Anya Grundmann
Director/Executive Producer
National Public Radio
Twitter: @npranya
POWER MOVE: Shifted NPR from niche tastemaker to sales driver across genres
THE RUNDOWN: Want to see NPR’s power work in real time? Listen to its popular news programs like “Weekend Edition” or “All Things Considered” — whenever an artist is featured, hit “refresh” on his or her newest album’s Amazon page, and watch its rankings jump up the charts.
Such editorial prowess demonstrates just how NPR Music director/executive producer Anya Grundmann and her team work across the radio company’s platforms to share a deep appreciation of music with listeners. Whether it’s the increasingly popular album-preview show “First Listen,” stalwart programming like the Tiny Desk concerts or an expanded events series that secured 2012 streaming deals with New York venues Le Poisson Rouge, the Village Vanguard and Celebrate Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Bandshell, NPR Music delivers wider audiences than almost any of its peers. Maybe that’s why the New York Times, Pitchfork and Vice are racing to add their own album-streaming services and concert activations. The company is getting more diverse in the genres it covers, too, adding a 24/7 hip-hop channel and an alt-Latin radio channel in 2012 to broaden its offerings.
“Our audience has big ears,” Grundmann says, “and we have very powerful platforms for connecting people with music. We want to get better telling that story because it’s very powerful.” Look for NPR Music to create more interactive experiences between its audience and major artists, just as it did by organizing a “flash choir” to perform an original Philip Glass piece in New York’s Times Square last summer. “We loved that participatory work,” Grundmann says, “and we’re looking to commission another artist to do that again.”
