A new BBC 6 Music spin-off radio station, designed to appeal to Oasis-loving “Burnham dads”, could spell ruin for commercial rivals, industry figures have warned.
Launched on Wednesday, Indie Forever, a 24-hour stream available on BBC Sounds, dedicated to rock and pop classics from the 80s to 2010s, will feature artists ripped from the Prime Minister’s Spotify playlist including The Stone Roses, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, The Verve and Blossoms.
With 6 Music expanding to include more dance and electro sounds, the new station, launched by veteran DJ Steve Lamacq, is targeted at rock fans who want a diet of the indie anthems that soundtracked their youth.
But commercial networks accused the BBC of setting up a copycat offering to steal listeners from stations already serving fans of guitar-based rock, such as Virgin Radio, Radio X, Kerrang! and Absolute Radio 90s.
Radio 2 spin-off blocked
In a submission to Ofcom, the BBC said it expected Indie Forever to generate around 1.5 million online listening hours a week, which would lead to some “loss of listening and revenue” for “competitor stations”.
Last year, Ofcom blocked BBC plans for a Radio 2 spin-off station, playing music from the 50s, 60s and 70s, because it would have decimated the audience for Boom Radio, the independent digital station set up to capture disillusioned former Radio 2 listeners.
But the watchdog approved Indie Forever because it agreed with the BBC’s analysis that the impact of an online-only 6 Music stream on commercial rivals would be small.
“Sadly, the BBC’s new 6 Music Indie Forever station appears to be just a more mainstream version of 6 Music, catering for the same audience as commercial competitors like Radio X, Absolute Radio and Virgin Radio,” said a spokesperson for Radiocentre, which represents commercial stations.
“Launching new BBC stations that effectively replicate existing services, rather than offering truly distinctive output, is a missed opportunity for listeners and provides poor value for licence fee payers.”
The BBC’s “mission creep” would have an “unhelpful knock-on effect on the audiences and economics of commercial radio”, Radiocentre said.
An industry source at a leading radio network added: “At a time when the BBC is making significant cuts, it is vital that it focuses its resources on providing genuinely original and distinctive services for licence fee payers, rather than duplicating commercial offerings.”
‘Sounds like Radio X’
Indie Forever might struggle to convince music fans to change the channel.
One early listener wrote on the station’s Facebook page. “There’s already a Radio X. It’s not that I don’t like any of what’s being played but I much prefer hearing a little of that mixed with a wider variety of music, and a high emphasis on newer music.”
The first show “managed a whole 30 minutes before finally playing a female artist”, they said.
Another wrote on X: “Yes it’s a bit Radio X but Radio 6 Indie Forever is a pretty good listen!”
The BBC believes the Indie Forever audience will increase as the 24-year-old 6 Music shrugs off its earlier reliance on guitar-based indie to embrace a more diverse playlist.
A BBC insider said: “6 Music needs to future-proof itself by staying at the cutting edge of alternative music.
“Guitar bands are no longer so prominent but there is still a big audience that wants to hear that music curated and presented in a way only the BBC can.”
‘Nonsensical’ for BBC to launch new service
The new stream is expected to generate around 1.5 million weekly online listening hours, compared with 10.9 million for Radio 6 Music, according to BBC documents.
But that could mean cuts and job losses at commercial rivals, warned Phil Riley, co-founder of Boom Radio, which built an audience of 700,000 listeners since its launch five years ago.
Riley said: “Taking that indie rock audience out of commercial radio will have an impact on revenues. It could be existential for people who work at Radio X and Absolute Radio.
“It’s nonsensical for the BBC to launch new services when it’s facing deep cuts. Ofcom rejected the ‘boom killer’ Radio 2 Extra so they’ve come back with something else.”
The Smiths, an Andy Bunrham favourite, will feature prominently on ‘Indie Forever’ (Photo: Ross Marino/Getty)The BBC claims Indie Forever is a distinctive service targeting younger audiences “who are currently underserved by 6 Music”.
As well as a morning show presented by Lamacq with Felix White of The Maccabees, Indie Forever will replay archive 6 Music shows presented by Jarvis Cocker and Beth Ditto and feature emerging talent in a series celebrating grassroots venues.
Female-led bands on the Indie Forever playlist include Wolf Alice, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Florence + the Machine.
The BBC estimates that Indie Forever will take no more than 2.55 per cent of listeners from commercial rivals including Global, Bauer and News UK, which owns Virgin Radio. Ofcom said the impact on Virgin Radio would be greater because it has a higher level of online listening than other stations.
Samantha Moy, head of BBC Radio 6 Music, said Indie Forever will “tell the stories and play the songs that have soundtracked the UK’s thriving independent music scene through 40 years of song, performance and archive”.
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