wow, that is terrible!
at least it will still be online, for what that is worth

We had a similar tragedy a few years ago here in Cincy..
WOXY (of Rainmain fame) was sold and closed its doors.
It was quite simply the best "independent" station around (like KEXP in Seattle).
You know, the only place you could hear all the good music no one else would play?

Luckily it still lives online, but has difficulties keeping afloat.

They needed the $35 million to keep their newspaper afloat. Tribune broadcasting has already gone out of business. I don't know about you but I don't want to sit on the toilet with my laptop. Recently, for a short while, Washington DC had no classical music stations. The college stations and gone all talk. Finally the local PBS radio station decided to go back to classical music & cancel their talk format. There is not enough greed profit in classical music anymore. So why have any? Nobody wants any of that old boring music. Better to have Rush Limbaugh.

Talking about people we love to hate
Ms. Remy Ann David

Classical music is taking it on chin in many ways.

More and more classical stations are changing formats. Attendance is down at many classical concerts. Lots of regional and local orchestras are going belly up.

There are lots of reasons this is happening but the main one is MONEY!

Locally I am not sure how long the Cleveland Orchestra can continue doing what it currently does due to rising costs. The Cleveland Opera is now down to presenting one or two operas a year. The Red Orchestra from Cleveland is no longer. More and more organizations have their hand out for donations. More and more of the older people that supported the arts in the past are dying off. Schools no longer have classical orchestras and now in many high schools the only musical ensemble is the marching band. Music appreciation is no longer offered in most schools. Young people are no longer exposed to classical music at an early age and many of the current generation would not know a good sounding concert/recording if their lives depended on it. This is truly the MP3 generation.

Music schools keep turning out more and more graduates for less and less jobs. The world does not need another 25 highly trained pianist but the local college turns out that number every year.

If you go to a classical concert at the local college you see students and retired people in the audience and not much in between. The local moms and pops are too busy trying to survive to take the time to attend. Even if they have the time most would not attend a classical concert because they do not have the desire to do so. Listening to classical music for many is a foreign concept. Most of the concerts presented are free and if it were not for the local Kendal retirement village most of the concerts would be under attended.

I am not sure where it will all go but I think the glory days (if there ever were any) for classical music are no longer.

The government in European countries contribute much to the arts. Here in the US the government does not. With the current economic downturn it is unlikely that the US government will start to subsidize the arts any time soon. Private individuals are not supporting the arts like they use to and companies are being asked by more and more not for profit groups for handouts. One local company recently said they would have to stop their contribution to the arts in Cleveland since there was only a finite amount of money and there were so many people that needed help and they have decided to contribute that money ONLY to the programs that feed and house the needy.

Hopefully we have reached the bottom of the downward economic spiral and it is only uphill from here. If people start to feel better they may have some more disposable income and will start to support the arts again.

Sorry about hear about WQXR and I hope it all works out for the best for everyone concerned.

Soon rap and hip hop will be considered "classical" and at that time, I'll vow never listen to classical again.

"many of the current generation would not know a good sounding concert/recording if their lives depended on it."

Indeed.

For those of you suffering withdrawal from your good classical station, tune in the biggest and the best. I work at WFMT Radio in Chicago.

Listen on line at:

http://www.wfmt.com

go there and press, "listen."

We still come up with the goods.

best from Chicago,
Plush

Would like to, but the "Listen Live" link doesn't seem to do anything, it doesn't load media player or play anything. :(

Hello David,

When you click "listen live" that should take you to a new page where you can select how you want to listen. There are several different codecs there such as WinAmp (the most recommended but only on PC), iTunes, Realplayer, Windows Media Player.

The Winamp stream is an AAC encoded higher bit rate stream appropriate for classical music.

WFMT has been for many years the largest classical radio station in America.
Most productions, most live productions, most syndication of orchestras and content, American outlet for EU broadcast events etc.

Many thanks Plush. It seems to be working now in Chrome. The Windows Media Player 48 Kbps sounds pretty bad though, lots of artifacts. The AAC+ is probably better, but I am too chicken to download yet another media player with its accompanying extras and hooks one can't get rid of. Listening to a nice solo piano recording played by George Bolet. A Decca recording no doubt.

"The AAC+ is probably better, but I am too chicken to download yet another media player with its accompanying extras and hooks one can't get rid of."

Wise.
You could try VLC media player which (if you download the runnable ZIP) won't install much, but that's not ideal.

BTW, 48kbps MP3 is OK for spoken word if you filter out so much information it sounds like a phone call.
The last time I listened to sub-64kbps encoded music my ears caught fire.