Ensuring music for everyone: noncomMUSIC Alliance
On May 6–7, 2019, music stations across public radio gathered for the first-ever convening of the noncomMUSIC Alliance, a new cross-format organization of more than one hundred jazz, rock, classical, alternative, Americana, eclectic, and mixed-format radio stations. Held just before the annual Triple A NON-COMM gathering in Philadelphia, the meeting drew some 125 participants from radio stations across the United States.
In the past, these music stations had met separately by music format, if at all. Rock stations have gathered at the annual NON-COMM; classical stations at the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio conference; and some of these stations also participate in more news-focused meetings like Public Radio Program Directors (PRPD) or Public Media Marketing and Development Conference (PMDMC).
The noncomMUSIC Alliance meeting opened with a new report on recent research, its findings informed by a survey of 85 music stations and by aggregating listening data from partner stations. Joni Lupovitz, National Public Radio’s senior director of public policy, led the research team, which included station staff, NPR leads, and consultants from Navigators Global and Weintraub Communications.
Data from the report show that 734 public radio stations feature music as a primary or significant part of their programming, reaching more than 20 million people weekly through:
· 140 classical-only stations
· 108 Triple A (rock)-only stations
· 39 jazz-only stations
· 187 mixed format with classical and news
· 200 mixed format with Triple A
· 40 mixed format jazz stations
These stations want to exert their influence within both public radio and within local and national music ecosystems. They’ve decided to work together on policy issues of mutual concern, particularly those around music rights.
The agenda’s focus on music rights offered a high-level immersion into the complexity of rights acquisition for these audio producers. Because rights for broadcast, streaming, video, podcasts, and live events require separate clearances, music presentation is a kind of rights land mine that needs legal knowledge and consultation. Meeting attendees heard from Washington lobbyists, station and NPR attorneys, and the Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, Karyn A. Temple, gaining a shared understanding of the current legal environment and how to navigate forward.
Check out these stories of stations across the country that are changing it up
Another highlight of the convening was a panel on programming. Louisville’s WUOL station leader Daniel Gilliam, Bill Robinson from Philadelphia’s WRTI, and Michael Bracy, co-founder of the Music Policy Forum, engaged in a spirited discussion, led by Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer, of ideas and examples showing ways that music radio can be an indispensable partner in community engagement, in the health of local music ecosystems, and in ensuring that diverse and new music — and the artists that create it — are offered exposure and the support to reach new audiences.
Like their news station colleagues, public radio music stations are evolving from local broadcasters to local cultural hubs, offering a wide variety of programs and services that connect artists, audiences, and communities. While the nonComMUSIC Alliance’s programming launched with a music rights-focused meeting, it’s not hard to imagine the dozens of other ways these stations can collaborate to strengthen their role in the larger cultural sector.
It’s also easy to think of ways this group could expand to include partners like lower power FM stations, nonprofit internet streaming services, and other nonprofit music media organizations that together are working to foster diversity in music and help new artists be heard.
“Music is like air, like water; it’s something we can’t live without,” said WRTI’s Bill Johnson.
Through the new Music Alliance, dozens of local leaders are working together to be sure there will always be music in your life — for free.
