The BBC's chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, is in The Guardian today talking to 'media executives' about 6 Music. Her point - sit down before you read this - is that 37-year-olds (37 being the age of 6 Music's average listener) are catered for by commercial radio. She goes on to make some good points about the BBC's critics but Christ alive the idea that everybody aged 37 (or any age) enjoys the same type of music is so ridiculous that it would be funny were it not coming from the mouth of someone who actually has some control over the BBC's new strategy.
You have to admire the spunk of someone who can stand up in front of media execs and claim with a straight face that someone who currently spends all day listening to Broken Bells, Vampire Weekend and French Horn Rebellion (all of whom, we feel compelled to point out here, are shit) on 6 Music will in any way be well catered for by the commercial sector, but let's be serious here: 6 Music's listeners will be no better served by the commercial sector than a man with no arms would be by a lifetime's supply of mittens. This is stated quite clearly in the Steve Lamacq story we linked in today's Newsdump, in which a former operations director (ie bigwig) at GCap Media (now Global, who run Capital, Heart etc) says that "commercial radio can never replicate 6 Music's cultural value – it's not viable for us to do so. We will gain nothing from this closure yet the music industry will lose much".
So that's 6 Music, but the other thing we would like to mention today (and we really will stop banging on about it after this) is that anybody who claims that Radio 1's mainstream output is replicated in the commercial sector is similarly mental. This is where the world's greatest website comparemyradio.com comes up again. Let's compare what Radio 1 played last month with what Capital FM (to pick an example out of the air) played last month.
Most of Radio 1's critics - mainly people who never listen to the station or any other mainstream radio and think Radio 1 is just 24-hour Chris Moyles - simply have no grasp of how the station operates after 7pm, or how well it caters for new music across multiple specialist genres. Even in daytime, taking the playlist into account, Radio 1 is hardly as 'OMG Cheryl Cole' as the station's more clueless critics seem to imagine. As comparemyradio.com puts it:
We're not saying Radio 1 is perfect but, as with 6 Music, its critics should at least know what it is they're criticising because otherwise the whole debate is just a complete shitshow.
Flogging Dairy Milk might be the ultimate aim but Cadbury's current, rather lavish marketing exercise Big Swap Songs is notable for two reasons.
NOTABLE REASON ONE:
Fair trade blah blah blah.
NOTABLE REASON TWO:
An album has been put together in which 'The Big Ghana Band' (right) cover various hits INCLUDING GIRLS ALOUD'S SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND.
This is that.
(Interesting.)
You can listen to more including The Big Ghana Band's covers of Goldfrapp's 'Ooh La La' and EMF's 'Unbelievable' at the Big Swap Songs website which can be found at www.cadburymusic.com. WARNING: contains traces of Paolo Nutini.
Dear Cadbury Ad Agency.
With Paolo Nutini at your disposal you seem to have delivered a campaign devoid of any reference to 'Fruit & Nutini'.
Let's kill some time while we wait for 'Telephone' to appear. First off, a sort of Lady Gaga/Alice In Wonderland 'mashup' which would be a lot better were it not for two instances of 'comedy sound effect'.
Comedy sound effects or not, this is still quite good. 7/10.
While we're here, here's a 'dance troupe' called Blueprint Cru (THAT'S NOT HOW YOU SPELL CREW) on US TV show America's Best Dance Crew last week.
We particularly like the hanging and the broken necks. 8/0.
We could continue posting YouTube clips all day you know. Here's a "get the Lady Gaga Bad Romance look" thing from January.
Here's a computer generated version of the 'Bad Romance' video.
Here's a medley (including 'Bad Romance') that is more entertaining if you imagine that instead of playing the piano the warbling fella is having a wank.
Look at this fool - she actually needs the 'Bad Romance' lyrics written down. Surely, like the rest of us, she already sees 'Bad Romance' wherever she looks, a bit like when you stare at a lightbulb?
This is useful if you're pushed for time.
Here's a clip of Miral from Star Academy 7 Lebanon. (She won't win - but we admire the song choice.) We like the bit at 1:58 where she sings "I want your horror" then forgets the next line.
» Staff at the Pontypridd dole office mocked a young Tom Jones for his pop ambitions. (BBC) Dole office staff and careers advisors certainly get a bad press when it comes to predicting future pop success, don't they? You always read singers going "I was told to get a job in an office! I've had the last laugh!". However what you need to remember here is that careers advisors hear kids wanting to be popstars every day of the week. They are, in fact, usually spot on when they suggest that being a popstar might not be the best career move. To balance things out for careers advisors and dole office 'clerks' there need to be some interviews with people in supposedly 'boring' jobs, in which they say "I told them I wanted to be a singer and they just laughed, and to their credit they sort of had a point, I've got a terrible singing voice and this office job suits me just fine".
» Friendly Fires have recorded half a new album. (Radio 1 Newsbeat) Let's hope it's the first three tracks, track six and the album closer as those are traditionally 'the best ones'.
» Cliff Richard has recorded a swing album. :( (Digital Spy)
» Tragically James Corden will not appear in a remade version of New Order's 'World In Motion'. (The Sun) He thinks it would be shit. He is right.
» Steve Lamacq has stuck his oar in on the whole 6 Music 'business'. (Guardian) He makes some good points. Well done Steve Lamacq.
» Florence's new 'Dog Days Are Over' video features some large hair. (The Sun)
NOTABLE REASON TWO:
Hold onto your hats: