Top UK musicians, composers, industry and community unite in support of BBC Music during Charter renewal

08 October 2015 - Press release

Sam Smith, Sir Paul McCartney, Coldplay, New Order, Brian Eno, Boy George, George Ezra, Judith Weir CBE, Rachel Portman OBE, James Bay, Jessie Ware, Paloma Faith, Disclosure, David Arnold, Chase & Status, Sting, Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox, Bob Geldof, Rita Ora, Marc Almond, Debbie Wiseman CBE, Kaiser Chiefs, Paul Epworth, Coldcut, Andreya Triana, Joby Talbot, Ben Haenow, Little Mix, Midge Ure all amongst the first wave of artists to back the #LetItBeeb campaign.
 
October 8th2015 London, UK: Some of the UK’s most prominent and influential musicians, composers, performers, producers and industry have come together behind #LetItBeeb - A public campaign in support of BBC Music and for the vital services it offers our diverse and complex musical ecosystem in the UK today that are currently under threat from Government charter renewal. Without these services there would be far reaching cultural and economic implications for the UK. Any cuts to BBC Music services would negatively impact on the UK's much celebrated soft power and would harm our position as a world leader in music export.
 
The campaign is being organised by UK music industry body UK Music and its members. Named with the blessing and support of Sir Paul McCartney, the goal of #LetItBeeb is to convince decision makers that diminishing any BBC music services would not be in the public’s interest. Artists, composers and songwriters, producers, performers, industry and music fans alike are uniting behind this campaign to give this issue the voice it deserves. Music plays an integral part in all our lives, both professionally and personally. It is impossible to imagine anyone in this country not connected with music in some way through the BBC. Peel Sessions, Top Of The Pops, The Official Charts, Live Lounge, Desert Island Discs, The Proms, Essential Mix, Glastonbury and Later…just a few of the ways that the BBC has helped define music in our lifetimes.
 
The BBC’s activity impacts on every musician and every music business professional. It employs our songwriters, artists and composers to help bring its programmes to life. It uses music as a key narrative tool for iconic shows as diverse as Doctor Who, Match of The Day, Planet Earth or EastEnders. It supports many of the UK’s musicians, orchestras and performers and also showcases the power of live music through its coverage of the Proms, Glastonbury, sessions and other live events. BBC Introducing has created a platform for grass roots local music to reach the masses, which for many artists can provide a vital first step onto the ladder. Jake Bugg, Florence & the Machine and George Ezra are just a few of the artists to have received early support from the strand that have gone on to global success.
 
UK Music is UK Music is the umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the UK’s commercial music industry - from artists, musicians, songwriters and composers, to record labels, music managers, music publishers, studio producers, music licensing organisations and the live music industry. The members of UK Music are: AIM, BASCA, BPI, FAC, MMF, MPA, MPG, MU, PPL, PRS for Music and the Live Music Group.
 
The #LetItBeeb campaign will be launched formally in Westminster on Monday 12th October with an event in Parliament.  
 
The campaign has set up a petition to Government urging for music services to be protected.
 
Government petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/106091
 
Campaign website: http://www.letitbeeb.co.uk
 
Selected Artist, Composer & Talent Quotes:
 
“Since I watched Kylie Minogue - Locomotion on TOTP, BBC Music has been part of my life. Providing a platform for new music for so many years it's entrenched in the British music culture... and long may it continue! #LETITBEEB” - Paloma Faith
 
"F**k off and leave the BBC and British music alone. You know nothing about either - leave it to the people that do." - Bob Geldof
 
“For almost a hundred years the BBC has been at the centre of British musical culture. It has acted both as a laboratory and a showcase for contemporary music, creating a uniquely lively national consciousness about music. It is undoubtedly a huge factor in the sophistication, experimentalism and global success of British music. By contrast, the American experience of commercial radio shows an inexorable drift towards monocultures: stations that specialise in a particular musical niche such as 'country' or 'modern gospel' and never play anything else. The BBC, charged with serving a broad public, has always been eclectic by default. This has produced generations of musicians with unusually broad references; a tradition of adventurous curation represented by people like John Peel; and a musically sophisticated audience willing to support and encourage experimentation. There are very good economic reasons for not fixing what isn't broken: the British music scene is a huge export earner, and I think everybody in the business would agree that the BBC is a fundamental part of that success. But there is another, possibly more important reason, for retaining the broad-based service that no commercial operator would be able to offer. The inclusivity that the BBC represents engenders tolerance, assimilation, integration, and a sense of shared community. In a multicultural society, that's worth a lot.” - Brian Eno
 
“I spent my teenage years with BBC Radio 1 - these days I’ve migrated to Radio 3 and 6 Music (with occasional, rewarding visits to Radio 2).The Proms, which I’ve attended and listened to every year since 1967, has been my true musical university. I believe that without wide-ranging BBC programmes like ‘Composer of the Week’ a large part of classical music would have vanished completely by now.” – Judith Weir CBE, Composer and Master of The Queen’s Music
 
"Over the years, some of our most memorable and favourite performances have been for the BBC...From the set of Baywatch for Top Of The Pops in 1993 to our most recent for the 6Music Festival at Maida Vale this year…A world without the BBC, well, it just doesn't bear thinking about does it…" – New Order
 
“Like a favourite member of the family: #LetItBeeb. From quiet times, to times of celebration, the BBC is where I’ve turned to be entertained, informed, thrilled and consoled. Losing Front Row, The Culture Show, Radio 3 or any of the great BBC4 music documentaries, would be a huge blow to the British cultural landscape. One of my earliest memories is sharing the experience of 'Listen With Mother' with my mother.  The theme of which is still one of my favourite pieces of music. Without the BBC Proms' commissioning programme, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to explore the important issue of climate change, in 'The Water Diviners Tale' for which I feel truly honoured.” - Rachel Portman OBE, Composer
 
“Having spent the first 22 years of my life in the States, I am constantly reminded and amazed by what a boost to the culture the BBC is here.  And, having travelled extensively over the last 40 years, I can be sure that the BBC has no rival anywhere. I am always glad to come back to it.”  - Chrissie Hynde
 
"I’m indebted to the BBC for countless influences in all kinds of ways, but I'm especially grateful for Top of the Pops, which was broadcast every Thursday night. If it hadn’t been for that fantastic show, I don’t know whether I’d have become a performer. TOTP’s was a television highpoint of the week for me and I watched it religiously. It had a massive musical  influence on just about every single teenager in the UK, all the way through the 60’s 70’s 80’s 90’s and right up to 2006, when it was sadly taken off the air. Any recording artist who had a hit single in the charts usually performed on the programme and every time I ever appeared on the show it felt like an incredible kind of honour. Thank you BBC for changing my world!" - Annie Lennox
 
"Fuck off and leave the BBC and British music alone. You know nothing about either - leave it to the people that do." - Bob Geldof