BBC Trust

Radio 1 was the default station for those students who regularly listened to radio though there was a wide variety of opinions on the merits or otherwise of the station and its schedules. Some participants said that the departure of Chris Moyles had marked the end of their association with Radio 1, while other participants praised Nick Grimshaw, and felt that he had brought a younger feel to the station.

BBC Introducing was praised for encouraging new and developing talent as well as introducing listeners to interesting new music and performers. Playing live music was also considered an important element of the station’s offering, with one participant saying “our generation appreciates live music and watching concerts”. Coverage of music festivals was particularly appreciated, with the Radio 1 Big Weekend being one of the highlights in this regard. Some had attended the Big Weekend in Bangor in 2010, and many participants praised the impact it had on the local area, which continued many years later.

Other participants were more critical of Radio 1, with some expressing the view that the music was interrupted to too great an extent by “mindless chatter”. One said “I hate it when they talk over the end of a song, or cut in and out during the playing of a song.” Some participants felt that even the conversation was repeated over and over again, in the same way that songs were also repeated too frequently. Others agreed that a wider playlist would be welcomed – “It would be nice if I wasn’t able to guess what the next song is going to be”.

Other participants disagreed and enjoyed the conversation between songs, with one saying “I don’t mind the talking because that’s what radio is. People like gossip”. But another said that it seemed to be entertainment v. bands “and I want the bands”.

Participants felt that when the level of the conversation reached an intelligent level, and discussed music and the band performing then that was almost always worthwhile. As one participant said “I’m glad when they talk to the bands and conduct interviews with them – that’s when you learn about them. Music isn’t just entertainment – there’s a message too – so when the talks teach you stuff, that is good.”

There was also a widespread appreciation of the Newsbeat programme, since participants felt it presented the news in a manner and style both useful and appropriate to them.

There were no listeners to Radio1Xtra amongst the participants at this event, with the predominant view expressed being that “it is too concentrated on London, and too much drum and bass music”.

There were occasional listeners to Radio 2 – largely, but not exclusively, as a result of parental choice when travelling by car – but the views of those who did listen were generally positive. One participant said “I like the music on Radio 2, so I’ll drop in during the day – especially at weekends. I like the confessions programme and the speech programmes, but I’m not a big fan of the chatter between the songs.”

While some of the students expressed an interest in classical music, there were no regular Radio 3 listeners present.

None of the participants listened to the BBC Asian Network.

A small number of the students listened to BBC 6Music and it was praised for playing more instrumental music than other BBC music radio stations and for giving chances to young bands.

BBC Radio Cymru was mentioned by several of the participants with C2 praised for being a means of getting to know about new Welsh music. However, some participants were critical of its repetitive playlists. As one participant put it “There just isn’t enough music in Welsh to be able to play it 24/7 and there isn’t the same range of artists as there are in English. It would be good if they also played music in English and could then make comparisons with Welsh bands – ‘if you liked that, then you might also like this Welsh band’.” It was felt that Radio Cymru needed to project a more contemporary image.

Radio was praised as a “constant source” of music and participants liked radio’s role in introducing them to new music. 

Many of the participants accessed music over the internet and apps such as Shazam were mentioned which allowed the participants to identify the music being played. The BBC playlister was mentioned but was not considered as good as other similar apps. Some participants observed that downloading music was dependant on a good broadband connection and that the speed and quality of the connection varied greatly from place to place.

BBC Three was also mentioned by participants, since the BBC announcement that it was considering the option of making the channel accessible on-line only having been made a few days before the event. The participants were very critical of this proposal, since they felt the ability to access the channel’s content easily would be lost were it not on TV, and many of them also said that the speed and availability of broadband locally meant that streaming video over their home connections was not possible. For a significant proportion of the participants, BBC Three represented their only TV contact with the BBC.