The New CBC Online Radio Stations Are Live

After a bit of nosing around on the newly revamped CBC Radio 2 site, I finally found the new online classical stations, which launched yesterday with almost no fanfare.  Here are the two classical streams:

CBC Classical

CBC Canadian Composers

There are also two more non-classical radio streams:

CBC Jazz

CBC Canadian Songwriters

You can find all the new stations on the Radio 2 Channels page.  From what I've heard so far, the stations all offer deep and high-qality programming in their genres, with plenty of Canadian performers and works.  As to whether or not the new online stations will make up for CBC's near-gutting of classical content on their main Radio 2 service or become a bit easier to find on the CBC site so they can develop an audience, only time will tell...

Quote of the Day

Classical music and the arts are an essential part of every community. Although civic leaders tout their cultural scene to attract new businesses, media coverage of the arts is not equal to how important the arts are to the community.

-from an interview with Kathy Gronau of Creative PR in Scanning the Dial

More Response on the Classical Music Cuts at the CBC

The CBC doesn't appear to be making any public relations points with massive negative response to the pending classical music cuts at Radio 2. The Facebook Save Classical Music at the CBC group has swelled to 5,449 6,085 7,349 members and a flurry of daily posts on the latest CBC contacts to send petitions to. The Globe and Mail, in the wake of Russell Smith's hard-hitting editorial, has started to publish reader comments on its Music News RSS feed. Here's one from Eric Wright:

If the people running Radio 2 were in charge of our public library system, they'd throw out everything except thrillers, romances and the novels that have been serialized on Masterpiece Theatre, all in the name of giving the public what it wants.

And an even more direct blow from Morgana Graham:

A plague upon the CBC for messing with the fabric of our lives.

Will the CBC brass respond to this avalanche of public opinion on their program cuts? Are they even aware of the public response?

Don't forget to sign the online petition demanding that classical music programs be properly restored to CBC Radio 2.

Sign the Petition to Restore Classical Music to CBC Radio 2

If you're upset about CBC Radio 2's decision to pull most of its classical music programming from the air, there is now an online petition you can sign, with the following wording:

On March 19, 2007, CBC Radio 2 cancelled its excellent evening classical music programming, and the immensely informative Arts Report, and the award-winning Two New Hours. We consider that with these changes the management of our only national public broadcaster has compromised its tradition of providing stimulating and informed programming. We also believe that these changes are not consistent with the CBC mandate and the recent UNESCO treaty on cultural diversity.

The public voices of many dedicated and world-class Canadian writers, hosts, composers, producers and artists are being muted. If the changes are allowed to stand and the trend to continue, the CBC will have entirely squandered its unique capacity to represent the arts, with their inherent qualities of complexity, depth, and order.

We, the undersigned, believe the new programming is a retrograde step, one that duplicates material readily available on other stations and compromises the cultural integrity of our public broadcaster. We respectfully insist that the current programming changes to Radio 2 be revisited, and the damage reversed by reinstating the type of intelligent, provocative and informative programming that has long been a hallmark of Radio 2.

1314 people have signed the petition so far. Sign now and show your support for the future of classical music on the airwaves in Canada!

More Bloggers' Views on the CBC Radio 2 Redesign

It appears that I'm not alone in taking CBC Radio 2 to task for their scheduled program evisceration redesign. Below are views from other Canadian bloggers who also love their national broadcaster.

Edward Bilodeau:

...it is sad to see these kinds of changes at CBC Radio, changes that are likely to drive away the traditional listener and do very little to increase listenership. At best they can hope to cover their losses.

rickie's blog:

If there’s any hope to be salvaged, it might be in the web-only streams in each of classical, jazz, and singer-songwriter (?). If they’re anything like Radio-Canada’s Espace Classique service, then they might be worth listening to. And maybe then I don’t have to add “except Radio 2″ to my “CBC doesn’t always suck” button.

Recreating Eden:

The news release says that the CBC is looking for new program ideas. Maybe I ought to come up with one. What about this: let’s showcase the hundreds of excellent serious musicians in this country! Let’s give the same kind of coverage to new classical music that Jian Gomeshi gives to new pop music! Hell, let’s be as proud of our musicians as we are of our literary superstars like Margaret Atwood and Yann Martel. We've got it, let's flaunt it!

Now if only the CBC would get the message...

Indeed. If you want the CBC to get the message, check out the very rapidly growing Facebook group Save Classical Music at the CBC to get addresses of politicians and CBC execs to write to.

Update 3/10

Canadians aren't the only people concerned about CBC Radio 2's fate:

David Duff, who will not be moving to Canada anytime soon:

It's no wonder radio is dying. Management is killing it!

Kim Witman of Wolf Trap Opera writes about the importance of musicians moving on:

We all shook our heads and tsk-tsked, then RB simply acknowledged that no matter how we resist it, this landscape is changing. And we should simply remain agile.

Massachussetts Musical Life in WGBH's Classical Connections

This just arrived in a news release from WGBH, New England's fine classical radio station:

On March 28, WGBH 89.7 introduces a new feature, Classical Connections, to its broadcasts of NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Airing every Friday at 6:35am, 8:35am and 5:45pm, Classical Connections will tell stories about the vast classical music experience in Massachusetts and examine what classical music has meant, and continues to mean, to those living and working in the Commonwealth.

Directed by award-winning radio producer Michelle Sweet, Classical Connections will feature the voices of WGBH 89.7 classical hosts Cathy Fuller, Richard Knisely, and Brian McCreath, as well as the myriad of music schools, conservatories, teachers, composers, and musicians that populate the Bay State. Classical Connections premieres on Friday, March 28 with "Why Massachusetts?" in which violinist Kristopher Tong, violinist Miriam Freed, and cellist Laurence Lesser explain why they call Boston their home.

You can check out WGBH's website for a full roster of the station's offerings, as well as links to their online streams for those who live outside their broadcast area. Kudos to WGBH for expanding the range and quality of its classical offerings at a time when another prominent classical station has just begun cutting and dumbing down its classical programs.

Save Classical Music at the CBC Facebook Group

On the heels of recent news that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will be seriously curtailing the amount of classical music on CBC Radio 2, there has been a huge influx of members at the Save Classical Music at the CBC group on Facebook. At the moment, there is a letter writing campaign going on to express the outrage that many feel at the CBC's betrayal of its core Radio 2 audience.

On the Facebook group, you can find addresses and emails of many of the top brass at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, including Hubert Lacroix, President and CEO, Jennifer McGuire, Executive Director for English Programming, Timothy Casgrain, Chair of the Board of Directors, and Richard Stursbrg, Executive Vice President of English Services.

Now is the time to voice your opinion on this matter, whether you are a Canadian taxpayer (the CBC is publicly funded), listen to CBC Radio 2 outside Canada on the internet, or would like to voice your support as a lover of classical music.

Hundreds of Classical Music Radio Stations on Classical dj

So you're listening to your favorite classical radio station on the internet and all of a sudden they play Finlandia, again. You have to find another classical radio stream to refresh your ears and get your fix, but don't know where to go. What to do? You could always take your chances with a Google search, but far better is a dedicated classical music radio aggregator site such as Classical dj, with literally hundreds of classical choices from North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Africa. Most of the links to various stations have a short description, so you're not clicking blindly trying to find that ideal classical stream. Some of the hard-to-find classical stations I found on Classical dj:

• HJCK Bogota (Columbia)
• 4MBS Classic Radio Brisbane (Australia)
• KBS Seoul (S. Korea)
• Classic FM 102.7 Braamfontein (South Africa)

(Thanks, Marco!)