Despite this being IMHO one of THE best Christmas songs recorded for SOME time and ITV1 choosing it to front their 'Text Santa' appeal as the theme music, MAINSTREAM RADIO in the UK have shunned this charity Christmas record!

That's right, they REFUSE to play it.

Despite having a worldwide viewing audience on YouTube with over 650,000 hits across the globe and ALL download profits going to no fewer than 10 UK charities this Christmas (Charities that are really feeling the pinch during the recession) Mainstream Radio have chosen to discard the song from their playlists and ignore requests for the song to be played (Bah Humbug!)

As you can imagine, this is having a HUGE impact on downloads as people aren't hearing the song. Less downloads = Less profits for the 10 UK charities!

I'm APPEALING to you to spread the word regarding this song to help drum up support for it. You can find a few links below to the song, the making of the video and information about the charities that it is benefiting.

Thanks for reading, Andy


My Favourite Time of Year - Florin Street Band (Video) NEW song 2011 "TEXT SANTA" theme music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H10f2w7T5CU

Making the video @ Blists Hill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5CHH_O0sqM

Info about the song & charities benefiting from downloads:

http://www.itv.com/textsanta/news/florin-street-band/

You can download the song via the Florin Street Band website:

www.florinstreet.com

Maybe that should give you a hint that it's shit...

Well, it's better than Military Wives, but that's not saying much.

True..............just The Military Wives sounds like St Winifreds School Choir 30 odd years later
Wonder how their Grandma is?

Actually it is posts like the op's that have really put me off that track. It is almost like bible bashers telling you there is no alternative to THEIR way. I have seen severall ott posts like this over the last couple of months, and even last year. If we like it we will buy it, but we dont want to be bullied into buying it.

Well, it looks like Military Wives is going to be number 1 this week.

Not according to the 98% of people who like it on You Tube! However, I agree it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Everyone has different tastes in music!

Out of curiosity, who listens to the radio these days?

There are so many mediums to find this song. It doesn't really need to be on the radio when radio has become an anachronism.

"If we like it we will buy it" - If MAINSTREAM radio refuse to play it how do people know it even exists? If I hadn't seen it on Bliss TV last year then I probably wouldn't be writing this now! I mean, if I went out into the street right now and asked 100 people if they'd heard of this song I can GUARANTEE that the percentage that will have would be very small indeed.

If it appears that I'm bible bashing then I do apologise - I don't mean to give that impression. I've been supporting this band for 12 months since they decided to go it alone and release the song with no record company backing in 2010 (due to X-Factor!). It got NO AIRPLAY then either! All I've said here is to 'spread the word' about the song not 'go and download it now'. Whether anyone downloads it is entirely up to them.

BTW, the REAL reason they won't play the song is the record label and NOT the song. They have a set benchmark when it comes to playing songs that it must be from a major record label or it doesn't get played.

Very true but not everyone are technophiles - they might have a radio that they listen to and not a computer so straight away they're cut off from certain songs.

There's no accounting for taste. I don't even necessarily mean that in a negative way... obviously different music does something for some people and nothing for others. I can't account for other people liking this song but it seems obvious many people do.

As they can share their opinion on why they love it... I may as well share mine on why I don't.

When I listen to it, I hear nothing but a lazy melody, watered down 'Christmas Song by numbers'. A unsuccessful pastiche of traditional Christmas musical themes. I appreciate the effort and its aim to subvert the current state of pop music, a lot of which is far worse than it... but for me it misses the mark... it's lacking the creative element... written for the sake of something other than the music itself. The best music comes from the spontaneous creative part of the brain, not the planned, logical part . This is how I explain it's failure to do anything for me.

You clearly don't work in the music industry

You know radio stations have license restrictions, they have to appeal to a certain demographic or play a particular kind of music or contain a certain amount of speech. Now the thing with Florin Street Band, it doesnt really sit well with the likes of Galaxy or Kerrang, so who are the mainstream stations you expect to play it?

Well, I thought Radio 2 as it might sit well with them seeing as their music is more 'easy listening', Capital FM, Heart FM and commercial radio stations like 'Signal1', 'Real Radio' They ALL play Christmas songs in December.

Even sent it to 'Smooth Radio' for inclusion on their 'Smooth Xmas playlist'

The one that surprised me the most with refusing to play was "Heart FM" as they are SUPPOSED to be supporting the 'Text Santa' appeal and the song is the music to the shows so naturally you'd have thought they'd have got behind the song (especially with the majority of profits going to Text Santa)

Er, tons, if not most people actually. With your tunnel vision, you're excluding entire generations and sections of society whose buying power is pretty significant. I'm hardly a technophobe but I'm not inclined to consume music online nor on the go.