Charity records and the Radio 2 playlist
Jeff Smith
Head of Music, Radio 2 and 6Music
Further to today's media stories, I'd like to clarify Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2's position on the Radio 2 playlist meeting and charity records.
Music plays a huge role on the station, which is why the playlist meeting is one of the most important of the week. We know our listeners love to hear a wide range of styles, artists and genres and that they enjoy being introduced to new music as well as hearing classic songs from the 1950s up until today.
But being on the playlist isn't the be-all and end-all, as DJs are able to pick their own favourites as 'free choice' plays. Being on the playlist might only guarantee five plays per week whereas it is possible for songs to get more than that if they are not on the list.
No Man's Land (Green Fields of France) by Joss Stone and Jeff Beck was played at a recent Radio 2 playlist meeting, at which the 11 show producers attending all agreed that, due to the poignancy of the lyrics and the subject matter, the song would be best played closer to Remembrance Day and that "free choice plays" - where shows choose their own tracks to play - would best suit the single. This approach would enable due respect be paid to the song's subject matter and the presenter could then properly showcase it, rather than it just appearing unannounced in a show's running order.
Producers have since played it exactly that way on 31 October within Jeremy Vine, 2 November on Terry Wogan, within Good Morning Sunday and Terry Wogan's programmes on Remembrance Sunday, as well as Vanessa Feltz early breakfast show today, and it will be played again this week (it has also been played on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ local radio and performed on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One on Saturday night).
It has been played as part of Radio 2’s extensive Remembrance coverage, which has included highlights of the Royal British Legion's Festival of Remembrance, a documentary called Forgotten Heroes: The Indian Army In The Great War, content in The Sunday Hour presented by Diane Louise Jordan and also Good Morning Sunday presented by Hardeep Singh Kohli. This week Jeremy Vine will look at poetry about WW1 and we will broadcast The Ballads of The Great War on 11 November. This is a comprehensive package of coverage that should leave no one in any doubt about our commitment to Remembrance this year.
For further information on how the playlist meeting works, read my blog .
Jeff Smith is Head of Music, Radio 2