Indiana station offers new classical music service

WFIU in Bloomington, Ind., is now offering a syndicated classical music service to public radio stations.

ClassicalWorks draws on WFIU’s collection of more than 70,000 pieces of classical music to provide stations with up to 12 hours of programming seven days a week. Hosted by WFIU Music Director Joe Goetz, the service will emphasize contemporary artists and recent recordings.

WFIU created the service in response to what Goetz sees as a “looming problem” in classical music radio: financial pressures and an aging workforce, he said, pointing to last year’s Classical Music Rising workforce survey (which he wrote about for Current).

“We wanted to set a price point for ClassicalWorks that was low enough so that stations could use it to cover less critical dayparts (mainly overnights), and use the savings to invest in more local programming during the day that they may not have been able to afford otherwise,” he said.

Other classical music syndication services available to public radio stations include Classical 24, produced and distributed by American Public Media and PRI, and WFMT’s Beethoven Network. Goetz believes ClassicalWorks’ “accessibility and lightheartedness” will set it apart from its competitors.

“I really try to have fun with the content and not take either myself or the music I’m presenting more seriously than it needs to be,” Goetz said.

The service is available to stations through PRX. Two stations have already picked up ClassicalWorks — WBNI in Fort Wayne, Ind., and WDPR in Dayton, Ohio. WFIU is also airing the service Mondays through Saturdays.

WFIU already syndicates three music programs: Harmonia, Night Lights and Afterglow.