Media Top Stories

Save 6: People saying stuff

By | Published on Tuesday 6 July 2010

Whatever the reason for 6music being saved, music people were happy yesterday. Though some shared the aforementioned opinion that there was still a risk the axe could reappear above 6 in the future, and warned the Beeb they’d be ready to continue the fight should that happen.

Geoff Taylor, top man at record label trade body the BPI, said: “We are delighted that the BBC Trust agreed that the case for closing 6music was unconvincing. The Trust’s initial findings support our case that 6music makes a unique contribution to the UK’s cultural. We’ll be watching carefully to ensure the Executive’s review of the BBC’s digital radio strategy is not used as cover for a further attempt to close the station”.

Over at UK Music, your main man Feargal Sharkey said: “UK Music is delighted by today’s announcement by the BBC Trust that the case has not been made for the closure of BBC 6music. However, it does not represent a total reprieve – the Sword of Damocles has only been put on ice. We would still urge Mark Thompson and the BBC Executive to acknowledge the Trust’s conclusions, to recognise 6music’s unique role in supporting this country’s musical talent and to commit to the station’s long term future. We were also surprised by, but welcome, the Trust’s commitment to conducting a broad ranging and far reaching review of digital radio, and look forward to inputting into that process in the coming months”.

Speaking for the indie community, Simon Raymonde of Bella Union and a board member of the Association Of Independent Music said: “To all those thousands of people who wrote letters, signed petitions and joined protests, to the members of the Trust, we must say that today is a victory for common sense, or as Cat Stevens more eloquently once said, ‘I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I’m an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after”.

Stephen Navin of the Music Publishers Association said: “The decision to save 6music will be particularly welcomed by those young up and coming bands and songwriters to whom the station has been so important. 6music has provided an invaluable platform for new and independent music. The Trust is absolutely right to highlight in its interim conclusions the vital importance of maintaining the type of distinctive content which is currently available uniquely on 6music. The Trust makes specific mention of the fantastic show of public support for 6music that we have seen since the plans were announced. Each and every music fan who replied to the consultation, or tuned their digital radio to 6music, should rejoice in the knowledge that their voice has been heard”.

Steve Levine of the Music Producers Guild added: “The reprieve of 6music is fantastic news. By championing talent and originality, 6music provides the perfect antidote to the bland outpourings of so much of today’s media. We need stations like this and are delighted that the BBC Trust has rejected plans to close it”.

Georgina Rodgers, one of the people behind the Save 6 protests, told reporters: “The fans of BBC 6music welcome the BBC Trust’s announcement. But we have only won the battle, and not the war, and we will be continuing our dialogue with the BBC Executive and the BBC Trust. It is clear that the BBC Trust recognises that 6music is a distinctive and culturally valuable station that fulfils the BBC’s remit of high quality programming, and we want to build on that, in the context of the wider review of the future digital radio”.

And finally, the Trust’s response to the Beeb’s strategic review was also welcomed by RadioCentre, the trade body for much of the commercial radio sector. Their top man Andrew Harrison said: “We welcome the interim report from the BBC Trust, and in particular its emphasis on distinctiveness and value for money, as the next step in the process to review the future size and shape of the BBC”.

He continued: “In our response to the BBC Strategy Review, we highlighted the importance of delivering more public value on BBC Radio’s popular music services and the critical need for a much clearer commitment to radio’s digital future from the BBC. We are pleased, therefore, that the BBC Trust has mandated BBC management to deliver greater distinctiveness on Radio 1 and Radio 2, and welcome its call to draw up an overarching strategy for digital radio with the commercial sector”.



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