# Radio Stations - Overplayed pieces and types of pieces



## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

I'm not a great fan of classical radio stations, listening to KDFC 102.1 only about twice or three times a week, on Sunday after church and on Saturday before I sleep. 

However, this is what I've noticed. Every time I turn it on it's either Autumn or Spring from Vivaldi's four seasons (exaggeration, but... almost true.) I mean, of all the four seasons, AUTUMN? Spring?

Recently, they've been adding all this christmas junk to their pile of baroque/early classical monotony which has basically made me stop listening. Sometimes I wish I could control at least the type of music they play.

I want to hear more piano + violin concertos, symphonies, overtures, and piano music BESIDES the chopin waltzes and brahms intermezzos. 

This is just KDFC, but I'm wondering, how are radio stations where you live? What kind of pieces should they cut down on? What pieces do they seem to play every day? What do you want to hear more of?


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## Guest (Dec 14, 2008)

*airad2* Why not do what a lot of us are doing and listen to Internet radio, your local stations can then become just one of many, my local station in NZ is not too bad but it is nice to have a change, log onto Reciva it is free and you will have a choice of nearly 15000 stations, classical=787 Jazz=592 all easy to use, you need BB and you will recieve through computer then if you like it you can purchase a Internet radio and if you go wireless you are truly set up


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## Guest (Dec 14, 2008)

I used to sit in for a classical announcer whenever she went on vacation. When she quit, I took over until they found someone willing to work for their minute salary. That was several months (six or seven).

I tried to play as various a repertoire as I could, but I was always being cautioned that most people playing the radio were doing so for background, that if Varese or Xenakis went out over the local dentist's office, for instance, they'd switch to another station, or to canned music. And you can't lose the dentist/doctor office contingent!!

So that's a part, probably a big part, of why classical stations are so unadventurous. Because the audience they've identified as theirs is similarly unable or unwilling to venture. I haven't listened to radio for twenty years or more, probably.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I have to say the Nashville classical station is still quite good and has been since the 1960's. They play a varied repertoire and rarely dumb down the music. I say rarely because I have noticed a slight trend toward playing single movements instead of entire pieces, but I believe everyone is having to do this due to time constraints or maybe budget.

At night they tap into Music through the Night or C24 (Classical 24 hours). I have yet to figure out if these are the same show, but they are excellent for introducing lesser known works. 

I haven't listened much lately because their signal is crowded on that end of the FM dial and the broadcasts can be noisy. Maybe if I break down and get a digital radio it will improve.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

I highly recommend Vermont Public Radio at vpr.net . Their classical music service has a lot of variety and does not overplay the warhorses.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

My local stations play too much music from the classical and baroque periods (and its not awesome stuff like Haydn symphonies or Bach keyboard or violin pieces), and religious choral music (and not the best in that field, imo). They sometimes play Romantic music, and very occasionally play 20th Century and modern music, but rarely. x_x Its abysmal. I tend to favor the local rock stations, where they more often play music worth a damn.


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## Mickey (Oct 5, 2012)

Strauss-Blue Danube But I love it!


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

BurningDesire said:


> My local stations play too much music from the classical and baroque periods (and its not awesome stuff like Haydn symphonies or Bach keyboard or violin pieces), and religious choral music (and not the best in that field, imo). They sometimes play Romantic music, and very occasionally play 20th Century and modern music, but rarely. x_x Its abysmal. I tend to favor the local rock stations, where they more often play music worth a damn.


Why I can't find awesome stations like this? They love Romanticism on the stations in my area. Oh well.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

We have one local classical station to serve the Dallas/Ft. Worth area called WRR 101.1 FM. It's not a bad station but like many classical stations they have to stick to a more accessible and commercial playlist during the day. Years ago they would play at least one complete work every hour but now they might twice a day. At night however they have much more of a diverse playlist. The only time I listen anymore is when I'm in the car but even then I use my Spotify app on my phone if I intend on driving any distance.

We do have one other option and that is on Sunday mornings the local Denton college station KNTU plays classical but only a few hours. Their format otherwise is jazz.

Kevin


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## Mickey (Oct 5, 2012)

My station hppr plays a good variety but not enough of it. I enjoy the exposure I'm getting on this forum to new and unfamiliar composers.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

neoshredder said:


> Why I can't find awesome stations like this? They love Romanticism on the stations in my area. Oh well.


Maybe you'd like it neoshredder. I just don't like listening to a station where the music all sounds the same XD and no offense, but the Classical and Baroque periods are by far the worst offenders in that way. There is serious genius from those periods, and there were great developments and ideas, but there's lots of blandness too, in my opinion X3

Who knows, maybe they play hours upon hours of the music I like when I'm not in my car XD


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I don't really need radio, because I have a music server that streams throughout my house 24/7. But it's taught me something about programming. Classical, baroque and romantic music almost always slides in to my daily life seamlessly. I rarely have to pull anything from rotation. The exceptions so far are Varese, Carmina Burana and Ravel's Bolero. I can listen to them if I'm in the mood, but that mood doesn't come around too terribly often.

I'm working on an opera shuffle library. Not sure how that's going to work out yet.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

some guy said:


> I used to sit in for a classical announcer whenever she went on vacation. When she quit, I took over until they found someone willing to work for their minute salary. That was several months (six or seven).
> 
> I tried to play as various a repertoire as I could, but I was always being cautioned that most people playing the radio were doing so for background, that if Varese or Xenakis went out over the local dentist's office, for instance, they'd switch to another station, or to canned music. And you can't lose the dentist/doctor office contingent!!
> 
> So that's a part, probably a big part, of why classical stations are so unadventurous. Because the audience they've identified as theirs is similarly unable or unwilling to venture. I haven't listened to radio for twenty years or more, probably.


You got it! It's about not ruffling the feathers of their regular contributors. Same for the jazz stations I've listened to. I find the programming to be mind numbingly boring and uninteresting because they are catering to passive listeners.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

starthrower said:


> You got it! It's about not ruffling the feathers of their regular contributors. Same for the jazz stations I've listened to. I find the programming to be mind numbingly boring and uninteresting because they are catering to passive listeners.


Try KNTUs online stream. They play a wide variety of jazz and because it's a non-profit station they are not constrained by the commercial catalog. The downside to it is that they play such diverse categories of jazz that the transitions from one piece to the next can be jarring at times. And then a lot of times the play just simply bad jazz in my opinion but it may be just my taste and not necessarily their selections.

Here's the link to their stream:

http://www.kntu.com/stream/live/player.html

Kevin


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Radio stations are a real problem. There are essentially zero commercial classic stations for the obvious reason of limited listenership and the less obvious reason of too few available commercial breaks. We used to have one in LA called KMZT -- its most common ads were for mortuaries (whch may say something about the audience demographic!) Anyway, it long since disappeared into the subchannel jungle.

Of course even public stations are forced into blandness. I believe most of their listeners are "passive" and that's not likely to change. Varere? Xenakis? Worse than dead air!


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

The challenging tunes usually play in the middle of the night. By challenging, I mean Mahler, Bruckner, Shostakovich. Atonal? Forget it.

Re doctors offices, I've only heard classical music in one. A dermatologist. Early music, and he played his own recs.

Online stations I occasionally listen to-- KUAT-FM, KING-FM, WQXR-FM.


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## Mickey (Oct 5, 2012)

I miss Karl Haas. This is like a nightmare. I can't wait for Adventures in Good Music to be available again. I was raised on that program besides home listening.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Mickey said:


> I miss Karl Haas. This is like a nightmare. I can't wait for Adventures in Good Music to be available again. I was raised on that program besides home listening.


I wish someone could archive the entire run of his series for future generations to enjoy for free. That said though there are 47 episodes available for download at Archive.org. Here is the link:

http://archive.org/search.php?query=%28collection%3Aopensource_audio+OR+mediatype%3Aopensource_audio%29+AND+-mediatype%3Acollection+AND+firstTitle%3AK+AND+subject%3A%22Karl+Haas%22

Kevin


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

our local classical station, KBYU, is pretty good. They do have a habit of getting a favorite and playing it alot before moving on to something else. They have a decent mix of periods and performers. The more "adventurous" music is on their 12-6AM program. They also have BBC world news bulletins. I used to think that all I needed was my ipod, but I heard some things on the radio that I liked but didn't have. I tend to switch back and forth. Just for jollies, give them a try. http://www.classical89.org/


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

some guy said:


> I used to sit in for a classical announcer whenever she went on vacation. When she quit, I took over until they found someone willing to work for their minute salary. That was several months (six or seven).
> 
> I tried to play as various a repertoire as I could, but I was always being cautioned that most people playing the radio were doing so for background, that if Varese or Xenakis went out over the local dentist's office, for instance, they'd switch to another station, or to canned music. And you can't lose the dentist/doctor office contingent!!


If the patients at the dentist's were subjected to certain modern composers, it might make the actual procedures seem a lot less painful in comparison.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Found a Contemporary Classical Radio station on live365. Internet Radio is a gift.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I don't often listen to the classical radio station; I tend to be too much of a control freak to listen to the radio and have someone else pick for me.

That said, I've been tuning in every now and again on my commute since the car I use does not have an auxillary output or CD player. I have been pretty happy with it. They do seem to enjoy their Vivaldi, but they don't overdose on the Four Seasons. I've heard Holst, Delius, Bruch. In other words, they don't recycle the WarHorses 500 times a day. I DON'T hear much Xenakis, Ligeti, etc. I'm ok with that.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Similar experience to Sonata for me. The station certainly doesn't just play the three B's, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, etc. Lots of lesser known composers, but those tend to be Baroque, early Classical or otherwise "pleasant" works. Lost of shorter works, and lots of Serenades and Romances and stuff with Spring, Summer or Autumn in the title (not just Vivaldi). 

Based on online playlist, last hour or two has been: Krebs, Spohr, Wolf, von Suppe, Turina, Boulogne Chev. de StGeorges, Vaughan Williams (On Wenlock Edge).


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## palJacky (Nov 27, 2010)

my take on this with terrestrial radio is much of their audience is in the car.
the big rating periods are morning and evening drive and and the things I want to HEAR when I'm commuting are not the thing I might want to LISTEN to at home where I can give it fuller attention.

I live in the Portland, Oregon area and the other night having dinner with friends I got in the car and they were playing Saint saen's 'organ symphony'. I entered half way through the first part of the first movement and was able to listen to until I got to near the end of the slow section about ten minutes later.. It was perfect music for what I needed to do.

In fact, I was thinking how 'elegant' that work was and I haven't given that piece much thought in years.

My guess is that I'm not that much different than a good chunk of their audience.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

No programming complaints about my local station, WFMT. Well, for a while it seemed they were inexplicably playing Respighi's "Ancient Airs and Dances" a little too often, but that seems to have passed. They also broadcast a bunch of live and recorded concert performances and self-produced regular programs (including one dedicated to 20th and 21st century composers). My CD collection is actually sorely neglected because I can usually count on something interesting to be on the air.

Here's a playlist from their "weekday morning rush hour" program from a random Wednesday morning (Oct 17):

Mornings With Carl Grapentine.6:00 am
Newscast.6:05 am
Purcell: March & Gigue; Aria; Trumpet Tune
Rolf Smedvig

6:19 am
Howells: Concerto for String Orchestra 1st mvt
Royal Liverpool Phil Orch / Vernon Handley


6:33 am
Vaughan Williams: Symphony #2, "A London Symphony" (1912-13) Finale
Royal Phil / André Previn

6:50 am
Howells: "Requiem" Psalm 23
John Rutter


6:53 am
Boyce: Overture #4 in D
Cantilena / Adrian Shepherd

7:00 am
Newscast.7:05 am
Henry VIII: Keyboard pieces arranged for brass
Philip Jones

7:16 am
Henry VIII: "Pastime with Good Company"
EMI 73311-2


.7:21 am
Beethoven: Piano Sonata #20 in G, Op 49/2
Stephen Kovacevich

EMI CDC5-56148-2


.7:34 am
Glazunov: "Ouverture solennelle," Op 73
Russian National Orch / Mikhail Pletnev

DG 439892-2


.7:47 am
Tchaikovsky: String Quartet #1 in D, Op 11 Finale
EMI 57144-2


.7:55 am
Rachmaninoff: "Polka de V R"
Jorge Bolet

Phi 456724-2 (2)


.8:00 am
Newscast.8:05 am
Vivaldi: Flute Concerto in D, R 428 (Op 10/3), "Il Gardellino"
New Irish Chamber Orch / James Galway

8:19 am
Hahn: Song, "Le Rossignol des Lilas"
Susan Graham

Sony SK-60168


.8:23 am
Kodály: Variations on a Hungarian Folksong, "The Peacock" Excerpts
Chicago Sym Orch / Neeme Järvi

Chandos CHAN-8877


.8:35 am
Grainger: "Scotch Strathspey and Reel"
English Country Gardiner Orch / Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Phi 446657-2


.8:48 am
Schubert: Piano Sonata in A, D 959 Finale
Stephen Kovacevich

EMI CDC5-55219-2


.9:00 am
News Summary/Opening Wall Street.9:05 am
Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel (1901-04)
City of Birmingham Sym Orch / Sir Simon Rattle

Thomas Allen

EMI/Ang CDM7-64731-2


.9:31 am
Friedhofer: "The Adventures of Marco Polo" Suite (1937)
William T Stromberg

Marco Polo 8.223857


.9:48 am
Offenbach: "Le voyage dans la lune" Overture
Philharmonia Orch / Antonio de Almeida


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Portland's classical station plays a LOT of baroque, at least at the times of day when I can listen. They definitely have a penchant for Corelli trio sonatas, which are nice, but not what I want to listen to all the time. 20th century music (except the most "accessible" of it) is mostly restricted to a Saturday evening show, which makes me sad. But I know they program the way they do (conservatively) because it's what they have to do to survive. Unfortunately. I still like listening to radio because sometimes I discover new things that I really like that I might not have found on my own.


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

Every time I listen to the only art music station of my country they always play a Liszt piece. Too much Liszt! Too much romantic music! I want to heard more baroque pieces, not for only from Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi, and more modernistic works.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

Pandora's classical service is not bad. You can get a commercial-free version for your IPhone for about $4/month (I don't know about PC's or other smartphones). They overplay well-known classical warhorses, but you can find great, lesser-known music if you hunt for it. They even play some avant-garde music, and again you have to hunt for it. They usually play only single movements of multi-movement works; however, they have a channel called something like "Classical Complete" that plays entire symphonies and concertos. 

In this thread I have already recommened vpr.net's excellent classical service. Unfortunately, I have never heard them play a single avant-garde piece.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

last.fm is pretty good. I prefer it over Pandora for custom radio stations. Last.fm goes by genres and the tendency of the listener who prefers this Composer to play more of the other one as well. Like for example. People who tend to listen to Telemann also listen to Corelli.


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## GiulioCesare (Apr 9, 2013)

Reading you guys makes me appreciate what we have here in Germany.

As I type these words, I'm listening to a very atonal concert for piano and ensemble by Hugues Dufourt, on the public radio station for classical music no less (WDR3).


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

GiulioCesare said:


> Reading you guys makes me appreciate what we have here in Germany.
> 
> As I type these words, I'm listening to a very atonal concert for piano and ensemble by Hugues Dufourt, on the public radio station for classical music no less (WDR3).


There's barely any public funding over here in the US for classical music broadcasting. Many areas do not even have a full-time Classical station of any kind.


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## GiulioCesare (Apr 9, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> There's barely any public funding over here in the US for classical music broadcasting. Many areas do not even have a full-time Classical station of any kind.


That is too bad.

In fairness, WDR3 and the equivalents in the other parts of Germany are not exclusively devoted to classical music, but are rather the "culture and art" public stations. But if you tune in, 90% of the time you'll hear a classical piece. That is not exclusive to Germany though: http://www.rtve.es/radio/radioclasica/.

Do you not have anything of the sort at all in the US?


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## ebullient (Sep 21, 2013)

Where I live there is no full-time classical station and when classical music is played it is usually a single movement from a popular piece like Bach's double violin concerto or Beethoven's seventh symphony.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Mahlerian said:


> There's barely any public funding over here in the US for classical music broadcasting. Many areas do not even have a full-time Classical station of any kind.


Yeah, it's a drag. But in a country as big as America, we should have a huge variety of great programming. But we also have a huge amount of ******** and philistines who elect horrible political representatives who continue to decimate the tiny bit of arts funding we have left. The most popular stuff on radio here is country music, and right wing talk shows.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

KenOC said:


> Radio stations are a real problem. There are essentially zero commercial classic stations for the obvious reason of limited listenership and the less obvious reason of too few available commercial breaks. We used to have one in LA called KMZT -- its most common ads were for mortuaries (whch may say something about the audience demographic!) Anyway, it long since disappeared into the subchannel jungle.
> 
> Of course even public stations are forced into blandness. I believe most of their listeners are "passive" and that's not likely to change. Varere? Xenakis? Worse than dead air!


Since you're in the same area, do you listen to KUSC? There are some programs I wish they would get rid(like "From the Top"), and some I wish they would've kept.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

trazom said:


> Since you're in the same area, do you listen to KUSC? There are some programs I wish they would get rid(like "From the Top"), and some I wish they would've kept.


Yes, I listen to KUSC. Middle of the road, lots of Schumann. Some interesting programs from Jim Svejda on his 7 PM show. I think overall they do a good job, but they need to serve a broad audience so naturally their programming doesn't always suit my tastes. I occasionally submit requests for the noon request show (usually they're played) and rarely e-mail a couple of the DJs with questions or information I think they could use. Always answered in good cheer. They seem like a jolly bunch.


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## billeames (Jan 17, 2014)

KING FM in Seattle is boring. They do cater to local artists and upcoming pieces they will play. Mostly baroque
Music or light classical. Shostakovich 8th. Never. Exceptions are MET Sat morning and some international
Orchestras Sat afternoon rarely. KUOW Seattle used to broadcast Berlin Phil once in a while. No more NOONZART
at noon weekdays. No American Public Media classical shows. Rural Oregon or LA. Why do rural areas get classical programming
And Seattle very little interesting music? KUOW now all talk! Seattle must like just safe classical music.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Darwinism and music: 24 hour classical music>safe classical music>roll over Beethoven.


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## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

I feel your pain. I lived in Austin, TX 40 years where they have a classical station, KMFA. The first ten years I listened they ONLY played complete works. In fact, they had a policy prohibiting playing a single movement disembodied from the work as a whole. They also played an astonishing variety of music from all genres and periods even including a weekly program called "This Is Modern Music" which was exactly what it said it was. 

Over the years, KMFA gradually moved toward classical lite. Now, regrettably, the station is mostly classical pops. They program in hour increments, which means they rarely play anything longer than 30 minutes, more commonly 15 minutes or less, which means they frequently play single, disembodied movements. Worst of all, they have announcers now with "personality," often telling listeners how "delightful" a piece is, how "charming" (once I heard one refer to a piece as "luscious"). I, for one, don't want to be told that what I'm about to hear is luscious. Just tell me what it is, who's playing it, and shut the #%$& up!

I've been listening to Sirius/XM and love their two classical channels and one opera channel. KMFA is listener supported and so they're frequently asking for money. Ha. Why give them $ to listen to one channel of luscious when for $15/month I can get three channels of music, one of which, Symphony Hall, plays full-length Mahler symphonies?


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

billeames said:


> KING FM in Seattle is boring. They do cater to local artists and upcoming pieces they will play. Mostly baroque
> Music or light classical. Shostakovich 8th. Never. Exceptions are MET Sat morning and some international
> Orchestras Sat afternoon rarely. KUOW Seattle used to broadcast Berlin Phil once in a while. No more NOONZART
> at noon weekdays. No American Public Media classical shows. Rural Oregon or LA. Why do rural areas get classical programming
> And Seattle very little interesting music? KUOW now all talk! Seattle must like just safe classical music.


I live around that area too and I totally agree. I almost never listen to Classical King FM.

One piece they way overplay I've noticed is Elgar's Cello Concerto. It's on almost every time I turn on the radio.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I wish I could move to London or Vienna. Fine music 24/7. I detest the disgraceful state of the arts in the US.


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## jlaw (Jan 25, 2014)

I listen to classical radio station all the time when I am driving. They often have nice picks and knowledgeable hosts would spend time to dig up interesting facts about composers and/or performers. I think it is fun. The only complaint I have for my station is that it plays Russian music too often


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I love my local station KUSC-FM.
Commercial free 24/7.


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