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Playlist: Music Station Fundraising Picks

Compiled By: PRX Curators

No bake-sale required Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17425845@N00/412424714/">Windell Oskay</a>
Image by: Windell Oskay 
No bake-sale required
Curated Playlist
Here are fundraising picks from PRX Music Format Curator David Srebnik.

David produces Virtuoso Voices, an interview clip and fundraising service heard on 115 stations. As an Associate Producer at NPR, he programmed the music heard on Performance Today, and directed news and music programming at stations in Texas, Michigan, Florida, New Orleans and North Carolina.

What David listens for in music programming:

"I look and listen for programming that puts the listener first, speaks listener language and answers 'yes' to questions like:

* Is it enjoyable, beautiful, entertaining or substantial?
* Will it be memorable?
* Will it advance understanding and enjoyment of the music?
* Will this contribute to making public radio indispensable?

"I'm not big on music education on the radio, especially in the form made infamous by the so-called 'old-school' of classical music announcing.

"Radio can, however, educate in a compelling and entertaining way. David Schulman's Musicians in their Own Words series and WNYC's Richard Wagner documentaries are good examples of music education without the academic shackles that have made that term deadly on the radio."

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This I Believe Pledge Spot - Musicians on Creativity

From This I Believe | Part of the This I Believe series | 03:33

Fantastic for fundraising and any time. Superb (one of the finest) and compelling mix of voices, script, narration and music.

Radio craft at its near best. This will help you expand and further your pitch message and create a moment of sunny variety within your
fundraising sound.

Best suited for news and news-AAA and news-jazz formats. Composer Joan Tower's presence makes this a potential fit for news-classical as
well.

Tiblogosmall_small In this fundraising spot, This I Believe host Jay Allison introduces listeners to musicians who believe in creativity: singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, composer Joan Tower, and banjo player Bela Fleck. Allison says public radio introduces listeners to people who think "outside the box." (Spot includes music by each of the three artists.) (This I Believe producers are available to help pitch during your next drive. Call 502-259-9889 for details. Also, visit VisAbility.com for This I Believe fundraising premiums.)

Fundraising Testimonial

From Charlie Schroeder | :30

Nicely done — hits all the right values and uses a variety of everyday voices, without sounding everyday. A clever 30-second fundraising spot for news stations and news/music stations.

Default-piece-image-1 A montage of different public radio members explain why they joined their local station and why everyone who hasn't should. (Note, this piece is generic. Not generic boring. Generic in that anyone can use it.)

Podcasting Fundraiser

From Charlie Schroeder | :30

Very timely and strongly suited for listeners of public radio stations that podcast. The fundamental steps of the "Giving Path" are nicely crafted and illuminated over an attractive sound bed.

Default-piece-image-2 Generic fundraising piece that addresses the cost of podcasting.

This I Believe - Yo-Yo Ma

From This I Believe | Part of the This I Believe series | 03:06

Ma's ability to define music as a meeting ground for citizens from different cultures, and people with different views makes this a fitting on-air fundraising segment for a variety of public radio formats. (Edit this piece as needed to fit within your station's fundraising and standard break-length philosophies.)

Tiblogosmall_small HOST: For our This I Believe essay today, we hear from one of the world's most accomplished and versatile musicians, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The recipient of 15 Grammy Awards, Yo-Yo Ma has the ability to speak, musically, to audiences all over the world. The range of his musical interest is echoed in his belief in crossing borders, boundaries, and even identity. Here is Yo-Yo Ma with his essay for This I Believe. MA: I believe in the infinite variety of human expression. I grew up in three cultures: I was born in Paris, my parents were from China and I was brought up mostly in America. When I was young, this was very confusing: everyone said that their culture was best, but I knew they couldn't all be right. I felt that there was an expectation that I would choose to be Chinese or French or American. For many years I bounced among the three, trying on each but never being wholly comfortable. I hoped I wouldn't have to choose, but I didn't know what that meant and how exactly to "not choose." However, the process of trying on each culture taught me something. As I struggled to belong, I came to understand what made each one unique. At that point, I realized that I didn't need to choose one culture to the exclusion of another, but instead I could choose from all three. The values I selected would become part of who I was, but no one culture needed to win. I could honor the cultural depth and longevity of my Chinese heritage, while feeling just as passionate about the deep artistic traditions of the French and the American commitment to opportunity and the future. So, rather than settling on any one of the cultures in which I grew up, I now choose to explore many more cultures and find elements to love in each. Every day I make an effort to go toward what I don't understand. This wandering leads to the accidental learning that continually shapes my life. As I work in music today, I try to implement this idea-that the music I play, like me, doesn't belong to only one culture. In recent years, I have explored many musical traditions. Along the way, I have met musicians who share a belief in the creative power that exists at the intersection of cultures. These musicians have generously become my guides to their traditions. Thanks to them and their music I have found new meaning in my own music making. It is extraordinary the way people, music and cultures develop. The paths and experiences that guide them are unpredictable. Shaped by our families, neighborhoods, cultures and countries, each of us ultimately goes through this process of incorporating what we learn with who we are and who we seek to become. As we struggle to find our individual voices, I believe we must look beyond the voice we've been assigned, and find our place among the tones and timbre of human expression.

This I Believe Pledge Spot - The Power of Music

From This I Believe | Part of the This I Believe series | 01:15

Composer Joan Tower's revealing and highly personal story on the important and life-saving properties of music.

Tiblogosmall_small In this excerpt from her This I Believe essay, composer and pianist Joan Tower talks the power of music, especially in her own life. Perfect for use during pledge drives, she hits many of the core values of classical music listeners.