i'd love to be enthusiastic, it's just i can't help but wonder why they didn't do this years ago and save us from the various droughts we've had.

So now as well as the well known R&B crap like Nelly and Jay Z we're now going to get newly signed R&B crap too.
Great, I can't wait.

I just hope they use this to take a lead on things, rather than just following what is being championed elsewhere (Kerrang / NME, etc).
Also wish the media could get out of its new band syndrome which leaves a lot of bands after their first albums unable to recieve features and support. Whereas a lot of new bands get talked about just because they're quite good and new, rather than because they're fantastic...

More Mary Anne Hobbs please. Less Scott Mills.

depends if they wanna improve the music scene or their own station, doesn't it? will the play good new shit or crap new shit. Anyway anythings gotta be better than the killers 20 times a day, that's why i don't listen to radio 1 much.

So 20 times a week music of seemingly random quality, good or bad, will be talked over and probably cut off before the end by their vaccuous DJ roster

Well gee that's just lit up my whole day

Get shot of JK and Joel, the Smashy 'n' Nicey it's OK to hate.

five new artists? oooh, the bbc are really spoiling us!

i just listen to 6 music or xfm until the evenings, and theyre a decent bet on the evenings too. even dodgy local station Beat 106 up here has a better playlist than radio 1.

Radio one has Inane, sorry, Zane Lowe. That's all that needs to be said.

Complete and utter wankshaft.

DUUUUUUUDEE

AWESOOOOOMMMEE

no.

Cunt.

I've lost all faith in radio, the internet and word of mouth is how I find out about new bands/artists. I don't want to be spoonfed shit.

bugger listening to radio 1, if you want decent music (albeit with not quite so squeaky clean slick presenters) then student radio stations are the way to go, maybe i'm slightly biased as im on one but still our recommended playlist is far better than "normal" radio, plus its not enforced, so presenters play what they want, though with the likes of Arcade Fire, British Sea Power, Death from Above and Bright Eyes taking the A list its not too bad.

Good Stuff Radio One - they rejected our initial demo but then we were played a few weeks later on Lamacq Live. It would be no surprise at all if he had something to do with the change in policy - Steve Lamacq seems to be one of very few DJs left who actually seems intent on helping those who deserve it. Hopefully other stations will take note that the listener doesn't just want to hear LostProphets and Kylie. The beauty of the unsigned world is the range of talent - from the dreadful to the sublime - and hopefully Radio One will introduce us to the next White Stripes or Radiohead.

Forever the blind optimist. Hey ho, check out:

www.theskeksis.co.uk
www.christye.co.uk

To be fair to Radio 1 they do play exciting new music. Just only after 11pm when I have to go to bed. If it weren't for the listen again facility and my workmates (and bosses) not minding if I listen to the radio via broadband, I would never get to hear any new decent music. I could cope with there being crap during the day if only the shows were interesting in the evening but they're not, until my bedtime.

and don't even get me started on why Urban music gets its own station (1 extra) and alternative music which (judging by the album sales and gig tickets) is a bigger scene doesn't, and yet doesn't get a proportionate amount of airtime either.

...except that it does - 6Music. I know not everyone has a DAB, but you can get it on digital tv and on the net. It is, quite clearly, the best radio station imaginable, playing loads of good new bands, and the presenters seem to get a lot of their own choices on air. Give up on Radio One, this is the BBC station worth listening to.

6music is pretty good, for daytime listening anyway. their specialist shows [bar maybe the freak zone and the now nonexistant sunday session] arent too thrilling though.
jon kennedy on xfm plays some good stuff but i cant stand the ad breaks every 15 mins. huw stephens is probably the best around atm though.

More Lock Up! The Lock Up's the only thing I listen to on Radio 1 anymore.

I fucking hate Scott Mills.

"and don't even get me started on why Urban music gets its own station (1 extra) and alternative music which (judging by the album sales and gig tickets) is a bigger scene doesn't, and yet doesn't get a proportionate amount of airtime either."

is 6 music not an 'alternative' station? why shouldnt urban music get a station, its fucking massive and this country has plenty of shitey MOR rock and pop stations to cater......are you seriously telling me the shit you talk about on here sells more than 50 cent and Jay Z, R Kelly, Eminem etc......i'd be pretty fucking surprised if it did..
who gives a shit anyway? if you dont like it, dont listen....the only time i do is in the car when im bored of my tapes, and its pirate drum and bass all the way......the single best thing about living in london!

R & B is where it's at, the Hunter S. Thompson tribute issue of Rolling Stone featured a report on how traditional rock stations are being ditched in favour of rap, R and B and hip-hop because they sell well and the advertisers want to get at the new generation of consumers. I find it odd that there's been so much written on DiS and similar sites on how the traditional music press is outdated, how the fans and bands are trying to grab the power from the record companies and how internation interaction can help break a band yet there's still this love and almost admiration for outdated concepts like Radio 1 and the singles chart. Is Radio 1 really that essential? It might help break one single to a bunch of people in a similar way to that single being used in an ad campaign (hello fame, hello overnight one-single sensation like the Lilys or Babylon Zoo) but would R1 play give anything other than temporary exposure to the masses? Fuck Radio 1, ignore it even more now Peel's dead, think fo the new areas where music can be heard. There's so much evolution going on in parts of the industry, be it the online world or the downloads coming into the singles chart, let's get excited about that and consign Radio 1 to the bin, which is hopefully what will happen in the next round of BBC cuts. Fucking typical really, you sack the journos doing world news but keep on the shit airhead fucking DJs. Watch as the BBC becomes as innocuous as CNN.

Psst, Dom.. you really think Jay-Z is shit? Fair game on Nelly but Jay-Z is a totally different subject, maaaan.

well, this comes at the exact same time that they stop playing the top 40 in full, on the grounds that "its a bunch of bands youve never heard of" or some shit.
and "urban" music is WAY more popular than "alternative". record sales may not always reflect this, but while the "alt." community bangs on about its diy ethos, the "urban" scene really does do things itself, most obviously manifested in pirate radio.

"and "urban" music is WAY more popular than "alternative"." - Don't know about that one, if you did a proper study of the album charts and looked at the top 10 every week, you'd probably find that rock-indie albums get as many sales as r&b-rap. However the London rap scene has used pirate radio very well and that sort of thing does develop scenes. Then again with indie-rock, there's far more of a gig element, performing live. It's easier as a white middle-class boy in Surrey to break into the indie or rock market than the rap market.

In response to Dr.Furry, Jay-Z is in my opinion nothing very special. Granted, I don't own any of his albums, but his singles have been mostly slush. I mean 99 Problems is one example.

I think this move is purely a business move by Radio 1, as they adapt to the changing face of music. Music is accessible from so many different avenues apart from radio now, thus radio has to adapt and to diversify. They can't just carry on playing Top 40 pop schlock in the daytime anymore. They face challenges from niche stations such as XFM, their own colleagues at 6 Music and scores of other stations, local and national.

Nothing'll change, really.

Alcxxk hits it right on the head perfectly. Urban music is way more DIY than the majority of shitty guitar bands raved about on here. Urban music is the biggest ticket right now with a younger audience, the album charts mostly reflect the buying patterns of older people with more disposable income. If indierock has an apparent stronger gigging element then it's because it's far more visible and structured commerically than rap gigs. Where's the equivalent of Mean Fiddler in hip-hop circles? Certainly here in Toronto there's shitloads of free or cheap hip-hop gigs and open mic nights that go on. It's easier for a white Surrey indie boy to break into the commercial concert market because that market is structured for guitar boys, it doesn't really know what to do with hip-hop etc. You only become a decent rapper or MC by performing live so I can't quite see how the idea that urban music isn't geared toward live performance comes from.

I'm stunned at the Jay-Z comments about him not being special. Jesus guys, have you heard this guy fucking rap? Gimme him over strangled Jammisms from Maximo Park any day.

Jay Z, whilst responsible for some pretty poor radio rap pap (but what mainsteam rapper hasn't been?), has put out some of the best hip hop ever, and flow wise he is one of the greatest of all time.

there's a reason why he's running Def Jam now.

I think everyone on the DiS board should make a HUUUUUUUUUUGE group single...Knowing our luck, it'll end up being better than 99% of today's music and still won't crack the Top 75. Better luck next time eh?

granted rap is not my favorite genre, not even top 5, but i do agree that jay-z is better than most of the other hip-hop crap out there. trust me, it can be a lot worse.

It all depends what side of the tracks you come from. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions on what constitutes good music, and i've no problm with that.

However....

This new policy is clearly a little mis-informed. For example, only five new artists a day? thats criminal. It's all far too driven by the clicky industry- the old 'you pat our back, we'll pay you a truck-load of money and maybe, just maybe do an exclusive live set for you' It really makes me sick that small local bands on the rise completely neglect local radio. My case in point is the Delays. When they were knee-high to a grasshopper, SIN bust a gut to get them coverage, albeit limited. Now they're that little bit bigger, they have no time for us. Don't get me wrong, the guys themselves are legendary, it's just all the bureaucratic bollocks that goes on behind the air-brushed exterior.

Now look what you've made me do, i've over-dunked my last digestive! AGHHHHHH!

Can't be a bad thing. Then again does it mean that bands they would have had to play more they can play less of or does it mean that bands they really wouldnt of played at all they will play? Hmmmm Jury's out so let's see.

Can't be a bad thing. Then again does it mean that bands they would have had to play more they can play less of or does it mean that bands they really wouldnt of played at all they will play? Hmmmm Jury's out so let's see.

Daytime Radio 1's approach to new music has never been anything better than tokenistic to date - those occasional 'new music' weeks where 6 (I think) bands get to duke it out.

Scrap the playlists. The BBC gets a license fee, they can challenge people (that doesn't mean 20-minute Krautrock jams) and the only reason people aren't that receptive to it is because they've never had it.

Perhaps if they actually had daytime dj's that were DJ's and weren't all ex MTV news yuppies we'd hear something more decent during the day appart from some loser from Fame academy trying to be Marvin Gaye

what the fuck, your supposed to listen to shite all week for 5 good songs played 2-4 times a week. I despair.

what the fuck, your supposed to listen to shite all week for 5 good songs played 2-4 times a week. I despair.

All i know is that if i hear Gwen Stefani or the Kaiser Chiefs one more time during the day i'll destroy the radio