6 Music could be saved

[sidewinder]

Where will Jon Richardson go if they scrap 6Music? He's brilliant!

 

Agreed

 

You've not listened to Scott Mills or Chris Moyles then, or Greg James for that matter. All brilliant shows.

 

Disagreed

[Edu-IT]

Ah, Radio 1 is slowly becoming the RM of EduGeek. Lets move on.

[Dos_Box]

If you've not listed to 6 Music before, you can listen live here: BBC - Homepage and click on 6 music, Listen Live. Lauren Laverne is on ATM, and she plays some really good stuff.

[Dos_Box]

I also think that one reason that many have never heard of it (apart from the lack of promotion from the Beeb) is that almosty everyone who listed to it was so happy with teh way it was run they didn't have anything to complain about (apart from the awful George Lamb, but he's gone now), so it never really got noticed outside of it's listeners.

[sidewinder]

Anyway, 6Music must stay. It costs a pittance compared to other BBC stations and fulfills a niche that critically, no commercial offering can replicate.

 

Its the only place to hear a genuinely eclectic variety of music, ok they have a playlist like every other station but DJ's are allowed to play a lot more of whatever the hell they want than R1 and commercial competitors. And that makes it brilliant for anyone who likes to discover new and old music.

 

Nothing against R2 but it just doesnt cut it, its clearly aimed at a slightly older listener (and R1 at a slightly younger one) and unless it was changed substantially (which would understandably p*** off its own loyal listeners) it could never hope to be anything like 6music

Edited March 20, 2010 by witch

[localzuk]

How come you all listen to radio at all?! Surely Spotify/Last.fm etc should provide plenty of music? I've not listened to radio for about 7 years!

[sidewinder]

How come you all listen to radio at all?! Surely Spotify/Last.fm etc should provide plenty of music? I've not listened to radio for about 7 years!

 

Because I dont want to listen to a PC in the mornings! Ive got an old DAB alarm clock so 6Music is perfect

I do use last.fm a lot but I do like listening to presenters at times (who are often quite funny on 6Music, eg Jon Richardson who is sadly leaving anyway)

Also for work, last.fm et al is blocked, while iplayer isnt

[Guest Guest]

How come you all listen to radio at all?! Surely Spotify/Last.fm etc should provide plenty of music? I've not listened to radio for about 7 years!

 

I dont listen to radio much at all, but how else do i hear about new artists? MTV etc? I think not.

 

Its a right PITA as i love listening to a good variety of music, both old and new. Like i said, i put R2 on and there was an hour of Acid Jazz, so off i went and found a few artists from that era, late 80s early 90s, which due to the fact i was only 6 when 1990 came, i wouldnt have ever listened to otherwise.

 

I know companies need to make a profit, but does everyone have to be on the same bandwagon? I used to read music mags too, but they all went the same way as R1. You might get a couple of good artists every now and again, but 99% of the mag would be the same old drivel you hear day in day out on the radio.

[localzuk]

I dont listen to radio much at all, but how else do i hear about new artists? MTV etc? I think not.

 

Via social networking sites - facebook, twitter etc... Or via Last.fm or similar services - many such services have recommended similar bands etc...

[Dos_Box]

Via social networking sites - facebook, twitter etc... Or via Last.fm or similar services - many such services have recommended similar bands etc...

 

Yes, but you don't get the 'new' stuff from someone who knows a good thing when they hear it. My wife was at a gig in Manchester a few days back for a and called Field Music and was stood next to Mark Rielly who was also there. It was at a small venue and had a 'select' audience. She heard of the gig via 6 Music and has been to many other that she's heard of through there. You don't get that kind of info from sites unless you dig. 6 Music is much better IMHO.

[Guest Guest]

Via social networking sites - facebook, twitter etc... Or via Last.fm or similar services - many such services have recommended similar bands etc...

 

Yeah, but where do the people who post on these SN sites find out from? And regardless you can only find out about music your "friends" like, which isnt what im looking for.

 

Dont get me wrong, i love this new way of getting yourself heard. But it still does mainly lend itself to popular bands. With a billion and one new artists every year, how do you find the good ones other than relying on the popularity contest - if you get what im getting at (or what Dos_box said)

[LeMarchand]

I know companies need to make a profit, but does everyone have to be on the same bandwagon? I used to read music mags too, but they all went the same way as R1. You might get a couple of good artists every now and again, but 99% of the mag would be the same old drivel you hear day in day out on the radio.

 

Well said, that man!

[explodingcarrots]

Had 6 Music on today in the office for the first time. Pleased to hear Sex Pistols, new Smashing Pumpkins and old Manics as I type! Think I'll be tuning in again.

Maybe all this controversy will bring more new listeners and save what does indeed seem to be a welcome alternative to dull R2 and the incomprehensible R1.

That's my tuppence-worth anyways...

[tmcd35]

I like selecting an already fav. artist in Last.fm and then trawling through the 'similar artists' list on the site. I've found quiet a few new old gems doing this.

 

Pandora used to be good as it would randomly pick song by other artists similar to what you like. All of a sudden you'd be listening to something and thinking 'yeah, I gotta get me a copy of that '

[IrritableTech]

Half the people who will have joined a 'save 6music' facebook campaign which doubtless was set up a few days ago won’t have listened to the station in the last six months. The listener numbers are low, which is why the trust is looking to get rid. I believe the beeb are there to represent everyone, but there has to be a limit - we can't all have our own personal stations.

 

I think a number of bbc stations have failed because of the pitiful uptake of DAB. If I’m in front of my computer, I'll spotify or play some of my gigs of mp3s. If I'm in the front room I have about 200 radio stations on sky and CDs to entertain. If I'm in the car, I have CDs, FM, AM and my mp3 player. If DAB worked better, and was more cost effective in the car, I'm not sure we would be debating the closure of 6music.

 

I'm not suggesting DAB was a bad technology, it was just superseded within about a day by other digital platforms.

[SC-UK]

Half the people who will have joined a 'save 6music' facebook campaign which doubtless was set up a few days ago won’t have listened to the station in the last six months. The listener numbers are low, which is why the trust is looking to get rid. I believe the beeb are there to represent everyone, but there has to be a limit - we can't all have our own personal stations.

 

My thoughts exactly - if the people that were now complaining about the stations shutdown actually listened to it, then it wouldn't be happening!

[sidewinder]

Yes, because the method they use to guage listeners is very accurate isnt it?

 

Apart from the website stream which can easily count them, all other listeners are estimated (I assume) from the same archaic method used to guage TV ratings, where a sample of people have to record what they listen to/watch. So the numbers could be fairly accurate or they could be miles out.

 

Certainly cant just assume half the people joining the group arnt listeners. Out of my whole friends list, only one other person has joined besides me, and I know she listens to it

 

Also if we're going to talk numbers, BBC Cymru has around 150,000 listeners I believe yet costs more than 6Music. No-one is saying that should be cut and nor should they. The BBC is a public service broadcaster and is there to provide to the whole population, in some areas this might be a minority.

It would be a different story if 6Music costs were spiralling out of control, but they arnt, the annual budget is the wages of a few BBC 'stars'.

There does have to be a limit, but I'd hardly say 700,000 people was insignificant at all

Edited March 3, 2010 by sidewinder

[IrritableTech]

Fair enough I take the point on the accuracy of figures. Works out at £8.50 of the licence fee per listener though based on 700,000 listeners.

 

The BBC have a obligation to supply BBC Cymru. It is protected by the licence as a public service broadcaster - as are the local stations. Which all have their own new music shows funnily enough.

[maniac]

Your spot on there, i just dont know how they justify every household with a tv, to pay £140 a year for it, scrap the lot!!!

 

You'd miss it if it wasn't there. I can why people disagree with the principal of the TV license, but remember it doesn't just fund the front end of the BBC that we all see, large chunks of that money go to the infrastructure that other companies use to transmit with, and the massive effort to switch to Digital only broadcasting - none of that would have happened without the revenue from TV licenseing propping it up.

 

Also you'll be quite surprised how many other industries the BBC supports, as well as how much other broadcasters rely on the BBC for various reasons - it really is only possible as a result of the way the BBC is funded - they also sponser and support a lot of events.

 

If they were forced to generate their own revenue then it would cease to be in the way is exits now, they simply could not generate the same level of funding privately, and we'd all be a lot worse off as a result.

 

Mike.

[mattx]

I think they should get rid of the entire BBC its aload of tosh. There is only one program on there i like. I never ever watch or listen to them.

 

What and end up with SKY 'Whhhhhhhoooooosh' News instead ?

As for value for money - the licence fee is incredible.

[tmcd35]

What and end up with SKY 'Whhhhhhhoooooosh' News instead ?

As for value for money - the licence fee is incredible.

 

Hey nothing wrong with Sky News! It's like the Sun Newspaper for those of us who can't be bothered to read!

 

As for the license fee, I agree superb value of money. So lonag as the keep knocking out dramas of the quality of Dr Who, Survivors, Hustle and Being Human I'm happy. Then there was that BBC2 Hamlet with David Tennent, Top Gear, etc, etc, etc. Add to that the iPlayer, their website, Question Time, etc.

 

I might not like everything Aunty does but she sure does give back some cracking value.

[mattx]

Hey nothing wrong with Sky News! It's like the Sun Newspaper for those of us who can't be bothered to read!

 

As for the license fee, I agree superb value of money. So lonag as the keep knocking out dramas of the quality of Dr Who, Survivors, Hustle and Being Human I'm happy. Then there was that BBC2 Hamlet with David Tennent, Top Gear, etc, etc, etc. Add to that the iPlayer, their website, Question Time, etc.

 

I might not like everything Aunty does but she sure does give back some cracking value.

 

Indeed, I think most people think that it's just the Telly, but the radio content is excellent, and of course not forgetting the web content, iplayer and a host of other stuff. I'm a huge radio fan, mainly Radio 2 and Radio 4 - the likes of Sky, ITN and Virgin just can't offer value like that.

As for Sky News, I just love Charlie Brooker's take on it in his books and TV shows.....More like 'The Day Today' [ in which he was a writer on alongside a certain Chris Morris ]

[Guest richard_s]

I don't pay a license fee as I do not own a television and do not plan on owning one ever again. The only station I tend to listen too is Radio 4 and the rest of the time I listen to a variety of internet radio stations, pod casts and my music collection.

[torledo]

Should axe radio 1

 

with getting rid of jonathan ross and chris moyles, would save theirselves a fortune haha

 

i agree, but you know what really would save them a fortune......getting rid of BBC 1.

 

I can't remember the last time i watched anything on bbc 1. With most households now having digital tv of some description, the dramas and docs can easily be spread across bbc2, three and four.

[torledo]

What and end up with SKY 'Whhhhhhhoooooosh' News instead ?

As for value for money - the licence fee is incredible.

 

And what ? You need News 24 hours on the BBC ? Or even breakfast news. The internet has changed the way we access news, and we already have news on tap without paying out 100k salaries for people to read the autocue.

 

yeah, that and the other tosh taken together is 'incredible' value.