Industry figures step up BBC 6 Music campaign

Presenters and figures from the music world today stepped up their opposition to the proposed closure of BBC 6 Music.

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis urged music lovers to protest to the BBC Trust.

Radio 5 Live presenter Richard Bacon said: "6 Music is staffed by talented people providing 'distinctive' programming that values 'quality over quantity'. Exactly what this restructure is supposed to be about."

He went on: "6 Music is distinctive and serves an audience not catered for by the commercial sector. What happens when folk use whatever rationale they have come up with to justify the 6 Music decision and apply it to other parts of the BBC?"

And 6 Music broadcaster Danny Wallace reacted to the news by saying: "Today I fell a little bit out of love with the world's most fantastic organisation, which is now less fantastic."

Phill Jupitus, who was the launch Breakfast Show presenter for 6 Music, said he was "just gutted" by the proposal.

Eavis sent a message to her followers on Twitter urging them to contact the BBC Trust, adding: "Don't let them do it."

David Bowie has already thrown his weight behind efforts to lobby the BBC over the closure, saying: "For new artists to lose this station would be a great shame."

James Walsh, singer of the band Starsailor, said: "Maybe U2 could pay back all the free advertising they got for their last album by funding 6 Music." His comment was a reference to the huge coverage given by the BBC to the launch of U2's last album No Line On The Horizon, part of which recently drew criticism form the BBC Trust.

Radio 1 presenter Edith Bowman said fans should make their presence felt: "The BBC Trust make the decisions, we can still play a part in saving 6 Music."

The service, which launched in March 2002, is designed to appeal to music lovers by playing material which is "outside the mainstream". It also features archive recordings of tracks from the 1960s onwards.

Presenters include Lauren Laverne, Shaun Keaveny and Steve Lamacq, as well as musicians such as Elbow's Guy Garvey, Jarvis Cocker and Cerys Matthews.

According to the BBC's annual report, it cost £9 million to run the service in 2009 - roughly equivalent to one and a half times the reported cost of broadcaster Jonathan Ross to the BBC each year.

On social networking site Twitter, "Save6music" was one of the most popular trends today.