I have never lived in England, so I have never listened to the BBC on a regular basis, and I am not that aware of their marvelous programs. I know that times have changed and now everything can be streamed everywhere, but who has time to listen to the radio these days?
In any case BBC Radio 1 has a reputation to maintain, as they’ve just proved it once again! According to Alternative Nation, BBC Radio 1 head of music George Ergatoudis and music policy director Nigel Harding have revealed that they have removed Green Day, Muse and Noel Gallagher from their station playlist. Why? Just because this kind of music doesn’t fit with their high quality standards anymore.
Oasis’ Gallagher? Harding declared that his music ‘feels more at home on Radio 2’. At least he is not completely eradicated, but he was much less tender with Muse: ‘Muse are approaching a crossroads – their last single was the first one not playlisted by Radio 1 in a decade. The door remains open to them but we’ll have to think carefully about their next album.’ And Green Day was the one getting the more beating, ‘The last Green Day project simply wasn’t good enough.’
I am the last one who would defend Green Day, but this is so arbitrary! Because the music director doesn’t like a band, it’s banned from the radio? Let’s see, I am not a fan of rap, I even think most of it is bad, so if I were at the head of the music programs I would ban most of rap declaring it’s not good enough for BBC? It’s a personal taste, who are they to decide what is good or not? BBC 1 programmers are a bunch of snobs, and what Harding declared about Muse was so condescending that I couldn’t believe it.
I typed ‘BBC 1 playlist’ in Google, and beside a lot of artists I have never heard about, I’ve noticed they play One direction, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Sean Paul… oh yeah such excellent music! And their Zane Lowe DJ is kissing Jay-Z’s ass like everyone else, so what’s so special about BBC1? These declarations sound like a desperate attempts to sound relevant in a world where radios have become less and less relevant.