About DRACE

DRACE is an international research group comprising communication scholars and radio professionals in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Our original research builds on initial studies of the use of websites in radio and the evolution of DAB as a digital platform, to a wider consideration of the emerging technological landscapes of radio and overall patterns of access and participation in the digital environment.

From our meeting in Leeds in March 2008. From left to right: Marko Ala-Fossi, Brian O'Neill, Helen Shaw, Per Jauert, Stephen Lax and Lars Nyre.

The research conducted by DRACE has included extensive cross-national foresight studies, contemporary policy and market analysis and historical studies of the emergence of digital and online radio from the 1980s on. Extensive interviews have been carried out with industry professionals in Europe and North America about journalistic/editorial strategy, business models, and commercial and public service in the digital environment.

DRACE members have also conducted qualitative audience research, focus groups and surveys in several European countries exploring the reception of digital radio platforms and the cultures and contexts in which they are used. Results across the different individual research projects have largely been set in a comparative perspective through examination of the contexts for digital radio countries such as the UK, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Norway.