Top Pop and Country Music Stars Answer the Question "Why Music?" in PSA Series Produced by MENC: The National Association for Music Education

RESTON, VA May 6, 2004 -– MENC: The National Association for Music Education reports that its annual radio public service announcements series released to coincide with the year's biggest celebration of music education, Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM®), in March, recorded its largest numbers yet in terms of airplay and listeners in 2004. This series, Why Music?, features top country, pop, jazz, and classical musicians talking about the value and importance of music education. Compact discs of the pop and country versions of the series were distributed to more than 1000 adult contemporary stations, more than 1000 country stations, and 30 radio networks. Support for the series was provided by Gibson Guitar and Baldwin Piano, both of which were founded by music educators.

MENC's broadcast usage report, based on phone follow up to 10% of the target stations, projects more than 4.22 billion gross impressions. (MENC's previous MIOSM series, aired in March 2003, projected 3.71 billion gross impressions.) 32% of the target stations reported airing the PSAs. Highlights of the report include verification that the Associated Press National Network, Radio Disney, Soldiers Radio & TV Network, and XM Satellite Radio, aired the series.

New artists joining the lineup for MIOSM 2004 were: Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish, country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson, the legendary Dick Clark, Coca-Cola New Music Award winners the Bomb Squad, singer/guitarist Richard Thompson and violin virtuoso Joshua Bell. Returning artists included Gloria Estefan, Vanessa Williams, Roger McGuinn, Lee Ann Womack, Faith Hill, Travis Tritt, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tim McGraw, Sara Evans, Chely Wright, and Vince Gill. Each PSA is sixty seconds long and features an artist talking about the importance of music education for today's youth or a personal experience he or she had with music in school. (A complete list of artists participating in the series can be found at www.menc.org/information/advocate/psa.html.)

The PSAs are part of MENC's unceasing efforts to keep music programs strong in America's schools. "MENC's mission is to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by everyone," says John J. Mahlmann, MENC's executive director. "We believe that the celebrity messages significantly raise the public's awareness of the positive effect music education has on kids." MENC's previous MIOSM series, aired in March 2003, generated more than 3.71 billion gross impressions. "Music is intrinsically valuable on its own, of course," continues Mahlmann, "but it doesn't hurt, at a time when school budgets are so tight, to spread the word about the ways learning it can be beneficial to students. For instance, research seems to indicate that learning music can improve SAT scores, increase spatial I.Q., and decrease disciplinary problems."

"When a successful musician – who is a role model or a hero – tells a kid that music education is a good thing, no further proof is necessary," says Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar and Baldwin Piano. "At Gibson we're sold on the value of music education, and we're happy to help spread the word in the most effective way possible."

MENC releases Why Music? twice a year — in March to coincide with Music In Our Schools Month, and in September as children head "Back to School." The most recent "Back to School" PSAs, sent to 2000 radio stations and networks, projected more than 1.34 billion gross impressions over two weeks in September 2003.

Why Music? has been the recipient of several prestigious communications awards, including the Communications Concepts 2003 Apex Award for Publication Excellence, League of American Communications Professionals 2002 Magellan Awards Publicity Campaign Competition Bronze Award for Community Relations, and The Communicator Awards 2002 Audio Competition Crystal Award of Excellence. In addition, MENC was awarded Honorable Mention in the PR News 2002 Platinum PR Awards for PSA Campaign, and the 2001 Bronze Anvil Award for Best Radio Public Service Announcement by the Public Relations Society of America. Most recently, the campaign was awarded "honors" in the public service announcements category by the 2003 Mercury Awards, an international competition honoring outstanding achievement in professional communications.

Wolf Trap, America's National Park for the Performing Arts (www.wolftrap.org), located in Vienna, VA, facilitated the participation of Darius Rucker in the March 2004 "Music In Our Schools Month" edition. For more information on this series, or for an MENC press kit, please contact Elizabeth Lasko at MENC, 703-860-4000, or by e-mail at elizabethl@menc.org.

For more information, call 1-800-336-3768, or visit www.menc.org.

MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the world's largest arts education organization, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. More than 100,000 members represent all levels of teaching from preschool to graduate school. Since 1907, MENC has worked to ensure that every student has access to a well-balanced, comprehensive, and high-quality program of music instruction taught by qualified teachers. MENC's activities and resources have been largely responsible for the establishment of music education as a profession, for the promotion and guidance of music study as an integral part of the school curriculum, and for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education.




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