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Popularity of jazz on World Wide Web

The 3/12/02 issue of the Seattle Times carried an interesting article by a local columnist about the popularity of jazz on the World Wide Web. Apparently there are two ratings services that provide reports about how many people listen to the various Internet radio/music programs that are streamed world-wide.

The station rated #1 or #2 on the Internet, depending on which rating service you refer to, is the London-based station, Jazz FM (www.jazzfm.com). This result surprised me, but it's fascinating that jazz is now being heard by so many people throughout the world, yet still struggles for a wider audience in the United States.

I was even more surprised that the #6-rated Web station in the world is KPLU-FM, the campus radio of Pacific Lutheran University located in Tacoma, WA (about 40 miles south of Seattle). KPLU-FM is the major NPR radio station in the Seattle area, and it broadcasts jazz and blues non-stop, except for the morning and evening hours when it carries NPR programs. The Web address for KPLU-FM is: www.kplu.org

If you want to read the full newspaper article, here is the link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestlife/134418782_erik120.html
sdcampbell

Showing 1 response by coltrane1

coltrane1's avatar
coltrane1
683 posts
 
Believe it or not. I've lived near Seattle since 1979, and have listened to KPLU since that time. Seattle has a thriving local jazz scene, probably one of the best in the country outside of NYC.

But it wasn't until I made a recent trip to Saint-Peterburg, Russia that I learned what a weak station KPLU was. This Russian city with a poplulation of over 5 million has the best 24 hour jazz station I've ever heard. KPLU attempts to provide a little bit of everything to appeal to all tastes. But the greatest overall program material I've ever experienced was during that 17 day trip to Russia! Though it's in Russia, St. Pete is a city with as much a European flair as Russian, so perhaps that explains their expertise in developing such a wonderful radio station. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was listening to a jazz station from the Bay Area. Kind of blew me away! Enjoy!
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