BBC 6Music - The Artists React

Reports that BBC 6Music could be set to close have been met with fury across the music industry.

Founded in 2002, BBC 6Music operates in a different way from most radio stations. Using the license fee the organisation were not beholden to advertisers, and therefore free to broadcast what they fancied.

The result was a genre-crossing mixture of rock, pop, soul, funk, hip hop and more. Although audiences rarely topped 700,000 a month fans of the station were devoted, with BBC 6Music gaining enormous critical respect.

Today (February 26th) British newspaper The Times has published a report that the BBC are preparing to close 6Music and sister station Asian Network due to funding problems.

Fans have poured in tributes to the station, with Twitter buzzing with talk of the station. A Facebook group set up to try and save the station has grown to more than 50,000 members with more joining every second.

Now the stars have lined up to pay tribute to the station. In a Twitter message David Bowie said: "6Music keeps the spirit of broadcasters like John Peel alive and for new artists to lose this station would be a great shame".

Continuing in this vein, newcomers Frankie And The Heartstrings have claimed that they owe their career to BBC 6Music: "our first ever air play ...... we owe it everything really".

Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite didn't mince his words: "An utter scandal if true that they are to shut BBC 6music down".

Meanwhile comedian and journalist Charlie Brooker felt a very personal impact. "I was going to buy a digital radio next week. If they get rid of BBC 6music I might as well not fucking bother."