Of course... it's all the BBC's fault

The Economic and Social Research Centre has carried out an investigation into the British Music Industry, Creative Destruction in the Music Industry: the Way Ahead, which has been cherry picked by the Evening Standard to deliver the sort of BBC-kicking headline the Associated Newspaper group loves:

BBC 'damaging music industry'

A stinging attack on the music industry was launched today, with the BBC accused of contributing to the mass manufacture of boy and girl bands. [...]

The report says that "the BBC dominates what does and does not get played in the UK" and calls for it to end its "monopoly of the airwaves."

It says that "Radio 1 and other BBC stations still believe, despite all the years of co-existence with commercial radio, that they are the arbiters of what the great British public should and should not listen to each day."

It says: "This patronising attitude has repercussions throughout the music business and severely damages the prospects for many signed British acts who because of this face the prospect of never being played on radio.

"At the same time, the BBC is guilty of helping the manufactured boy-band/girl-band phenomena retain its potency.

"It did not help that the BBC has launched its own version of music reality shows. A seemingly endless supply of bland inoffensive or unoriginal music is played by the BBC and all its outlets.

"Much of this fare is similar to the music in the lift. The BBC steadfastly ignores the vibrant live music scene in the UK."

We're a little confused - we assume that the since the report's editor, Andrew Ian Dodge, is described as "American", he must live in the US and hence doesn't really know A from a bull's foot about the UK media industry.

If he'd got in touch, we'd have been happy to offer him a primer, although he could have perhaps got a little insight by reading his own report.

If the BBC operates a "monopoly" of the airwaves, why would it then "launch its own version of music reality shows" - why would a dominant broadcaster even feel the need to try and play catch-up? And if the BBC has this controlling power over the music industry, how is it the winners of their shows - David Sneddon and Alex Parks, if you're boning for a pub quiz - head straight to the bottom of the dumper, while Girls Aloud, Liberty X, Will Young and other ITV-manufactured bands thrive for years?

The claim that "the BBC steadfastly ignores the vibrant music scene in the UK" is so obviously wrong even Lord Hutton would have removed it from his report as being a victory of dogma over common sense. The BBC covers Glastonbury, WOMAD, Reading; does the Electric Proms; provides starts for numerous small bands on radio one, provides a network focused on black and Asian music. It could do more, but the sort of music which gets only limited access to the airwaves - tucked away after teatime, or on Sunday afternoons - isn't really the sort of thing that is going to sell in significant amounts in the US anyway.

Even if it would: does he really think that commercial networks have any interest in playing singer-songwriters from Bolton or bhangra from Bradford? The suggestion that a radio world without a BBC would suddenly turn into an unfettered dial full of vibrant, exciting British music is so laughable, we half expect Jeremy Beadle to pop out from behind the ESRC offices clutching his sides: "We had you going there..."

Look at the radio in Dodge's home nation. Without a BBC to "exert" monopoly influence, you find yourself switching between dozens of stations with common ownership and standardised formats - if it wasn't for NPR and college stations, you'd never hear anything beyond the few bands primed by the large labels.

Which brings us to another weakness in Dodge's case. He claims - quite fairly - that a lot of the trouble UK bands have in the US is down to the record labels. But it doesn't seem to occur to him that it might be the cartel operated by the labels might be the key problem here, rather than a made-up boogeyman of BBC Radio dominance. Indeed, when artists outside of the RIAA cartel try to hit American radio, they might find part of the problems they have been facing is that of payola locking them out.

We might have a strong public service broadcasting in this country: that's actually how we're able to have a vibrant music scene.

Still, at least Dodge has got his head round the internet:

The report also criticises record companies for suing their own customers for illegal downloading and for expecting their lesser acts to subsidise the "so called top of the roster."

"British record companies need to stop complaining about the internet and broadband so they can develop their own ways to use it for its full potential", it says.

"Their trade bodies need to end their paranoia about all the money 'lost' by illegal downloading as well."

Apparently, though, the American record companies don't need to.

music bbc esrc