German entertainment magazine NEON has issued an apology after it published a fabricated interview with Beyonce Knowles earlier this year. Apparently they didn't initially think it was odd that the singer, who is famously tight-lipped about details of her marriage to Jay-Z, would suddenly admit to having a pre-nuptial agreement, reveal she is keeping her desire to have children secret from her husband, and claim that he's a bit of a misogynist.

In a statement, the magazine said: "We do have serious doubts in the truth of many statements of the interview of Ms Beyonce Knowles published in NEON, issue January 2010The article was written by the freelancer Ingo Mecek. The editors-in-chief have confronted Ingo Mocek with these doubts. Ingo Mocek was not able to verify certain statements, particularly the statements regarding a marriage contract of Ms Knowles. Therefore, we assume that the interview did not take place as claimed by Ingo Mocek".

It continued: "NEON dissociates itself from the content of the interview with Ms Knowles. NEON subscribes to a high level standard of truthful journalism. Since Ingo Mocek has violated these standards severely, NEON has terminated all relationships with him with immediate effect.We sincerely apologize to Ms Knowles and her management for all personal inconvenience that may have arisen due to the publication of this interview".

When BBC boss Mark 'Tommo' Thompson recently announced he was axing his company's most credible music service 6music, he promised that some of the digital station's more interesting programmes would be moved to other BBC stations. We assumed that meant 6 shows would be dropped into graveyard slots on Radio 2, not the untouchable 'Archers' slot on BBC Radio 4. But that very idea was put to the test this week when three minutes of the music station was aired in place of Radio 4's daily soap opera.

Of course, this was more BBC cock-up than BBC strategy, though it can be hard to tell the two apart at times. Yes, a technical error meant that 6music's output crashed over Radio 4's early evening news bulletin and the first part of that night's 'Archers' episode. There was speculation on Twitter that pro-6 campaigners on the inside of the Beeb had taken part in some sort of sabotage, but BBC bosses denied that was so, and it does seem to have been, instead, a timely technical error.

A BBC spokesman said: ''Owing to a technical error, Radio 4 transmission was lost for approximately three minutes this evening shortly after 7pm. We are very sorry to listeners for loss of service. Transmission was interrupted for just under two and a half minutes at 19.01. An announcement was made on-air that 'The Archers' programme can be heard again at 2pm Friday 19 Mar and is available on iPlayer for the next seven days".

You can hear the glorious cock-up on the Radio Fail website.

Commercial radio trade body RadioCentre yesterday announced two new radio industry execs had been appointed to their board, both coming from smaller radio firms. Steve Fountain heads up radio for the Kent Messenger Group, who own seven KMFM stations in the South East, and Malcolm Bluemel runs Planet Rock, the digital rock station once owned by Global Radio but now an independent concern.

The two new board appointments maybe designed to alleviate concerns that Global, the biggest UK radio conglom, has too much dominance over the trade body. Middle-sized radio firms UTV and UKRD both implied Global's excessive influence over RadioCentre policy was behind their decision to quit the trade body.

Confirming the appointments, RadioCentre top dog Andrew Harrison said these words: "I'm delighted to welcome both Malcolm and Steve to the Board - I've no doubt they will offer valuable input on behalf of digital stations and smaller station members respectively to ensure that the voice of all our members is heard at the highest level. The fact that they were nominated by their peers also provides them with a mandate to speak on behalf of these small but vitally important parts of our industry".

Bluemel added: "As we move towards a digital future for radio, it is crucial that digital only stations have a voice - equally, there is a lot of valuable input that we, as digital services can share with the rest of the industry and I'm looking forward to working with the board on all these issues".

The Student Radio Association has spoken out in support of the Digital Economy Bill, but don't worry, that doesn't mean the college radio types are suddenly advocating cutting off file-sharers. They are concentrating on the radio components of the Bill, and the proposals to move most of the radio sector onto the digital audio broadcasting network by 2015.

The SRA had previously expressed reservations about this move, because those student radio stations broadcasting on FM and AM will probably not be in a position to go DAB in five years time. However, it has emerged that the FM network will still operate, for a time at least, after 2015, and with mainstream radio stations shifted onto DAB that will leave more space for community and student stations on the old frequencies.

There were fears that, while FM would remain, it would become a ghost town where it was hard to get listeners because all the big stations would be DAB-only. But new technologies that will enable both DAB and FM stations to appear on one electronic programme guide on the digital radios of the future have alleviated some of those fears.

Anyway, having seemingly consulted digital switchover body Digital Radio UK on what will happen to the FM network post-2015, the SRA now thinks the digital switchover plans in the DEB are good news for student radio, and they are encouraging their members to write to their MPs to support that aspect of the bill.

Radio Today quote SRA chair Tim Dye thus: "We are delighted that Digital Radio UK has embraced the needs and well-being of the student radio sector within its vision for digital radio switchover, and we look forward to working with them in ensuring a thriving analogue spectrum where our member stations can provide an even better service to the UK's student population".

As previously reported, while many of the major players in British radio support the 2015 switchover to DAB - including the BBC and Global Radio - some of the smaller radio firms like UTV and UKRD say such a deadline is unrealistic given slow uptake of DAB to date.

Bauer Media have announced they will introduce a new segment to the playlists on the seventeen local stations in their Big City Network which will be designed to give three new records a week nationwide exposure. Although the playlists on stations like Key 103 in Manchester and Radio City in Liverpool are locally influenced, the new Upfront list will be controlled centrally, with the idea of putting all of the stations in the network behind selected talent.

Although very much focused on new releases, the Upfront list will include established as well as new acts, and will probably favour the sort of mainstream talent you'd expect to hear on a local FM station. The first artists to appear are former 'X-Factor' contender Diana Vickers, new Warner priority Josh Radin and the returning Corinne Bailey Rae.

Confirming the new playlisting venture, Big City's music man Ric Blaxill told reporters: "We want to add greater variety to our established playlists and introducing new releases from new or returning artists will help us to do this. It will also provide each of the artists or groups with vital support and backing, and most importantly, the chance to get their music heard by 4.4 million listeners across the UK".

He added: "We firmly believe in local stations compiling their own playlists so that they can really feel the music running through their stations and cities. However we believe the Upfront List, which will work alongside the station's locally compiled A and B lists, will greatly benefit our music offering by bringing exciting new songs to our music loving listeners earlier".

All round radio legend Kenny Everett is to be featured in a new BBC 4 biopic. The programme will follow the late comedian and DJ's early life, starting with his childhood in Merseyside.

It's not clear how much of his professional career, which included stints on the early pirate radio stations and later Radio 1 and Capital Radio, not to mention a popular TV show, will be included in the drama. Along the way, of course, Everett befriended many of the British rock elite of the sixties and seventies. He died in 1995 of an AIDS related illness.

The BBC confirmed the biopic was in development yesterday, and that it would be an in-house production. The screenplay will be written by Tim Whitnall who won acclaim at last year's Edinburgh Fringe with his one man play about the life of Eric Morecambe.

NME have appointed a new Deputy Editor, Martin Robinson. He was previously a freelancer who contributed to Wired, Shortlist and FHM as well as NME.

NME Editor Krissi Murison told CMU: "Martin has been a core contributor to NME for some time now, and I am absolutely thrilled to welcome him onto the team full-time in such a prominent role at such a crucial time as we prepare to unveil some exciting changes".

Robinson added: "I'm chuffed to bits to have bagged my dream job and be joining Krissi and the team at NME. The magazine has already improved dramatically under Krissi's editorship and is about to step up to a whole new level. I'm delighted that I'm going to be a part of it".

A Save 6music rally will happen outside BBC Broadcasting House in London on Saturday 27 Mar at midday. The plan is to raid the recently refurbished building and completely trash it. No, not really, it's gonna be peaceful and all that, because, as is widely known, every single 6music listener is a lovely lovely person. Though some pan hats may be worn, and toast may be present. The rally is being organised by members of the Save 6 Facebook Group, which currently has 160,000 members.

In related news, the BBC has admitted it has now received 8000 formal complaints about its plans to can 6music as part of wide-ranging cuts. I think that is in addition to the formal submissions made by listeners to the BBC Trust, who are reviewing the cutback proposals put forward by BBC bosses.

In other 6music news, Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley will reunite for one show together on the digital station on Good Friday, a nod to the days in the 1990s when they co-presented Radio 1's new music evening show, the Evening Session.

Adam Buxton has announced that he hopes to return to BBC 6music with a new solo show in the very near future, before being rejoined by Joe Cornish for their Saturday morning show later in the year. How could they possibly shut down a station that offers all that?

Of the new show, for which a pilot edition with special guest Julian Barratt from The Mighty Boosh will be recorded this very day, Buxton told CMU: "At the moment it's called 'Adam Buxton's Big Mix Tape' (can't help doing the puns, sorry) and it's supposed to be kind of like a compilation tape that I've made for the listeners with a different theme or mood each week. The pilot Mix Tape is called 'Øddens' and features some of my favourite weird but accessible music by both well known and less well known artists. The show is two hours so it's divided into two sides with a guest joining me for an hour to add their own tracks and just talk generally about any other rubbish that comes up".

Sounds delightful. But we couldn't let him go (okay, I'm taking these quotes off the Adam & Joe BBC blog, but let's just pretend for a moment) without getting him to talk about his recent appearance on Channel 4 News, where he challenged BBC Director General Mark Thompson to a fight over his proposed plan to shut 6music.

Buxton told us (wink): "I was called upon to say my part on 'Channel 4 News' though apart from inviting Mark 'Tommo' Thompson out for some punching I didn't really say anything very useful. All the stirring and important stuff I'd been planning went out of the window as soon as I heard the man in my earpiece telling me we were live in five seconds. After that it was just a question of not weeping or swearing. I really meant to give Black Squadron a shout out but that was one of many things that got away from me on the night".

The BBC Trust has confirmed that it is about to initiative a review of the operations of Radios 3, 4 and 7, as well as the Corporation's local radio services. They will presumably say the services are basically performing well but could do with more promotion, and then ten days later BBC chief Tommo Thompson will announce all said services are to be closed down.

The Trust's review of local radio will be particularly welcomed by the Beeb's local stations, who are already processing the results of two internal reviews that reached conflicting conclusions (one of them Tommo's controversial cut backs document). Fingers crossed the Trust's review on local radio will manage to contradict both previous review documents, because I read somewhere that total confusion is very healthy when you're trying to run a communications-based organisation.

Confirming the planned review, the Trust's David Liddiment told reporters: "Radios 3, 4 and 7 all offer output which is hard to find elsewhere - and licence fee payers tell us that the BBC's radio stations serving the nations and local regions make an invaluable contribution to their communities. As well as the current performance of these services we'll also be looking at the BBC's future plans for the stations to ensure they are robust and deliverable. If change is needed the Trust can alter the stations' service licences or ask the BBC Executive to address the issues we raise".

The BBC's Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson has apparently told a media conference that 6music should close because the average age of its audience is 37 and that is at the heart of the demographic targeted by commercial radio.

According to the Guardian, Thomson defended the Beeb's controversial proposal that the digital radio service be shut at the Westminster Media Forum, and said: "The average age of its listeners - 37 - is at the heart of the demographic targeted by commercial radio".

Of course, it's possible Thomson has been misquoted or taken out of context there, and wasn't really suggesting that the 6music audience somehow crosses over with that of Magic and Heart and Absolute.

But if that is what she was saying, then that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and demonstrates Thomson is so out of her depth she drowned long ago and is now just a zombie, and should be fired forthwith and placed somewhere where she can't bother the BBC ever again. That is all.

Oh, talking about 6music, the Bruce Dickinson rock show on the station has been axed. And Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's Radio 2 show will be cut from four times a week to three, to make room for a new live music show. That is all.

Adam Singer, once the boss of digital telly company Flextech, and a former Chairman of PRS For Music (or the MCPS-PRS Alliance as it was then known), has been appointed to the role of Chairman at Digital Radio UK.

This is the body charged with the task of converting the great British public to digital radio, preferably by 2015. Although Singer's background is TV and music rights, he does sit on a committee within media regulator OfCom, so knows a thing or two about the regulatory and political dimension of the wider media industry.

The appointment was welcomed by RadioCentre, the trade body for those commercial radio companies who favour a fast phasing out of FM and move to Digital Audio Broadcasting. Their top man, Andrew Harrison, said: "Adam has a vast breadth of experience in the broadcasting world and his valuable knowledge will be of huge benefit to the radio sector as we move towards digital switchover".

What, four whole days without some 'save 6music' ranting in the CMU Daily? We'd better fix that. Let's do it by using the words of MP and former Culture Secretary James Purnell, who wrote a piece in support of the BBC service in The Guardian on Monday. The Beeb, of course, want to shut 6 to cut costs and placate those who criticise the Corporation for over-expanding and too readily competing with commercial rivals.

Purnell writes: "Whenever anyone proposes privatising Radio 1, the BBC rushes to say that popular music radio stations can be distinctive. That argument just about works for Radio 1 - but it's true in spades for 6music. If 6music goes, then how can they justify the much more popular Radios 1 and 2?"

He continues: "The BBC also argues that it needs to help commercial radio by closing the station (but Absolute Radio and XFM play a completely different playlist - there really isn't a market in this niche); that if 6music keeps growing it will become too successful and the BBC can't have three big national radio networks (so just keep it niche and distinctive, then); and that it's got a high cost per listener (but that's just what happens when the BBC does what it should do - a distinctive, high-quality service)".

He concludes: "The BBC says it has to show that the era of expansion is over. But closing 6music is hardly going to stop Sky and ITV from complaining".

Familiar arguments really, but given the BBC cuts are politically motivated, it's always good to hear political types express them. Purnell offers a more unusual proposal with regards where the Beeb could make savings elsewhere in their operations. "Axe BBC3" has been a favourite of the pro-6 lobby, but the former minister reckons there are easier and less dramatic ways that substantial cuts can be made.

For starters, he says, why does the BBC need two TV channels operating in the low-audience daytime slot? Pointing out BBC 2's afternoon schedule consists of repeats, quizzes and reality shows - programmes commercial channels already offer in that time slot - he writes: "There is no point in the BBC having two afternoon schedules in daytime. I'm sure there are good people making these programmes, but they could easily be on other commercial channels or on BBC 1. Rather than axing a brilliant, distinctive service, the BBC should close down BBC 2 daytime. BBC 2 costs more than £500m a year, 6music £9m - so there should be some extra money to fund the Asian Network too. That way it can much better achieve the goal of the strategy review and avoid offending all the 'indie dads' like me who prefer waking up to Shaun Keaveny than to the 'Today' programme".

The full article is here:
www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2010/mar/08/bbc-6music-campaign

MTV Networks International has announced that Philip Bourchier O'Ferrall has been promoted to the role of Senior Vice President Digital Media, which will see him overseeing all of the music channel's non-US multi-media and online whatnots. He has previously headed up the firm's digital teams in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, and will continue to do so.

He will report to MTV International President Robert Bakish, who told CMU: "Our digital ambition is to be on all of the platforms that are relevant to our audience. I am confident that Philip will drive robust growth for MTV International's digital business as he has for MTV UK".

Following all the noise being made last week to try and save BBC 6music, supporters of the Asian Network are getting more vocal. As previously reported, the BBC is planning on shutting both digital radio services.

Among those to put their name to an open letter to the BBC Trust supporting the Asian service were actors Laila Rouass, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal, Olympic medal-winning boxer Amir Khan, 'Bend It Like Beckham' director Gurinder Chadha, England cricketer Vikram Solanki, singers Jay Sean and MIA, and Bollywood and 'Big Brother' star Shilpa Shetty.

The letter, published in full in The Guardian, says that the Asian Network is a "key platform" for the national Asian community "and offers creative British Asian talent an outlet which is demonstrably under-represented in the more mainstream BBC. This would all be tragically lost if these proposals are agreed". The letter adds that the signatories were "shocked" by proposals the station be closed.

The BBC's chief Pepsi expert and radio boss Tim Davie has defended the Beeb's controversial decision to axe the Asian Network and 6music.

Davie, who became head of BBC Audio & Music in 2008 bringing, erm, zero seconds of experience in radio and music to the table, has blogged about the cutback plans amid mounting opposition to the proposals, especially in relation to music service 6. Davie argues that, while he loves the two services that are facing closure, it is right for the Beeb to focus its radio resources into making a smaller number of stations more brilliant, rather than spreading it out to nine national stations, two of which have only small audiences.

He blogged yesterday: "I do not believe that offering the current range of nine stand-alone digital networks is the right way to serve audiences and ensure radio remains strong in a digital world. And, while digital radio has seen growth, my concern is that current development remains slow. So we are proposing to reduce the number of stations and re-invest in our five core networks - Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Live - and extensions of these services, while maintaining our overall investment in digital radio to use in a range of innovative ways to provide listeners with great digital content".

He continues: "But this strategy of focusing efforts on doing fewer things better also means difficult decisions. Clearly we didn't arrive lightly at the decision to recommend the closure of 6music: it is distinctive, much loved and I too am passionate about its output. But I believe the best way for us to provide that kind of programming is by looking at other ways to find it a bigger audience. While we are re-focussing on fewer networks, we will consider how the range of music played on Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3 should adjust to ensure we continue to offer a diverse spectrum of new and UK music as part of our stronger focus on originality and distinctiveness".

Of course, as someone or other I was reading about the other day said, the BBC is in a very tricky position, because while key players in the political community are constantly calling on the Corporation to make cuts, there will be vocal groups who speak out in support of any service or programmes that are axed in order to streamline the Corporation. And even those of us in the 'save 6' camp must recognise that the high volume of the support being heard for that particular station this week is in part aided by the fact some of its most passionate supporters work in the media, or are active Twitter users.

But then again, my two main problems with the BBC cuts proposals remain, and nothing Davie or his boss Mark 'Tommo' Thompson has said have addressed these two points.

First, both Davie and Tommo justify cutting services like 6 so that they can improve "quality" elsewhere in the Corporation's output. This is a clever rouse, because it's a justification that sounds good but means nothing. It also assumes that you get better quality TV and radio programmes when you spend more money.

While it's true that there is a minimum amount of money you need to spend to get good content (a minimum many commercial radio stations don't provide their programmes any more), the vast majority of BBC Radio's national shows are over-funded and over-staffed, with Radio 1 and Radio 2 the most guilty in this regard. Pumping more money into these stations will just mean they become even more over-funded, not that the quality of programming will improve.

Second, the aim of these cuts is primarily to placate critics in the commercial sector. Those commercial critics complain because Radios 1 and 2 - which compete with their stations - have an unfair competitive advantage because of the vast over-spending and over-staffing that goes on. The proposals of Davie, Tommo and John Tate, who wrote the cuts document, will actually make this imbalance worse and piss off the commercial radio sector even more.

While it can be a good thing to bring in expertise from outside the media into broadcasting companies, to ensure alternative thinking at the top, you get the impression here that the fact Davie, a former fizzy drink seller, and Tate, a former Tory Party twonk, know little about making good radio is in part behind such a misguided strategy being employed. Tommo is a former programme maker, but has his heart in TV not radio, and certainly not music.

So yes, us 6 fans are emotionally attached to a minority interest station, and we are using our media connections to kick up a bigger fuss than our number should probably allow. But CMU's problems with the plans to axe 6 remain unemotional - Davie, Tommo and Tate are just employing bad strategy.

EA and MTV Games' Rock Band Network Music Store has opened. This is the store that lets any artist or label sell pretend-to-play versions of their songs to 'Rock Band' gamers (providing they have the know-how to concert their songs into Rock Band-compliant downloads).

As previously reported, the store "launched" in January. I've no idea why it's therefore only just opening. A very nice guy at EA is trying to find out for me, after everyone at MTV (press, marketing, digital) denied any knowledge of their company having a gaming division. Fools, as the MTV channels become increasingly redundant, I'd be looking for a job in Games myself. 

In his weekly column for CMU's Remix Update e-bulletin, Xfm's Eddy TM speaks out in support of the 6music campaign...

OK, so I had a bit of a rant on Twitter last week. More than a bit. I had a proper, balls out spleen-vent, the kind I normally reserve for Christmas with one of my nearest and dearest. Predictably, the object of my anger and frustration was the BBC, and the latest news about their cutbacks, especially with regard to 6music.

I saw red, such a bloody shade of red that some people really got the wrong end of the stick, and I had messages saying things like: "You're not a fan of the BBC but you should be on it..." That's a sweet thing to say and I fully understand it's reasoning, but it starts with a premise that is fundamentally wrong. I LOVE the BBC. All this anger stems from love. It makes the sense of betrayal that I'm feeling run so much deeper.

I see the BBC as family. My lovable but difficult and slightly batty auntie, who is independently wealthy, generous at Christmas, but old fashioned almost to the point of annoyance, and always being taken advantage of by hawkers who knock on her door.

But, despite her awkwardness, I love her, because it was she who turned me onto music, while my dad was disapproving. It was this auntie who taught me to find beauty in everything, from architecture and antiques, to the amazing planet we live on, and in every bit of its flora and fauna. And she taught me about cultural diversity, and about culture itself, in all its forms.

I cut my teeth, as did Chris Evans, Richard Bacon, Gideon Coe and countless others, in BBC local radio. I went on, via an ad in the newspaper, to get a job at Radio 1, in the roaring 90s, where this crazy journey of mine really began.

You'd think that because I work for another station that I'd be celebrating the loss of a major digital rival, but that loses sight of the core of my being: I am, first and foremost, a music fan, and 6music shares its soul with Xfm, as a station for people who really care about music. We are kindred spirits, not rivals. That's how I see it anyway.

I understand the need for cut backs in this climate, but in axing 6music the BBC are overlooking their fundamental raison d'etre. That is NOT to be commercial, but to provide an alternative to the mainstream, to ensure diversity, objectivity and fairness.

Let's face it, 1Xtra is an urban station, and Radio 1, during daylight hours, shares the same urban obsession. Why on Earth would an organisation supposedly committed to diversity then sack off a station just because it hasn't got a huge number of listeners? They're all there for a reason, because their listeners can't get what they want anywhere else. That's the key.

If I'm an R&B loving kid, then I have Radio 1, 1Xtra or any of the myriad independent local radio stations around the country. It doesn't matter where I live, I will have my needs catered for. But if I'm, well, me, or any of my mates, and I live outside London, where do I go for the music I love? I mean, for fuck's sake, I live in Clapham, but I can't get Xfm - or pretty much any non-BBC station - on my DAB radio, the ONLY station I can get, that plays the music I love, is 6music.

All the others are playing, in the words of Steely Dan, "nothing but somebody else's favourite song".

I believe the closing of 6music is against the terms of the BBC's charter. This is something we should fight tooth and nail to keep, even if we don't listen to it. Like The World Service, it HAS to be there, because it is ESSENTIAL to enrich the lives of the people who listen to it, and because these people have NOWHERE ELSE TO GO.

I believe with all my heart that the BBC is the single greatest thing about this country. This statement started an interesting thread on my Facebook page, with quite a few people saying: "What about the NHS?" And I say, as a massive fan and supporter of the NHS, yes, it is wonderful. It's full of overworked, underpaid angels in human form, but is it the best in the world? I can't say that. I've been treated much faster and in a much more modern and cleaner environments overseas.

However, the BBC is absolutely, without question or argument, the greatest broadcasting organisation in the world. It is something every other country is jealous of and wishes they had and it is the yardstick by which all others should be measured.

But this fact doesn't give it licence to fuck us over, and that is what it's doing right now. It's lost sight of what it's there for. We need to remind our auntie what is important, so remind her, write, email, contact your MP, get your outrage on and get the message across. We are a minority, but just because we're not united by the colour of our skin or our religion, we're being screwed. Don't let this happen, my friends, fight for what we believe in: Let's fight for music.

Much love,

eddy X

Read this week's Remix Update here, and sign up to receive it by email each Monday afternoon here.

Godwin's Law states that the longer any online argument continues the higher the probability of a comparison involving Nazis becomes. And you can see that law in action on Radiohead's blog, where guitarist Ed O'Brien yesterday referred to Mark Thompson as "Herr Director General".

But anyway, this is my way of telling that O'Brien, also a director of the Featured Artists Coalition, has responded to the whole BBC 6music thing, as has his former sparring partner Lily Allen (who clashed with FAC over the proposed three-strikes system last year, I'm sure you remember).

In a letter to the BBC Trust, O'Brien said: "I wonder if those who made this decision are actually aware of the hugely important role that 6music plays in fostering and promoting new bands, as well as still playing the likes of the band that I am in. It literally is the radio lifeblood for music outside of the mainstream. Not to denigrate Radios 1 and 2, but it really is the only station that puts music first, and that's from a punters point of view and not some bloke in a band. Nowhere else can you hear an archived session track from T Rex juxtaposed next to Midlake's latest release? As David Bowie put it, it keeps the spirit of John Peel alive".

He continued: "Please realise the impact and severity of closing this station down. It will be a huge blow for new bands and their labels. It's not enough to 'refocus' Radios 1 and 2 as 6music does a very specific thing. What you have with 6music is a gem of a radio station, it is doing what no other station in the world does or can possibly do. Remember it is also still relatively young, give it time. You also finally have a fantastic and seemingly settled line up of DJs. Please get behind it and from what I can gather about its annual budget of £6m, it surely punches way above it's weight in terms of cultural relevance and importance".

Writing for The Guardian, Lily echoed O'Brien's sentiment, writing: "What is happening now reflects a huge, politically motivated reshuffle.It will be awful if they do decide to close BBC 6music, and I hope that the backlash they've received so far will make them think twice. Clearly it will continue to cause uproar, which is the last thing the BBC want. Perhaps they weren't expecting this level of interest in a niche station".

She continued: "If they close 6music, instead of acts like Seasick Steve and presenters like Lauren Laverne, it will be the Pussycat Dolls and Fearne Cotton on Radio 1. The only way this decision will be palatable is if they incorporate the elements of BBC 6music that strike a chord with the public into one of their other channels, such as Radio 2.That would mean making a commitment to showcasing new and unsigned bands, not just bands on major labels, and giving space to bands who haven't got a platform anywhere else, not just the next hyped act. But honestly I don't feel very hopeful that this will happen. Closing BBC 6music is bad news for unsigned acts and new British music".

You can give your own feedback to the BBC Trust on the Strategy Review here: www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consultations/departments/bbc/bbc-strategy-review/consultation/consult_view