UK Edition
Feeds
On Good Friday national digital radio station theJazz had a format change when presenters were added to its output. Until that point, the only human voice penetrating its music-only format had been the voiceover announcing the strapline: "listen up... to theJazz." The Digital Spy forums have been very active on this subject, with listeners discussing what the new presenters will bring to the party. This week, Weekend Spy put those questions and others to Darren Henley, managing director of theJazz and Classic FM at GCap Media.
When London station 102.2 Jazz FM became Smooth FM in 2005, a lot of jazz enthusiasts were heart-broken. The Rajar figures had not been good and Smooth's mix of Motown, soul and easy listening had a wider and more commercial appeal. So when GCap was given the opportunity to broadcast a national station on DAB, it realised it could fill that 'jazz-gap', and do for jazz what Classic FM has done for classical music. Following its initial launch on Christmas Day last year, the station is now going through its second phase by adding presenters to the station. It all started on Good Friday with theJazz 500 chart at 9am. Former Radio 3 and Jazz FM presenter Helen Mayhew and two of theJazz's new DJs David Jensen and Margherita Taylor are counting down the chart over the Easter weekend.
The man involved in both Classic and theJazz is the station's managing director Darren Henley. Here is what he had to say about the new format:
So why the change in format, and what do you think the new presenters are going to add to the station?
The three months of the station's life since Christmas Day have all been about laying out our music credentials to people and adding more and more tracks to our library. So what we've tried to do with some of our presenters is get people that are quite well known as radio presenters, but who have a passion for jazz. There are also some people who are known as jazz broadcasters, and some jazz musicians who are new to broadcasting. We've very much tried to get a full range of people there. But it really is our intention to make this a full service radio station that is obviously centred around jazz music.
Do you hope to make jazz music more accessible in the way that Classic FM has done for classical music?
Absolutely. That's 'it' in a short sentence. When Classic FM came along in 1992 we had people telling us that what was perceived as a niche music format, couldn't possibly be successful, and certainly couldn't be successful in a commercial context. Roll forward 15 years, and we are the largest commercial radio station in the UK, probably the world. And we're quite proud that we've done that with a musical format that otherwise people would've considered to be niche. We never have. With classical music, we've always said that it can be part of anyone's life in the UK – wherever they are, whoever they are, no matter where they live.
So who do you think will be your core audience?
The interesting thing is that there are two groups of people who we are aiming the radio station at. The first group are - in shorthand terms - those already 'inside the jazz club', if you like. They're already listening to and are very passionate about jazz. They know a lot about it. And we need to create compelling and interesting programming for them. But as well as them, there are a whole world of people out there across the UK who are coming to jazz for the first time. We can offer them an introduction to jazz – they're 'outside the jazz club'. It's a fantastic music genre, so we want to welcome them in through the doors. People up and down the country are gigging in pubs every night - it's a really live and vibrant music form. The thing we thought is that there was this whole music genre and just simply nobody in radio was saying 'here's a 24-7 radio station for jazz.' The response we've had has been amazing.
How do you think having presenters will change things?
The key thing is that the presenters are going to be there to be a support to the music, and add value. They are not there to replace the music. We are not a personality radio station; we are a music radio station that has presenters on it. The role of the presenter is as a navigator through the music and our presenters are knowledgeable and authoritative, but at the same time they're warm and friendly.
With DJs like David Jensen and Margherita Taylor, some hardcore jazz fans might be put off with them both being synonymous with Capital Radio and pop music. Will they be adapting their presenting styles?
When people hear how they fit into the music schedule I think they'll be welcome additions, and they certainly won't be detractors. What we did at Classic FM was to have presenters who are well known for other things, because people's music tastes don't sit in boxes. If you go to someone's iPod or music collection, they're not categorised like going into HMV – like they'll only listen to rock, or jazz or something else. People tend to have a bit of everything. Those presenters are very passionate music presenters with a very warm and intelligent style. One of the things we found from the research we did was that the potential audience for theJazz was very up-market. And so we have chosen presenters deliberately that will fit in with that up-market feeling.
Will you be doing something like Tony Robinson's Friendly Guide to Classical Music on Classic FM on theJazz?
Definitely. We're not going to start off with one like that, but we will be doing some series like that.
Any other plans?
In the first year we hope to get to the stage we did with Classic: that theJazz is a full service radio station. So the website will be greatly enhanced come the summer, very much trying to create a community of interest around jazz. We will then have a record label - we'll make an announcement on that pretty soon. We're hoping to do books and concerts and so on. Downloads, podcasts: all these things will be an important part of what theJazz is. It's creating a community of interest with the listeners sitting at the centre of it.
Will you be getting involved with existing jazz festivals around the UK?
The key thing for us is to be a national radio station, so we'll be very keen to work with venues, performers and organisations around the country. There's a massive jazz scene in Scotland and we're already talking to people up there. We very much want to be part of the 'life of jazz' in the UK.
Are you a big jazz fan yourself?
Yeah, the interesting thing is I wouldn't count myself as an expert on either classical or jazz music. I started here as an overnight newsreader, but obviously I've been here for 15 years so I've got a lot of passion [for Classic FM]. Jazz music is brilliant. I'm personally on a voyage of discovery though, but we've got people in our team who have long been jazz fans. Tim Lihoreau, the creative director of Classic and theJazz - he's actually a jazz pianist. He was at Jazz FM in its very earliest days working on their music library. Tim is very much driving the on-air sound and the music of the station. And it has been a process where each track has been weighed up and hand picked.
Jazz is often seen as an 'older' person's type of music and can be seen as a bit stuffy? Are you hoping the station will introduce younger people to jazz?
Jazz is pretty cool. When you go and see gigs and you see the sheer musicianship of the people doing those gigs. People like Courtney Pine, who I saw last week at the Pizza Express Jazz Club on Dean Street, he was just fantastic. Just the most amazing musicianship, and a great presence. I am really proud that we've got him on the station. He's a great ambassador for UK jazz music around the world.
Are there many younger people working on the team?
As with Classic FM it's a pretty young team. Most people are in their mid-20s to mid-30s.
What is the relationship going to be like with Classic FM?
We're very much going to say this is Classic FM's sister station, and we are explaining to people on Classic that we're trying to do the same thing for jazz as we did for classical.
How do the songs get picked for the station?
What we're not doing is saying that artist is 'in' or that artist is 'out'. We're listening to every track and making a decision based on that particular track.
It's a very competitive market you're launching into. What do you think of state of radio today?
I think it's really exciting. The amazing thing is that 90% of the population listen to radio each week. There are plenty of doom mongers around who say 'oh look at all the new technology'. But it's still 90%. Video didn't kill the radio star and it isn't 'radio gaga'. What we've got is a really exciting and vibrant industry. I think radio is doing a lot to embrace new technology and online. But still, radio is the only medium you take in the shower with you, or in the car with you when you drive to work in the morning. And I think that hugely personal relationship that radio has with listeners: no other medium will be able to replicate that. And with DAB radio, the exciting thing is choice, and there is now a huge amount of choice now for people. DAB is allowing new stations like theJazz to come online.
Thanks Darren. And good luck… with theJazz.
theJazz is available on DAB digital radio, online at theJazz.com and on Sky channel 0113 and Virgin Media channel 961
For more info visit: www.thejazz.com
