Winding up radio producers

[choirmaster]

This morning i was helping 'er indoors clean the house ( maybe I should also start another thread -'Are bandsmen becoming too domesticated, as the only thing they should be cleaning are their instruments' but that's a different matter). Anyway, I find this time of the week to be my few hours of brass band contemplation. Today's contemplation was centred on the lack of radio broadcasting, which may have been perhaps touched on in a previous thread. when :idea: . We winge and moan all the time about the lack of air play when we don't do that much about it ourselves.
Maybe we could really wind up the producers of radio 3/ Classic fm etc, and flood all their request programmes with requests for band pieces. I have no idea how many people use TMP, but it has to be a few thousand. It only takes everyone to make just 1 request per week to really have an impact. I think maybe they'd eventually relent and use a heck of a lot more band recordings, if it's only to stop bandies from jamming up their email inbox. :lol:
What have we got to lose? We get nothing as it is at the moment. :twisted:
If you want to do something about it instead of carrying on moaning, here's the link to classic Fm. They have daily request spots.
http://www.classicfm.com

 

[alanl58]

Whilst I agree with the sentiment that there is not enough brass music played on radio, I feel that the direction is well meant, but flawed.

To get more brass music played on radio you need to appoach producers or station mangers directly by name.

Now the BBC is trying to get it's Charter renewed for another five/ten years, and is very vulnerable to public comment at the moment. So better to look at www.bbc.co.uk and find their Charter Renewal page, and bombard it with comments. Then try the DCMS who regulate the BBC, and bombard them as well.

Finally ring up your BBC Local Radio station and make your views heard on air; look out for local BBC Public meetings, attend them and make your point firmly, and lobby your local Regional Advisory Committees.

You will be suprised how very seriously that these people will take your comments at the moment, and that they will be heard by the Senior Management of the BBC.

But if you sit back and do nothing, you will have missed a golden opportunity.

Alan Lafferty

(sorry this does not apply to tMpers overseas, the BBC World Service is payed for by the UK Government, and not the UK licence payers)

And if you e-mail me off list I will tell you how I know that this will influence events.
aplafferty@btinternet.com

 

[TheMusicMan]

I am fortunate enough to have been invited to chat on several local BBC Radio stations throughout the UK, and each time I have mentioned tMP, and the massive support both it and the whole Brass movement receive, I get astonished looks... especially when I mention the useage statistics from tMP. These incredibly high figures are, in the main, what helps me receive repeat invites to those stations and also helps in inter communication within the BBC that will hopefully mean more slots on additional local BBC stations. Miles Mendosa here we come... :lol:

Education, raising awareness, and good old fashioned (modern) publicity is what is required to help produce more brass on the radio. I will continue doing my bit so long as I keep receiving invites... please do keep showing your support for your brass world and keep posting here on tMP - I promise you that tMP's voice of the people is getting noticed in all quarters.

Thanks for your support here folks.

 

[lynchie]

well i've sent my thoughts to the BBC on their charter site. It seems they publish nearly all the stuff that people send, so if we get enough people to send in comments in the same week, they might actually take note. The place to go to send in your comments is...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/thefuture/

and click on "Send in your views" (bottom left)

 

[PeterBale]

There does seem to be an increase in the occasional brass band item in general Radio 3 broadcasting, such as Morning on 3 etc., but that may be down to some extent to whichever presenter is at the helm that particular week. Over the past week or so there have been a couple of items by Dyke and Grimethorpe, and they've also plugged a couple of forthcoming band concerts.

Brian Kay also frequently includes band pieces in his Thursday afternoon programme, but as the full playlists are not given in Radio Times, let alone any newspaper listings, where you're lucky if you even get the name of the programme, then people would be unaware that they are there.

Broadcasters do respond to comments from listeners, and I would agree that we should make contact when we've heard something we've liked, and also to request items from such programmes as CD Masters, where they are always on the lookout for artists or themes to pick up on.

 

[PeterBale]

There's an announcement in this week's British Bandsman that Radio 3 are to transmit a half hour programme on 31st October, to include interviews and the winning performance of the test piece, which was actually commissioned by the BBC. There will also be two Radio 2 programmes with extracts from the finals and the Kapitol Brass in Concert event.

Radio 3 is also broadcasting highlights of 2005's RNCM Festival of Brass in February next year, a welcome return to what started off as a BBC event.

Let's hope they get a positive response to these broadcasts so that more may be planned.

 

[lynchie]

There's an announcement in this week's British Bandsman that Radio 3 are to transmit a half hour programme on 31st October, to include interviews and the winning performance of the test piece, which was actually commissioned by the BBC.

Is this a broadcast from Pontins then? Sorry if I've missed something here...