Noncommercial music stations play an essential role serving local communities across the country.
Locally operated and governed radio stations not only connect artists with audiences and help listeners discover new music, but many serve as vital anchor institutions, cultivating local arts communities and contributing to local economies. Over 200 million Americans across the country are served by local noncommercial music stations. Yet these stations’ contributions to their communities are often not well understood or documented, both in local contexts and at a national scale.
That’s why Public Media Company (PMC)—in partnership with Classical KING in Seattle, WRTI in Philadelphia, and VuHaus Group—is embarking on a new project, supported by Wyncote Foundation, to research and document the value of public and community music stations to their local communities. This exploration aims to better understand how music stations serve and connect their communities, their impact on local economies, and their unique role in supporting local arts organizations and cultivating local arts communities, as well as other outcomes.
This research builds upon past scholarship and research on similar topics, including:
- How music strengthens social bonds in humans,
- Knight Foundation research on the link between classic music stations engagement with local symphonies and orchestras,
- The noncomMUSIC Alliance report on public radio stations, and
- PMC research about the reach of public radio music signals, among other sources
Both PMC and VuHaus Group bring years of experience supporting local music stations around the country.
The project includes a nationwide survey of music station leaders, running February 20 through March 7, which will provide a baseline of information and understanding, followed by a deeper exploration with a smaller sample of station leaders this spring. PMC and VuHaus will then consolidate themes and share their findings in a publicly available report this summer.
Our hope is that this project will provide station leaders and community stakeholders with a broader view across the noncommercial music station community, so that public and community media leaders can better understand their value and potential for service.
To learn more, contact Dominic Garzonio at dominic@publicmedia.co.
