Jazz, classical music hits the airwaves on 'CNJ'

Jazz, classical music hits the airwaves on 'CNJ'

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Don't be alarmed if one morning you wake up to Mozart's Sonata
for Violin and Piano in E Flat Major blasting from your stereo
with an unbelievably clear sound as if you fell asleep inside a
concert hall the night before.

It could happen if you set your dial on 99.9 MHz FM, the
wavelength of CNJ, a new radio station in town with only
classical music and jazz on its playlist.

To double listeners' pleasure in savoring classical and jazz
tunes, almost no advertisements -- not as we know them in the
traditional format -- are to be heard during the radio station's
24-hour broadcast.

To fill in the gap left by a number of radio stations with
only jazz or classical music on their playlist that have been
forced to disband or change their format, starting October last
year CNJ, which stands for Classical News and Jazz, broadcasts
two music genres considered to have the smallest audiences.

"Classical music makes up 40 percent of our playlist, while
the proportion for jazz is 60 percent. Only a small amount of our
broadcasting time will be devoted to brief news," CNJ programing
director Mohammad Ismed told The Jakarta Post during an interview
at the radio station's studio in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Ismet said that since the two fine musical genres demanded
meticulous listening, they therefore had to be broadcast in a way
that resembled actual classical music concerts or jazz
performances.

"To meet that end, we will soon upgrade our equipment in the
studio with an expensive state-of-the-art mixer imported from
Germany," Ismet said.

The purchase of the pricey equipment is part of a major
overhaul initiated by CNJ to build a reliable source of jazz and
classical music in the capital.

Recently, CNJ moved its transmitter, then 500 watts in power,
to the top of the Imperium tower in South Jakarta and optimized
its power to 10 kilowatts, which means wider coverage and better
sound.

To build a library of thousands of classical and jazz tunes,
CNJ has in the past year collected compact discs and meticulously
reproduced them using credible software available only to the
broadcasting industry.

Aware of the potential that advertisements have of disrupting
listeners' pleasure, CNJ has prepared variety of self-produced
ads disguised as regular announcements. "However, they are
designed so as not to disrupt listeners' enjoyment. Music is our
core," CNJ music director Indrawan said.

As for the news, it takes the form of periodical news
briefings that update listeners on important matters.

With all the effort, CNJ has drawn a number of loyal listeners
who keep flooding the radio station with new ideas on how it
should be run. "One caller told us that Mozart should not be
played in the morning," Indrawan said with a chuckle.

Although the number of jazz and classical music fans is small,
which also means a small market niche for advertisers, CNJ owners
believe that the radio station can generate a handsome revenue.

CNJ general manager Benny Sofwan Effendi said that his radio
station targeted mature and affluent listeners in the 30 to 50
age group. "Our listeners are those who hold the key to how
corporate money should be spent for ads," he said.