Specialist music, public service and the BBC in the Internet age

Abstract

This article reports on a study into the implications of the development of online fan communities for specialist music broadcasting on the domestic radio stations controlled by the United Kingdom's publically funded the British Broadcasting Company. In particular it focuses on jazz, soul reggae/urban and indie rock. The early sections explore ideas of specialist music and their role in the development of the idea of public service broadcasting within the United Kingdom. This is followed by an analysis of the activities and communities of specialist music fans online. The final section reports on the way the BBC organizes the production of radio and online media around specialist music forms. We also outline our proposals on modularization and dissemination of content, the exploitation of the taste-leadership of the stations' presenters and experts, and the possible ways in which changes in the production of programmes could serve broadcast and online media. The study concludes that the BBC places the support of specialist music as a key argument in defence of their role as a public service broadcaster, and thus for public funds, as well as demonstrating significant policy and organizational support for the implications of new online media. However, we argue that an appreciation of the place of radio and online media in specialist fan culture is not the basis for organizing production. This results in two orientations amongst staff: a broadcast one built around the centrality of the station brand and an emergent interactive one built around the potential of the new media and the BBC as a provider of public service media.

It’s Not Just Bhangra and Bollywood! Mediating Music Genres at the BBC Asian Network

“…5. Wall and Dubber (2009) note that the BBC has positioned specialist music as a PSB (Public Service Broadcasting) commitment in order to appeal to "specific" groups of listeners as opposed to everyone at separate times of the day. This means that music genres in the BBC are selected to appeal to distinct, defined, and demarcated listener groups.…”

“…The genre draws on British urban experience and combines notions of traditional Indian cultures and as such enables a type of identity formation among British South Asians that is not in opposition to notions of being black and British (Dudrah 2002a). Thus, Bhangra has become synonymous with British Asians in the same way that reggae and soul music became the main way in which Caribbean migrants constructed their identity as black Britons (Wall and Dubber 2009). However, despite the popularity of Bhangra in India, which has been amplified by its use and association with Bollywood (Roy 2010), in the UK the genre remains marginalised because it has been unable to break into British mainstream music charts despite the success of artists such as Punjabi MC and the track Mundian to Bach ke (beware of the boys) originally released in 1998.…”

“…The BBC actively promotes music created by UK artists across all its radio stations in line with its public service remit, including on Radio 1 and Radio 2. According to Wall and Dubber (2009) the promotion of British music enables the BBC to defend itself from criticisms that BBC radio stations offer the same listening experience as commercial radio stations. Traditionally, the BBC Asian Network also pushed Bollywood music in line with its competitors.…”

La radio musical entra a internet

“…la regulación del desempeño de la radio se ha ido atenuando a lo largo de las décadas, en el siglo XXI, las ideas del bien común comenzaron a dominar tanto la orden del día de los entes reguladores de las emisoras comerciales como la forma en que BBC organizó y justificó sus productos de radio musical (Wall, 2009;Wall y Dubber, 2009).…”

“…Al no estar regulado, el mercado de los servicios de radio tiende a llevar a una radiodifusión que solo sirve a los intereses de los propietarios de las estaciones o los anunciantes. Como las preferencias de los oyentes no se comunican mediante un intercambio directo de dinero, los reguladores a menudo intervienen para asegurar que los diversos intereses de los oyentes se tomen en cuenta y estas intervenciones se han enfocado en garantizar la diversidad musical (Wall, 2009). Todo esto cambia en la radio por internet.…”