What I say in response to this is: Radio 1 obviously think they have more influence than they do.

These days, they share the 'young, pop music' airwaves with Capital for starters, not to mention Spotify and the plethora of web services that cater directly to young (and older!) people.

Radio 2 hits more people and BBC 6 Music has a hefty chunk now as well. Its not that unusual nowadays that Radio 1 are late to the popularity party and are only forced to playlist a song after it does well having been played on other stations and charting well.

If they don't want to play Madonna's new song, fair enough. But was this really a press release about it? That just seems like stirring and opening up to accusations of ageism or whatever. They should have just not tried to explain themselves, it wasn't exactly newsworthy whether or not they would playlist her anyway.

As I said "80's pop Madonna" is liked as for "Take A Bow" I liked it but it reached No.16 which suggests it wasn't popular with a UK audience.

Not for some time...Hung Up was her last real major success, though you could argue 4 minutes, but was that Madonna or JT that made it sell....but still not in the numbers like Hung Up.

To be honest I would like the official charts company to get some balls and take the official chart off radio 1 for a period when the next renewal comes along and give it to ILR just to show Radio 1 they don't own music and don't decide what people like.

Ever since bloody Wiley, Lamacq and Lowe turned up in 1994 and decided what they liked was "cool" and anything else was "rubbish" radio 1 have had a arrogant know it all attitude that needs bringing down.

Ok UK wise, substitute Take a Bow with Frozen

And the irony is Wiley was booted off for getting too old!!!!

God that woman is so smug and arrogant and her voice but anyway Radio 1 claims it isn't an age thing but it would have been interesting had they not known who the song was by or if it had a false name see if they would have playlisted it.

Had this song been sung by Jessie J or Rihanna it suddenly would be relevant I think to radio 1.

Paul McCartney is played because he is on the song with Kanye West and has become the oldest person to top the Aussie charts.

The point is not to say that older people like myself can't listen to new music (through the likes of Napster/Deezer etc?). As I've said on the 'Zane Lowe' thread on the Radio forum, Radio 1 is orientated at a younger audience hence the aim of playing music by younger Artists played by younger DJ's. Just as it should be.

That's not to say Madonna or others won't be listened to by younger people, it's just the station is generally aiming to start careers and play the Superstars of today. Not the late 20th Century.

can Madonna PLEASE work with this guy next

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhKJnAesP74#t=106

Well Madonna held all top 3 spots on ITunes for a short while last week with the 3 songs she put out. If she can do that in less than 7 hours I would say her relevancy is intact.

I guess if you are over 30 then Radio 1 don't want to know. The only artist who seems to get a free pass is Beyoncé and hypocritically the men...

Rebel Heart is sure to be number 1 I would say but I would also love Living 4 Love to get there as well. Just to piss off these ageists.

Radio 1are saying she's not not relevent or maybe it's because she's an older artist, but surely a hit song will be played regardless of how a old an artist is?
Maybe it's just Radio 1's usual smug arrogance at work again?
Jay Z better watch out, he's 44! the massive hit Happy came from 41 year old Pharell Williams, a few more older singers played by Radio 1 are WiliAm and Fergie both coming up 40.
Radio 2 is a better station for me as they play a wider variety of artists, it's the DJ's on radio 1 I don't like and their endless stream of vapid drivel.

As others have said, relevancy seems to have more to do with the style of music rather than the age of the creator. Considering that Madonna often works with the most 'of the moment' producers and songwriters it would appear to be an odd justification for not playing her records.

It's perhaps make more sense for them to say, 'we want to support younger artists to break through, rather than reinforce the success of an artist who doesn't really need our help'. That would require a large shift in policy though, as most of the acts that Radio 1 play on their flagship shows are amongst the biggest selling artists in the world, and they reserve very little time for more obscure and inventive acts.

Are you kidding? 2007-2009 was a fantastic period for pop music. Things are improving again but the only thing I don't like now is how many songs are spending far too long in the charts.
Back to Radio 1. It's funny that Radio 1 will play some older artists. Currently Foo Fighters and The Prodigy are on the Radio 1 playlist.

Cannot stand Radio 1 - I find it repulsive.

ILR doesn't really exist anymore. Commercial radio is bloody awful so I don't think they deserve the official chart anymore than Radio 1.

I meant albums, her last six studio albums and last compilation all got to number one. No doubt this upcoming one will as well.

Not surprising. They'll have to play her if she appears in chart count downs.

No longer relevant?? Apart from the fact she's been a profound influence on : bey, Katy P, Rihanna, Rita Ora, Lady Gaga, Jessie J, miley Cyrus.
Not relevant at all!

That is precisely the problem in Radio 1's eyes: they desperately don't want it to be so old so not playing Madonna will, they hope, shake a few more 'oldies' off. And they have to do this because the Tory government has told them they must refocus the station on a much younger audience as part of the overall licence deal. And why? Because the commercial radio stations are badgering the government to stop the BBC taking its prized (ie, money-making) 25-35 demographic.

Maybe but MDNA didn't set the world alight, even Hard Candy especially when you compare it to Confessions which really was her last truly successful album...way outselling Hard Candy & MDNA combined....besides number 1 is totally irrelevant anyway, never understood the fascination with it for fans who should like the music, not the chart position or if it gets radio play or not.

I've been saying it for years and if I've said it once, I've sad it a thousand times. Radio 1 are simply in the wrong with all this. She is still a relevant artist as Rebel Heart went to number 1 in 38 iTunes stores across the globe back in December. And that was just off pre-orders. They try too hard in my opinion for listeners and audience. What are they gonna do if Living For Love goes top 10? Refuse to play it on the top 40 on Sundays??

No, they'll play it, I believe they're obliged to, ESP if it's no1. BUT that'll be the ONLY time they play it.
The thing is: ageism is the next big "ism" that's gonna come into the public consciousness in the future. You've gotta think of it as a natural progression: sexism, racism, homophobia, now disablism is getting attention. What's next? It's OBVIOUSLY ageism. We can already see this with 40-60somethings refusing to be put into "age appropriate" boxes, in many ways Madonna is typical of this. You can't imagine the current crop of 20somethings will want to shuffled off into "age appropriate" entertainment in 20 yrs so if this is added to current attitudes amongst the middle aged, it's leading to a new "rights" movement.
And Radio 1 will look like REAL villains when this kicks off!!

Is Radio 1 relevant?

I don't know anyone (including my kids who would be their target demographic) who listen to it.

I think i'm right in saying the playlist ensures you'll be played a certain amount of times throughout the day (the amount depending on whether you're A, B or C listed). It's therefore still likely that Madonna will get a play every now and again.


Heh, fair point.

I think it still gets a half decent audience but nothing compared to the nineties.

LOLOL

It's Radio 1 we're discussing. Ain't got time for that. Last time I listened to Radio 1 was on the Sunday when Spectrum by Florence & The Machine went to #1. Haven't gone anywhere near the station since then, and have no reason to.

Besides, Radio 1 do not always have their way and dictate what does well in the charts.

Regardless of whether you love the songs or not, Radio 1 snubbed Candy by Robbie Williams and Start Without You by Alexandra Burke (and you can hardly use age as a factor for the latter). Despite no support from Radio 1, both songs topped the UK chart for a fortnight.

So in the case of Madonna, if her fans genuinely love Living For Love they're the ones who will determine the songs fate by downloading the song on iTunes, or streaming the song on Spotify.

Radio 1's playlist is usually a sea of anonymous/faceless acts that produce what I describe as "moment music" - i.e. popular now but forgotten about in 6 months.

Exactly what I was thinking. I would rather listen to Madonna's worst song on repeat for a decade than tune into radio 1 for their version of what "relevence" is in the music industry. I mean, don't they play one direction ffs?