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This page: Wider airplay, bigger artist roles; Getting on the show
Wider airplay, bigger artist roles
'Musicians love to talk about records. They just go nuts.' -- David Dye
While World Café has won all kinds of accolades and is wildly popular where it's available, it cannot yet be heard in some of the biggest markets. Part of that has to do with individual station formatting and the show's initial design as a vehicle around which smaller stations could structure their programming. World Café has had some success on news-oriented NPR stations, however, and Dye and Warren are hoping to expand on that. They're also tweaking the show to appeal to non-AAA stations.
"One of the things I'm interested in is figuring out how to better use the artist rather than just a performance, [to] make them more a part of the show for the entire show," Dye says. They've had success using guests as deejays and may expand on that. "I love to talk about records; musicians love to talk about records," Dye explains. "I mean they love it, they just go nuts."
Dye doesn't abandon acts like Ben Folds Five, Paula Cole, or Sarah McLachlan once they break out beyond public radio. As he sees it, commercial success and airplay shouldn't matter if the music's still good. "That's a major difference in what we do. And clearly, it works. In the markets we're in, we gather real audiences. That doesn't always happen in public radio. There was a gaping hole. We filled the gaping hole, and I think we do it really well. And the interview portions are kind of like the cherry on top of it."
World Cafe host David Dye with RCA artist David Mead at the recent WXPN
Singer/Songwriter Weekend 2000.
(Photo by Mark Silver)
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Getting on the show
'World Café playlists wield enormous influence among other radio programmers, both in public and commercial radio.'
From an artist's perspective, World Café might be Utopia -- or at least an unbelievably rare opportunity to break onto the airwaves without a major promotional push. Sure, it's not an appearance on Letterman, but if Dye, Warren, and music director Helen Leicht like what they hear, they'll add it to the World Café and station playlists. And those playlists have come to wield enormous influence among other radio programmers, both in public and commercial radio.
To have music considered for World Café airplay, send a CD with three recommended tracks to Helen Leicht, World Café, 3905 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6005. No email MP3 files are accepted, and the station can't confirm whether it has received or played your work. But playlists can be viewed at www.worldcafe.org, which also posts a list of stations webcasting the show via streaming audio. A list of stations airing the show is available at Public Radio International's website: www.pri.org. Stations that subscribe to Public Interactive, a network of public radio and television websites, will soon offer three streams of World Café for listening on demand -- all of which means even more exposure to the kinds of audiences most inclined to embrace new music.
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