ANDREW TRENDELL tells you why and how you should save our beloved 6 Music. Heaven help us all. Times are hard, and funds are low. This very magazine has suffered the asphyxiation of tightening purse strings, and now similar measures threaten this country’s finest radio station. The proposed closure of 6 Music, along with its sister digital station the Asian Network, was confirmed by the BBC yesterday (Tuesday, March 2nd) as part of a wide-ranging strategy review by its director general, Mark Thompson.
However, the BBC are now voicing fears of public uproar and are suggesting that such drastic measures need not be taken. Heathens are trying to justify the cuts in favour of quality rather than quantity, which of course, is bollocks.
Despite what the mid-afternoon dirge of Radio 1 may have lead you to believe, British music still has integrity. You won’t find it with Chris Moyles chatting about his bowels before he plays you the Kaiser Chiefs, nor will you find it with Ferne Cotton telling you about the latest ‘BANGIN CHOON’ from Scouting For Girls or The Pussycat Dolls. I don’t know about you, but I’d feel quite uneasy about my money being squandered on filling the airwaves with Ferne Cotton’s mindless shit-chat whilst the sweet Northern tones and unparallelled cultural wisdom of Lauren Laverne go unheard.
BBC 6Music has given a platform to British independant and unsigned music, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the glory days of John Peel. By giving control of the mic to the likes of Lauren Laverne, Guy Garvey, Jarvis Cockey, Craig Charles, Adam and Joe, Bruce Dickinson and Stuart MaConie, 6Music has married articulate and informed discussion with the best in real and original music; from left-field hidden gems and genre-bending moments of brilliance to cutting-edge independant anthems and timeless soulful classics. Make no mistake – without 6Music, the artist and the music lover will suffer.
But fear not – all is not lost just yet. The BBC is YOUR network, funded by YOUR licence fee. The proposals have gone to the BBC Trust and they now have to go to a public consultation.
Here are just a few things you can do to fight injustice:
- Go to the BBC Trust site and read the proposals
- Take part in the public consultation
- Directly email the Strategic Review Consultation: srconsultation@bbc.co.uk
- Email Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC: markthompsonandpa@bbc.co.uk
- Sign this petition
- There is a Facebook group
Thank you for your time and please pass this information on to anyone else you feel may be interested.
If you care about real music, made by real people, then please do something. Ask yourself what the BBC can do for you, and what you can do for new British music.
Andrew Trendell
FIGHT!
