Online Radio and the Promotion of Art Music in Nigeria.

Abstract:

Online radio is the distribution of audio broadcasts over the internet, meaning that the radio signal is not transmitted through the conventional terrestrial AM or FM, but streamed via the internet. The broadcast can be a pre-recorded MP3 files or live, via a microphone broadcasts streamed over the internet. Just like any terrestrial radio, online radio broadcasts news, plays music of all genres and presents a number of programmes in diverse areas, including educational, cultural, religious, political, informational, entertainment shows etc. Art music is seen as school music, a product of inspiration structured by intellectual prowess with varied content. In recent time, there has been an increase in the use of online radio for the popularization and sustenance of art music broadcast which is now the focus of this research. It looks at an art music radio show titled Let Music Reign anchored by Ayokunmi OlaOluwa on Stride Radio which is an online/internet radio broadcasting station located in Ibadan, Oyo state, Southwest Nigeria. It looks at the concept and medium of online radio broadcasting which is digital based, how it helps in the promotion of art music and checks the content of the music show. The study is an etic research which applies library, netography and participant-observation methods for its data collection and interpretations. The paper concludes that online radio as an offspring of digital development is a viable medium of promoting art music across the globe.