SAMANTHA MOY
With 10 years of service at BBC Radio 6 Music, Samantha Moy was appointed head of the station she loves last summer, bang in the middle of the pandemic. But, as Music Week discovers in her first big interview since taking on the role, nothing will stop Moy from making her mark. Here, she discusses evolution, diversity, growth and the vital role 6 Music plays in the music business and beyond...
WORDS: CHARLOTTE GUNN PHOTOS: BBC S
amantha Moy – the new head of BBC Radio 6 Music – was driving along during one of the UK’s coronavirus lockdowns when, suddenly, she started crying. “I was listening to Lauren Laverne on the radio and she was telling the story of someone texting in, who lived by himself,” she says. “He explained how comforting it had been to listen to Lauren’s voice and then asked to hear ELO’s Mr Blue Sky. It’s not even a traditional 6 Music record, but there was a blue sky outside and I just burst into tears. It’s all about playing the right song at the right time.”
For many – such as Lauren Laverne’s ELO fan – radio has been a lifeline over the last year. With the pandemic putting a halt to RAJAR reporting so far, we are yet to get an official picture of just how much more radio has been consumed by the lonely, the isolating and those of us working from home. Anecdotally, though, and as Moy attests, people have turned to radio again.
“You want that voice of comfort reflecting what’s going on outside,” she says. “I see on social media how people have relied on what we’re doing.” Moy took over as boss of the BBC’s alternative music station last August, as part of a reshuffle by Lorna Clarke, BBC pop controller, who’s full of praise. “Despite taking up the reins in the middle of the pandemic, Sam has led from the front, ensuring the network sounds both fresh and comforting,” Clarke tells Music Week. “I’ve worked with Sam for many years and her passion for music radio is evident to all those around her. I’m looking forward to seeing how she’ll tell the 6 Music story in the coming years.” As head of content commissioning at the station since 2018 and, prior to that,
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network editor, Moy – who also did a stint at BBC Radio 1 – has been a key cog in 6 Music’s wheel for 10 years now.
Her predecessor, Paul Rodgers, had been with the BBC for just shy of three decades, and head of 6 Music for the last four years. He left with figures at a record high, with 6 Music claiming the title of largest digital radio station. A tough gig to follow, particularly in the middle of a pandemic. Moy has been juggling home-schooling and puppy rearing alongside her new role, all the while knowing that her presenters are the only voices many listeners hear in a day.
Radio won: (from left) Lauren Laverne, Samantha Moy, Jax Coombes, Ashley Clivery, Cerys Matthews and Fergus Dudley at the Music Week Awards 2018
“It wasn’t much of a chance to go, ‘Here is my beautiful vision, let’s get on the boat,’” she says. “It was more a case of, ‘We’re in a pandemic, and I am leading now, but you know what? It’s all good, you’re doing brilliantly and we’re going to do it together.’”
That said, changes have already been made, a tone has been set. Moy has brought her former 6 Music colleague Camilla Pia back from Apple Music in the role of assistant commissioner and has been planning content like the Stay Home, Rave Safe series.
“You can’t go dancing or clubbing, so we’re bringing the dance floor through your front door,” she explains. “Gilles Peterson really went for it. He was telling stories like: ‘The toilets are leaking, man,’ making his own jingles and everything. It was brilliant.” The station has long been praised for its uniqueness. The most recent RAJAR figures show that listeners spend, on average, 9.2 hours with 6 a week – significantly higher than many music stations (Radio 1: 6.2 hours, Radio X: 8.1 hours, Absolute: 7.6 hours). That’s partly due, you might think, to the lack of repetition in its playlists and the strength of its tastemakers, including Steve Lamacq, Cerys Matthews, Lauren Laverne, Mary Anne Hobbs, Peterson and more.
musicweek.com
PHOTO: Paul Harries
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