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Our pop-up digital radio service returns from today (Thursday 10 March) and will feature special broadcasts live from the at The O2 in London.

I believe Radio 2 effectively created what is now termed UK Country due to our support of this “specialist” genre, so I thought now would be a good occasion to write about Radio 2’s distinctive music policy.

Every week Radio 2’s playlist team of producers gather and look at adding new music to the most impactful radio station new release playlist in the world - Radio 2 reaches 15.5 million listeners every week.

It’s a big responsibility but also a great opportunity to play what we think will be great new “hits” to our audience’s ears. In order to find those songs we mine a the broad range of music out there and seek the views of all our team and the specialist producers. 

A few years ago, Radio 2 certainly played country music but there was no definable UK country artist. But through our playlist support we found The Shires and through our specialist music programming, via curators like Bob Harris, we found Ward Thomas and then introduced both bands to daytime support. Both have gone on to great success on record and live.

Jamie Cullum initially supported Gregory Porter via his weekly jazz show on Radio 2. We then worked with his record label to help find tracks that kept Gregory’s integrity as a great jazz vocalist but would appeal to a daytime audience via our new release playlist. Gregory has gone on to return to his native America as a UK success story thanks to our support.

You may find a Gregory Porter or a Shires track on your local commercial radio station but that is because we gave them their earliest breaks and we are proud of our part in their success. At Radio 2 we pride ourselves in being advocates and supporters of the UK music industry. We were championing artists like Rumer, Paloma Faith, Thea Gilmore, Caro Emerald and Andreya Triana long before anyone else. They’ve all since gone on to carve out successful careers.

Radio 2 broadcast over 1,100 hours of specialist music programming last year.  We can easily shout about how distinctive our music programming is after 7pm in the evening with amazing curators hosting amazing music shows from most genres across the musical spectrum. But I am also very proud of the broad range of genres and music that we broadcast during the daytime hours from 6am to 7pm every single day.

Radio 2 provides listeners with a huge range of popular music forms not provided by commercial radio, challenging audiences to experience the unfamiliar within the context of familiar and well-loved musical repertoire.

Not only do we broadcast the biggest range of genres of any station throughout the day but most of that music is only played on Radio 2. Through our research we know that Radio 2 plays a wider variety of music covering a wider range of genres, with significantly less repetition than commercial radio. Due to our success you might well hear of our biggest recent successes elsewhere, but Radio 2 has been alone in supporting great blues in the daytime by Reuben James Richards and Joe Bonamassa, terrific new soul by Shaun Escoffery and great folk music by Bellowhead. All artists nurtured by Radio 2 and expert specialist music curators like Paul Jones, Jamie Cullum, Mark Radcliffe, Bob Harris and Trevor Nelson.

In fact, I consider my role with the help of our experienced radio producers as that of “curating the curators” and continuing to add the best new music from across the board to the broad range and mix that only Radio 2 plays day in and day out.

Every year it’s my privilege to curate which showcases this range. Last year we featured superstars Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, but also included folk from Kate Rusby and new soul from Shaun Escoffery. In 2014 I persuaded Jeff Lynne to reform the much loved ELO, but we also showcased new country by Kacey Musgraves and folk by Bellowhead. All these artists were also uniquely featured in live tracks broadcast throughout the day on Radio 2 as well as in the station’s new release playlist. This year’s line-up will be just as diverse and as usual, feature a mix of legendary acts and the superstars of tomorrow. Standby for the line-up announcement soon...

And as well as this, April sees the return of the . Now in their 17th year, the awards will see the folk music world gather at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the thriving UK folk music scene. There will be live performances from British singer-songwriter and multi-award-winning Joan Armatrading, Mercury Award-nominated Sam Lee, and acclaimed Northumbrian folk act The Unthanks. Other acts on the line-up will be announced at a later date.

Radio 2 is committed to providing listeners with a wide range of popular music forms, challenging audiences to experience the unfamiliar. If you are heading to the Country to Country Festival have a great time, if not please enjoy our pop up Radio 2 Country service or loads of other great popular music genres throughout the day on 主播大秀 Radio 2. 

Jeff Smith is Head of Music, 主播大秀 Radio 2 and 主播大秀 Radio 6 Music