The 2025 end of year shake up of BBC Radio Scotland that led to the axing of shows by Billy Sloan, Natasha Raskin, Iain Sharp and Roddy Hart (who now has a new show) stirred an incredible response within the Scottish music community.
Much of it seemed to centre around these shows seemingly playing a lot of new Scottish music. Something I found puzzling. Whenever I listened to those shows, I didn't hear a lot of Scottish music at all. There certainly wasn't a focus on new and emerging artists.
However, Stephen McCall (AKA Constant Follower), who has been one of the most vocal artists about the changes on Radio Scotland, has conducted a comparative analysis of playlists between early 2025 and 2026, revealing the following, staggering, impact:
New Music Plays: Down 69% (a massive blow to the discovery pipeline).
Independent Scottish Music: Down 67% (representing a near-total collapse in national airplay for artists without major label backing).
Overall Scottish Music: Down 26% (showing that even established local acts are being displaced).
The Shift: A move away from curated, specialist programming toward a playlist-led "easy listening" format that favors older catalogue music from the 1970s onward.
When it comes to radio, I mainly listen to 6Music in the car (now we have one with a digital radio!) or at home. However, I do sometimes tune in to BBC Radio Scotland if there is a particular news story of interest, or certain guests on in the afternoon.
Whenever I have tuned in to Radio Scotland in the morning, I have found the content to be largely either (a) drawn out, or (b) repetitive.
Does BBC Radio Scotland accurately reflect the people of Scotland?
A SNACK Magazine podcast We Need To Talk About BBC Radio Scotland that featured my sister Carla prompted me to write this blog. It's well worth a listen and I'm sure it could have gone on longer!
I think a shake up of BBC Radio Scotland is long overdue. It happens at big companies all the time. People come and people go. There are redundancies - it's happened to me before. It can hurt, there will be a lot of debate ... but change is part of life and it is good to freshen things up.
Regardless of your opinions on the shake up, I think everyone can agree on the fact that BBC Radio Scotland did not play enough music (Scottish or otherwise), or focus/report on the incredible concerts, gigs and club nights taking place in the country on a daily basis.
Scotland is ripe for musical and creative content! That is not displayed by BBC Radio Scotland, or indeed, their TV/online coverage.
- Why are there not more interviews with musicians playing in Scotland? There are amazing gigs every week. Incredible bands and artists are in our city every day! Glasgow is a small place! It's pretty easy for presenters to get out to venues, or for artists to visit the studios. Or phone in!
- Why does Ireland have a Late Show focusing on music, culture and art, attracting guests like Noel Gallagher and Roy Keane ... and Scotland doesn't?
- Why does BBC Radio Manchester have more time devoted to their Introducing show than us?
My solution ... BBC Radio Scotland Music ... or ... BBC Scotland Music (on digital radio, BBC Sounds ... maybe even our own version of The Late Show on TV!). I'll save the TV idea for another blog though!
IMAGINING BBC SCOTLAND MUSIC
Jesus, I have found myself cringing when after listening to Sportsound on a Saturday afternoon, the radio cuts to old school Scottish accordion music! Taking the Floor! Does this represent a nation getting ready for a Saturday night out?!
So ... what if we had a dedicated BBC Scotland Music channel? A station that didn’t just play the hits, but acted as a living, breathing archive and a forward-looking curator of Scottish culture. A station where there was plenty of scope (every day) for Scottish artists and labels to get their songs on the radio
Imagine a station running 8am to midnight, where the presenters are people who live and breathe music. People who are in or around the scene. People who made the scene. Lived and living experience.
Imagine some of the biggest music fans around digging into their collections ... imagine our artists hosting shows ... imagine some of our amazing DJ's mixing live on air ... imagine visiting artists coming on to chat about playing in Scotland ... imagine community radio stations taking over this one for a few hours ...
Surely BBC Scotland could allocate some money to this - even for a 6-12 month pilot?
Here (in my mind) is what BBC Radio Scotland Music could look like.
NOTE(s)
- In my younger days, I'd write down my dream festival line-up. This is my dream BBC Scotland Music line-up! If such a station ever came to fruition, I imagine that it would need some shows dedicated to certain genres. So just take my own line-up as a draft and idea.
- Why not draft your own?! You might enjoy it as much as I have.
- This station would be playing all kinds of music from all over, but could adopt the Canadian rule where their popular music programming must have a minimum of 35% Canadian content.
- Disclaimer - I'm 50. So this really reflects my taste and knowledge! A BBC Radio Scotland Music should be inclusive and diverse. I totally get that mine is very middle-age and white but then, so is 6Music. If this station actually had the chance of becoming a reality, then it would require a lot debate and discussion. Consider this the start of the debate.
The Weekday Flow
08:00 – 11:30: Breakfast with Nicola Meighan
Forget traffic reports, or recycled and drawn out news stories every 15-minutes. We start with Nicola Meighan, the undisputed (certainly in my eyes) gold standard of Scottish music journalism. Expect a mix of Postcard Records classics, new Scottish indie-pop, and thoughtful interviews with the artists actually making waves in the 2020's. Not just Scottish music (but plenty of it). But features on, and interviews with, the bands and artists playing in our country every single week.
11:30 – 14:30: The Monthly Residents
A rotating midday slot where a different artist takes the reigns for a day, (ideally) a week (or more) to showcase their influences and taste. Imagine a week of Barry Can't Swim (Joshua Mainnie), Rebecca Vasmant, KT Tunstall or Alex Kapranos talking about their love of music and playing some of their favourite songs - new, breaking and underground, old favourites from their youth and inviting peers on for a chat.
14:30 – 18:00: Afternoon Drive with Manda Rin (Bis)
The afternoon anchor. The high-energy bridge to the evening. Manda brings her infectious enthusiasm and spirit to the airwaves. It’s bubbly, chaotic, and packed with all kinds of music, guests and chat. The perfect antidote to the afternoon slump.
Manda's lived (and living) experience of DIY culture, independent labels, festivals, tours, Top of the Pops and big support slots would ensure she can effortlessly talk to anyone on any level.
18:00 – 20:30: The Evening Session with guest presenters
A different presenter each week, to bring encyclopedic knowledge of music and passion for supporting new Scottish music to the airwaves. The perfect sunset soundtrack, or winter warmers.
You could have known and established artists like Stuart Murdoch / Lewis Capaldi / Natasha Raskin / Paolo Nutini / The Hen Hoose Collective / Clare Grogan / Stephen Pastel / Lauren Mayberry
And it could be a platform for new and breaking acts like The Cords and Kerr Mercer to talk about what they are doing and what they are listening to.
Perhaps some of these presenters could be locked in to host for a week, while others could guest for a night. We could even have guests from outwith Scotland doing a guest night/mix with their favourite Scottish music.
20:30 – 22:00: Tenement Trail
Imagine a daily show where the team behind Tenement Trail can highlight what is going on across the scene, as well as casting an eye (and ear) towards up and coming bands venturing to Scotland at the start of their career. Giving them a warm welcome on air, as well as the one they experience in person in our small venues like Tuts, the Old Hairdressers and Sneaky Pete's.
This could include guest presenters, like Jim Gellatly who has decades of experience of playing new bands from Scotland and beyond. His passion for music (and radio) shines.
22:00 - 00:00: Late Night Record Shopping
A regular rotation of Record Shop hosts from Monorail, Mixed Up Records, Love Music (and other record shops from across our nation)... playing and talking about what is coming out, re-issues, records they love to play in the shop.
Imagine those amazing discussions between record shop staff that you might have been fortunate to hear while browsing, actually coming to the radio! Sometimes weird, almost always wonderful.
Through the night?
If the station was 24-hours (I don't think there is a need for that), then playlists could be curated to keep the music going non-stop.
The Weekend
The station is handed over to DJ's and taste makers from across Scotland. Some of Scotland's biggest record collectors, music lovers who have a record of getting people dancing ... take over the airwaves!
Imagine giving these DJ's free reign to play music and chat for 3-4 hours at a time! Think Community Radio on a national level with the BBC behind it.
Saturday
08:00 - 11:00: Eyes Wide Open with Holly Calder and friendsHolly's club name (one of them!) lends itself perfectly to a morning slot. Deep-dive garage rock and psych sets that would make your speakers rattle, as well as blissed out gems to chill and sip your coffee to. Holly might need to pre-record this show if she is out on the Friday night!
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