In the life of the professional musician this development has been critical. If we do a performance special or a feature on All Things Considered, the place goes nuts. When she first applied for her present job part of her pitch was the assertion that the program's music needed drastic improvement. On ATC now, we do news reports and specials that span the globe. What I try to do is include authentic music that complements the stories and, at the same time, exposes people to other cultures and ideas in accessible and intriguing ways.
Music helps that happen.
We simply got better service from the independent record companies, that featured alternative music, than we did from the majors. The Indies are counting on us for their survival. Indeed, a public radio playlist could almost be seen as a table contents of much of American music. From the earliest days of public radio, shows such as Folk Festival USA, Chicago Blues Festival, Vintage Jazz at the Vineyard, the Thistle and Shamrock, and AfroPop have brought musicians from every possible genre into a greater degree of public awareness and appreciation. The flagship of the live public radio fleet, picked up initially by over 250 stations, is the American Radio Company of the Air, and its predecessor, A Prairie Home Companion, both hosted by Garrison Keillor.