Music on TV - are we failing?
"TV is in danger of ceding to the internet as the place where new talent is found" according to , and reported on (and ). It doesn't make sense to think of TV and the web in opposition - they complement each other. The great thing about the internet is how easy it makes it to search things out and make connections. Until now programmes have been broadcast and then vanished, with the exception of those rare shows that were released on DVD or repeated before midnight. In the past when I saw something I really liked on television I had no way of sharing it with my friends - now I just point them in the way of the iPlayer or . From a programme maker and a viewer's point of view this is a massive improvement, and there's no way of putting the internet back in its box.
When Andy Burnham asks "Where is the successor programme to Top of the Pops bringing the family together to discuss new music?" this rather assumes that families would sit down together in 2008 to watch an eclectic music programme in peak time. Communal viewing isn't dead, but it's definitely changed from the heyday of TOTP.
There's lots of new music on TV, whether it's covered on Later, Sound or The Culture Show - you can just choose whether you want to watch it while it's on telly or at 6pm the following day. There are also additional avenues like ´óÏó´«Ã½ Introducing, which showcases new music from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio and festivals around the country.
Here's a new band we featured on the last series of The Culture Show, - you can still watch their performance of The Devil's Crayon today and will still be able to do so in six months. That's got to be some sort of progress!
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