BRUCE HORNSBY WILL PERFORM ON THIS WEEK’S “NONCOM TUESDAY” • SURVEY SAYS FEW PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR PODCASTS

Bruce Hornsby

This coming Thursday (6/25) NONCOMM Tuesdays will feature a live performance by Bruce Hornsby. Hornsby’s music is popular on noncommercial AAA and Alt Rock stations.

Hornsby is a unique artist who writes and performs songs that combine elements of classical, jazz, bluegrass and gospel music. 

He is known for hits like Walking in Memphis and The Way It Is.

 At this Thursday’s Zoom event, Bruce Warren of WXPN will debut the Big Wheel of Topics, a way to let participants discuss topics that feel are important. The virtual meeting starts at 6:00pm ET. Registration and more information can be found here.

Last Thursday (6/18), NONCOMM Thursdays presented a comprehensive review of the new Alternative Urban format from three programmers of stations that air the format.  Mike Henry of Paragon Media Strategies moderated the discussion.  Henry is the creator of the Urban Alt format.

The panel also included Jacquie Gales Webb who was elevated to VP of Radio at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) last week.

In 2018 CPB announced their intention to support programming that will connect with young, multicultural audiences. CPB invested $1.3 million in the initiative and chose Paragon to make it happen,

Jacquie Gales Webb

appearing on NONCOMM Thursdays

Gales Webb told the webinar participants that the Urban Alt format uses music and entertainment as the gateway to news, information, and arts and cultural happenings within local communities.

Gales Webb described how the Urban Alt initiative is part of CPB's outreach:

“COVID-19 and the recent awakening regarding race in America has changed all of our lives, and with the challenges come huge responsibilities — and opportunities."

"CPB provided support to create and pilot a new, innovative music format that radio stations across the country can use to draw young, multi-cultural listeners to public radio."

People become loyal fans of radio stations that value what they love."

SURVEY BY VARIETY FINDS THAT FEW PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PAY TO HEAR PODCASTS

A new survey commissioned by Variety [ink] shows that very few American podcast listeners will pay a subscription fee or make a donation to hear a podcast.

The survey, conducted by YouGov, found that eight in ten American adults who haven’t previously paid for podcasts were “not at all likely” or “very unlikely” to do so in the future.  Only around 20% of the survey respondents said they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to pay for content.

The online survey was conducted June 8^th through the 10^th. Variety did not say how many people were in the sample.

The results of the survey seem to indicate that Luminary misread the landscape before launching their pay-for-play service in 2019. Luminary has dropped its subscription fees by over 60% in recent months.

People appear to be okay hearing free shows  that contain commercial announcements.