Generation iPod: Young listeners have boosted the audience of classical radio station Classic FM by 500,000
Posted on 05/12/2007 3:32:10 PM PDT by Stoat
Generation iPod: Young listeners have boosted the audience of classical radio station Classic FM by 500,000
Britain's iPod generation is becoming hooked on classical music with new figures revealing a huge surge in youngsters listening to radio station Classic FM.
Driven by the success of film scores for blockbuster movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and determined efforts to sex-up the classical music industry, a section of Britain's youth appears to be tuning in to Mozart.
The surprising figures revealed in the latest set of radio results show half a million under 15s are now tuning in to Classic FM each week, overturning the conceived wisdom that classical music is something people predominantly turn to in older age.
Classic FM, which recently won the top award at Britain's radio oscars the Sony Radio Academy Awards last week, saw a massive 52 per cent increase in the number of under 15 listeners on the previous quarter.
This has been driven in part by a new breed of younger and sexier presenters such as Myleene Klass, Katie Derham and Lisa Duncombe on the station as well as celebrities like Simon Cowell, Richard E Grant, Sting and even footballer Graeme Le Saux appearing on the station.
Classic FM claims that a large number of children are also using the station as an accompaniment to their revision for school exams and homework as it helps them 'relax' and 'concentrate'. Figures are also boosted by youngsters learning musical instruments at school and those sitting music exams.
The station's overall figures for the first quarter of 2007 of over six million listeners a week released yesterday by industry body Rajar, does not include under-15's. If they are included the station boasts 6.5 million listeners a week.
The station has also been targeting younger listeners with two programme strands completely dedicated to children with Simon Bates during the morning school run at 8.10am and a kids request show at 3.45pm.
While Classic FM is flourishing, the BBC's more traditional classical music station Radio 3 is in the doldrums having been hit by a ratings slide which has seen it lose 10 per cent of its audience from the same period last year.
The slump in fortunes for Radio 3, which has seen it lose 126,000 listeners on the previous three months and nearly 200,000 on the same period last year, comes after the station made major changes to its schedules.
Radio 3, which is claiming the results reflect the old schedule, is down to 1.9 million weekly listeners.
Classic FM's Managing Director Darren Henley claimed that the figures showed that the iPod generation was increasingly 'turned on' by classical music. He added: "Mozart and Beethoven remain as relevant today as they were in their own lifetimes."
Former Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates' show on Classic FM has also been a major factor in the station's success putting on 200,000 listeners with a total of over 3million listeners, making it the biggest show on commercial radio.
But despite lower ratings for BBC Radio 3 and Five Live, the BBC still claimed its radio had reached its highest-ever reach and share of listening, buoyed by record performance from its digital networks.
Radio 1 breakfast show host Chris Moyles has pulled in more than seven million listeners for the first time, getting him closer to over-taking the nation's favourite DJ Terry Wogan on Radio 2, who has 800,000 listeners more in the latest results.
Radio 4's listeners have gone up from 9.29 million to 9.64 million in the last quarter. This saw the Today programme get 6.4 million listeners compared to 6.2 million in the last quarter.
Kirsty Young has enjoyed record success with long-running Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs, according to the figures. Young, 38, is only the fourth person to occupy the presenter's chair in the programme's 65-year history, taking over from Sue Lawley in October.
Party Pooper! Where is the passion?
ping
Good news...interesting thread. Thanks for the ping.
Thanks. Very cool site
Imagine that
Actually, on this point I would wish to respectfully disagree with the author, and suggest that they are considerably more relevant today because now they have their timeless genius etched forever in history, something that could only have been imagined in their own times.
In addition, in the times of Mozart and Beethoven there was of course no such thing as sound recordings and the popular and inexpensive availability of their works for all to enjoy. In their own times, their genius was indeed apparent to many, but it was not enthusiastically affirmed by billions of people the world over, from musical scholars on to those whose primary expertise lies elsewhere. They have been universally heralded in their greatness over the course of centuries, and I would suggest that this makes them and their works of even greater relevance today..
Part of their wonderful writing reflects that they new how to embrace the moment.
Timeless while well aware of time.
Agreed.
Could I also dare hope that todays music lovers, youth included, are growing tired of the no-talent hacks and crap that the record labels constantly throw at us?
Oh, I sincerely hope that you are right! The numbers and stats that I see pertaining to this are a bit tough to quantify....on the one hand, we have the record labels screaming about how their sales are plummeting and all of their profits are being eaten away by illegal music sharing. On the other hand, we have the free-sharing boosters complaining that the output of the music industry is worthless pap, and people don't want to spend FIFTEEN DOLLARS (or more!) for a cd if there is only one or two tracks on it that are any good.
I would like to believe that people are voting on quality in the only way that they are able....by refusing to subsidize an industry that has forsaken art for profit.
Here's a great source for free, quality classical MP3's....it's a directory website called Classic Cat. Great, great selection, many from places like University music programs.
WOW! That's a great-looking site! Thank you very much for sharing.....I suspect that I will be spending a great deal of time there :-)
There are also free classical MP3 files available from the Vatican:
Music for Christmas from the Vatican, in MP3 format (all free)
Music for Easter from the Vatican (in MP3 format, all are free)
Refreshing news! : )
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It is indeed, isn't it?
In fact, there has been quite a bit of good news lately.....from the stunning French election going to someone who is promising Capitalist reforms and doesn't have a seething hatred for America to Hillary being the best that the Dems can muster for '08 (watching her crash and burn on the public stage will be great theater) to this news that young people are turning to the Classics, there have been a fair number of things that suggest the world is not doing so badly after all :-)
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Wonderful site - thanks for the link.
Regarding the article: Classical music is classical after all.
It is important to take time to rejoice in the positive! : )
Cool.
My son hides his Beethoven and Canadian Brass CDs in his car, so that his friends don’t notice that he likes such “wierd” music.
I certainly think so; it's too bad that the vast majority of the media disagrees!
We could have had this Iraq thing taken care of by now if they had been playing on our team :-(
But I won't let them stop me from recognizing the Good in the world, and I'm delighted that you and so many others feel the same way :-)
I'm delighted that you like the article :-)
It's nice to have some positive cultural news, isn't it?
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hehe! That's great! In a couple of years when more American teens have caught up with this British trend, your son will be able to truthfully say that he was a trendsetter and far ahead of the curve :-)
His friends will look up to him as an oracle; someone to go to in order to find out about the latest in hip-ness :-)
And in the meantime, he will have become well-versed in the best versions of essential works because you've loaned him your Penguin Guide :-)
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