With Classical Concert Programs, Listeners Tend to Say It Depends.” Current, Vol

From the ARAnet On-Line Library of Public Radio Research Asking Listeners for Their Opinions About Classical Music Concert Programs by David Giovannoni (4 pages) Originally published as: Giovannoni, David. “Radio Intelligence: With Classical Concert Programs, Listeners Tend to Say It Depends.” Current, Vol. 10, No. 20, November 4, 1991. aranet.com Copyright © 1991 Corporation for Public Broadcasting Copyright © 1999 David Giovannoni, Audience Research Analysis All rights reserved ii ASKING LISTENERS FOR THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERT PROGRAMS by David Giovannoni Producers should regard research studies as positive tools instead of negative rules. — Ruth Dreier Audiences have been eavesdropping on based on compact disk recordings. And classical music concerts via radio since 1921. their hosts – often more knowledgeable than Unfortunately, programming economics and local talent – can talk with composers, con- the radio environment of 1991 conspire ductors, and performers. against the genre as financial support and station carriage continue their decline. The Indeed, in the last few years some producers classical music concert may disappear from and hosts have begun experimenting with radio unless it can prove itself to be – or new concert formats. Many have aban- transposes itself into – a programming ele- doned literal recreations of the concert expe- ment highly valued by stations and their lis- rience in favor of more “radiophonic” teners. presentations, understanding that people at home (or in cars or at work) are listening Why should a public radio station broadcast quite differently than those in the concert a classical music concert? Program directors hall. are equivocal. Some hesitate turning over control of their air to those who may not Do these experiments work? Is there a fu- work within their stations’ musical and pres- ture for classical concert programs on radio? entation guidelines. They worry about the More basically, do listeners seek out or per- effects concert programs have on listeners’ ceive the inherent advantages that differenti- use of their stations. At least one station ate concert programs from disk shows? drops selected concert recordings into its regular programming – just as if these re- To my knowledge, American Public Radio is cordings were CDs. Other stations refuse to the first organization in modern times to ad- air concerts or concert recordings at all. dress these questions via the scientific method. Earlier this year, APR played ele- Yet there seem to be many inherent advan- ments of its classical music concerts to over tages to concert programs. They can bring 150 classical music listeners and directly radio listeners to new or obscure works rec- asked them what they thought. Using the ord companies have not yet discovered, or EARS® method first employed by public which may be economically unfeasible to radio in 1989 (see “Program and Program release on CD. They can deliver new, fresh, Prototype Testing: Public Radio's New Real- or unique interpretations and performances. ity” in the compilation Radio Intelligence, They can sparkle with the “electricity” of a 1988-1990), classical music listeners re- live performance and add “spice” to a format sponded to presentations selected from 1 APR's Baltimore, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Matching Appeals International Music series. In the same way that music testing has This study reveals clues about the potential shown that certain music modes appeal to of classical music concert programs, and different types of listeners, this study dem- suggests many fruitful areas of future pro- onstrates that certain announcing styles also gram prototype research. attract and repel different types of listeners. For instance, in one segment played for lis- It Depends teners Baltimore conductor David Zinman walked into the trombone section and chat- Do listeners distinguish between “needle ted with the first chair about his instrument. drop” and “concert hall” presentations? To This shtick earned high marks among youn- find out, the study asked, ger listeners and very low marks among older listeners. This difference in response is All in all, if you were given a choice be- called “appeal,” and it is precisely the type tween two classical stations broadcasting in of information the study set out to find. the evening, and if one station were broadcasting a classical orchestra concert program Such pointed appeal is okay. Good radio while the other had a disc jockey presenting programming strongly attracts some listeners classical records, which would you prefer? and repels others. What radio programmers People who expressed a preference for con- must concern themselves with is the consis- certs outnumbered those preferring records tency of appeal across all elements of a pro- by a slight margin. However, well over one- gram. In this instance, it would be highly third (37%) of the listeners answered “It productive to follow Zinman's escapade with would depend.” Among persons between a musical element that also appealed to 30 and 49 years of age – those most likely to younger listeners – that is, if the producer be NPR news listeners – this number was wished to appeal to younger listeners. If not, even greater (45%). In addition, those ex- then the producer would drop the wandering pressing a strong preference one way or the conductor tactic in favor of another that ap- other were a distinct minority. pealed to a different audience constituency. In short, classical listeners do not seem to have strong opinions about the source or Music and Talk format of their evening classical music radio programming. They rule out neither needle In its simplest form, a concert music pro- drop nor concert hall, saying simply “it de- gram comprises two things: music and talk pends.” But on what does it depend? Is it about the music. One thing is clear from this something in the selection of the music it- study: people listen because of the music. self? Or is it the performance, the orchestra, Music is necessary. But is music sufficient? the ambiance, the interviews, the host? Concert producers answer “no,” and unfortunately this study stops short of obtain- ing a clear answer from listeners. 2 As people listened to selections from concert listeners (and we assume, listening) as the programs, they responded on this scale: musical selections mentioned above. 5 Would definitely tune in Given these results, why have a concert mu- 4 Would stay tuned if already listening sic program at all? Why not play only music 3 Would possibly listen if already tuned in 2 Would probably tune out – specifically, music that doesn't induce tune 1 Would definitely tune out or turn off the radio out – and be done with it? For all non-musical elements, responses av- Added Value eraged across the 150 listeners ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 on the scale – that is, people were Purveyors of classical concert programs ar- saying they'd probably listen if already tuned gue that many elements beyond the selec- in, but they didn't feel too strong about the tion of the music add value to the listener. non-musical elements one way or the other. The information, insights, and interviews But when the orchestras played works by delivered by hosts; the live, sparkling per- Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Dvorak, and formances; the incredible and otherwise un- Brahms, the average response increased by a available interpretations; these attributes and full point; listeners were saying they'd defi- many others combine to make classical mu- nitely stay tuned, or even definitely tune in, sic concerts intellectual and emotional feasts for this music. for aficionados and casual listeners alike. No non-musical element was as well re- These remain untested assumptions. Clear- ceived as the music of these masters. (As ly, these attributes are important to some one pundit observed, “Who's the master listeners some of the time. But how impor- here – Beethoven or the announcer?”) In- tant is each? How many listeners are we deed, not all music was as well received. talking about? Who are they? Are some of Even with the goodwill generated by an in- these attributes turning off more listeners terview with the composer or a build-up by than they are turning on? And given the the host, listeners began reaching for their higher cost of this type of programming off buttons within seconds of hearing certain compared to just playing records, is it worth compositions. it in a programming economics sense? As the study's analysis concludes, “The first This study takes an excellent first step in concern of producers must be music selec- asking listeners what they think. More im- tion.” Only certain musical selections in- portant, it sharpens our ability to frame and duce people to listen, to tune in. In this to ask these most basic questions of listen- sense concert programs are no different than ers. Much to the credit of Classical Music music played from disks. Director Ruth Dreier, APR is actively seek- ing support to build upon this study and to Neither are their non-musical elements. This ask these difficult questions. study experimented with a wide range of styles, interviews, skits, and other pre- In concert with APR and other distributors, sentation modes. Some were more appeal- astute producers will use these dialogues ing to certain listeners than were others. with their intended listeners as positive tools However, none had the positive impact on in the re-formation of their programming. 3 Others will deride them as negative rules and Fund. Research was led by Dr. George Bailey of Walrus Research and conducted this year in Pittsburgh and Seat- decry the restriction of artistic expression. tle by FMR Associates. May the best classical concert programs win. David Giovannoni heads Audience Research Analysis, an independent firm specializing in radio audience research.

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