Classic FM attacks Radio 3!

[Suffolkcoastal]

But I don’t think myself that good formal music teaching is a prerequisite of developing a love of classical music. (And that’s surely what we’re talking about, rather than the ability to play an instrument?) I went to a good state school in the late 50s and 60s and we had in succession a good music teacher and a really dire one, but the few of us who developed a love of music (I mean a love of listening to it) did so independently of, or even in spite of, what we were being ‘taught’. I suppose, for the (very) few of us who developed the taste, something just suddenly clicked at the right time -- maybe from hearing something casually on the Third Programme or even on ‘Music Magazine’ on Sunday mornings, which may (I’m not sure) have been on the Home Service (Radio 4) in those days. And my parents weren’t particularly musical either, so the radio was very rarely tuned to the Third Programme.

It’s a minority interest, no use pretending otherwise.

My experience isn't that different. I developed an interest in and love of classical music before I was 10 and before I ever had a music teacher. My parents aren't particularly musical either. Most of my musical discoveries have been 'made off my own back' without any guidance or encouragement as was the ability to compose. R3 was admittedly of great benefit to me for many years, if the Radio 3 of 20-30 years ago was as it is now though, I seriously doubt if my interest would have developed so strongly.

[MrGongGong]

My experience isn't that different. I developed an interest in and love of classical music before I was 10 and before I ever had a music teacher. My parents aren't particularly musical either. Most of my musical discoveries have been 'made off my own back' without any guidance or encouragement as was the ability to compose. R3 was admittedly of great benefit to me for many years, if the Radio 3 of 20-30 years ago was as it is now though, I seriously doubt if my interest would have developed so strongly.

Indeed
but as I said, this kind of experience is very much a minority one
it just happens that those who have had this communicate about it more ..........

[french frank]

Indeed
but as I said, this kind of experience is very much a minority one
it just happens that those who have had this communicate about it more ..........

Arguably it will rapidly become even more of a minority experience if Radio 3 continues to lower its expectations of its audience's capabilities.

About 40% of R3's audience listens to Classic FM. My guess would be that they switch over whenever R3 is broadcasting anything other than classical music - which is their prerogative. But there's no clear evidence that Classic leads many people to Radio 3: with CFM they've found a comfortable niche. There are other ways of 'discovering' classical music which are more likely to lead to R3 than the easy pap approach.

Classic FM was in the easy listening classical market long before R3: let them get on with it.

Only a minority will be attracted to Radio 3: there have to be more intelligent ways of enthusing them than Your Call or Rick Stein's Top Three.

[keithbraidwood2]

Keith - I've PM'd you.

FF, sorry about next day's scrambled PM to you. I realised something was wrong when my not-overly interesting tweets were being re-tweeted in a big way. It matched the unusual activity on my weebly sites too. The accounts did not seem to be hacked in any obvious way but I guessed something untoward was happening. Found a couple of trojans on my laptop (thanks McAfee!) so closed Twitter and weebly accounts before a complete reinstall with new software (removed all Windows Live programs). Just set up new accounts and, yesterday, a new account on this forum. Everything running better than ever.

If you're still thinking about a FoR3 Twitter account let me know.

[Paul Sherratt]

>>About 40% of R3's audience listens to Classic FM


That's astonishing.

[mercia]

I listen to CFM's Full works sometimes

[cloughie]

>>About 40% of R3's audience listens to Classic FM


That's astonishing.

Why? It doesn't say how much and do you expext R3 listeners to lsten exclusively to R3?

[Paul Sherratt]

Frankly, I don't how anyone can stomach that place at all.

[Sir Velo]

If you're still thinking about a FoR3 Twitter account let me know.

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that Twitter is only for vacuous self-publicists. Even Brian Ferneyhough has an account these days.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that Twitter is only for vacuous self-publicists. Even Brian Ferneyhough has an account these days.

... I don't think that the blessed Brian knows any words with fewer than 140 characters!

[Nick Armstrong]

... I don't think that the blessed Brian knows any words with fewer than 140 characters!

He seems to say 'ughhhhhhhhh' a lot...

[teamsaint]

... I don't think that the blessed Brian knows any words with fewer than 140 characters!

or decibels.

[John Wright]

>>About 40% of R3's audience listens to Classic FM


That's astonishing.

Oh come on Paul, have you listened to R3 at 11.00pm regularly? Utter garbage sometimes, in my opinion, and many other opinions too as I expect less than 10,000 are listening to some of that output.

Meanwhile Classic FM will be playing Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Albinoni and likely getting a million listeners even at at that time, with very few commercial interruptions.

So, who is best serving the classical listener?

[Paul Sherratt]

John,

Nowadays I only listen to Radio 3, if at all, after 11.00pm. Radio listening for me has always been a matter of looking out for those diamonds in the dirt.
And simple business sense says that CFM can't be getting bus loads of listeners at that hour if they aren't broadcasting adverts.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2uwi4TRMvrs/TUMg4l060VI/AAAAAAAABNk/rIPCyukpyG8/s1600/GoldMinerLOC.jpg

PS
This may be a little feeble-minded of me but isn't Radio 3 serving the classical music listener, in all their shapes, for around twenty two hours each day ?

[John Wright]

Well, I gave up looking for diamoinds on late night Radio 3. Only so much time I can waste when the diamonds are elsewhwere.

Remember WE might be over-familiar with much of Classic FM's playlist, I mean, like, I don't want to listen again to highlights from Swan Lake at 11.00pm either :o

But a million, OK hundreds of thousands, of folk DO want that music at night. On Radio 2, before the death of Alan Keith, his Y100BT tunes programme was getting >200,000 listeners late at night.

Classic FM is now providing for that audience; the BBC is not.