The presenter line-up has not seen great change, is there pressure to shake that up? “No, I don’t feel the pressure. But every radio station evolves. That is my job, to look at it and go, ‘Where are we at? Where are we going?’ The thing with radio is consistency, isn’t it? You have the same presenters doing the same slots and people like that, they want consistency. Equally, doing short runs is new for us, but it’s also about how people consume. ‘I want the box-set of that, I’m going to listen to all of it now’ – that’s what we’re experimenting with now.”
Did your goals for this year’s festival change? “It’s the same, just virtual. We wanted to put on a line-up that is really reflective of where 6 Music is. They’re such joyful affairs, the festivals. This is going to be different because, well, we aren’t taking the whole radio station anywhere else. We are at two venues that we know can be Covid-secure. The artists are a great spread of who we are supporting now.”
Who are your main commercial rivals?
“I’m not sure we have commercial rivals – we genuinely are a product of the BBC, and we do something that the traditional linear stations don’t. We take risks, we experiment, we play new music from artists that do the same: bold, risk takers, true to their vision. We don’t take being paid for by the licence fee for granted. We get compared to Radio X, but it’s not a true comparison – the breadth of our playlist tells you that. But it’s the notion of 6 being an alternative station, and that meaning ‘indie’, that skews perception. And while we play indie – it’s absolutely part of who we are – it’s not the whole.”
Are you trying to change who the 6 Music listener is? “No, because we’ve always evolved. Before I got here, there was a vote that ran to find out 6’s favourite band ever and it was Coldplay. That was 10 years ago. If you listen to us now, that’s not the station that you hear. That hasn’t only changed in the last six months, it has evolved with the presenters that we’ve hired. If you like music that’s beyond the mainstream, we are your home. That has changed because consumption has evolved. Camilla Pia and I talk about a ‘post-genre world’. If we are in that world, what does that mean for 6 Music? It’s about how we curate, how we make sense of the past with what is happening now, and the narrative our presenters weave through their shows.”
How do the DJs define the path 6 takes? “Look at the journey that 6 has been on. If you’d talked to Cerys or Mary Anne or Stuart Maconie or Gilles four years ago, they’d all have said, ‘There’s something going on with that London jazz scene.’ They’d have talked about Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia and Moses Boyd. If you look at the front cover of Music Week last August, it’s Moses Boyd and Arlo Parks, two artists that we’ve had as presenters and have both made our playlists.”
And that, in turn, helps the music industry? “What we do in regards to how much independent music we play and our support of the live music industry means that we are a great public service. I really believe that, and I want more people to know about what we are doing so they can come and join us. It’s about evolving what 6 Music is. If we’re a station
36 | Music Week
Radio star: Samantha Moy
Murphy’s Law: Cillian Murphy in the 6 Music studio
that is for music lovers beyond the mainstream, then you want all types of music lovers, whatever music they are into, to find something that interests and engages them and makes them fall in love with the place that puts those programmes together, really.”
You’ve been an ambassador for women in radio. What needs to change to see more women in senior positions?
“If you like music that’s beyond the mainstream, we are your home” SAMANTHA MOY
“I think we’re in a better place than before. Rebecca Frank is at Kiss, of course Lorna is pop controller here at the BBC, Helen Thomas is at Radio 2, Jocelin Stainer leads BBC audio production for Radio 1, 1xtra & Asian Network and Philippa Aylott leads BBC audio production for Radio 2 and 6 Music. Heidi Dawson and Julie Cullen are at 5 Live, Kat Wong is at Apple. They are all awesome and they’ve been appointed in the last few years. The industry has fantastic women leaders – Jeannette Lee at Rough Trade, Jane Arthy at Warner Records, Nadia Khan now chairing
AIM, the teams at Gal-Dem, She Said So and Foundation FM. But we need to keep going, for everyone who has been underrepresented in a system that can feel stacked against you. We can only do that if we invite everyone to contribute and keep challenging the status quo. I’m very proud that Camilla Pia has rejoined 6 Music. They challenge and inspire me every day with their thinking and their creativity. Their commissions: Party with Robyn at New Year’s Eve and a contemporary take on David Bowie: Dancing Out In Space with Radio 4 were just outstanding – and there’s more to come.”
What is 6’s role in creating a more diverse music industry? “I want an evolved and representative 6 Music. If we are going to have meaning with all music lovers, then we need to be representative. That’s my take on it. It’s having the right presenter in the right slot, whether that be a linear or on-demand listen.”
Is the rise of podcasting something you worry about? “In a way, no. Maybe that’s incredibly naïve of me, but I think if people are interested in hearing voices – that’s radio, isn’t it? If you listen to 6 Music, you’ll hear a lot of interesting conversation. There’s a lot of crossover with that mindset of somebody that loves a podcast that would also like 6 Music. So no, I don’t see it as a threat. It’s something that can exist as part of the whole. In terms of us developing podcasts, we’re talking about it, absolutely, because there’s a sweet spot there. We just need to get the right thing.”
Finally, what would you like artists and their teams to know about 6 Music?
“There are genuinely lots of open ears here. If it’s a presenter, a member of the production team or music team and they hear something that they think needs to be heard more widely, then you’ve absolutely got a chance of being played. I can only talk about personal experience, but when you work at different stations, there’s heat around a particular artist, and you’ve got to be part of that story. I don’t think that’s quite the same at 6. It’s just like, ‘Is this good? It is. We should play this. People should hear it.’ Our presenters are the crate diggers, the B-side flippers, the collectors. It’s within all of their natures to keep on searching and keep on sharing.”
musicweek.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
