Classical podcasting

Classical podcasting

Members of Parliament; publishers; broadcasters; celebrities; everyone is at it. Understanding the potential of podcasts - radio-style programmes for internet users to download and listen to on their MP3 players - is essential for anyone who wants to be seen to be on top of technology.

The process is simple: a podcaster records an audio clip (normally half an hour or an hour in length), which might include opinion, interviews and music, and uploads it to a web server. If a visitor wants to listen, they can either download a one-off clip (often as an MP3) or subscribe to receive future podcasts automatically.

The most popular subscription service is Apple's iTunes. Search its podcast directory for 'classical' and you'll find over 100 results, including intriguing international titles like Kick Ass Classical Top 20, Bach's Lunch, Alive and Composing and Classical Comes Alive!

Classical music lends itself particularly well to podcasting: centuries of tradition and thousands of characters to verbally dissect, plus animated discussion of current and future trends. And that's before we even get on to the music itself.

'The internet hands you that wonderful opportunity on a plate.'

Last September the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) launched the first regular programme by a UK symphony orchestra. Tommy Pearson, former presenter of BBC Radio 3's Music Machine, is responsible for the orchestra's monthly podcast. '[CBSO chief executive] Stephen Maddox was looking at how best to get the message of the orchestra out to the world,' he says. 'The internet hands you that wonderful opportunity on a plate.'

The CBSO podcasts include concert excerpts, competitions, interviews with CBSO musicians and a special guest - December's podcast featured Australian conductor Sir Charles Mackerras, for example.

The podcasts welcome audience participation, too, through the PodSquad - a panel of listeners invited to share their views on the orchestra's performances. 'We also get emails from people,' adds Pearson. 'And genuinely we haven't received a single email saying that they didn't enjoy the podcasts.'

The podcasts have far exceeded expectations, says Pearson, with figures showing around 200 daily downloads, or 6,000 per month, for each instalment. 'When we first started we had absolutely no idea what to expect because it hadn't been tried before. We had to just do it and hope for the best.'

Pearson believes podcasting offers people a way of expressing themselves to another audience in a new way. He warns, however, that many of the podcasts he has heard are dull: 'The classical music world can often sound very self-indulgent, as if it's talking in another world entirely.'

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