While I receive complaints about the music choices on NPR newsmagazines, I almost never hear about the jazz or classical music programs. That may be unfortunate, but it is the reality in public radio. Partly this is because stations say it is easier from them to play this music themselves (from CDs), and partly because these music programs play to smaller audiences than the newsmagazines. While these are also important elements of NPR's programming, for financial and "mission" reasons, they are less prominent than they used to be. The third way listeners hear music from NPR is via the stand-alone programs, (especially classical and jazz) that are separate from the newsmagazines. The second means by which listeners hear music from NPR is through the reports about performers as well as reviews that are the mainstays of programs such as Morning Edition, Day to Day All Things Considered and the weekend newsmagazines. Couldn't NPR's engineers devise something that can override this technical flaw and not do damage to the musical fabric? This difference is clearly irksome to many people.
That may be the explanation, but it is hardly a solution. According to NPR engineers, this has to do with something called "compression rates." Music is transmitted at the same rate as spoken words, but music exits the speakers at a higher volume than words. Some say that the "buttons" sound much louder than the spoken reports that immediate precede them. Many "buttons" have resulted in significant listener inquiries, so much so that NPR's Bob Boilen created an online music program called All Songs Considered where listeners can hear many of those snippets in their complete form. More importantly, they allow the listener time to think between news segments. "Buttons" (so-termed because they hold the garment of the program together) have no explicit role for the news piece other than they seem to suit the report just aired.
#Npr hourly news music interludes windows
So what kinds of music does NPR News choose to feature, and which ones provoke hurling of radio sets out the windows of America?įirst, there are "buttons." These are the short musical pieces or interludes aired between reports on the NPR newsmagazines. Listeners who comment on the music heard from NPR have strong opinions, which is usually to say that they don't agree with NPR's choices - especially over what is aired on NPR's newsmagazine programs.
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