Radio 1 Madonna controversy

The Radio 1 Madonna controversy was a series of events that occurred as a result of BBC Radio 1's decision not to playlist Madonna's single "Living for Love" in February 2015. Despite receiving moderate airplay from commercial radio in the UK, the single was not added to the station's playlist, leading to accusations of ageism. The controversy stemmed from an article that appeared in the Daily Mail, which quoted an unnamed Radio 1 insider describing Madonna as "old" and "irrelevant". In response, fans of the singer posted thousands of requests for the song on the BBC's social media accounts, and several artists criticised Radio 1's music policy, prompting the station to release a statement defending their decision not to play the track.

The controversy received significant media coverage in the UK and internationally, sparking a wider discussion about ageism in the music industry. "Living for Love" was subsequently added to BBC Radio 2's C-list, before being promoted to the B-list. The station caters to audiences who are aged 35 and higher. The single peaked at number 60 on the UK Airplay Chart for the week ending 28 February 2015, and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

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Radio 1's Scott Mills: "I don't think we play Madonna anymore."

Madonna has received considerable airplay on Radio 1 since the beginning of her career and made her first appearance on the station on 22 December 1986, when she was interviewed by Simon Bates during the promotion of the movie Shanghai Surprise. The singer gave subsequent interviews to Jakki Brambles, Simon Bates, Simon Mayo, Sara Cox, Jo Whiley, and Chris Moyles in 1990, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001, and 2006 respectively. The station also broadcast the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990 and The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993.

On 10 May 2008, Madonna headlined Radio 1's Big Weekend at Mote Park, in Maidstone to promote the release of her album Hard Candy. The first single from the album, "4 Minutes", was added to the station's A-list.

In 2012, Madonna released her twelfth studio album, MDNA. The lead single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'", and subsequent releases from the album, were not added to the Radio 1 playlist, despite the former featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.—two artists who receive regular rotation on the station. Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills defended the station's decision not to play Madonna in 2012 saying: "I don't think we play Madonna any more. There is a lot of research, and if you ask a 17-year-old about her, they go 'don't care'... it's a sign of the times, things change, it's a generational thing. I like Madonna, does a 17-year-old? [she's] probably not at the top of their list. And that's horrible, but that is the way it is... and also youth audiences are so fickle in what they like and what they don't like, and they're quite opinionated, you just have got to keep on top of that."

Speaking at a Radio Academy event in 2014, the channel's Head of Music George Ergatoudis stated that the channel's audience had "moved on" from Madonna, and that the majority of her fans were "over 30". He added that the BBC Trust had stipulated that Radio 1 appeal to a younger demographic when determining their daytime playlists.

Events

"Living for Love" was produced by Diplo, who hosts a weekly show on Radio 1.

On 20 December 2014, Madonna's thirteenth studio album Rebel Heart became available for pre-order. Unlike in other countries, "Living for Love" was only made available for pre-order in the UK, and was not chart-eligible until 25 February 2015. On 22 December 2014, "Living for Love" started to receive airplay on commercial radio, most notably Capital FM, where the song was eventually added to the station's playlist.

On 9 January 2015, Annie Mac played "Living for Love" on Radio 1 during her evening dance show. In a later interview with The Independent, she said her mission is to "represent the landscape of new music honestly", and older artists such as Madonna shouldn't be excluded from the station adding, "I’m a lifelong Madonna fan and I played her on my Friday show. She was produced by Diplo, who is one of the biggest artists on my show. If I'm excited by a song, then I think it’s going to be all right to play it."

An article published by The Daily Mail on 14 February 2015 quoted an unnamed BBC Radio 1 insider who stated that "Living for Love" would not be played on the station because Madonna is "irrelevant" and "old". Radio 1 later denied the claims on their Facebook page, stating that the station "does not ban anyone". A representative for the station explained that tracks are chosen on "musical merit" and that an artist's age is never a factor when choosing songs for their playlist.

Reception

The Daily Mail article quickly went viral, and hundreds of messages were left on Radio 1's Facebook page from Madonna fans urging the station to play "Living for Love" as part of their 10-Minute Takeover, a feature where listeners can make requests. Support for the singer soon spreads to the station's Twitter and Instagram accounts, with fans posting links to the "Living for Love" video, her performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, spam, and claims that the BBC are being discriminatory. An article published on the BBC Newsbeat website claimed many of these fans were from South America.

Madonna received support from artists such as Boy George, Elly Jackson, Diplo, and Rita Ora. Shirley Manson wrote on her Twitter account that Madonna should "contemplate suing Radio 1 for discrimination in the workplace", and that the station's music policy was "bordering on, if not actively, unlawful". The media response to the controversy was generally in support of Madonna, with The Sun's Dan Wootton criticising Radio 1's decision to not play the song. Describing the station's daytime playlist as the "Cray List" in his Bizarre column, Wootton listed several artists who struggle to receive Radio 1 airplay, including Robbie Williams, Take That, and Meghan Trainor. In the United States, the story was discussed on the CBS television talk show The Talk, with co-host Sharon Osbourne stating "you've never seen a 56-year old do pop music before, so we embrace her for it".

Madonna posted a newspaper clipping that featured the story on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, and thanked her fans for their support. In an interview with Dan Wooton in The Sun, Madonna called the omission "unfair" and "discriminatory", and that ageism was a taboo that is still not being talked about. "My manager said to me, 'If you're not in your twenties, it's hard. You might get your record played in your thirties. There's a handful of people who do — Pharrell [who is 41] got lucky. But if you're in your fifties, you can forget it'. Really? Is that how it's broken down? I'm so stupid. I didn't know it was anything to do with my age. I just do my work. We've made so many advances in other areas — civil rights, gay rights — but ageism is still an area that's taboo and not talked about and dealt with."

BBC rebuttal and aftermath

The BBC was quick to refute allegations of ageism, and explained that songs were chosen on a case-by-case basis for inclusion on their weekly playlist. A representative noted that Sir Paul McCartney had two songs on the playlist, although critics noted that both of these tracks were collaborations with younger artists (McCartney features on "Only One", with Kanye West, and "FourFiveSeconds", with Rihanna). The station also references David Guetta, the Foo Fighters, and Sia as examples of older artists making their playlist. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Radio 1's controller Ben Cooper explained that the station hasn't "banned" Madonna, and that a group of twelve 16- to 24-year-olds would meet on a regular basis to review the network's musical output.

There’s nothing personal about Madonna. It’s just about the merit of the music an artist is creating at the time. We haven’t banned Madonna. If she comes back with another track... We have one of the most democratic playlist committees in the world. It has worked for Madonna for the last 20-odd years. But with this current record – when it’s a choice between that and, say, Wolf Alice or a new up-and-coming artist, you go, ‘Which is more relevant to a young audience?’

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Scott Mills defended the station's decision not to play the song. He stated "[Radio 1 are] trying to get the average age of the listener down and, to be honest, most Madonna fans are in their 30s and 40s. I don't actually mind the new single, but do I think Radio 1 should play it? Probably not." According to the Official Charts Company, the song moved towards the top-twenty of the UK Singles Chart with two days of available sales as reported in their mid-week chart report. It ultimately debuted at number 26 on the chart with sales of 17,936 copies, becoming Madonna's 71st top-forty single, extending her record as the female artist with the most top-forty UK singles.

See also

• BBC controversies
• "Real Love", a Beatles song that received similar treatment in 1996