R3 Controller's Lecture to the RPS 09/10/2013

[Andrew Slater]

A 21-page transcript of the lecture is here.

[Richard Tarleton]

Understand our audiences and lead rather than follow them.
Artistic leadership and excellence are what should drive our world - board leadership and executive managements are there to support and help deliver it.
Never forget that live music making should be at the top of our world.
Let's never lose our curiosity in the music itself and in leading audiences on a journey of discovery.
Let's lead with mindfulness
Let's train our audiences to listen
Let's be flexible about what we do and with flexibility comes the challenging of the way we work.

My first reaction was going to be to say that the important platitude missing from this list of platitudes is "Let's listen to our audience". But then it is both implicit in and contradicted by his first platitude, which could be rephrased as "Let's listen to our audience and then take no notice of what they say", or perhaps "do what we were going to do anyway". I think this is perhaps the most revealing bit of of this underwhelming conclusion.

And as for "Let's lead with mindfulness", what does he mean? Cognitive therapy? Buddhism?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness

http://www.actionforhappiness.org/10-keys-to-happier-living/notice-the-world-around?gclid=CKHE3PTxmroCFTHLtAodky4AuA

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/mindfulness.htm

[amateur51]

My first reaction was going to be to say that the important platitude missing from this list of platitudes is "Let's listen to our audience". But then it is both implicit in and contradicted by his first platitude, which could be rephrased as "Let's listen to our audience and then take no notice of what they say", or perhaps "do what we were going to do anyway". I think this is perhaps the most revealing bit of of this underwhelming conclusion.

And as for "Let's lead with mindfulness", what does he mean? Cognitive therapy? Buddhism?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness

http://www.actionforhappiness.org/10-keys-to-happier-living/notice-the-world-around?gclid=CKHE3PTxmroCFTHLtAodky4AuA

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/mindfulness.htm

'Mindfulness' is THE thing at the moment - I expect to find it on some packaging in the woo-woo section at Waitrose any time soon - 'living in the here and now', 'self-compassion' and 'self-acceptance' are big themes.

[Richard Tarleton]

'Mindfulness' is THE thing at the moment - I expect to find it on some packaging in the woo-woo section at Waitrose any time soon - 'living in the here and now', 'self-compassion' and 'self-aaceptance' are big themes.

Yes - I'd sort of picked up on it, but just wondering what the blazes RW meant?

[DublinJimbo]

There will be, for example, the most developed digital delivery of the BBC Proms ever next year - there are already around 30 Proms televised and they are all available live on radio and streamed online but now we look forward to an expanded digital offer with more clips, more context and more interaction.

Clips, context, interaction? That sounds like Breakfastising the Proms.

[french frank]

I'm half way through and have found:

"When you look at the way in which teenagers spend their time it doesn't take long to realise that we (the classical music providers) need to be where they are not expect them to come to us."

That rather suggests going to Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra and BBC Three, though not broadcasting the Urban Classic Prom there, and certainly not cutting out the woefully small bit of classical music stuck in to tick a box.

The joke about the listener's comment on the weekend schedule changes ("I don't know what they are but reverse them immediately") might have been anyone who knew what to expect ...

[Sir Velo]

The joke about the listener's comment on the weekend schedule changes ("I don't know what they are but reverse them immediately") might have been anyone who knew what to expect ...

Subtly thrown in to implant the idea that all Radio 3 critics are mindless reactionaries who will oppose all change without reflection. Anecdotal and without evidence.

[edashtav]

"At our summer festival, the BBC Proms, we usually only announce events that are taking place. Sadly, however, I can let you know that the first ever residency by an orchestra from the US will not now be happening at the Proms in 2015. We had planned for some years a Sibelius symphony cycle by Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra and had held on to the plan through this last difficult year, only having to accept in the last fortnight, with Osmo’s tragic but understandable resignation, that it won’t happen. And the real loser in this sorry story is the audience. It is the audience for whom we all work as we are, after all, only the current keepers of the keys, in the privileged position of keeping classical music making alive and, more importantly, fitting it for purpose in the 21st century."

Whatever the tone, tenor and tenets of most of Roger's address that announcement is a sad one and no blame attaches to Roger or his crew.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Subtly thrown in to implant the idea that all Radio 3 critics are mindless reactionaries who will oppose all change without reflection.

The irony is that we mindless reactionaries are the ones asking for new things.

[Richard Tarleton]

Subtly thrown in to implant the idea that all Radio 3 critics are mindless reactionaries who will oppose all change without reflection. Anecdotal and without evidence.

And in the same vein leading with the anecdote about the vegetarian violin-phobe (subtext: or nutters). At least he didn't go so far as to suggest it was a member of this forum .

[mercia]

Classical music metadata is a minefield and we need to find practical consistent solutions to it soon before the problem becomes even more difficult to overcome

what does that mean please ?

55% of our music output being live or specially recorded

as much as that ........... I hadn't realised

[french frank]

Classical music metadata is a minefield and we need to find practical consistent solutions to it soon before the problem becomes even more difficult to overcome

what does that mean please ?

55% of our music output being live or specially recorded

as much as that ........... I hadn't realised

Can't help on the question but I suspect it might refer to the software that misidentifies, for example, classical music's Engelbert Humperdinck.

Don't forget that 6hours per day (i.e. TTN) are already 'live or specially recorded'. Once you've removed programmes like Night Waves, Drama on 3 and The Verb, the music programming's 55% becomes fairly easily doable.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The problem is a Classical Music minefield and we need to overcome it before even more practical solutions become consistent metadata soon.

We need to overcome Classical music soon and consistently before the metadata become an even more difficult solution we need to minefield.

Overcome metadata soon: consistent Classical music is a difficult minefield solution before we find a need to practically problem.

Practical music is even more difficult to find and we soon overcome metadata solutions before a consistent minefield.

Problem: soon more music becomes a classical minefield difficult to overcome even before consistent metadata we find.

Even the classical solution (more difficult Music) soon becomes a metadata minefield we overcome before we find practical problems.

[Serial_Apologist]

The problem is a Classical Music minefield and we need to overcome it before even more practical solutions become consistent metadata soon.

We need to overcome Classical music soon and consistently before the metadata become an even more difficult solution we need to minefield.

Overcome metadata soon: consistent Classical music is a difficult minefield solution before we find a need to practically problem.

Practical music is even more difficult to find and we soon overcome metadata solutions before a consistent minefield.

Problem: soon more music becomes a classical minefield difficult to overcome even before consistent metadata we find.

Even the classical solution (more difficult Music) soon becomes a metadata minefield we overcome before we find practical problems.

Surely there are more permutations?

[mercia]

Classical music is not about relaxing - I tire of those messages and get exasperated by some colleagues in our world who seek to reduce it to nothing more than a warm bath - I was glad when Radio 3 was referred to, by contrast, as a power shower. Of course there are times when a warm bath is just what we need but to ignore the power of music to stimulate, energise, console and, yes, challenge and confuse us, is to deny its unique qualities - doing what words cannot express - and making our lives immeasurably more rich.

he wants R3 to be a power shower - challenging, invigorating, shocking, rather than a warm bath - comforting, relaxing, wrinkled fingers
where would you put R3 on the metaphorical bathroom suite scale ?