'Brass Band music is not so close to the classical genre... it is, by a loose definition, closer to folk music'.
This is where your argument first falls down, IMHO. Do you really think pieces like Blitz, Spectrum, Paganini Varitations, Dove Descending, Concerto Grosso, In Memoriam RK, Grimethorpe Aria, Pageantry, Moorside Suite, Severn Suite, Variations for Brass Band, Diversions on a Bass Theme, Salamander, etc. etc. etc. etc. are closer to folk music than classical. I don't think so.
'Just because we play orchestral arrangements, that's no reason why Classic FM should have to put us on their play lists. We play pop music arrangements too,'
What about Classic Rock? What about Hooked on Classics?(Eurgh!) It's not just brass bands that play them.
'Now I understand that as Banders, because we are musicians, many of us are quite inclined to listen to Classic FM because we appreciate and enjoy the genre/sub-genres of music that they play, but that is up to us, it is our own choice. They can play whatever music they want, they don't have to answer to us, they can target their station towards whichever audience they want, and if that doesn't include Brass Band music/audiences, then so be it, that's their choice.
I'm sorry there is no 'Brass FM' radio station, it would be a fine thing if there was, but there isn't. That's just the way it is.
I'm sorry to disagree with so many, but to me, demanding Classic FM to play Brass Band music as a regular feature is like asking MacDonalds to sell gourmet food or an expensive French restaurant to serve burgers and fries with a tomato ketchup dip.... they could, but they don't want to, and therefore they don't, and nobody complains.'
I think those analogies are rather insulting to the brass band genre. MacDonalds and French fries with tomato ketchup? We're about a bit more than that. Having said that, the flip side is that the brass band movement hasn't always helped itself. I believe that a lot of people not involved in brass bands still perceive them to be about clotch caps, The Floral Dance and Brassed Off when brass bands are about so much more. The movement hasn't, either by accident or design, totally shaken those images off. Too many concerts (for my liking, anyway) still contain items like William Tell, Clog Dance (John Marcangelo) and The Floral Dance, some 26 years after it was topical. Perhaps it doesn't want to shake these images off, but not forgetting the publicity that the Floral Dance and Brassed Off brought brass bands, they're about far more than that these days.
I wouldn't necessarily want more coverage on Classic FM (I made the point earlier that their reasons for not including bands, i.e. 'too many arrangements' doesn't hold any water at all), but bands did feature occasionally with live concerts on Radio 3 (whose presenters would probably be somewhat more informed than those on Classic FM) and perhaps we could aim for a little more exposure on there.
Having said all that, if another 'Brassed Off' type film arrived on the scene, chances are Classic FM would probably play the accompanying soundtrack quite regularly!
Still, disparate views or not it's an interesting and thought provoking topic.