At a preeminent noncommercial Triple A gathering, stations focused on the urgent steps that can be taken to protect public media's unique blend of music, culture, and community service.
This blog was originally published by the noncomMUSIC Alliance. The noncomMUSIC Alliance celebrates public radio's role in connecting musicians, performers, and artists with the audiences who enjoy and support their music. Learn more at noncommusic.org.
As with past years, the 2025 NON-COMMvention offered a chance for public media to gather, reconnect, and celebrate their shared commitment to music and community. Over three lively days and nights hosted by WXPN at World Cafe Live, the vibrant atmosphere was often accented by smaller comments and conversations between panels and performances with an undercurrent of unease — an urgency to address the elephant in the room.
Marta McLellan Ross, NPR's Senior Vice President for Government and External Affairs, took the stage to finally give voice to the questions and concerns spreading across the event. Her sobering yet galvanizing talk on the looming threats to federal funding resonated deeply with attendees — music programmers, promoters, station managers, and passionate supporters alike — who had come to strategize at one of the public radio industry's most anticipated events.
Ross did not shy away from outlining the seriousness of the moment: Public media faces a series of unprecedented threats, including proposed budget cuts and possible rescission of funds already allocated. The intricate funding ecosystem of public media, often invisible to casual listeners, hinges significantly on federal support administered through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
CPB's crucial role extends far beyond simple grant-making — it also negotiates blanket music licenses essential for noncommercial stations, significantly reducing costs and complexity for individual stations. Without federal support, Ross emphasized, stations would face substantial financial burdens, potentially crippling their ability to continue serving local communities.
Taking Action
While Ross outlined the stark realities, she made clear her intent wasn't to dwell on distress. Instead, she focused sharply on the unique opportunities for action and mobilization within the public media community. Ross emphasized the steps and actions attendees and listeners nationwide can take, including through the advocacy initiative Protect My Public Media.
She encouraged stations and individuals to sign up as advocates with Protect My Public Media, urging them to message or directly call their lawmakers, as well as share personal, community-specific stories illustrating the tangible impact of public media funding and groundswell of support committed to preserving noncommercial media.
Funding Structure and Threats
Public radio's financial model, Ross pointed out, is predicated on leveraging the public's investment through federal dollars to attract additional local private support. Every federal dollar received helps generate approximately seven dollars in local fundraising, creating a ripple effect crucial for many stations, especially those serving rural or underserved communities where resources are fewer and dependence on federal funds is greater.
Ross's words underscored the complexity and precariousness of the current funding structure. Public media uniquely benefits from a two-year advance federal appropriation, a safeguard established by Congress against disruption of service or political influence, allowing stations to plan with a modicum of fiscal certainty. However, recent developments, including a possible proposed rescission — essentially a government claw-back of these pre-approved funds — have shaken the financial foundation of the public media system.
Music Accessibility
Ross also discussed the broader cultural implications of these funding threats, notably highlighting the fundamental role public radio stations play in democratizing access to music. Non-commercial stations offer music and programming freely accessible to all, irrespective of income or location, counterbalancing paid streaming services and thus maintaining music as a public good rather than a commodity.
Drawing attention to the stakes, Ross noted an often-overlooked dimension of CPB's role in offering that music to the public: music licensing. Without CPB's blanket licensing agreements, stations would have to individually negotiate music rights — a daunting and prohibitively expensive undertaking. The elimination of such centralized licensing could lead to a dramatic scaling back or even cessation of music programming. This could have a particularly devastating impact on classical music, of which public media broadcasts an overwhelming 96% of nationwide. Such a widespread and accessible music discovery not only enriches communities but is also fundamental to preserving and nurturing America's diverse musical heritage.
The Road Ahead
Alongside moderator Roger LaMay, general manager of WXPN, other panelists followed up on Ross's presentation and underscored her points. Chuck Singleton, general manager at WFUV, explained how stations are ramping up listener education about the critical nature of federal funding, even as they manage listener fatigue around repeated calls to action. Chris Kellogg, Chief Program Officer at KEXP, echoed the importance of strategic, steady messaging that highlights community impact rather than crisis alone. Hillary Gordon, The SoCal Sound's director of marketing promotion and engagement noted that even the complexity of aligning to station standards is made easy when using the resources of the noncomMUSIC Alliance and Protect My Public Media.
Ross urged station leaders to adopt year-round, proactive engagement strategies with their lawmakers. Through invitations to community events, station tours, and consistent communication about local impacts, stations can build deeper lawmaker understanding of their service and support. Ross stressed the importance of the nonpartisan value of public media, essential for maintaining the bipartisan support of Congress.
The response from attendees was notably energetic, reflecting a communal resolve to harness the moment. Suggestions ranged from leveraging heightened public awareness created by the funding threats to engaging listeners as advocates, amplifying messages of public media's integral role in community infrastructure, from emergency communications to local economic and cultural enrichment.
Ross concluded with a forward-looking reminder about Public Radio Music Day, set for October 29, 2025. She encouraged broad participation, emphasizing the event's role in demonstrating the collective power and cultural significance of public media music stations nationwide, bringing people together across regions and within neighborhoods.
Ultimately, Ross's presence at the 2025 NON-COMMvention amplified the urgency everyone in the room was reckoning with but also illuminated a path forward. The collective message was clear: the survival and growth of public media depend on immediate, consistent, and strategic engagement from all corners of the community. Stations, listeners, and industry allies alike have a pivotal role to play in creating and safeguarding the diverse, vibrant, and essential music ecosystem of public radio — a cornerstone of America's rich and varied music legacy.
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