Patricia Price is bang on the nail when she finishess her post thus:

>No one will ever convince me that listening to a station that relies
>on the "Top 40, 100 or whatever" is a better way of learning about the
>richness of classical music.

Someone else mentioned classical FM in the UK.  For me the efficacy of
this station in bringing newcomers to classical music is unproven.  For
those not familiar with the station, they play bits and pieces (hits) from
here there and everywhere.  For instance one can hear bizzare things like
the second movement of Beethoven's third piano concerto played in isolation
and proptly followed by an advert for a collection of "Thegreatest
classical music - ever" on 10 cds.

My guess is that this approach will attract transients.  These are the same
people who will buy a CD because the music is featured in an advert.  Then
they will drift away back to MOR and POP.  They will never develop a deep
affection for classical music or gain an understanding of what it is that
embodies a profound work.

In response to Classic FM the BBC's Radio Three has been accused of
'dumbing down' its schedule to attract listeners.  At one stage they even
had a disasterous experiment with Paul Gambocheani (spelling?) as a
presenter.  (Paul is better known as a pop DJ)

These approaches are doing more harm than good to classical music in my
opinion.  Although, you may have gathered from my other post that I would
like it to become music of the people, this can only be achieved by a
combination of measures.  Included in these would be better education in
schools and a more responsible approach by politicians and broadcasters.
But, mainly the classical world needs to reform itself to become more
approachable.

It is interesting that the music of Philip Glass has many parallels with
music from bands like Pink Floyd.  But the image of classical music
prevents Glass becomming a million seller.

There is the nub of the problem.

Bob Draper