Well, it seems that the best way I can share my opinions on this is to reproduce the email I’ve just sent to the BBC.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am emailing with regard to the proposed closure of BBC 6 Music.
Before I continue, I should point out that I am not one of the knee-jerk ‘Save 6 Music’ brigade. While I think 6 Music is a great station, I think that its closure could be a good thing, provided it’s coupled with a review of the wider music offering on the BBC network.
The BBC’s funding mechanism means that income is not directly tied to audience figures, and thus it is uniquely placed in being able to offer innovative programming which would not find a home on commercial networks. When 6 Music started out, it was innovative and ground-breaking. Sadly – and I think this happened during Lesley Douglas’s time at the helm – 6 Music became increasingly mainstream, and found itself competing on ever-narrower ground with Radios 1 and 2 – and the commercial sector. When George Lamb was appointed to the mid-morning show, I stopped listening altogether.
My view is that music output at the BBC needs a complete shake-up. Radio 1 during the day, and Radio 2, do not offer very much music-wise that isn’t catered for by the commercial sector. But Radio 1 overnight has some excellent programming, such as Rob Da Bank. This – along with the contemporary world and jazz output on Radio 3 and the best bits of 6 Music – should be condensed down into a single radio station, covering all non-classical genres. To me, shows by Rob Da Bank, Giles Peterson, Late Junction, Guy Garvey and Craig Charles all share the same spiritual home. A network dedicated to the John Peel school of broadcasting: diverse, eclectic, exciting and pushing the boundaries.
So, if you put me in charge, here’s what I’d do. I’d create a new station, called simply “BBC Music”. Radio 1 would get the chop, as its daytime output is amply covered by the commercial sector, and its most innovative programming would be shifted to the new station. Radio 2 would be kept, but with increased emphasis on high-quality speech as well as music. Radio 3 would be kept, but its contemporary world and jazz programming would move to the new station. 6 Music would go, but again, its best programming would be moved to the new station.
The new station, BBC Music, would hire only specialists in their respective musical genres, and there would be no station-wide playlist. DJs would have completely free choice over their record selections.
This proposal would result in a net loss of one music station: but it would also make sure that none of the innovative shows on the network are left homeless.
Obviously, I realise you wouldn’t dare to close Radio 1, as I’m proposing here. But I implore you, before you pull the plug on 6 Music, to ask yourself whether the best use of licence fee-payers’ money is to mimic the commercial sector; or to offer something radically, and excitingly, different.
Yours faithfully,
Martin Grocock.