Gaseous Brainstorm: Is There Still a Chance to Save BBC 6 Music?

 In a word, yes. Or at least we have to try.

There is a glimpse of hope, according to the Guardian:

BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said that if there was a big enough public response about the cuts, he would ask management to rethink its strategy.”If we find that… there’s massive public concern that we need to take account of then we will go back to the director general to rethink the strategy before it’s approved”

So if you’re a listener, please email them: trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk UPDATE: and also: srconsultation@bbc.co.uk

 (If you need inspiration this open letter by Jon Ronson should help…)

Or take part in their online consultation on the cuts,or what they are calling a “strategic review” (and this will probably have an even better effect because it’s what they are officially asking you to do).

UPDATE: Also join the Facebook group and sign the petition and keep up to date with the latest news more info at: http://www.love6music.com

I agree with Stu that 6Music is the only station worth listening to. Of course axing the Asian Network also seems, as Billy mentions in a comment over on Under the Radar, to be an ominous sign when it comes to the BBC’s supposed public service remit. But I won’t pretend that I was a listener or expert on that particular station – and there are mixed reports of how high regard it was held in by even the Asian community itself.

Of course, as a number of commentators have already pointed out, 6Music is far from perfect. It has some deep flaws, such as a propensity to play the same songs too often during the daytime, e.g. I like the latest single by Hot Chip but do I need to hear it 100 times? Steve Lamacq has the most tedious chat and musical taste outside of a Razorlight concert and clearly lives in a fantasy world where br*tp*p is still relevant.

An infuriatingly repetitive and patronising music news slot which features the pointless and smug Menswear drummer peddling management approved faux-credible crap like Ellie Goulding (whose success was apparently pre-determined by a record company memo while she was still in the womb) is another way that the head honchos have misinterpreted what the station’s audience is actually there for, as Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite commented on Twitter in his uniquely eloquent way.

So as well as emailing or filling out the online consultation, how about letting people you know that the station exists, and probably caters brilliantly for at least one of their musical preferences. If they like funk and soul, direct them to Craig Charles excellent Funk & Soul show on Saturday evenings. If they like avant garde and weird crazy music, tell them about the Freak Show. And if they like to hear some of the latest decent music, including the really good stuff from Scotland, and want the closest thing to John Peel, tell them to tune into Marc Riley on weekday evenings. Hell, then there’s Jarvis Cocker, Guy Garvey, Gideon Coe, Lauren Laverne, and of course the chance that, if we could just save the station, Adam & Joe could come back with their incredible Saturday morning programme.