BBC Radio's Music And Ethics

For another part of my media case study work, we had to look at the ethics within the chosen media institution and how do media institutions deal with ethic and content related issues.

BBC’s Playlist management

 

How does BBC modify songs in order to play them?

The music team at the BBC takes different songs and takes out the strong language and sometimes some phrases that could be considered offensive.

However some songs that are still played on the BBC radio stations could still be offensive to people no matter how good the BBC’s editing is.

There are certain songs that contain an overall negative message and no matter how well BBC radio will edit them, if the overall message is offensive the song shouldn’t be played. Yet there are examples of songs that were still played.

Flo Rida’s “Whistle” was a huge hit in 2012, the song contains lots of sexual content apparently made radio friendly, however, the overall message still comes through clearly despite BBC Radio 1’s editing. The song was still played all over the station on daytime radio.

 

In contrast, Radio 1 used to be more careful about the music they played. When Prodigy’s Smack My B**ch Up was released, radio one refused to play it. The phrase that was offensive in the track was “Change my pitch up smack my bi**h up” this song was only played on night time radio.

Lots of women protested against the Prodigy track being played on radio at all do to the offensive lyrics of the song.

This leaves a few questions regarding BBC Radio’s editing and music preferences. It looks like in the olden days radio 1 was more strict on the music they play, however now more music which in the olden days would be unacceptable is played on daytime radio. This also leaves the question why Radio 1’s editing and playlist choices are much more loose in case of offensive phrases and the overall messages in the track.

 

Another case that leaves a few questions regarding radio 1’s music editing is the death of the first female prime minister in 2013 Margaret Thatcher.

After her death last year, people decided to create a campaign trying  to get the song “Ding Dong (The Witch Is Dead)” to number one in the Official UK Chart.

BBC Radio 1 Controller Ben Cooper decided to not play the song on the chart show due to the offensive lyrics and the context in which this song was related to Margaret Thatcher’s death.

This case once again leaves questions regarding radio 1’s editing. From looking at the news articles it seems normal to ban a song like that due to the situation regarding Margaret Thatcher. Considering the fact also that The BBC is funded by the government, it’s only right to not play the track on the chart show. But does it make the BBC sound like they are heading towards more of the right wing side of the government?

However, on the other hand this decision could’ve also been just an act of respect to the former prime minister.

In conclusion, despite Radio 1 taking actions which sound reasonable, looking at the case in more detail it’s possible that BBC was in fact taking sides with the right wing.

However, these are just speculations, Ben Cooper’s decision also could’ve been an act of respect towards the former prime minister.