BBC Radio 1 Denies Ageism Towards Lily Allen, La Roux

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BBC Radio 1 is once again in hot water after it was revealed in The Sun yesterday that British singer La Roux – aged 26 – was deemed “too elderly” for the station and “shunted off” to sister station Radio 2.

 

BBC Ageism: La Roux Too Old At 26?
BBC Ageism: La Roux Too Old At 26?

A spokesperson for the station has dismissed the claims, stating “Each track is considered for the playlist based on its musical merit and whether it is right for our target audience, with decisions made on a case-by-case basis”.

However, 28 year-old singer Lily Allen, who is currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity with her recent number one album Sheezus – no thanks to BBC Radio 1, who dropped her from its playlist – has something to say about the issue, commenting “The truth is nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing. They can pretend they’ve got a formula that works and that they ‘know’ they’re exactly in control of the game, but they’re just not. No one knows”.

Meanwhile, Radio 1’s head of music George Ergatoudis told The Independent, “We make some heart-rending decisions on records every week and we cannot avoid upsetting people”.

The station previously experienced a backlash in 2012 when it refused to playlist Robbie William’s number one single Candy, with DJ Nick Grimshaw calling the artist “too old”. The singer later responded during a performance at London’s Sony Radio Academy Awards, calling Grimshaw a “bastard”.

Grimshaw took to Instagram today, posting a link to La Roux’s single, perhaps in anticipation of the backlash he is likely to recieve from the singer’s fans.

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