About the �� Feed

From David Bowie to Miles Davis to the Proms: what happens to live recordings?

2018-08-14T09:03:28+00:00

From The Beatles to Miles Davis and Bananarama and everything in between, the �� owns more than two million music copyrights from performances broadcasted live with a catalogue stretching way back to the 1920s.

This includes Top Of The Pops, Radio 1 Live Lounge, Later With Jools Holland, John Peel, the Proms, as well as concerts and festivals across the country. We also own programme scores composed in-house, such as by the �� Radiophonic Workshop, which created the Doctor Who theme and for classic programmes like Blue Planet and Bob The Builder.

We license this to record labels or the artists themselves, for commercial release via the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, and also work with advertising, film and other TV companies

In practice it can mean providing bonus content from a �� performance for additional songs on album reissues, a one-off EP for Record Store Day, a live in concert DVD, or a Peel Sessions release.

For example, two years ago we delivered additional recordings to Jimmy Page, in person, for the remastered Led Zeppelin: �� Sessions compilation album that came out later in 2016.

Due later this year is an eight-disc REM at the �� album, and this follows others in the series such as Bowie at the Beeb and The Beatles’ Live At The ��.

It’s not only physical releases like CDs and LPs, as streaming rights for Spotify and so on are often included in licensing deals as well, and we’re working more and more these days with Vevo and similar sites.

When music appears in adverts, films, or in games, the industry term is called synchronisation, recently we have completed large global deals for LaCoste and Chrysler, and occasionally we clear samples of recordings that are to be used in other music.

Although the vast majority of these recordings have never been commercially released, they don’t just sit there doing nothing, as part of our work is to persuade record companies to make more use of them.

The agreement we made with AIM (the Association of Independent Music) a few years ago is a good example, which has facilitated deals with AIM members like The Fall, Kylie Minogue, The Moody Blues and the Pixies.

And, of course, sometimes recordings previously thought lost or accidentally deleted years ago unexpectedly turn up, which is very exciting - especially when it’s Bowie!

Welcoming �� Sounds to the family

2018-06-29T11:00:00+00:00

This week we welcomed �� Sounds into the �� Radio & Music family and I’m delighted to say that it’s been really well received and is getting great product reviews.

�� Sounds brings together all that we love and cherish about �� Radio & Music in a new app which will transform the way audiences discover, listen to and enjoy our output.

We’re on a mission to reinvent the �� and help make a more personalised experience for everyone. �� Sounds is a big part of that.

It makes it easier to discover and enjoy more �� audio than ever before from any genre across our live schedules, podcasts and music programmes.

We’ve kept the things people love about our �� iPlayer Radio app and are building on them to give users a more personal experience.

It’s designed so that the more you use it the better it gets at understanding and leading you to content that you like. The Recommended for you section has a dozen great on-demand listens picked just for you from over 80,000 hours of content and constantly refreshed based on your listening.

We know one of the things audiences love about �� Radio is our editorial expertise in introducing them to new things. So �� Sounds makes it really easy to discover content you might not otherwise have tried through the Highlights section - hand-picked collections of podcasts and on demand music shows ranging from the exclusive Live Sessions to life tips in Upgrade Your Life.

We’ve decided to make an early version of the app available so we can learn from how people use it and improve it.

If you’ve signed into the �� before, for example, to use �� iPlayer, it’s just a single tap to sign in. And if you’re a �� iPlayer Radio user the home page comes ready loaded with audio content you’ve already listened to.

If you haven’t got a �� ID it’s easy to get one when you download �� Sounds.

You can download �� Sounds from your usual app store and tell us what you think of it here.

Bob Shennan is Director of Radio & Music

Read also Introducing the first version of �� Sounds

�� Music: Record Store Day 2018

2018-04-21T09:00:00+00:00

An introduction into Record Store Day which is happening today (Saturday 21 April) across the UK.

Over 200 independent record shops across the UK come together today (Saturday 21 April) for Record Store Day, a celebration of their unique culture. And �� Music is supporting it all the way with programmes and coverage across Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 Music, local �� TV, S4C and online.

Many stores and cities are hosting artist performances and events to mark the occasion and special vinyl releases have been created exclusively for the day from artists as diverse as ABBA, Arcade Fire, The Courteeners, David Bowie, Grateful Dead, Hawkwind and Wolf Alice.

Legendary DJ Goldie has released an exclusive vinyl for Record Store Day of unreleased and remastered tracks from his 25 years of music-making.

This is the third year that �� Music has partnered the event, and to kick it off in style Lauren Laverne's 6 Music programme will broadcast live from the world's oldest record shop, Spillers in Cardiff, on Friday (10am-1pm).

Welsh singers Gwenno and Gruff Rhys will play Lauren's Desert Island Disco; North American songstress Haley will perform live, and female turntablist Shiva Feshareki will treat the live audience and listeners to an original composition. Lauren will also chat to Ashli, who runs the shop, and the punters who come in.

All of 6 Music's programmes will celebrate Record Store Day on Record Store Day itself. Radio 3's Record Review will join in the fun too, as host Andrew McGregor is joined by guests Katy Hamilton and Chris O'Reilly to mark the day with their selection of new releases and a discussion about the various ways of consuming recorded classical music.

Record Store Day is a great chance to support new music and the shops that need your business all year round, so find your local participating store today and spend a care-free hour or so flicking through new and classic vinyls.

This post originally appeared in Ariel

Nicholas Parsons honoured at the �� Radio & Music Awards

2018-03-20T21:00:00+00:00

It was a night of celebration for the radio and music industry tonight (Tuesday 20 March) as the Radio Theatre played host to the annual �� Radio & Music Awards.

Now in their fifteenth year, the Awards recognise the people behind the world-class content we produce 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

And these Awards were extra special as they were open to colleagues from �� Music and independent production companies for the very first time.

It was great to look out from the stage and see familiar faces from both indies and �� teams seated together. It’s almost a year since we started opening up more of our radio output to competition and tonight showed that a bit of healthy competition is good for all of us – it keeps us on our toes, ensures the audience is always front of mind, and drives us to be the best we can be.

Tonight was as much about celebrating the wonderful community that exists within UK radio as it was about recognising the individuals who, in 2017, went above and beyond to produce ground-breaking programmes, podcasts and productions.

The year in question saw us celebrate a string of anniversaries. It’s fitting that our Gold Award went to broadcasting legend Nicholas Parsons who has hosted Just a Minute for five decades. But 2017 also marked 60 years of the Today programme, 15 years of 1Xtra and 50 years of Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4. The radio revolution that began in 1967 continues today as we reinvent and grow radio for a new generation.

Nicholas Parsons accepts his Gold Award while Paul Merton smiles on in the background

Leading the way is 5 live with chart-topping podcasts, innovative outside broadcasts and candid conversation. They stole the show picking up five awards in total.

In the Outside Broadcast category they shared the honours with One Love Manchester. This poignant �� Music production was a true collaboration of �� teams, involving not just Music colleagues but �� Studios, Radio 1, Radio 2, 5 live, �� Radio Manchester, �� Radio Operations, �� Radio Outside Broadcast Unit and �� Music News. It was no surprise then that it also won Best Collaboration as well as Moment of the Year.

The Manchester Arena attack was, sadly, one of several moments that tested us in 2017. Our teams faced every challenge with dignity and professionalism, providing responsible and incisive journalism, and pulling off incredible feats like the One Love Manchester broadcast in just seven days, helping to raise £2m for the victims’ families. Never before have I been prouder or more inspired by the people I work with.

Greg James hosted the �� Radio And Music Awards

And speaking of inspirational people, I must thank Greg James who hosted the Awards, just a few days after completing his Pedal to the Peaks challenge for Sport Relief, raising over £1 million and encouraging young people to open up about mental health in the process. Like all of our award winners Greg has gone the extra mile, and then some.

Thank you to the judges and congratulations to all the winners, listed below.

Gold Award

Nicholas Parsons

Production Team of the Year

5 live Lates and 5 live Summaries

Non-content making Team of the Year

Central Planning Unit, Radio Factual

Unsung Hero

Emma Newman

Best Technical Production

Welcome To Wherever You Are – �� Studios

Best Music Production

Exploring Life on Mars – Sue Clark Productions

Best Documentary

The Untold: In the Grip of Anorexia – �� Radio & Music Documentaries Unit

Best Drama Production

On Kosovo Field – �� Radio Drama North

Best Comedy Production

Who do I think I Am? – �� Studios/Mark Steel

Best Podcast

Brexitcast – �� Radio 5 live

Interview of the Year

Clarke and Carrie Carlisle – �� Radio 5 live Daily

Best Storytelling

The Untold: Missing – �� Radio & Music Documentaries Unit

Best Outside Broadcast

One Love Manchester – �� Music, �� Studios, �� Radio 1, �� Radio 2, �� Radio 5 live, �� Radio Manchester, �� Radio Operations, �� Radio Outside Broadcast Unit, �� Music News

AND

5 live at Stanbrook Abbey – 5 live Daily

Best Sports Production

Skating to Gold – USP Content

Best Initiative for Reaching New Audiences

�� Radio 5 live's #mumtakeover – �� Radio 5 live News Digital Pilots

Best Collaboration

Best Digital Innovation

CBeebies Radio iSpy Sound Detective – CBeebies Radio and �� Research & Development

Moment of the year voted for by staff from �� Radio & Music and independent production companies

All entries were judged blind, without details of producers or production companies.

Bob Shennan is Director of �� Radio & Music.

�� Radio 1’s Brit List in 2018

2017-11-03T10:00:00+00:00

Since launching Brit List in February, Radio 1 has offered a platform to nine emerging British artists that showed the potential to connect with mainstream audiences in the UK and internationally. Anne-Marie, Declan McKenna, J Hus, JP Cooper, Sampha, Stefflon Don, Stormzy, The Amazons and Tom Walker all received a three-single playlist commitment, accelerating them to the Radio 1 ‘A list’ over the course of their debut campaigns.

On top of this playlist commitment, we have worked closely with each artist to build other editorial opportunities such as Live Lounge performances and iPlayer programmes – watch out for the ‘�� Turf’ series launching in December with Anne-Marie, Declan McKenna and The Amazons. The first six Brit List acts were all invited to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Hull, and happily five were able to join us, Stormzy on the Main Stage.

We’re delighted to have played a part in all of these artists’ success stories, highlights of which include a number one album for Stormzy and a Mercury Music Prize win for Sampha. In fact, Sampha, The Amazons and JP Cooper’s debut albums all landed in the Top 10, and there have been numerous hit singles for the likes of Stefflon Don, J Hus, Anne-Marie and others. All nine Brit List acts have been able to build their live plot with Radio 1’s help too.

So I’m very pleased to say that Brit List will continue into next year, and I’m thrilled now to open a submission window for our first three artists of 2018 – guidelines below. Note that, as with the second round announced in June, we have dropped the original requirement that applicants must not have an album in the market. All artists – signed or unsigned – are welcome to submit, as long as they are not widely known to mainstream British audiences.

Brit List is about supercharging the campaigns of emerging British artists at just the right tipping point in their career - a long-term partnership aimed at accelerating progress from ‘20 to 100’. The next three successful applicants, like the first nine, will have enjoyed some success already. The guidelines here are there to help you decide when to pitch. The submission window for the next three Brit List acts closes at 5pm on Friday 24th November.

Good luck!

Chris Price, Head of Music, �� Radio 1 & 1Xtra

Read also Radio 1’s Brit List – An Update from June 2017

It's like Christmas Day for music...

2017-06-16T08:48:12+00:00

Texas at �� Music Day 2017

Rebecca Sandiford, Producer, �� Music, tells Ariel’s Matt Eatley how the �� celebrated the power of music through �� Music Day on Thursday 15 June.

What do Ozzy Osbourne, Liam Neeson, a ukulele-playing postie, an all-female brass band and 47 Blue Plaques all have in common?

It can only be one thing. �� Music Day 2017.

Now in its third year, �� Music Day is always this irrepressible, idiosyncratic and often heady mix of the surprising, the collaborative and the uplifting. The idea is to have one day in the year when the �� along with external organisations come together to celebrate everything we love about music.

Through live music events around the UK and broadcasts across �� Radio, TV and digital, �� Music Day aims to unite generations and communities through the universal language of music.

It’s like Christmas Day for music.

The �� Music Day team is based in Salford and sits within �� Music, whose aim is to create greater impact for music from the ��. We reach out to as many �� production teams as we can across all platforms and sites to create content that celebrates music.

�� Local Radio is a highly valued and vibrant partner, providing news-worthy events across the English Regions every year. This year they’ve unveiled 47 musical Blue Plaques – almost all of them on one day.

Network Radio is also at the heart of �� Music Day and this year Radio 1 joined the party, meaning every single network radio station celebrated with us - Radio 2, Radio 3, 5 live, 6 Music and Asian Network.

And we’re delighted to have collaborated with new partners the World Service, daytime drama Doctors and �� Writersroom this year. That’s alongside old friends C��, CBeebies, Regional TV, �� Breakfast and Music News Live.

External partners are equally vital to �� Music Day. Last year we worked with over 100. This year we were joined by The National Autistic Society, the Alzheimer’s Society and Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s leading music therapy charity.

This is in addition to city councils, venue owners, music charities and dozens of Music education hubs: not to mention record labels and agents representing some of our biggest music icons. All music is celebrated and everyone is welcome on �� Music Day. It’s something only the �� can do.

It all began three years ago. The creative driving force behind year one was legendary executive producer Katy Jones, who died tragically six weeks before the big day.

We had 20 events back then, including city celebrations and an imaginative musical relay across Hadrian’s Wall. In 2016 we increased that number to 400 with musical collaborations across bridges and an Eden Project concert headlined by Duran Duran.

The third �� Music Day took place yesterday (15 June). We had 800 events, in spite of the significant challenge of moving the date to accommodate the snap general election. This included musical assemblies in schools across the UK, tram announcement takeovers by Ozzy Osbourne and Shaun Ryder, unique musical collaborations featuring Texas, Will Young and OMD and bells ringing out for �� Music Day from Zimbabwe to Australia, Bermuda and beyond.

Our theme this year was the power of music. The past few weeks have illustrated how music can transcend boundaries and unite people, irrespective of faith, age and ethnicity. It has the power to heal. And we need that now more than ever.

We’re already planning for 2018 and we’d love to hear your ideas. The more ambitious, imaginative and collaborative the better.

This interview originally appeared in Ariel

Rebecca Sandiford is Producer, �� Music

Find out more about �� Music Day

Radio 1’s Brit List – An Update

2017-06-13T12:16:59+00:00

Earlier this year we announced the launch of Brit List, a Radio 1 initiative aimed at giving new, UK artists the best possible chance of long-term success at home and internationally. Our first six Brit List acts, Anne-Marie, Declan McKenna, JP Cooper, Sampha, Stormzy and The Amazons, all received a three-single playlist commitment, developing them to the Radio 1 ‘A list’ over the course of their debut campaigns.

In addition to this long-term playlist commitment, we have worked closely with each artist to craft other opportunities such as Live Lounge performances, an iPlayer documentary series, and – in partnership with �� Music – three Brit List artists will embark on a short tour of North America later this year. All six artists were invited to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and happily five were able to join us, Stormzy on the main stage.

Launching Brit List was not just about committing to the artists themselves, but also about giving confidence to the wider market, in the hope of encouraging other radio, TV, streaming services and retailers to add their support. I’m happy to report that many of the six acts selected have seen just that – commercial radio going bigger and sooner than would otherwise have been the case, as well as TV and streaming editorial following suit. The Amazons have just landed a Top 10 for their eponymous debut album.

As the partnership with our first six artists continues, I’m thrilled now to open a submission window for a further three Brit List acts (with another three to come in the autumn). Read on for the submission guidelines, which are very similar to the first round in February. Note however that we have dropped the requirement that artists must not have an album in the market. All new British artists are now eligible as long as they are not widely known to the UK general public. Note also that the submission email address has changed.

Brit List aims to supercharge the campaigns of emerging British artists at just the right early tipping point in their career. Rather than propelling them from nought to twenty, as �� Introducing or the Sound Of poll do, Brit List is about accelerating emerging artists from twenty to one hundred. To that end, the next three successful applicants – like the first six – will have enjoyed some success already.

The guidelines here are there to help you decide when to pitch. The submission window for the next three Brit List acts closes at 5pm on Friday 30th June.

Good luck!

Chris Price is Head of Music at �� Radio 1 & 1Xtra.

�� Music: My Generation - In Conversation With … Sheryl Garratt

2016-11-23T13:16:35+00:00

Journalist Sheryl Garratt is one of a handful of contributors who appears in the 80s edition of the �� Music documentary Jazzie B’s 1980s: From Dole to Soul – part of the �� Music: My Generation season.

This November, �� Two, �� Four and �� Radio will be taking viewers on a trip back to the 1980s for the next instalment of �� Music: My Generation.

Programming across TV and Radio will take a look back at some of the seminal moments from the decade through the eyes of the people who were there. �� Music: My Generation airs in five instalments with the fans and the musical icons of the time giving their own unique perspectives, and so far this year, we’ve explored the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

We spoke to Sheryl about her experience of the 80s, the music she loves and why it was important to her.

How did you get into music journalism?

I just loved music as a kid - I was just obsessed with it. It was a case of time and place that I was in Birmingham when the music scene was fantastic. The Au Pairs, The Beat and UB40 were all friends. 2 Tone was kicking off in Coventry. NME needed someone to write about that. I was writing a truly awful fanzine – the main thrust of which was Birmingham is great, and everywhere else is rubbish.

Even though it was a huge city, the number of people actually going out to gigs was quite small. We all knew each other. For example, The Beat had a weekly residency in a city centre pub, and sometimes there were more on stage than there were in the audience. Everybody knew each other either by sight or by name. We all went to the same parties; we all went to the same gigs.

Did you see those music-playing friends – UB40 for example – as celebrities at that stage?

My impression was that you formed a band, did some gigs, after a while you put out a single and then soon after you went on Top of the Pops. I just assumed that was what happened because that was what was happening in Birmingham. Firstly, it just so happened that Birmingham’s bands were all very good and secondly, the whole Midlands scene was very ‘hot’ at the time. When you’re sixteen and that’s happening to your friends you assume that’s what happens to everyone. I was really shocked later on when I realised that that isn’t the natural trajectory for all bands.

UB40 performing on Top of the Pops in 1980

Some might assume that the 80s was all shiny pop. How do you see it musically?

I thought 2 Tone was angry and really articulating how the working class had been left behind. Culture Club now is seen as this cosy pop band, but at the time to see a boy dressed like a girl was shocking. I remember my Dad being incredibly upset by Culture Club when he first saw them on TV, and also by Annie Lennox. Those looks were very radical at the time.

Boy George (centre) performing with Culture Club on Top of the Pops in 1982

Now it looks slightly meaningless because we’re used to seeing that, but at the time it was very very radical. Imagine being worried about being gay at the age of 14, and then seeing Boy George on Top of the Pops. It must have been an amazing moment.

There hadn’t been anything like that since Marc Bolan or Bowie.

Is there a need to re-contextualise the period so we understand its original impact better?

Yes, I think so. Pop culture is always pushing at the edges. After a while everyone gets used to that and then that culture becomes mainstream. The celebrations of Bowie’s life when he died compared the anger, fury and fear in the 70s when he was doing some of the stuff he was doing – people get used to it and it helps make things normal. That is the point of popular culture. It’s kids pushing at the envelope.

Decades are always convenient ways of marking periods out, of seeing a new generation come through. I think the 80s began in 1979 with this burst of post-punk indie pop music and ended in 1989 when rave music entered the charts and became mainstream.

What was the essence of the 80s for you?

There were two things going on at once. There was a shiny kind of pop music and a thriving club culture, but it was also an era when people were suffering a lot – there was a lot of struggle for a lot of people. You can look at the 80s and think it was Duran Duran swanning around the world in colourful baggy shirts. For a lot of people it was a grey decade when they were excluded from things.

Is there a period of music that really excites you?

Every period – whichever period I find myself in.

It’s always the moment you’re in that is exciting. I’ve been really lucky in that I’ve been in the right place at the right time. The music in Birmingham was really exciting. There was loads going on. When I moved to London I was lucky to end up in the middle of the vibrant 80s club scene, warehouse parties, things like that. Again very lucky when Acid House kicked off. Those DJs who went off to Ibiza and came back to open acid house clubs happened to be friends of mine. Whenever something exciting has happened I’ve always been lucky enough to be around. And now I have a 20 year old son who is equally excited about music – he brings things home too.

What do think you’ve got from that obsession?

A sense of belonging I think – I’m in amongst people I relate to. That’s different now when I go to gigs because the crowd is often a whole lot younger than me. Certainly growing up and in my 30s this was all going on around me and I felt a part of it. And Jazzie B and Soul II Soul and the whole thing they set up at the Africa Centre was one of those places. Here was something really exciting made by people who were playing music they loved without compromising. It was an exciting thing to watch and be part of.

Is there a potential for music to still bring people together given that we consume that music on-demand?

Yes. It just happens in a different way. I don’t think we’ll ever go back to the time when NME was the bible of music you got as soon as you could on a Thursday morning in Birmingham; you scoured the singles reviews then on Saturday you took a long bus ride to the only independent record shop, where you asked them to play three singles to decide which you wanted to buy. That’s never coming back. But my son’s generation are all about the live performance. Look at events such as Radio 1’s Big Weekend or Glastonbury – you see hundreds of thousands of people coming together sharing a love of music. It’s moved to concerts and live events rather than owning the tunes.

Does that shift the emphasis back onto musicians and musicianship?

Absolutely. This is a difficult time for record companies, but I don’t think it’s a difficult time for musicians. It’s a great time for musicians. No matter how niche your music is because of the internet you’re going to find a couple of thousand people across the world who will like your music.

What was the draw for you to get involved in this documentary?

I’ve done quite a few shows with Matt [the director] over the years. He is lovely to work with. When he asks me to do things I do them if I can. He really cares about the people he’s working with and trying to represent. He cares about trying to get that right within all the limitations of a short clip programme.

Tell us your thoughts about the documentary

I’m really glad that what Soul II Soul achieved is being celebrated. I think they were incredibly important as a group, as businessmen and as musicians. They were a black-run business doing things on their own terms in a way that was incredibly inclusive. Anyone could come to their events. Everyone was welcome.

Soul II Soul's Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler on Top of the Pops in 1989

I think that’s what has always been extraordinary about British youth culture. At its best it embraces everyone and Soul II Soul were just a shining example of that.

For people, especially in America, it was the first time they’d realised there was a big black community in Britain and that they could have a sound of their own that wasn’t necessarily derived from American traditions.

I think it was the start of British dance music seeming very confident that it had its own sound which has led to all the music we have now.

Sheryl Garratt is a freelance writer covering all aspects of popular culture.

Jazzie B's 1980s: From Dole to Soul will be shown on �� Two on Saturday 26 November at 10.30pm and available to watch on ��iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.
Find out more about music of the 50s 60s and 70s on the My Generation website.

70 years young: Radio 3, still pioneering new music and new ways to enjoy it

2016-09-29T09:15:56+00:00

This year, as many of you know, Radio 3 reaches a landmark, that of 70 years since the founding of the �� Third Programme, our predecessor.

We still have many of the same values as those of 1946, for seven decades we’ve been pioneering in bringing great culture and music to people and enabling them to engage in depth and to discover new things. In our DNA is a continuing habit of bold, ambitious distinctive programming, showcasing and developing new talent, trialing the new, and commissioning works that become a part of the fabric of culture in this country today and that’s why we’re claiming this anniversary to celebrate the whole of Radio 3 its history and its future.

Among our anniversary plans, are a two week partnership with Southbank Centre, 'Sound Frontiers', where we run the network from a glass box in the Festival Hall, and a renewed effort to bring new talent and new work to our audiences.

Alan Davey with Jude Kelly, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre launching Sound Frontiers: Radio 3 Live at Southbank Centre

Over 70 days, from our anniversary on Thursday 29th September, we’ll be supporting both existing and new talent, from poetry to new music. For instance, in order to bring new music to more people we have teamed with Sound and Music to embed composer Matthew Kaner in our output - he'll be composing a new piece every week for the next 70 days, music that will be heard on Radio 3 Breakfast. The first Collide was premiered on Tuesday 26th September.

We’re also showcasing new poets in Three Score and Ten, a journey through the archives of our poetry output which sees greats like Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas and W H Auden reading their own work through to new works from poets like Alice Oswald, Simon Armitage and Liz Lochhead creating new poems for us. There's much more, as you'll see from some TV trails showcasing work we have commissioned which begin to be shown on Friday 30th September.

In tandem with our experimental content creation spirit, what many might not realise is our relentless commitment to quality sound. Classical music is so complex and wonderful in its sound makeup we need to translate that experience in a concert hall for audiences at home so they can feel immersed in the performance. Radio drama by the same token is such an intimate art form, that sound quality can really add to and enhance that experience. The Third programme was the first in this country to broadcast in stereo, Radio 3 experimented with quadrophonic, and to date we are proud of the HD 320 kps HD uncompressed sound we give listeners online, and we are looking to see if there are practical ways of taking this quality even further if this offers an advantage to the listener.

We have previously broadcast the �� Proms in HD sound and quality surround sound, but this summer we’ve been undertaking some very exciting trials in binaural recordings. It’s the first time we have recorded the proms in binaural and the signs are good. Some early data back from the trials is encouraging, with over half of all who tried it giving it 5 stars – which means it was in the top 10% of all �� Research & Development sound pilots to date and the people rating it was double the average for �� sound trials. All of this means our audience love the technology. It shows our audience are hungry to have the best quality audio.

Music isn’t the only space we are experimenting, next week our evening of Beckett plays which will be broadcast as part of our 70th anniversary season on Sunday 2nd October featuring Ian Mckellan and Stephen Rea is one such broadcast. The plays will give an insight into the development of Beckett’s style and approach to sound, and it felt an appropriate thing to use truly immersive sound for, through binaural. Tom Parnell will give you a taster later. We’re also broadcasting in binaural as part of our anniversary, some J.G. Ballard mini dramas which air as Between Ballard’s Ears, the plays have been adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Brian Sibley.

You’ll also see further developments in how we reach new audiences in new platforms, with more shareable content being developed that will present our output in different ways, using the �� music app and other new technology in the pipeline. Then we are looking at how we use technology in different ways to enhance the experience of a live classical concert. So the �� Philharmonic are launching a series of nine free concerts, something only the �� could do with its fantastic performing groups, in a collaboration with Salford University and �� Research & Development, which will present a different way of experiencing a concert. The concerts will also be broadcast on Radio 3.

Using ground-breaking new technology from �� Research and Development, the concerts will create a more immersive musical experience for audiences both in the venue and across the country. The performance and interval discussion will feature in an enhanced live video stream online, which will enable the audience to delve closer into the orchestra, receive synced information about the music and even view a live orchestral score. The concert audience are invited to bring their mobiles and tablet with them to access this information whilst they enjoy the performance. The performances will all be streamed live online and will be available for 30 days after broadcast. We know we have a discerning audience who care not only about what we play but also about the way they hear it, how they experience it and how easy it is to hear it.

Radio 3 presenters celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Third Programme, the predecessor of �� Radio 3, on Thursday 29 September. L-R: Lopa Kothari, Sara Mohr-Pietsch, Max Reinhardt, Tom Service, Katie Derham, Petroc Trelawny, Sean Rafferty.

What we really celebrate this autumn, is not just about 70 years of the third programme or even how it became Radio 3, but what we celebrate is a pioneering spirit. A place and suite of experiences, funded by the licence fee, that allows everyone opportunities to understand humanity through pioneering music and culture - even nineteenth century music was shocking once.

As long as we continue to push frontiers both in commissioning and sound development, then we’ll be doing our job right for the next 70 years and continuing to enhance lives up and down the country.

Alan Davey is Controller of �� Radio 3.

What I've learnt from my debut as �� Proms Director

2016-09-10T12:43:11+00:00

David Pickard, Director, �� Proms

1. Anything can happen — and probably will

Not everything goes according to plan, and it isn’t just singers who get sick. In week six one of my colleagues foolishly pointed out that we hadn’t yet had a cancellation. By 11am the next morning we were frantically trying to find a replacement cellist for the concert that night. If his flight from Berlin had been 30 minutes late, Alexey Stadler would not have arrived in time to rehearse the Shostakovich concerto and the audience would have heard Elgar’s In the South instead. However, a prompt arrival and a fast taxi from Heathrow allowed Alexey the triumph he deserved.

Other surprise moments this year included the audience clapping every player off the stage after the last ever performance by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra; being told by Michael Caine that he was once in a film called The Italian Job (er . . . really?); Ed Gardner conducting the first half of his �� Symphony Orchestra Prom wearing two left shoes (ouch); and finding myself colouring in the CBeebies Prom programme (I must have been overtired).

2. Don’t leave the Prom before the last note has been played

Some of the most memorable moments this summer have been the ones that weren’t advertised. When Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich asked whether we could find a copy of Schubert’s Rondo in A major for piano duet some of us were prepared to write it out if necessary. It was just one of a number of unforgettable encores.

Others included an impromptu klezmer moment by Ákos Ács after the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, an improvisation by Gabriela Montero that moved from JS Bach to Scott Joplin and finished with Mrs Mills, and a whole bunch of instrumentalists proving that they could play and sing at the same time: Sol Gabetta, Narek Hakhnazaryan and Pekka Kuusisto.

3. Don’t be afraid to steal good ideas — and give a wide berth to others

Planning the Proms is not a one-man job. Conductors, artists, orchestras and composers bring their thoughts to the table, and some of the best ideas come from other people. The conductor Jules Buckley’s inspired suggestion that we could make a fantastic Prom out of the career of the producer Quincy Jones produced one of the highlights of the summer. But also be prepared for some pretty outlandish suggestions from well-intentioned members of the public. I’m still not convinced that the Crimewatch Prom would work.

4. Remember that the Albert Hall is circular

When trying to find your way from the maestro’s dressing room to the weekly planning meeting, with the Albert Hall it’s easy to find yourself in the loading bay by mistake. Even if you get lost, just keep going round. You’ll get there in the end.

5. Learn to bluff your way through the technical jargon

I thought a “spiked stage” was an act of revenge on a badly behaved orchestra and that AutoROT was an infestation you found in the loft and couldn’t get rid of. However, it turns out that both are crucial to the smooth running of the Proms — the former means marking the stage for equipment and the latter is a way of getting shows to other parts of the ��. Working for a broadcasting organisation brings a whole new set of acronyms to learn. You need to look as though you understand what everyone is talking about, even if you are mystified.

6. Respect the Prommers

I swear that some of the prommers are the same people I stood next to at my first visit in 1976. I think their backs must have stood up better than mine. It’s also important to respect Proms traditions, from the “heave ho” every time a piano lid is opened on stage to the huge round of applause when the leader of the orchestra tentatively picks out an A for the orchestra to tune.

I am told there are still rumblings about the fountain being removed from the middle of the arena, but promming moves with the times. The fountain was installed to cleanse pollution by the smoking audience. This year’s innovation is contactless payment. Personally, I don’t see what was wrong with cash.

7. Anything goes at the Last Night

There are strong opinions about what should and should not be included in the Last Night, but it’s important to remember that it is, essentially, a party and a chance for everyone to let their hair down after eight weeks of extraordinary music-making.

It’s also an opportunity to dress up — and I don’t just mean the soloists and conductor. Union Jack shorts are two a penny, as are jaunty sailors’ hats, pearly kings and queens outfits and Ginger Spice-style frocks. I’ll be resisting the impulse to raid the fancy dress box, but from what I’ve heard the tenor Juan Diego Flórez may have something pretty outlandish up his sleeve.

David Pickard is the Director, �� Proms

This article was first published on The Times website on Friday 9 September

The Last Night of the Proms will be live on �� Radio 3, �� Two and �� One on Saturday 10 September 2016

Strictly on the Radio

2016-07-22T11:36:49+00:00

Last night’s Strictly Prom featuring the nimble footwork of Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham is broadcast on �� Four later tonight. For some of us who slavishly work our way through the summer using the Proms brochure as a guide, the party atmosphere in last night’s concert was an early Last Night of the Proms – a little treat at the end of the first week of concert-going.

There should be more parties during the summer, I think. Sometimes, the sound of a lavish Rodgers and Hammerstein melody or the tub-thumping exuberance of 42nd Street helps turn a school night into something of an occasion.

And a sense of occasion suits classical music well. That’s why some of my most favourite spaces to sit in are concert halls. Often cathedral-like spaces, there are few other opportunities which bring thousands of people together and, at various points in time, have them sat in contemplative silence.

That is an infectious experience. There is nothing quite like it. Similarly, when you find yourself in amongst an audience who aren’t prepared for the French national anthem and, almost as one, they stand up sweeping you up at the same time. Just as we did on the First Night.

As I have got older, so I’ve come to appreciate that there is, in addition to those on the stage, another ‘artist’ in a concert hall – the audience. And when the audience moves as one entity, injecting all sorts of emotions into proceedings, so the concert hall experience is elevated.

I hear that in the Proms broadcast. It is the surge of the audience at the end of a piece which I find myself more and more attuned to. The question comes from the stage: the answer from the audience. And sometimes, there’s a palpable rush I experience that emanates from deep inside to the back of my throat. A gasp usually follows, just as it did listening to the Strictly Prom. The excitement in Katie Derham's voice is obvious, and that is reflected in the audience applause. I listen to this standing in my kitchen staring out at a garden withering after a week of intense heat, reminded of how the Proms deliciously combines so many different potent elements of summer.

The cheers in this Prom are a response to the music and the dance at the Albert Hall. I can’t see the dance, obviously, but I can sense it through the crowd who, from time to time, whoop with excitement whenever a recognisable face bounds onto stage. Completing my imaginary tableau is the music. Familiar numbers from a sequined back catalogue featuring Tchaikovsky, and Khachaturian, South American dance rhythms and musical theatre classics. All lined up back to back, they give me a much-needed lift at the end of a long day at work.

The running order also reminds me of something else. Years ago – sometime in the mid-eighties – a similar programme of classical music aired on �� Radio 2. Flautist James Galway powered through a number of arrangements of classic tunes arranged for him and the �� Concert Orchestra in a special concert aired in the weeks before Christmas. Mum got me to record it so she could play it on the car stereo. I enjoyed listening to it so much that the tape never made it out of my tape recorder. And there it stayed until the tape recorder, through repeat listens and rewinds, ended up chewing up the tape itself.

The music in that James Galway concert - some of which features in the Strictly Prom - is now so familiar to me that it risks suffering the same fate Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. But what reinvigorates all of these tunes are the arrangements made by expert orchestrators. Scrunchy harmonies and unexpected textures breathe new life into familiar old friends. My pulse races as a result, James Galway and the Strictly Prom now inextricably linked.

Then I imagine just one lifelong devotee reflecting on their love of classical music in thirty or so years’ time, and wonder whether that devotion might have started at the Strictly Prom.

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �� Blog

Watch the Strictly Come Dancing Prom on �� Four from 7.30pm on Friday 22 July 2016.
Listen to the live radio broadcast of the Strictly Prom via �� iPlayer

In Conversation with Sakari Oramo

2016-07-14T11:29:54+00:00

Sakari Oramo is the �� Symphony Orchestra's Chief Conductor and will be conducting the First Night of the �� Proms on Friday 15 July 2016.

Sakari Oramo conducts the �� Symphony Orchestra in the opening concert in this year’s �� Proms this Friday. Jon Jacob talked to the Finnish conductor before rehearsals for the opening night of the season got underway at �� Maida Vale studios earlier this week.

Tell us three surprising things about you

First is that I own a vintage car – Citreon DS with a black leather interior that I’ve had for about six years. The second surprising thing is that I’ve followed a vegetarian diet for a year and a half. I feel very good for having done that. The third surprising thing is that most of my education happened in French but in Finland. I went to a French school in Helsinki and the first four or five years of school mostly happened in French.

That really does surprise me. How did that come about? What impact did that have on you?

At the time I think it was probably the thing to do – my parents thought it was a good idea at the time. It was actually the nearest school to where I lived as a child. One has to know that in the early 1970s Finland was still pretty much a closed country. It was culturally very closed back then. So, all this for my parents was about predicting a more international future for the coming generation. That was very much on the agenda for my parents and for many others.

Did you feel at the time that you were having a broader education? Did you feel at the time that your horizons were being broadened?

Absolutely. We had native French teachers who kept changing very often. Getting to know these people and learn how they thought certainly broadened my horizons quite a lot. Although I haven’t worked in France that much, or indeed with French speaking orchestras, it still gives me a sense of comfort with French music. It connects me with the French culture – with music, literature and other arts as well. It certainly gave me a much broader experience in many ways.

What do you think you connected with in terms of French music? What elements of French music makes your heart beat faster?

It’s the whole kind of way of thinking – it’s so far from the German way of composing. For instance, where you have musical motifs which develop over a much longer period of time. In French music its much more about colour or points of interest rather than long tracks of musical development. In French music is more about savouring the moment; music for the senses. Of course there has been cross-breeding between the cultures. But here I’m referring to the most extreme examples.

When you talk about French music in that way I think about impressionism, Debussy, for example.

Yes. Debussy. Rameau. Dutilleux. Various others, contemporary composers too. They share that feature – that’s quite clear in the study of music history. Even in the French Baroque composers you can see that characteristic too.

What was going on when you were first introduced to classical music?

Well, I had it all the time at home. My mother is a pianist. My father is a musicologist. I heard music, basically, from the moment I was born.

Was there a key moment? Do you recall a key moment?

There really can’t be when it’s that early in your life experience.

Was there a moment when you decided ‘classical music is definitely for me’?

Not really, no. I really did drift into classical music right from an early age – it was always a part of me.

And you’ve never questioned it? Was there ever a moment when you’ve thought “Oh, this isn’t working for me”?

Not seriously. Not long-lasting. Maybe there was one point when I veered away from being a violinist to a conductor. That was the late 1980s. Even then, I don’t think I can give one moment when everything kind of clicked either way. It’s all been a sort of flow of thoughts and feelings.

From your perspective as a Finn, can you tell me what it is that’s special about the �� Proms? What is it that you see that perhaps the rest of us overlook?

The �� Proms is an institution. What really makes the Proms stand out is that it’s managed to withstand a lot of the pressures of modern days, say commercialism. What makes the Proms so very valuable is that the festival is all about the music. It’s great, of course, that the big names are there. They lend the whole event an aura. But, even when Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, or Murray Perrahia perform at the Proms, it’s always about the music.

Is there any difference in how you or the musicians in the orchestras approach a concert because it’s a Prom concert?

I’m sure, yes, for the �� Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus. The Proms is the big showcase of the year. We do concerts all year – at the Barbican, for example – but the range of audience at the Proms is incredible. Our high profile touring is very successful – but it’s always a very local experience. But at the Proms, we experience what it’s like being a focal point of the musical world’s attention. It still remains an arena where you really want to do well, more than anywhere else.

What do you particularly love about the Proms?

For me, one of the things I really lovely about the Proms is the build up – and I feel it from the beginning of the season - to the climax to the Last Night. The Last Night is a real people’s party. It’s an event which releases all of the pressure which has gathered throughout the season amongst those devoted Prommers who have attended each concert.

What was your first experience of the Last Night?

It was hilarious. I really enjoyed it. For any conductor conducting the Last Night, the most scary part is the speech. Not being a professional speaker yet having to speak in front of an audience of millions, live, is unique I think.

What adds a slightly unwanted extra pressure is the expectation for it to also be funny. Because that’s not something we Finns do very well.

But Finland did win the Eurovision with Lordi though, didn’t you?

Yes, but I am not going to dress up in a costume like that to give my speech.

Tell us about one of the works which features in the First Night of the Proms – the Elgar Cello Concerto. It’s regarded as quintessentially English, a work a lot of British people identify with. What’s your take on it? What is it that’s seen as English? Do you get that sense of Britishness from it?

I’m interested in that notion of Englishness in music. I think a lot of it is that audiences have been exposed to the sound of Elgar’s music very early on and repeatedly. The same applies to Sibelius and the Finns. For me, there isn’t any ‘traditional’ Finnish folk music in Sibelius’ music. There are elements, of course, but it’s not focussed on traditional Finnish music. And it’s the same with Elgar’s music.

Englishness in music for me, is mostly to do with tradition, and how audiences are exposed to music in this country. The modal elements in Elgar’s music – that musical link to medieval times you can hear in the work, for example. You can hear it throughout history in English music. That’s certainly one English element.

There is too, in the Elgar Cello Concerto, a certain kind of melancholy in Elgar’s music. It’s not necessarily part of a British person’s psyche. If people hear melancholy in Elgar’s music then that’s might be something the listener is attaching to it themselves when they listen to it.

The fact that Elgar wasn’t a part of the British establishment is also important for me. He was lower middle-class. He fought very hard to get the position he ended up with on the top of the nation’s league table of composers. And when he got there he wasn’t very happy about it. In that respect too its difficult to ascribe Englishness or Britishness necessarily to the sound in Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

So you’re saying that if we as listeners describe Elgar’s music as ‘British’ then that’s our perception? In the same way you were suggesting with Sibelius ? So you don’t listen to Sibelius and think of home?

No. Not at all. It is a perception, of course. And perceptions shouldn’t be downplayed. But where Sibelius is concerned, some of his music is rooted in the so-called Finnish mythology – its really Karelian mythology, which is completely different. I think what that says to me is that the borders we see on the map today are totally artificial. So, to ascribe a national sound to a composer’s musical language isn’t very helpful.

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �� Blog. He spoke to Sakari Oramo on Wednesday 13 July 2016.

The �� Proms gets underway on Friday 15 July 2016, at 7.30pm on �� Radio 3, and later on �� Two (7.30-8.30pm) and �� Four (8.30-9.20pm)
Read more information about �� Proms TV coverage on the About the �� Blog
Further information about the Proms season can be found on the �� Proms website
Follow @��Proms on Twitter and on Facebook

The Other Glastonbury

2016-06-24T13:00:47+00:00

When most people think of Glastonbury, they’re thinking about the world’s most famous music festival. But of course, Glastonbury Festival takes its name from the town of Glastonbury, seven miles down the road from Worthy Farm.

Glastonbury town is no ordinary corner of Middle England. The high street is a technicolour whirlwind of witchcraft emporiums, vegan nosheries and bizarre book sellers.

Its history is – quite literally – the stuff of legend. From the first pagans that were drawn to the weirdly shaped Tor, to the ancient Romans who built a city so grand that they nicknamed it ‘Roma Seconda’ (Second Rome). From Joseph of Arimathea and the founding of Britain’s first Christian church, to the final resting place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, to Henry VII’s violent and bloody dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey. From Victorians mystics re-imagining Glastonbury as a mist-shrouded mystic paradise, to the hippie movement and the founding of Michael Eavis’s Glastonbury Festival in the 1970s. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Glastonbury’s story is how such a small town (current population 9,000) has had such a pivotal role in British history.

Scholars debate how much of the Glastonbury legend is myth rather than fact, but that scarcely seems to matter for the countless pilgrims that have been drawn to the town over the centuries. Holy Grail hunters, Wiccan witches, healers, spiritualists, musicians, writers, poets and painters have all found a home like no other here in Glastonbury.

Earlier this week, the �� sent me to investigate the mystic origins of Glastonbury town for its three solid days of TV coverage kicking off at 10pm on �� Two this Friday. On my pilgrimage I discovered that it is Glastonbury’s historic spirit of non-conformism and love of creativity that makes it such a magical place.

Perhaps the most surprising discovery of my journey in to Glastonbury’s origins is that the success of Glastonbury Festival arguably wasn’t a fluke. In fact, Michael Eavis’s Glastonbury Festival Of Contemporary Performing Arts (to use its full title) isn’t even the first Glastonbury Festival.

In 1914, Brummie born composer Rutland Boughton founded the original Glastonbury Festival, held in the Assembly Rooms slap bang in the middle of Glastonbury town’s high street. It was after several failed attempts to set up similar events in Hertfordshire that Boughton found success in Glastonbury – largely due to the area’s connections with Holy Grail and Arthurian legends that heavily influenced his compositions.

At face value, Boughton’s event was a very different beast to the Glastonbury Festival we know and love today.

Made up of dance, literature readings, lectures and choral opera, Boughton’s Glastonbury attracted luminaries including Edward Elgar, George Bernard Shaw and Thomas Hardy. In its inaugural year, Boughton staged an opera - ‘The Immortal Hour’ – which to this day holds the world record for running an unprecedented 216 consecutive performances when the production moved to London in 1922.

But aside from the contrasting musical styles showcased at Boughton and Eavis’s Glastonbury, records show distinct similarities in the impact that both festivals had on British society. Local residents were seriously perturbed by the corduroy trousers and knickerbockers worn by Bohemians that flocked to see Boughton’s works. Chaos broke out in 1926, Boughton’s Glastonbury Festival’s final year, when his production of the Christian Nativity was heavily tinged with socialist themes - the shepherds dressed as miners and King Herod portrayed as a top hatted capitalist!

The Nativity scandal led to Boughton’s festival financiers, Clarks Shoes, withdrawing funding, and the original Glastonbury Festival was consigned to dust. But the spirit of Boughton’s Glastonbury Festival lives on in Glastonbury town today, as a place where experimentalism in the creative arts can flourish.

The modern face of Glastonbury town owes much to Michael Eavis’s Glastonbury Festival.

“When we first started in 1970, it wasn’t called Glastonbury Festival,” he told me. “We called it the Pilton Festival, because Pilton is the nearest village to Worthy Farm. It was only years later that we changed the name to Glastonbury. And you can see the impact we’ve had. There’s no way I’d have got away with putting on a festival anywhere else,” he adds. “Because this area has always welcomed non-conformists like me, and that’s been crucial to our success.”

Whether Michael Eavis’s Glastonbury Festival would have become the world’s most famous music festival without forerunners like Rutland Boughton is perhaps debateable. One thing’s for sure – it’s easy to see why both Rutland Boughton and Michael Eavis named their festivals after a town called Glastonbury.

James Ballardie is a producer, �� Studios

James Ballardie's film about the historical and contemporary relationship between the festival and Glastonbury Town is on �� Two on Friday 24 June.
Watch Glastonbury coverage from 10pm, Friday 24 June, on �� Two
A full round-up of �� Music's Glastonbury coverage is available on the About the �� Blog
Follow @��Glasto on Twitter

A guide to �� Music Day 2016

2016-05-31T14:15:00+00:00

Can you think of any of your friends or family who don’t like music? It’s rare to find someone for whom music doesn’t play a role in their life - and of course music is often more powerful when shared with those around us. As �� Music Day enters its second year, we are hoping �� Music will once again help unite communities and generations through our shared love of music.

�� Music launched in 2014 with an ambitious take on the Beach Boys’ timeless single God Only Knows. The song and accompanying film featured world-famous artists across genres and it made headlines globally. Since then, �� Music has delivered the BAFTA nominated Adele at the ��, the �� Music Awards, The Mercury Prize and Ten Pieces.

The premise of bringing people together through music is a vision shared by �� Music Day. If you missed last year’s inaugural day, have a look at this short film that sums it all up.

On Friday June 3 from 6am until midnight, over 200 events will unfold around the UK and Channel Islands for �� Music Day, many of them based on the theme of collaboration. Thousands of people will take part and we will all be able to watch and hear many of them across the �� on television, radio and online.

�� Music Day will shine a spotlight on both grass roots and community music as well as some more familiar names. All manner of community choirs, children’s groups, orchestras and amateur groups will take their place next to our �� Music Day Ambassadors – including Nile Rodgers, Duran Duran, Labrinth, Will Young, Laura Mvula, Lianne La Havas and Travis. Once again we will unveil our �� Music Day Unsung Heroes, five individuals around the UK who have made a profound contribution to their communities through music. You can see last year’s amazing winners here.

There really is something for everyone on 3 June and only the �� could facilitate the country coming together in this way. Working backwards from our finale, The One Show and �� Radio 2 will be stationed at Cornwall’s Eden Project. Duran Duran will headline a spectacular concert, staged in front of the stunning surroundings of Eden’s iconic Biomes.

The impressive stage at the Eden Project

Laura Mvula will also perform and a man who knows a thing or two about music - Nile Rodgers - makes a special appearance. For over five decades, his songs have made an incalculable amount of people happy and it is our absolute honour and pleasure to have him as our guest.

But there is so much more on offer before we reach Eden. You can wake up with the Royal Marines Band in Devon via �� Radio 3’s Breakfast Show. Or celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ legendary show at Manchester Free Trade Hall with �� Radio 6 Music. There’s even C��’s Shaun the Sheep leading a ‘vegetable orchestra’ following a children’s vegetable instrument workshops.

�� Local Radio is marking the occasion with 'Take it to the Bridge', a set of magical musical collaborations across 45 iconic UK bridges. The much-loved band Travis will perform with the �� Scottish Symphony Orchestra for a fabulous night of music at the Barrowland venue in Glasgow. �� Northern Ireland is planning a unique evening of musical celebrations in the setting of the Stormont Parliament Buildings.

And at 7pm, if you open your windows you may hear bells from over 100 church towers across the UK, ringing out simultaneously for �� Music Day throughout our towns, cities and villages. Find out what’s happening for �� Music Day across the UK here. I hope you will be able to take some part in the day, or at least find something you like to watch, or listen to. It is all for the love of music.

James Stirling is Editor, �� Music

Find out more about �� Music Day
Follow @bbcmusic on Twitter

The Undertones at the ��

2016-05-24T19:04:50+00:00

Almost four decades have passed since The Undertones, a young band from Londonderry in Northern Ireland, hit the headlines with their coming of age anthem ‘Teenage Kicks’. To mark their 40 years together, the band performed a special gig at the ��’s Blackstaff studios in Belfast. In this post, �� Radio Ulster Senior Producer Owen McFadden, reflects on four decades of music memories.

It’s hard to believe that it was nearly forty years ago. I was ‘mis-spending’ my youth in Belfast’s now legendary Good Vibrations record shop when boxes of the in-house label’s fourth single release arrived.

Terri Hooley, whose shop and record label these were, eagerly put the 7” vinyl on his turntable. Billy Doherty’s drums signalled the arrival of a genuine classic. Teenage Kicks had landed. Days later, the band would be climbing the narrow stairs at Good Vibrations to fold the picture sleeves of their first 45.

It seemed as if The Undertones had come from nowhere, but of course they’d been together for two years by then, energised by punk and rocking the Casbah in Derry.

However, once they’d committed their talents to tape in a tiny Belfast studio, news travelled fast. And the rest really is history. A besotted John Peel played Teenage Kicks twice in a row one evening in September 1978. Seymour Stein, boss of Sire records, tuned in on his car radio, immediately dispatched an A&R man to Derry to sign the band. Soon, they were on Top Of The Pops. They had a hit record.

The Undertones success and the positivity it brought to this part of the world have endured. Everyone knows (and loves) an Undertones song: Jimmy Jimmy, Here Comes The Summer,Get Over You, My Perfect Cousin.

And now, incredibly, the band is celebrating its fortieth birthday, skilfully combining rock ‘n’ roll with the everyday commitments of families and day jobs.

In a special performance at the ��’s Blackstaff Studios in Belfast to be broadcast on �� Radio Ulster on Bank Holiday Monday, they’ll be playing their debut LP in all its wonderful entirety, and looking back to how it all began in conversation with presenter Stephen McCauley.

And if I close my eyes, I might just find myself back in Good Vibrations, with Terri Hooley pogoing ecstatically to that musical magic conjured in the Derry air.

So hard to beat.

Owen McFadden is Senior Producer at �� Radio Ulster

The Undertones at the �� is on �� Radio Ulster, Monday 30 May at 3pm
�� Radio Ulster is available via 92-95FM & DAB digital radio, digital TV and online at bbc.co.uk/radioulster
Catch-up on the programme via �� iPlayer from Monday 30 May after broadcast

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