Why are the BBC not promoting 6 Music? - Radio

AuralJunkie · 23-10-2006, 02:33

You may have noticed in recent weeks that the BBC has been busily promoting Radio Two, the UK's most popular radio station - WHY???

Even 6 Music carried the commercials for Radio 2, which was an odd thing to do.

Why are the BBC not putting the effort into promoting 6 Music?

Here is a radio station that it appears many people are looking for, might be persueded to buy a DAB radio to listen to, and is a natural home for the more musically astute listener to Radio 1 to move to as they find much chart pop beginning to grate. A station for those not ready for oldies and tame rock on Radio 2, who find Virgin and Planet Rock too repetative, and either can't get XFM, hate the commercials, or don't want to be tied to trendy indie or the too predictable daytime playlist.

Whilst to be fair on XFM I would place them as my favourite commercial station, and in my top 5 stations overall, 6 Music is the missing link in the BBC chain - giving the best of what you might expect from XFM, Virgin, and Planet Rock, but with an added eclecticism.

The BBC should be building awareness of 6 Music, ensuring it appears in newspaper listings, promoting it's programs, and making sure it maintains a clear identity. It has some excellent (and in the case of Marc Riley and Steve Lamacq, legendary) presenters, and is very much of the present time without trying to be a youth station.

In other words the BBC has in 6 Music a station it can shout about, and it needs to.

Because indie / alternative and classic rock are all popular at present, and people of 15 and 50 are contributing equally to contempory music album sales, there are bound to be some commercial stations that have a 5 minute conversion to the genre. The BBC need to establish their role in this niche as a long term player. They need to promote what they have in 6 Music, and develop the station further to establish a clear identity with confidence - it does wobble a bit at times as if it fears for a moment or two that it's on the wrong track!

Get off your butt BBC and go for it!

PS: I will be listening to the "Perfumed Garden" repeats from the original "Big L" this week. I was never up that late back in 1967 so it will interesting to compare this pioneer program to the early Radio One "Top Gear" shows - one of which was repeated a year or so back.

mmlabbd · 23-10-2006, 02:51

I've heard trails for 6Music on Radio 2 and FiveLive.

mmlabbd

AuralJunkie · 23-10-2006, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmlabbd

I've heard trails for 6Music on Radio 2 and FiveLive.

mmlabbd

I haven't heard the trails, but I don't listen to 5 Live and only occasionally listen to Radio 2, but I still think that 6 Music could benefit from the high profile promotion that Radio 2 had on TV recently - plus 6 Music being listed in the newspapers. The papers often list London only stations and BBC7, so why not another National DAB service?

latenightjocky · 23-10-2006, 20:20

Strangely enough, 6 Music is being promoted on the BBC WAP site at the moment!

kev_6655 · 23-10-2006, 20:38

Does it play anything more then indie rock stuff? or anyting like that?

Richard_T · 23-10-2006, 21:02

Ive heard 6 music promoted on Radio 1 a few times.

andy01 · 23-10-2006, 21:10

i think they could do with promoting on the bbc tv stations maybe.i think they have a good station and could a get good rating figures if they get the name 6music around!

Inkblot · 23-10-2006, 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by kev_6655

Does it play anything more then indie rock stuff? or anyting like that?

It plays a mixture of rock, soul, funk, reggae, folk, etc, with probably more emphasis on alt. rock than the more mainstream stuff on other stations. And it's not primarily an oldies station but it does play old music. Some of the programmes are nothing to do with "indie rock" eg the Freak Zone, which explores the outer limits of rock and even ventures into jazz and classical weirdness.

deepfroat · 24-10-2006, 11:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuralJunkie

I haven't heard the trails, but I don't listen to 5 Live and only occasionally listen to Radio 2, but I still think that 6 Music could benefit from the high profile promotion that Radio 2 had on TV recently - plus 6 Music being listed in the newspapers. The papers often list London only stations and BBC7, so why not another National DAB service?

The Guardian includes listings for 6 Music during the week.

Maybe the lack of external promotion for 6 Music is due to the fact that the BBC has struggled to define it. Unlike 1Xtra and BBC7, there's a lack of clarity of the station's purpose.

6 Music is clearly pitched mid way between Radios 1 and 2 but the gap isn't distinctive enough. Too many of its presenters continue to appear on Radios 1 and 2 along with most of the 6 Music playlist.

They'd be better off focussing more on the specialist programmes like Eddie Piller's funk show. Maybe some world music too?

Inkblot · 24-10-2006, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by deepfroat

The Guardian includes listings for 6 Music during the week.

Maybe the lack of external promotion for 6 Music is due to the fact that the BBC has struggled to define it. Unlike 1Xtra and BBC7, there's a lack of clarity of the station's purpose.

6 Music is clearly pitched mid way between Radios 1 and 2 but the gap isn't distinctive enough. Too many of its presenters continue to appear on Radios 1 and 2 along with most of the 6 Music playlist.

They'd be better off focussing more on the specialist programmes like Eddie Piller's funk show. Maybe some world music too?

Yes, the focus could be more on specialist music, even by integrating more "specialist" genres into the daytime playlist. Switching on 6 Music as I did this morning and hearing a "best indie album in the world" type oldie doesn't encourage me to choose the station over Xfm, whereas hearing a really strong selection that other stations don't play would make me stay tuned.

akrigg · 25-10-2006, 09:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuralJunkie

PS: I will be listening to the "Perfumed Garden" repeats from the original "Big L" this week. I was never up that late back in 1967 so it will interesting to compare this pioneer program to the early Radio One "Top Gear" shows - one of which was repeated a year or so back.

Listened to this last night - very entertaining to listen to the hippy John Peel rather than the older and more world weary version.

A lot of stuff about the loss of Perfumed Garden not being that big a deal, its like one letter from one word of the Hobbit being removed, the rest of it all still makes sense, and there's so much that is beautiful in the world etc etc.

Although I was smirking at it - at least there was a positive message coming out, which was probably a bit better that the downbeat nihilism of some of the popular culture in the 1970s.

AuralJunkie · 25-10-2006, 13:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inkblot

Yes, the focus could be more on specialist music, even by integrating more "specialist" genres into the daytime playlist. Switching on 6 Music as I did this morning and hearing a "best indie album in the world" type oldie doesn't encourage me to choose the station over Xfm, whereas hearing a really strong selection that other stations don't play would make me stay tuned.

I am sure that if I was not the amatuer back seat wannabee driver that I am, and I had power and influence, I would be offering "Inkblot" a job. As happens so often he hits the nail on the head. 6 Music would be better if it had the confidence to be what it could be rather than take frequent refuge in the 80s classic / Virgin territory. I still think the indie / alternative area is a good starting point for 6 Music, but it would be nice to see the station drifting to the eclectic / deeper zone. It is late evening / overnight where it shows it's weakness most by sticking to a daytime format. It is then that I frequently re-tune to XFM, Radio 1 (some days), and even Radio 3. Maybe Andy Kershaw is one of the missing links!

AuralJunkie · 25-10-2006, 13:26

And...

Maybe with a bit of well targetted promotion and the subsequent increase in listener numbers, 6 Music would increase in confidence and realise it's full potential.

pjg · 25-10-2006, 13:38

Tonight's Electric Proms Paul Weller concert live from Camden on 6 Music is being mentioned in on-air promos on BBC2 today. http://www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms/paulweller/

Don Spearitt · 25-10-2006, 13:55

In my opinion they're not promoting 6music because they spent money promoting it in the past, it didn't work, so they're spending money promoting other bbc services. The audience is so small, it'd be cheaper to send the CD's to each listener!

AuralJunkie · 26-10-2006, 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Spearitt

In my opinion they're not promoting 6music because they spent money promoting it in the past, it didn't work, so they're spending money promoting other bbc services. The audience is so small, it'd be cheaper to send the CD's to each listener!

There hasn't been any serious promotion of 6 Music for years. The last promo I saw for it seemed to focus on Phil Jupitus's Breakfast Show and his love of ska. This wildly under represents the station's output. If the promos did want to focus on personalities, Steve Lamacq and Marc Riley would be a more productive (and representative) image to portray.

The station is very much in keeping with current musical trends and in my opinion has a huge potential audience, though I do agree with "Inkblot's" comments about the station being a bit more adventurous with it's music policy.

As for sending out CDs to listeners, that is more relevant to Virgin, Classic FM and most local ILR and "Gold" stations. The strength of 6 Music is that it is clearly poles apart from the above - though they could do better still!

Bingethink · 26-10-2006, 07:00

6 Music audience reach up 40% in a year!

artnada · 26-10-2006, 10:11

6 music is always being promoted.

Don Spearitt · 26-10-2006, 12:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuralJunkie

As for sending out CDs to listeners, that is more relevant to Virgin, Classic FM and most local ILR and "Gold" stations. The strength of 6 Music is that it is clearly poles apart from the above - though they could do better still!

I don't think you understood my point. Virgin & Classic fm both have a great great deal more listeners that 6music.

andys corner · 26-10-2006, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by kev_6655

Does it play anything more then indie rock stuff? or anyting like that?

some fairly specialised shows in the evenings.

R300 · 26-10-2006, 16:09

I hear quite a few trails for it on Radio 2 and Fivelive during the day and evening. Anyway, according to this it seems to be doing quite well.

AuralJunkie · 27-10-2006, 10:24

Though not quite the serious promotion I am advocating, last night on Newsnight they did a feature on Damon Albarns latest project. The "expert" they spoke to was billed as Tom Robinson, 6 Music. That at least identified 6 Music as an entity, and maybe implied that the Clash and Blur generations might have a home there - so minor progress if that happens more often!

As for comments about Radio 2 being the natural progress from Radio 1 as listeners get older, this rather ignores what should be a distinctive difference between Radio 2 and 6 Music. That difference is that appart from their specialist shows in the evening Radio 2 is the "pop" station, more relevent to ex-daytime Radio One listeners, and 6 Music is the "rock" station providing a home for those who were more into the "Evening Session" and Johnny Walker's old Saturday Afternoon show.

Verence · 27-10-2006, 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuralJunkie

And...

Maybe with a bit of well targetted promotion and the subsequent increase in listener numbers, 6 Music would increase in confidence and realise it's full potential.

Has Marc "Lard" Riley still got a show on 6 Music?

nikobatallones · 27-10-2006, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by VERENCE

Has Marc "Lard" Riley still got a show on 6 Music?

The Brain Surgery's on Wednesday to Friday nights from seven.

bonio · 27-10-2006, 14:14

Why are BBC "advertising" any other channel or programme? It's one of the things which commercial radio bigwigs are so cheesed off with...

Radio 2 advertised on 5 live, 6 music, BBC1 before Eastenders' 6 million listeners...and it happens with all stations/programmes across all formats.

There's now 3 or 4 adverts between TV shows and atr least one advert an hour on radio programmes advertising something irrelevant to that station.

If Capital Radio for example wanted to do the equivalent of Radio 1 and buy an advert just before Coronation Street - they couldn't afford to.

Maybe playing devils advocate, but is that fair?

23-10-2006, 02:33	#1
AuralJunkie Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Dorset Services: Freeview, DAB, Hi-Fi Tuner, and Steam Radio Posts: 1,162	Why are the BBC not promoting 6 Music? You may have noticed in recent weeks that the BBC has been busily promoting Radio Two, the UK's most popular radio station - WHY??? Even 6 Music carried the commercials for Radio 2, which was an odd thing to do. Why are the BBC not putting the effort into promoting 6 Music? Here is a radio station that it appears many people are looking for, might be persueded to buy a DAB radio to listen to, and is a natural home for the more musically astute listener to Radio 1 to move to as they find much chart pop beginning to grate. A station for those not ready for oldies and tame rock on Radio 2, who find Virgin and Planet Rock too repetative, and either can't get XFM, hate the commercials, or don't want to be tied to trendy indie or the too predictable daytime playlist. Whilst to be fair on XFM I would place them as my favourite commercial station, and in my top 5 stations overall, 6 Music is the missing link in the BBC chain - giving the best of what you might expect from XFM, Virgin, and Planet Rock, but with an added eclecticism. The BBC should be building awareness of 6 Music, ensuring it appears in newspaper listings, promoting it's programs, and making sure it maintains a clear identity. It has some excellent (and in the case of Marc Riley and Steve Lamacq, legendary) presenters, and is very much of the present time without trying to be a youth station. In other words the BBC has in 6 Music a station it can shout about, and it needs to. Because indie / alternative and classic rock are all popular at present, and people of 15 and 50 are contributing equally to contempory music album sales, there are bound to be some commercial stations that have a 5 minute conversion to the genre. The BBC need to establish their role in this niche as a long term player. They need to promote what they have in 6 Music, and develop the station further to establish a clear identity with confidence - it does wobble a bit at times as if it fears for a moment or two that it's on the wrong track! Get off your butt BBC and go for it! PS: I will be listening to the "Perfumed Garden" repeats from the original "Big L" this week. I was never up that late back in 1967 so it will interesting to compare this pioneer program to the early Radio One "Top Gear" shows - one of which was repeated a year or so back. Last edited by AuralJunkie : 23-10-2006 at 02:36.

23-10-2006, 02:51	#2
mmlabbd Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Services: Sky+HD Samsung 320Gb, 16Mb Sky Max Broadband, BT Option 3 Posts: 897	I've heard trails for 6Music on Radio 2 and FiveLive. mmlabbd

23-10-2006, 20:20	#4
latenightjocky Forum Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: West Midlands, UK Services: Everything I own is bigger and better than everyone elses. Honestly.... Posts: 169	Strangely enough, 6 Music is being promoted on the BBC WAP site at the moment!

23-10-2006, 20:38	#5
kev_6655 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 3,710	Does it play anything more then indie rock stuff? or anyting like that?

23-10-2006, 21:02	#6
Richard_T Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: East Midlands Services: DTT, ( topfield pvr / goodmans gdb2) plusnet broadband. Posts: 2,787	Ive heard 6 music promoted on Radio 1 a few times.

23-10-2006, 21:10	#7
andy01 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 447	i think they could do with promoting on the bbc tv stations maybe.i think they have a good station and could a get good rating figures if they get the name 6music around!

25-10-2006, 13:26	#13
AuralJunkie Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Dorset Services: Freeview, DAB, Hi-Fi Tuner, and Steam Radio Posts: 1,162	And... Maybe with a bit of well targetted promotion and the subsequent increase in listener numbers, 6 Music would increase in confidence and realise it's full potential.

25-10-2006, 13:38	#14
pjg Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: SW London Services: Sky+, Sky broadband mid, DAB, Freeview, iPod Touch 2G Posts: 148	Tonight's Electric Proms Paul Weller concert live from Camden on 6 Music is being mentioned in on-air promos on BBC2 today. http://www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms/paulweller/

25-10-2006, 13:55	#15
Don Spearitt Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 434	In my opinion they're not promoting 6music because they spent money promoting it in the past, it didn't work, so they're spending money promoting other bbc services. The audience is so small, it'd be cheaper to send the CD's to each listener!

26-10-2006, 07:00	#17
Bingethink Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 2,498	6 Music audience reach up 40% in a year!

26-10-2006, 10:11	#18
artnada Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Cornwall...I wish! Services: VirginMedia 10mb - Main OS - Windows 7 RTM (build 7600) Posts: 6,659	6 music is always being promoted.

26-10-2006, 16:09	#21
R300 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scunthorpe Services: Virgin TV and 10mb Broadband also Virgin phone Posts: 2,027	I hear quite a few trails for it on Radio 2 and Fivelive during the day and evening. Anyway, according to this it seems to be doing quite well.

27-10-2006, 10:24	#22
AuralJunkie Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Dorset Services: Freeview, DAB, Hi-Fi Tuner, and Steam Radio Posts: 1,162	Though not quite the serious promotion I am advocating, last night on Newsnight they did a feature on Damon Albarns latest project. The "expert" they spoke to was billed as Tom Robinson, 6 Music. That at least identified 6 Music as an entity, and maybe implied that the Clash and Blur generations might have a home there - so minor progress if that happens more often! As for comments about Radio 2 being the natural progress from Radio 1 as listeners get older, this rather ignores what should be a distinctive difference between Radio 2 and 6 Music. That difference is that appart from their specialist shows in the evening Radio 2 is the "pop" station, more relevent to ex-daytime Radio One listeners, and 6 Music is the "rock" station providing a home for those who were more into the "Evening Session" and Johnny Walker's old Saturday Afternoon show.

27-10-2006, 14:14	#25
bonio Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 37	Why are BBC "advertising" any other channel or programme? It's one of the things which commercial radio bigwigs are so cheesed off with... Radio 2 advertised on 5 live, 6 music, BBC1 before Eastenders' 6 million listeners...and it happens with all stations/programmes across all formats. There's now 3 or 4 adverts between TV shows and atr least one advert an hour on radio programmes advertising something irrelevant to that station. If Capital Radio for example wanted to do the equivalent of Radio 1 and buy an advert just before Coronation Street - they couldn't afford to. Maybe playing devils advocate, but is that fair?