Public Media Co. and a few partners are starting research on how public and community music stations benefit their communities.
A national survey of music station leaders begins Thursday and continues through March 7, PMC announced in a post on its website. It will be distributed by the NonComm Music Alliance in collaboration with other national organizations, PMC Operations and Communications Manager Dominic Garzonio said in an email.
It will be followed by work with 10 stations representing various music genres to collect more “in-depth information,” Garzonio said.
PMC and VuHaus Group plan to share a report on the results in the summer, the post said.
The project is supported by a $100,000 grant from the Wyncote Foundation, according to Garzonio. Wyncote is a funder of Current.
Partners in the project include VuHaus, Classical KING in Seattle and WRTI in Philadelphia.
The post said more than 200 million people are served in the U.S. by local, noncommercial music stations.
“This exploration aims to better understand how music stations serve and connect their communities, their impact on local economies, and their unique role in supporting local arts organizations and cultivating local arts communities, as well as other outcomes,” the post said.