BBC Radio 6 MusicBBC, "BBC Radio 6 Music Programmes – Radcliffe and Maconie, With Guy Garvey, Cerys Matthews and Jarvis Cocker", 4 April 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011. is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years.BBC 6 Music pre-release website – archived website from 15 February 2002. "Stand by for the BBC's first new national music radio station in 32 years" It is available only on digital media: DAB radio, BBC Sounds, digital television, and throughout northern and western Europe through the Astra 2E satellite.
BBC Radio 6 Music has been described as a "dedicated alternative music station". Many presenters have argued against the perception that the main focus is indie guitar music. The station itself describes its output as "the cutting-edge music of today, the iconic and groundbreaking music of the past 60 years and access to the BBC's wonderful music archive". Its format resembles eclectic radio as seen in other countries, as while there is a programmed playlist there is a wide range of music genres played on the station with pop, rock, dance, electronic, indie, hip-hop, R&B, punk, funk, grime, metal, soul, ska, house, reggae, jazz, blues, world, techno, experimental and many others played regularly on the station. In addition, there is a greater degree of presenter choice in relation to the programmed playlist compared with other BBC radio stations and especially with commercial radio. Since 2014, an annual music festival, 6 Music Festival, has been held; initially staged in cities around the UK and broadcast live on the station, since 2023, the festival has been staged annually in Greater Manchester as a more scaled-back event.
In July 2010, the BBC Trust announced it had rejected a proposal by the BBC to close 6 Music to provide commercial rivals more room. The Trust commented that the station was "well-liked by its listeners, was highly distinctive and made an important contribution". In 2018, 6 Music was the most listened-to digital-only radio station, with an average weekly audience of 2.53 million.
6 Music operates a spin off 'stream', Radio 6 Indie Forever, dedicated to indie rock, indie pop and classic indie music, broadcasting exclusively on BBC Sounds.
According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 2.7 million with a listening share of 2.5% as of December 2024.
History BBC 6 Music was proposed in October 2000 as a "digital-only" radio station with the working title "Network Y".BBC, "Launch date for BBC digital radio", 17 January 2002. BBC, "BBC Proposed New Services" , 2001. ("Network X" became BBC Radio 1Xtra and "Network Z" became BBC 7, now named BBC Radio 4 Extra).BBC Annual Report & Review 2000–2001. Confer section on Future Plans: Introduction & New Services.
The station opened at 7 a.m., Monday 11 March 2002, with a show presented by Phill Jupitus. At the start-up, presenters included Liz Kershaw, Andrew Collins, Tom Robinson, Gideon Coe, Janice Long, Chris Hawkins, Gary Burton, Craig Charles, Stuart Maconie, Brinsley Forde, Suggs, Clare McDonnell, Bruce Dickinson, Tracey MacLeod, Sean Hughes, and Bob Harris. The first record played was Ash's Burn Baby Burn.
6 Music attracted criticism for changing daytime schedules during late 2007 and early 2008, notably including replacing Gideon Coe on the mid morning slot with George Lamb. In response, Lesley Douglas, Controller of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music at the time, said that the changes were intended to attract more female listeners. She claimed that "men tend to be more interested in the intellectual side of the music, the tracks, where albums have been made, that sort of thing". This in turn brought on more criticism of perceived sexism on Douglas' part.
In March 2006, BBC 6 Music moved from Broadcasting House to new studios in the adjacent Wogan House (then called Western House) to allow the regeneration of Broadcasting House.
In 2011, BBC Radio 6 Music started the process of moving some of its presenters, staff, and shows from London and elsewhere to the new studios at MediaCityUK in Salford near Manchester. The studios are located on the ground floor of Dock House."BBC 6 Music moves to MediaCityUK" , How-Do, Monday, 14 November 2011Slade, Jane, "Weather girl tunes in to better life in the north", Daily Express, Property, 29 February 2012"BBC 6 Music teams move into MediaCityUK", Radio Today, November 2011 Among programmes broadcast there are Radcliffe & Maconie, The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show, and Marc Riley's and Mary Anne Hobbs' shows.
Proposed closure
In February 2010, in anticipation of a review by the BBC Trust, newspaper reports suggested 6 Music might be axed. The review stopped short of recommending closure but noted that only one in five UK residents were aware the station existed, and that it lacked presenters with credibility as music experts. The Times claimed that Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, proposed closure as part of a bid to scale back BBC operations and allow commercial rivals more room. A high-profile campaign to oppose closure of the station attracted media attention and led to "#SaveBBC6Music" quickly becoming a trending topic on Twitter. A leading voice in the campaign was Jarvis Cocker, the lead singer for the British band Pulp who presented his own show on BBC 6 Music, Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service. A Facebook group set up to oppose the proposed closure gained nearly 180,000 members. A campaign was launched to get the song "Joy Division Oven Gloves" by Half Man Half Biscuit to No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart on 12 April 2010; it entered the Singles Chart that week at No. 56 and the Independent Singles Chart at No. 3.
The Sunday Times reported that following the public outcry over the proposed closure, 6 Music would be rebranded as Radio 2 Extra, retaining a similar playlist but broadcasting for only 12 hours a day but Tim Davie, head of audio and music at the BBC, denied this was a possibility.
Five months after rumours of closure first emerged, the BBC Trust announced that it was not convinced by the BBC Executive's plans and that the station would not be closed.
In the first quarter of 2011 some BBC radio services, including 6 Music, were part of an efficiency review conducted by John Myers. His role, according to Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of RadioCentre, was "to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings." The Telegraph suggested that this was due to 'commercial sector criticism' whilst The Guardian cited a National Audit Office report.
BASCA was actively circulating petitions challenging the BBC's plan to close down 6 Music.
2020s In 2020, Paul Rodgers, the senior head of commissioning for 6 Music left the station, and was replaced by Samantha Moy as the Head of Station. Moy has made a series of schedule changes, presiding over an "undeniable culture shift at the station".
Some music executives have questioned the overall strategy at the digital station since 2020, raising doubts about initiatives such as all-day pop programming, stating it to be "more typical of a commercial network rather than a BBC station", with listeners commenting that themed days are "a sign that they're running out of ideas".
In 2021, Shaun Keaveny left after 14 years of presenting, saying he was "forced out onto the ice floe like an elderly Inuit relative". Due to audience complaints, the BBC issued a statement that "Radio networks always evolve over time".
In 2023, long-serving presenters Gideon Coe and Marc Riley had their hours cut to make way for a new evening programme called New Music Fix Daily with Deb Grant and Tom Ravenscroft, reducing the hours of new alternative music on the BBC weekly from 20 to eight. Stewart Lee described the move as "a land grab on the sound and attitude that have given the station credibility and purpose", with insiders stated the move would 'rip the heart out of' the station.
Some listeners believe the station changes are due to "ageism" and a drive to win younger listeners, and despite the BBC's service review of 6 Music suggesting more might be done to attract older listeners, the current network strategy is aimed at growing audiences aged between 25 and 44. Some listeners who campaigned to save the station in 2010 believe the changes are "completely at variance to what we campaigned for, both musically and in its general tone".
In September 2023, Steve Lamacq announced he was to step down from presenting the daily drivetime programme but would return in January 2024 with a Monday drivetime programme. Huw Stephens took over Lamacq's slot on Tuesdays to Fridays.
On 11 February 2024, 6 Music broadcast from Wogan House for the final time after 18 years, with Gideon Coe sitting in for Cerys Matthews. The station has now returned to new studios inside Broadcasting House.
In January 2025, Lauren Laverne announced that she would be moving back to the mid-morning slot, with Nick Grimshaw replacing her as the new breakfast show host. Grimshaw had already been covering for Laverne on the show for 4 months following her cancer diagnosis.
In February 2026, 6 Music announced plans to launch a BBC Sounds extension focusing on indie rock and pop music, ranging from the 1980s to the present day. On 8 July 2026, the BBC confirmed that the new stream would be called 6 Music Indie Forever, and would feature shows such as The Morning Session co-hosted by Steve Lamacq and the Maccabees guitarist Felix White. On 22 July 2026, the stream was made available exclusively on BBC Sounds.
Statistics Ratings and listenership In February 2010, 6 Music was reported as showing growth in its audience, winning an audience of 695,000 listeners over the first quarter, up 12.3% year-on-year."Jazz FM, 6Music and Radio 7 are bright spots amid digital radio's gloom" Retrieved 22 February 2010 However, in the quarter to December 2009, its "reach" (proportion of the adult population who listen for at least five minutes in the course of an average week) was 1%, and Total Survey Area share (of total listening time) was 0.4%.
According to the BBC's service review of Radio 2 and 6 Music, published in February 2010, the average age of 6 Music listeners was 36, which led the authors to suggest more might be done to attract older listeners, considering the station played a broad range of music from the 1960s to the present day. The review also claimed that the deficiency in appeal to female listeners apparent in 2007 was still in existence, and that there should be changes to attract more listeners from ethnic minorities and lower income groups. However, the review did not give details of the scale of these issues.
Following the proposal to close the station, online listening figures rose significantly. The number of weekly unique online listeners rose to an average of 133,653 in March 2010, up 50 per cent on the previous March. When the RAJAR listening figures were released in May 2010, it was revealed that 6 Music had an average of 1.02 million listeners in the first three months of the year, compared to 695,000 the previous year.