Majors Stick Up For BBC 6 Music

Senior executives from Sony Music, EMI, Universal and Warner Brothers have had a top-level meeting with the BBC Trust in a bid to save 6 Music radio station.

The eight-strong delegation under the auspices of the British Phonographic Industry reportedly included Sony chief ops officer Paul Curran, EMI’s UK president Andria Vidler, Universal Music chief exec David Joseph, Warner Music UK vice-chairman Jeremy Marsh and UK Music chief exec Feargal Sharkey.

“We cannot see the sense in pulling the plug on a successful outlet for artists, both new and established, that are not being played on either Radio 1 or 2,” said BPI chairman Tony Wadsworth, outlining the recorded music industry’s view of the corporation’s decision to shutter BBC 6 Music.

“[It] has significant cultural worth and public value that you can’t measure by audience numbers alone and it provides programming that commercial radio does not.”

The BPI-led delegation met BBC Trust executives including chairman Sir Michael Lyons and head of performance Mark Wakefield April 15.

They pointed out that BBC 6 Music is an excellent example of the corporation’s “public service mission in action” because it provides music that “commercial radio does not and could not realistically provide.”