LONDON (AFP) – An English radio station said it has banned songs by British crooner James Blunt from its airwaves after listeners said they were fed up with hearing “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover”.
Chris Cotton, programme controller of local radio Essex FM in southern England, said: “We don’t have anything against James Blunt and we’re pleased he has been so successful, but we really need a break.” The music industry exerts a lot of pressure on radio stations to play certain artists’ music over and over again, Cotton said.
“Often this can be out of step with the audience’s tastes, which results in songs being overplayed,” he said. “We’re happy to stand up to this pressure and follow the strong message listeners have given us. We encourage other radio stations to take the same step.” [source]
…and with that, years of oppressive radio music was swept aside.
Imagine, a world where you can turn on the radio without hearing that song you’re just sick of playing over and over and over again. Imagine a world with no “Achy Breaky Heart” no “Macarena” and no…gulp…Backstreet Boys…and/or other one hit wonders that were just ‘Too Legit to Quit’. Imagine a world where people can vote to get a radio station to stop playing a song. This station, Essex FM, has just set a dangerous precedent; it has given the power back to the people. Somewhere in a dark board room, the international brotherhood of radio conglomerates are meeting to plan the destruction of this local radio station.
i think it’s great that Essex FM has done this (even though i absolutely love james blunt)but i dont think it would be possible for larger radio stations to do the same. example, Capital FM.