BBC 1Xtra being crap

[tha_illsta]

people need to turn on to US TV or radio before they complain about the BBC.

I like U.S. Television, if you ignore the ads.

local broadcast channels are cool, as is the food channel IMHO

The licence fee, protecting a broadcasting network from direct market forces, is the single greatest thing in the UK media and enables them to take risks and support underground music far more than commercial broadcasters do.

Begrudgingly agree, though it ain't perfect by a long chalk

i think its too easy to take it for granted as we've all grown up with the BBC. whatever your issue with 1Xtra's branding, it's still far better than commercial radio and better than if it were not to exist at all.

Yep, okay TRUE DAT
but it needs to be FAR better to impress me.

And any time AFTER "listen with mother" days

I grew up listening to PIRATE radio..

so there..

[elgato]

the tagline is supposed to be acknowledging the history of the music culture in the UK that these things come from, not a divisive measure.

It's easy to forget that 20 or 30 years ago black kids couldnt even get in to the clubs that were playing disco, funk, soul, rare groove etc. and that DJs like Norman Jay were doing things to change this approach, often facing great challenges to do so.

I think 1xtra was trying to pay credit to these people and the music that paved the way with their tagline rather than fall back on the rank term 'Urban' which doesnt pay credit to anything, is a catch all term (just look at HMVs Urban section) and has all kinds of negative connotations unfortunately.

The tagline certainly doesn't refer to the people who 'must' make/listen to the music on the station. I think it's good that they are at least reminding us of the struggles others have gone through to afford us the opportunity to not think of music on colour terms.

obviously as a term it is also open to interpretation and disagreement as a description - see the MOBOs - but it serves a purpose too.

I can understand that, and its a noble intention, but regardless, as always, slogans oversimplify and create problems. I think there are better ways to recognise the origins of the music, the prejudice many came up against and the incredible efforts of particular individuals. It seems to me to propagate the idea of division, that this is 'our' or 'their' music, not just music. I know its easy for me to say that because my culture has never been undervalued, commodified without recognition etc, but I just dont see such a strong emphasis on these divisions as the way forward, if our goal is a place where it just doesn't matter where anything came from, it is for us by us, us being people not a subsection of

But maybe (edit from the future: definitely) a lot has to change elsewhere in society before thats a realistic ideal, or those expectations are fair...

I just like to see music as a place where people are brought together, no bullshit, but thats probably (edit: definitely) naive (edit: + unjustified and the result of societal privilege)

[elgato]

also the fact is most of the music on Radio 1 can also be traced back to black roots, so in making the division they're actually under-representing black influence on modern western music

and then we have to ask, where is the distinction now? has it not shifted to catering for different audiences?

[etidorhpa]

You need a liscense for a gun, shouldn't need one for a TV. Although you could argue a TV is just as dangerous. I've never paid for a TV liscense, never will.
Controversial as it may be, what would the repurcussions be if 1xtra's tagline was 'New White music'?

[tha_illsta]

the BBC is not state run but is publicly funded

A.What's the difference

B.More's the pity, and never a concept I agreed with. Okay the state was useless at running many of it's former concerns: transport/utilities/telecommunications/Postal service/broadcasting
But we are all much worse off since the private sector took control.
especially where multinationals are concerned.
PROFIT, PROFIT, PROFIT.

C. If it is publicly funded, why is it STATE enforced

P.S. When did this place become POLITICS STEP FORUM?

And now...back to tha music.

[darkside]

what would the repurcussions be if 1xtra's tagline was 'New White music'?

Good point!...That would go down like a lead balloon....!

[ctop80]

hahaha politicsstep, the next big thing, it'll be in the guardian in no time!

in essence we pay for it but the government are not allowed to influence the way that the governors run the corporation, whether or not that happens is another question

id have thought 1xtra would have had a dubstep show by now, maybe they are waiting to see how Kiss handle Hatcha or just being slow on the uptake, or chasing audience at the expense of musical diversity

[BaronVon]

You need a liscense for a gun, shouldn't need one for a TV. Although you could argue a TV is just as dangerous. I've never paid for a TV liscense, never will.
Controversial as it may be, what would the repurcussions be if 1xtra's tagline was 'New White music'?

So do you use any of the sevices provided by the BBC?

[slothrop]

id have thought 1xtra would have had a dubstep show by now, maybe they are waiting to see how Kiss handle Hatcha or just being slow on the uptake, or chasing audience at the expense of musical diversity

I think that's their problem a lot of the time. They can't quantify whether things are any good or not and go back to their paymasters and say "look, not many people are listening to it but it's a really fucking good show. This stuff is important." They need to be able to bring a number and say "look at how many people are listening to this show."

And it doesn't matter whether those people are tuning in because they want some tunes in the background and it was a toss up between R1 and Virgin, or whether they listen to that show RELIGIOUSLY and look up the tracklisting and go away and discuss it on forums and record it and listen to it for the next year and talk about it by the watercooler and all that sort of stuff, it's just the number of people that counts. This is why they end up with so much mediocre radio, because they're trying to compete with commercial radio for not-particularly-hardcore music fans because they're a much bigger market than people who are really heavily into their music. IMO they need to start sticking up for themselves and providing the sort of quality and 'cultural significance' that the commercial stations can't afford to do, rather than compete with them to get the lowest common denominator.

Still some fcuking good stuff though - MAH, Attenborough, the 'jazz / folk / soul / classical Britannia' series, random shit on BBC4, the Mighty Boosh, Saxondale, Bailey, aforementioned Radio 3 and so on. I'm glad to pay a quarter of 120 quid a year for that lot.

[darkmatter]

Is that Mark Utopian? Safe man! How've you been - where you living at the moment?

[rickyricardo]

Expensive period dramas it can flog to the states, reality tv, turgid soaps, aspirational programmes for rich, middle class folks.

oh come on, Shonky. We've gotta have *something* to watch on PBS. You should be proud that the only exposure US audiences have to the UK is through "Ms Marple" and "Dr. Who"



as for 1xtra....just bring back Aaron Ross. I'm begging you, please!!!

[dutty yuppie]

what would the repurcussions be if 1xtra's tagline was 'New White music'?

Other than the moral repurcussions, the music wouldn't be too hot.

[thinking]

not gonna single anyone out here but there's a lot of air bein talked in this thread.

First off you have to look at the sheer size & spread of what the Beeb provides - from the TV & radio to one of the largest and most comprehensive web sites in the world. You've got international sport, tiny local news stories, nature programming, kiddies & educational output, world service, so much it's just mental. The license fee doesn't just go toward paying for period dramas and (quite a limited number of) inflated executive salaries.


I was watching one of Mark Lawson's interviews (on BBC4 ) the other month, where he was speaking at length with Sir David Attenborough, who used to be Head of Programming and also Controller of BBC2. He said something which stuck in my mind along the lines of "the BBC can never please everyone all of the time. Try and think of it as a pendulum swinging between high-brow, informative content and low-brow, lowest common-denominator entertainment. It can never occupy the happy middle ground for more than a few fleeting moments before one demographic or the other cries that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Thus it swings back the other way and so the problem repeats itself in cycles".

I think that beautifully sums up the problems the BBC faces, and with massive amounts of pressure being applied by the government, particularly after the horrific Gilligan/David Kelly fiasco and the Hutton report, let alone the competition clamouring for a slice of the license fee pie, I feel sorry for anyone who dares to try and run the Corporation nowadays.


Furthermore, to those who refuse to pay the fee - think about it like the way part of your taxes pays for libraries: I never go to libraries, but I love the fact that they exist - any UK citizen can sign up, for free, and take out any book/CD/DVD they want for a while, for free. I may never ever use this service but for me it's important that it's there for everyone else. This is what it is to be a member of a civilised society, and it would detrimental to us all if we lost that.


As for 1X, I miss the good shows like J da, can't believe they've cut Flight et al, but I guess it's market forces and I'm sure only represents what the controllers believe the kids want. Instead of griping on here, get vocal on the message boards & emails of the 1X site and try and garner some support for your views.

[kate]

In defence of 1xtra....after spending most of my waking hours listening to pirate radio and just generally enjoying great access to masses of different types of music in shops, out n about in clubs etc in London, I moved to aplace where there was NONE of this and my life would have become a total and unbearable musical wasteland if hadnt been for 1xtra.

This was admiddetly in the days of Jay da Flex who provided my one and only once a week delivery of dubstep, but even though he's long gone benji b's show is outstanding, the homegrown show is good (not many other national stations that broadcast an entire show of UK-produced music), and The Basement (for those who dont listen, this is a show in which a guest, anyone from John Legend to Norman Jay to Mike Skinner plays two hours of all the music that inspired THEM) has hosted some of the best shows I've heard on radio.

1xtra has many faults as extensively detailed above but has brought a whole heap of music to people who cant get anything like it otherwise, plus I think its actually had quite a lot of influence, and raised the profile of quite a few UK artists in the face of overwhelming US or manufactured- pop-band takeover of the UK music scene.

That said their playlisted daytime shows have turned my brain into a horrible randb-infused mush

[utopian]

can't believe they've cut Flight et al, but I guess it's market forces and I'm sure only represents what the controllers believe the kids want.

Well apparantly it was actually one of the evening shows with the highest ratings, so it was a clueless decision to axe it.

.

Instead of griping on here, get vocal on the message boards & emails of the 1X site and try and garner some support for your views

You have to make something like 5 posts that don´t go up immediately but get checked by someone from the BBC before they display them on the message board, before you can just go and post something and have it go up immediately. Which is a bit of a hassle. But in any case, I´ve sent several e-mails to 1Xtra about the issue.

[__________]

the promotional 1xtra cd that they gave out just prior to the launch of the station is a belter.
every time i've tuned in to 1xtra they have either been playing something i like, or something i like has come on shortly after something i don't.

if you don't like it, you don't have to tune in. if you do like it, ideal! at least the station is there for the people that DO appreciate it.

[ctop80]

if anyone fancies reading a little bit about what 1xtra'a mandate was supposed to be when under review by the secretary of state in 2004 then this link provides some very interesting reading

http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/ ... 4final.pdf

i would say that the station has moved musically further and further away from this as time has gone on but we will have to wait and see what kind of focus the new shows have when they launch to really evaluate that in terms of the changes going through

[utopian]

f you don't like it, you don't have to tune in. if you do like it, ideal! at least the station is there for the people that DO appreciate it.

So should we all just all sit back and let it become crap then? In my view, the station´s becoming crap. Of course there are people out there who like it, but that´s not the issue.

[masstronaut]

Furthermore, to those who refuse to pay the fee - think about it like the way part of your taxes pays for libraries: I never go to libraries, but I love the fact that they exist - any UK citizen can sign up, for free, and take out any book/CD/DVD they want for a while, for free. I may never ever use this service but for me it's important that it's there for everyone else. This is what it is to be a member of a civilised society, and it would detrimental to us all if we lost that.

Exactly, we pay taxes to cover that stuff, and most of that tax goes on things I'm really not too happy about. And it's not as if we actually have much of a say in how those revenues are apportioned. Is being part of a civilised society about making sure most of your money ends up in the pockets of arms companies?

I don't like TV and I resent being harassed by the TV Licensing people who behave as if you are breaking the law by not having a license. It's an opt-in service, not an opt-out.

The internet especially now provides the means for more or less anyone to set up a radio station, magazine, whatever. And even the BBC World Service sounds like commercial radio these days.

[masstronaut]

Respect to anyone who is managing to do good work within the BBC though.