The Current: Local Shows, Streams, and Current Studios

The Current brings listeners the best authentic new music alongside the music that inspired it, from local to legendary, indie to influential, new to nostalgic. We see our role as driving the local music ecosystem by discovering new, supporting emerging, and honoring the legacy of Minnesota artists. Legacy-funded work highlights Minnesota artists through broadcast, digital, and live-streamed experiences. Minnesota musicians are hired for in-person and virtual events. All of work seeks to embrace the diversity of talent in Minnesota with a desire to connect audiences with artists of multiple backgrounds.

The Current's Minnesota-focused programming includes:

- The Local Shows: The Current's Local Shows are specialty programs focused on Minnesota music from across our State. The Current's Local Show offers to 2 hours of programming on Sunday evenings alongside social media channels and digital content. In addition, The Current has expanded its commitment to hosting Minnesota music on our airwaves across the region with The Duluth Local Show, a 1 hour local program focused on the Duluth music community, which began airing statewide starting in July 2020.

The Local Shows help local artists reach a statewide network because we air The Local Show and Duluth Local Show across our signals in Minnesota. By playing artists who would not otherwise be heard on the radio and by reaching out to new communities who are not commonly included in our Triple A format, The Current is helping to elevate underserved communities.

- The Current Streams: The Current's portfolio of streams provides uniquely curated playlists for music fans across Minnesota. Local Current provides audiences with a dedicated source for celebrating and discovering music from Minnesota 24/7. Purple Current is a musical exploration of the musical legacy of Prince, one of Minnesota's most iconic artists. Purple Current has been evolving into a platform for new local talent and a destination for celebrating the musical diversity of Minnesota through digital channels such as social media and Purple Current's weekly newsletter. Radio Heartland focuses on the roots of Folk and Americana and makes the connection between that tradition and musicians across our state. Radio Heartland has expanded to 89.3FM with a weekly radio program that includes new and emerging local talent.

The aim of providing music playlists and streams beyond our core playlist is to reach communities who are not being served by other media (commercial or public) with a more diverse playlist than what you would hear on a non-commercial Triple A station.

- The Current Studios: The Current Studios (working title) is a new venture from The Current to transform our service to the local arts community across the State. It's a production unit within The Current that works across platforms and media to co-create content with musicians and music fans and greatly increase the local content put out by The Current. This unit will become the primary driver of making our music community a more inclusive space for all of Minnesotans by expanding our programming beyond the airwaves. The production unit will be responsible for creating digital content across all of our channels that amplifies Minnesota music.

The Current Studios will continue to produce popular Current programs, such The Current Rewind podcast, LineCheck, Sounds Like Home, but it will also license artist-created podcasts and co-create programming with artists.

Digital channels and platforms will enable The Current to better collaborate with artists and arts organizations across Minnesota through with our regional network. Taking the lessons from a year of social distancing, we have an opportunity to reimagine what audience engagement can be. By creating a production unit that has the flexibility to meet audiences where they are, no matter the platform, The Current will be better situated to produce content that meets the needs of underserved communities, including communities of color and rural communities.