Industry | 2010.03.03
100,000 join Save 6 Music campaign
More than 100,000 people join online campaigns as David Bowie and Emily Eavis appeal for threatened BBC 6 Music to be saved
The fight to save BBC 6 Music continues to gain momentum as one supporter launched a protest song on YouTube and more than 100,000 people signed up to online campaigns to save the station.
Songwriter Dan Bull urged BBC bosses in Dear Auntie (An Open Letter to the BBC) : "You need to appeal to the people that feel John Peel, and want to keep it real. So please pretty Beeb, we appeal for a new deal."
The song was at the centre of a chorus of protest about the BBC\'s decision to axe the music station.
A Save 6 Music Facebook group attracted more than 88,000 members, and another online petition signed up almost 25,000 signatures.
On Twitter thousands of opponents of the BBC\'s proposals added a ribbon to their profile picture arguing the station was an "oasis in a sea of mainstream pap and double glazing, it has no commercial alternative". The protest made "Save6music" one of the most popular trends of the day on the micro-blogging service.
The campaign has also attracted several high profile backers. David Bowie has thrown his weight behind efforts to lobby the BBC over the closure, saying: "For new artists to lose this station would be a great shame."
Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis urged music lovers to join the campaign, urging her followers on Twitter to contact the corporation\'s trust, adding: "Don\'t let them do it."
Radio 5 Live presenter Richard Bacon said: "6 Music is staffed by talented people providing \'distinctive\' programming that values \'quality over quantity\'. Exactly what this restructure is supposed to be about."
He went on: "6 Music is distinctive and serves an audience not catered for by the commercial sector. What happens when folk use whatever rationale they have come up with to justify the 6 Music decision and apply it to other parts of the BBC?"
One of the station\'s own broadcasters, Danny Wallace, said: "Today I fell a little bit out of love with the world\'s most fantastic organisation, which is now less fantastic."
Phill Jupitus, who was the launch breakfast show presenter for 6 Music, said he was "just gutted" by the proposal.
Radio 1 presenter Edith Bowman said fans should make their presence felt: "The BBC Trust make the decisions, we can still play a part in saving 6 Music."
The service, which launched in March 2002, aims to appeal to music fans by focusing on acts "outside the mainstream". It also features archive recordings of tracks from the 1960s onwards.
Presenters include Lauren Laverne, Shaun Keaveny and Steve Lamacq, as well as musicians such as Elbow\'s Guy Garvey, Jarvis Cocker and Cerys Matthews.
According to the BBC\'s annual report, it cost £9m to run the service in 2009.
Yesterday Bull, who got his first break on 6 Music, summed up the feeling of many of the protesters in his lyrics arguing the BBC was "spending money like it was never ending" on big name presenters.
"Pay me half what you pay Clarkson – I\'ll be laughing like I can\'t keep a straight face. Straight up. If there is a budgetary deficit to make up. Then wake up and give Jeremy a pay cut." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
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