Classical Stations
Here we go then, the classy end of the market, with a three way battle between the big guns… the BBC’s Radio 3, Global’s Classic FM and the more recent upstart from Bauer in 2019, Scala Radio, which has now become Magic Classical from September 2024.
Interesting to see that Global even adopt their usual comparatively small playlist policy to their Classical station, just playing the most popular pieces, (albeit about 1000 more than they do on most of their pop stations!).
The new kids on the block, Bauer’s Magic Classical (Scala), have definitely decided to park their tanks on the BBC Lawns and even beat Radio 3 on the number of distinct pieces played, even if they do tend to play more slightly shorter pieces, like Classic FM, and start off playing even MORE variety than Radio 3, though it does start to tail off slightly after about 10 days to 2 weeks, but it never drops as far as Classic FM which is bumping along the bottom after 3 weeks.
Analysis: 41 days, up to 13-06-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6727
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 6346
Variety factor for this station is : 94.3%
50% OF PLAYS is 2983 Songs (47% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 1862 MOST played songs (29.3% of the total)
or 2242 LEAST played songs (35.3% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 6d 20h
10th most played song airs every: 10d 6h
1862nd most played song only played once
2983rd most played song only played once
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 6343 (99.9%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
118 after 31 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 4734
..in 3 months: 13098, in 6 months: 24085
..in 9 months: 33683, in 12 months: 41987
Top 10 Most Played:
1= [6 plays] each for…
+ Aileen Sweeney – Views from the M9
+ Hania Rani – Nostalgia
+ Rakhi Singh – There is nothing in the sky
4= [5 plays] each for…
+ Anselm McDonnell – A Taste of Trapped Sun
+ Claude Debussy – Prelude l’apres-midi d’un faune
6= [4 plays] each for…
+ Caroline Shaw – And the swallow
+ Claude Debussy – En bateau (Petite suite)
+ Francisco Tarrega – Recuerdos de la Alhambra
+ Joseph Haydn – Trumpet Concerto in E flat major, H.7e.1 (1st mvt)
+ Ralph Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Analysis: 25 days, up to 13-06-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5566
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1508
Variety factor for this station is : 27%
50% OF PLAYS is 271 Songs (17.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 154 MOST played songs (10.2% of the total)
or 1060 LEAST played songs (70.2% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 7h 34m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 11h 17m
154th most played song airs every: 2d 18h 40m
271st most played song airs every: 3d 13h 42m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 1177 (78%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
9 after 20 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1618
..in 3 months: 2278, in 6 months: 3037
..in 9 months: 3496, in 12 months: 3843
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [19 plays] Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite No.1 (1)
2= [18 plays] each for…
+ Dmitri Shostakovich – Piano Concerto No.2 in F major Opus 102 (2)
+ Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D major
+ Johann Sebastian Bach – Cello Suite No.1 in G major (1)
+ Johann Sebastian Bach – Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major BWV.1068 (2)
+ Jules Massenet – Thais – meditation
+ Karl Jenkins – Palladio (1)
8= [17 plays] each for…
+ Frederick Delius – Florida Suite (2)
+ Gabriel Faure – Pavane opus 50
+ John Barry – Dances with Wolves – John Dunbar Theme
+ Karl Jenkins – The Armed Man – Benedictus
Analysis: 24 days, up to 13-06-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6671
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 4012
Variety factor for this station is : 60.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 1054 Songs (26.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 538 MOST played songs (13.4% of the total)
or 2224 LEAST played songs (55.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 2d 4h 21m
10th most played song airs every: 2d 16h
538th most played song airs every: 8d 0h
1054th most played song airs every: 12d 0h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 3932 (98%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
93 after 23 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 4422
..in 3 months: 6910, in 6 months: 8757
..in 9 months: 10044, in 12 months: 14154
Top 11 Most Played:
1= [11 plays] each for…
+ Joshua Rifkin – Scott Joplin – Maple Leaf Rag
+ Royal Scottish National Orchestra, John Debney – Delibes – Les Chasseresses
+ Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Valery Gergiev – Strauss Ii – Voices Of Spring
4= [9 plays] each for…
+ Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Anna Lapwood – Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon
+ Frigg – Esko Jarvela – Early Bird
+ Gaston Litaize, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim – Saint-saens – Symphony #3 , 2nd Mvt – Part 2
+ Joseph Calleja, Etienne Dupuis, Malta Philharmonic Orchesta, Sergey Smbatyan – Bizet – Pearl Fishers Duet
+ London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Skeet – Koji Kondo – Legend of Zelda: Suite
+ Luciano Pavarotti, Orchestra of the Municipal Theatre of Bologna, Richard Bonynge – Rossini – La Danza
+ Ludovico Einaudi – Ludovico Einaudi – The Days
+ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra – Vaughan Williams – Fantasia On Greensleeves
We’re monitoring all the most important UK radio stations 24-7, so if you’d like the full “chapter and verse” on what they’ve all been playing, and the full month most played songs lists, then we can provide them – We’ve even got some data going back to 2008!! Our charges start at just £12 (exc VAT) for one station, so that’s a FULL LISTING of every song or classical piece a station has played, with dates and times, plus a stats package with the full “most played” chart for the month listing EVERY song they’ve played and how many times, ranked from most played to least… so if they’ve played 3174 different songs, that’ll be a 1 to 3174 chart!
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