According to recent reports, UK’s BBC Radio One drops Madonna. She’s considered too old.
Madonna Is Out
Madonna’s new material won’t receive any heavy rotation by Radio One. It sounds crazy, but they’ve decided she probably wouldn’t appeal to the targeted age group of listeners. They are between the ages of 15-29 and Madonna is not.
Ageism
It’s not the first time BBC Radio One has put itself in the middle of the discussion of age discrimination.
UK’s own rock group, Status Quo,dealt with them in their documentary. Radio One’s decision to stop playing their music was a full item in it. Of course, Radio One denies this is the case, but as radio is all about formats, it’s hard to deny.
It’s Not About The Music
This makes it clear that radio is not about music. Their objective is to sell advertisements. For this, they create formats. Formats are profiles that target a certain age group. Everything is linked to this format, including the radio’s branding (jingles and graphic design). They attach artists to it who represent the format and play their music.
A Listeners Loyalty
It’s the big data that makes the money, so it’s a bit hard to argue this system. However, most listeners actually switch from one radio station to the next. No one likes listening to the same thing over and over again, so listeners switch every so many weeks.
Young At Heart
It’s interesting though. Madonna works hard to stay in the loop. She makes sure she works with people who still have a young following. So, judging on music only, I think it’s an interesting decision by Radio One to stop playing her.
One things is true. When I think back of my last Madonna concert, most people there were my age. And I’m no longer in Radio One’s targeted audience either….
Read more:
‘Too Old’ Madonna Allegedly Banned From BBC Radio Playlist (Inquisitr)