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Links for 10 March 2010

Published on 10 March 2010 in , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the BBC Radio 6music news….

  • Spare 6 Music for us indie dads – The Guardian

    "The BBC says it has to show that the era of expansion is over. But closing 6 Music is hardly going to stop Sky and ITV from complaining." James Purnell MP, former Culture Secretary and (soon to be former) MP for Stalybridge and Hyde (up the Tameside Massive!) wades in to the debate.

  • An open letter to BBC Director General Mark Thompson from MW editor Paul Williams – Music Week

    "Although we would agree the commercial sector is not in the fortunate position to finance a station like 6 in the way the BBC can do presently, it is also true the musical make-up of 6, in championing a range of acts that at least initially do not have mass-market appeal, does not make such a station commercially attractive to launch. But that is why we have public service broadcasting and why only the BBC can make a station like 6 properly work." Music Week wades in.

  • Some Thoughts On The Demise Of BBC 6 Music – Carnival Saloon

    "The BBC are unwilling to try to increase 6 Music's reach because they believe commercial radio will well serve its average audience. Really? On page 56 the report states, 'it is clear that commercial radio effectively delivers mainstream popular music broadcasting to younger and middle-aged adults. This audience is commercially attractive and the BBC’s digital services in this space (for instance, Radio 6 Music) do not currently deliver significant enough public value to justify their intervention.' But which commercial stations are going to step up and fill the void left by 6? Certainly none of them do so at present." Nigel Smith wades in too. You probably don't know him. He works for the BBC in Audio and Music and is a thoroughly nice dude.

  • 6Music – Going Deaf for a Living

    "On a personal level, I believe that shutting 6music would be disastrous for the British music scene – and alternative music from further a field too. There is so much music being played every week on Six that simply doesn’t get played anywhere else, that losing it would be unthinkable. […] The cultural hole it would leave if scrapped, would have terrible repercussions for everyone from small promoters to indie labels to bands and to music fans of all ages. We’d be denying people the chance to hear music which could – even in just a few cases – alter their life, as listening to John Peel changed mine." Steve Lamaq wades in also.

  • BBC chief: 6 Music listeners ‘at heart of commercial radio demographic’ – guardian.co.uk

    "'The average age of its listeners – 37 – is at the heart of the demographic targeted by commercial radio', she told delegates at a Westminster Media Forum event." And Caroline Thomson, BBC COO wades in (with the party line). So 6music listeners, off to Heart and Magic with you!

  • Popjustice – Another quick thing about BBC radio then we’ll be quiet

    "You have to admire the spunk of someone who can stand up in front of media execs and claim with a straight face that someone who currently spends all day listening to Broken Bells, Vampire Weekend and French Horn Rebellion (all of whom, we feel compelled to point out here, are shit) on 6 Music will in any way be well catered for by the commercial sector, but let's be serious here: 6 Music's listeners will be no better served by the commercial sector than a man with no arms would be by a lifetime's supply of mittens." And finally Popjustice say what perhaps many are thinking about Ms Thomson’s comments. But in a better way that some could.

In other news…