Throughout the conference, speakers called attention to the recent Knight Foundation report that “radio is the dominant mode of consumption of classical music” (www.knightfdn.org) 
     In my opinion, this one dramatic conclusion from the Knight study should appear in all your literature, on your website, in your dealings with all arts organizations, as you talk to funders, in persuading politicians, and as you defend the classical format against corporate takeover.
     After four days of rhetoric—some of it very convincing—about bigger and better, and despite his personal interest in national programming as head of CPRN, Evans Mirageas in his final keynote address advocated passionately for local content and connection.
     Your station’s connection to your audience and importance in your community is the strongest argument for more local content. The arts organizations cannot survive without you. 
     You keep the master calendar, you convince listeners to go to concerts, you answer their questions, you are their constant companion.
     You have economy of scale; i.e., you reach more people for less cost than all your local arts organizations put together. According to Mirageas, you don’t need to find some magic pill. You already ARE the cultural leader in your community. 
 

Marty Ronish is the producer of Sweet Bird Classics “Boombox Classroom."