With the number outlets for underground creativity already at an upsetting low – especially as the copyright owners clamp down on pirate and internet radio - BBC London Live have decided to axe some of its most important and best loved specialist music shows in favour of a ‘talk radio’ format. The move marks the final nail in the coffin of the much loved GLR, the BBC’s London music station before they went the news and chat route last year. Ross Allen’s leftfield dance show and Ninja Tune’s eclectic Solid Steel show are amongst those to be cut in the latest chop. The last Solid Steel show has already passed – its last airing quietly passing last Monday night.
The move has caused uproar in the independent music community. While the BBC will point towards its Radio 1 specialist shows and digital stations 1Xtra and 6Music as representing a commitment to specialist music fans the former are, with one or two exceptions, well passed their sell by dates and becoming more mainstream each week, the latter are as yet pretty much inaccessible to most, and as such untested.
Talk radio in London is important – but with both Radio 4 and 5 having a heavy London bias – and the legendary LBC due a renaissance now it has a new enthusiastic owner, does the BBC really need to add another late night talk show into a cluttered arena. Surely the BBC would be better spending licence money by supplying the capital with music shows substantial enough to deserve an airing but not mainstream enough to be snapped up by one of the commercial outlets.
London radio, and specialist music radio, is weaker as a result of the latest decisions made at BBC London. If you, like me, would like to register your disappointment drop an email to [email protected] (and cc it to [email protected] who are leading a campaign against the move).
Polemic by Gill, Editor of CMU The Update
CMU Polemic will feature in the CMU Daily each Friday. If you have strong opinions about an issue affecting the music industry or music media and would like to air those opinions here get in touch – email details to [email protected]