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: 36 days, up to 13-03-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5468
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 5187
Variety factor for this station is : 94.8%
50% OF PLAYS is 2454 Songs (47.3% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 1542 MOST played songs (29.7% of the total)
or 1823 LEAST played songs (35.1% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 4d 12h
10th most played song airs every: 9d 0h
1542nd most played song only played once
2454th most played song only played once
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 5185 (99.9%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
122 after 14 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 4330
..in 3 months: 12814, in 6 months: 24069
..in 9 months: 33217, in 12 months: 41484
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [8 plays] Jasdeep Singh Degun – Abbha
2 [7 plays] Arowah – In this World of War, Peace is What We’re Fighting For
3= [5 plays] each for…
+ Erland Cooper – Birds of Paradise
+ Erland Cooper – Erland Cooper: Birds of Paradise
+ Maurice Ravel – Jeux d’eau
6= [4 plays] each for…
+ Alexander Borodin – In the Steppes of Central Asia
+ Arvo P¤rt – Spiegel im Spiegel
+ Claude Debussy – Prelude l’apres-midi d’un faune
+ George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
+ Lili Boulanger – Nocturne
Analysis: 27 days, up to 13-03-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5640
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1472
Variety factor for this station is : 26%
50% OF PLAYS is 260 Songs (17.6% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 145 MOST played songs (9.8% of the total)
or 1031 LEAST played songs (70% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 1d 1h 55m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 8h 24m
145th most played song airs every: 2d 16h 48m
260th most played song airs every: 3d 20h 34m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 1148 (77.9%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
5 after 26 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1513
..in 3 months: 2313, in 6 months: 2863
..in 9 months: 3271, in 12 months: 3653
Top 12 Most Played:
1 [25 plays] Pietro Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana – Intermezzo
2= [23 plays] each for…
+ Edward Elgar – Variations on an Original Theme Opus 36 (9)
+ Johann Pachelbel – Canon in D major
+ Jules Massenet – Thais – meditation
5 [22 plays] Ennio Morricone – Gabriel’s Oboe
6= [21 plays] each for…
+ Claude Debussy – Suite Bergamasque (3)
+ Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite No.1 (1)
+ Gabriel Faure – Pavane opus 50
9= [20 plays] each for…
+ Camille Saint-Saens – Carnival of the Animals (7)
+ George Frideric Handel – Sarabande
+ Johann Sebastian Bach – Cello Suite No.1 in G major (1)
+ John Barry – Dances with Wolves – John Dunbar Theme
Analysis: 26 days, up to 14-03-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5041
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 3259
Variety factor for this station is : 64.6%
50% OF PLAYS is 867 Songs (26.6% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 447 MOST played songs (13.7% of the total)
or 1680 LEAST played songs (51.5% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 2d 14h 24m
10th most played song airs every: 2d 21h 20m
447th most played song airs every: 13d 0h
867th most played song airs every: 13d 0h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 3202 (98.2%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
76 after 23 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 3558
..in 3 months: 6657, in 6 months: 8844
..in 9 months: 13465, in 12 months: 15465
Top 11 Most Played:
1= [10 plays] each for…
+ Anne Dudley – Anne Dudley – Crossing the Bar
+ Manchester Collective – Giovanni Sollima- Igiul
+ Royal Scottish National Orchestra, John Debney – Delibes – Les Chasseresses
4= [9 plays] each for…
+ Avawaves – AVAWAVES – Before We Wake
+ Benedict Moriarty, Oliver Davis – Oliver Davis – Sun Stands Still
+ Frigg – Esko Jarvela – Early Bird
+ Hiromi, Tatsuo Nishie, Sohei Birmann, Meguna Naka, Wataru Mukai – Hiromi – Ribera Del Duero
+ Joshua Rifkin – Scott Joplin – Maple Leaf Rag
+ Lucienne Renaudin Vary (Tpt) ft. Bbc Concert Orchestra ft. Bill Elliott (Cond) – Delibes – Les Filles De Cadix
+ Nash Ensemble – Debussy – Prelude l’apres-midi d’un faune
+ Simon Bolivar Orchestra Of Venezuela, Gustavo Dudamel – Arturo Marquez – Conga Del Fuego Nuevo
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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