Dr. Dregs and I ask ourselves this all the time, usually when we're consumed with a sudden, inexplicable, overwhelming urge to buy, watch, or listen to something (which has often been heavily advertised).
Because as thirtysomething professionals with disposable income (not that we have too terribly much of that -- after all, we work for the University), we are apparently one of the prime demographic groups that retailers/advertisers/broadcasters, etc. want to attract. Sometimes what's going on is way too obviously a series of cynical marketing ploys to encourage us to spend more money on crap we don't need, to take part in some nebulous "lifestyle" that winds up having about as much actual relevance, resonance, and meaning as the dust bunnies under my desk.
So although it sounded like a promising concept, I was very suspicious of MPR's plans for 89.3, the former WCAL, which they purchased last November from St. Olaf College under some protest from WCAL's fans. MPR announced not long after the sale that their plans for 89.3 would turn it into an eclectic pop mix of independent music and classics. They were doing this, they said, in order to attract a younger group of listeners to public radio, throwing in the rather patronizing idea that 89.3 listeners would eventually "mature" and start listening to 91.1 (news) and 99.5 (classical).
That rubbed me the wrong way, in part because of the implication that 89.3's listeners needed to wait for their tastes to evolve, and in part because I already listen to a lot of MPR (both 91.1 and 99.5). But 89.3 sounded promising enough (and enough to my eclectic tastes) that I had to give it a chance. The new 89.3 ("The Current") began broadcasting at 9:00 this morning.
Well, it's ten hours into day one, and I have to admit that this is some fabulous radio. This is the radio station I've been waiting for my entire adult life. Listening to it actually makes me happy. Lots of indie rock, some local music, with the occasional genre-crossing classic thrown in (Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima...you get the idea). Lots of stuff I've never heard by bands I know a little, and lots of stuff I don't know at all, but which excites and interests me more than anything I've heard on commercial radio in ages. All of this, and practically ad-free -- the typical MPR "sponsorship" messages are models of unobtrusiveness, compared to the usual run of ads on commercial radio. See for yourself: here someone has helpfully compiled 89.3's playlist from 9-5 today. Great stuff.
I used to dutifully pay up my annual membership in MPR. I let it lapse a few years ago, as the price crept up, and it seemed less and less like MPR really needed my feeble contributions. But if my money will help keep 89.3 on the air, I'll sign up again. If they keep up what they've done today, it will be worth every penny. Are we being targeted? Who cares, when it sounds this good?
Posted by Stacie at January 24, 2005 07:29 PMRight - I never got the feeling I was being targeted for anything while listening - and you get the feeling the DJs are really in it for the music and thier love of it. I was a fan of Rev105 and I am glad to hear some of their folks came to 89.3. I listened to the U's station too for awhile, but the signal isn't very good - I wonder how that will be effected.
Posted by: Philip Hunter at January 24, 2005 08:20 PMyeah, what she said! Nothing like a station that plays Radiohead, XTC, and Elvis! The membership premium they're giving away is a collection of bands performing in their studio...ON VINYL! Target away!
Posted by: Doc Dregs at January 24, 2005 10:38 PMAs a composer, I was, and continue to be saddened by the loss of WCAL. There are so many excellent reasons (see some here: http://www.savewcal.org/letters/54composers.html ), but basically it comes down to being yet another reason for anyone serious about artistic life to leave the Twin Cities for New York, L.A., or San Francisco where we're taken seriously.
Posted by: Zachary Crockett at January 25, 2005 01:42 AMThe loss of WCAL as it was is too bad, I agree. But we could have done so much worse than to have it replaced by something as vibrant, interesting, and committed to the community as the new 89.3.
Part of this for me comes from the fact that I've never been much of a listener to classical music on the radio. Even on FM, th sound quality is far worse than if I play my own CDs or LPs, and I rarely listen to the radio long enough at a stretch to hear an entire work, which really makes me crazy.
But ideally, it would have been nice to keep WCAL as it was and get The Current. It's a pretty sad commentary on the state of radio when there isn't room for both.
Posted by: Stacie at January 25, 2005 08:00 AMI like the fact that they are reaching out to new audiences frankly.
Posted by: Philip Hunter at January 25, 2005 08:29 PMNot that I wanted WCAL to go away; I echo the comment that there should be room for both the "new" and the "old" 89.3, but how many classical stations does NYC have? LA? San Fran? We're probaby lucky to have one...let's not forget the extraordinary fact that we have both the SPCO *and* MN Orchestra; two of the best pro orchestras in the world and both doing OK (as much as possible) in the increasingly tough classical music realm.
Posted by: Doc Dregs at January 27, 2005 04:24 PMIt's a good radio station and I think it makes for an excellent MPR constellation. I already listen to 91.1 and 99.5, and now I have four radio stations in the cities (Radio K of course being the other).
Billy Bragg seguing into Billie Holliday? Shear genius.
Posted by: Mike at February 9, 2005 07:22 PM