Radio 1 Madonna controversy
The Radio 1 Madonna controversy was a series of events that occurred as a result of BBC Radio 1's decision not to playlist American singer Madonna's single "Living for Love" in February 2015. Despite receiving moderate airplay from commercial radio in the United Kingdom, the single was not added to Radio 1's playlist, leading to accusations of ageism. The controversy stemmed from an article in the Daily Mail, which quoted an unnamed Radio 1 insider describing Madonna as "old" and "irrelevant". In response, the singer's fans posted numerous requests for the song on Radio 1's social media accounts, and several artists criticized Radio 1's music policy, prompting the station to release a statement defending their decision not to play the track.
The controversy received significant media coverage in the UK and internationally, sparking a wider discussion about ageism in the music industry. "Living for Love" was subsequently added to BBC Radio 2's C-list, before being promoted to the B-list. The station targets audiences aged 35 and higher. Commercially, the single peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 28 February 2015.
Reception[edit]
The Daily Mail article quickly went viral, and hundreds of messages were left on Radio 1's Facebook page from Madonna's fans urging the station to play "Living for Love". Support for the singer soon spread to the station's Twitter and Instagram accounts, with fans posting links to the "Living for Love" video, her performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and posts claiming that the BBC was being discriminatory.[13]
Madonna received support from artists such as Boy George, Elly Jackson, Diplo and Rita Ora. Shirley Manson wrote on her Twitter account that Madonna should "contemplate suing Radio 1 for discrimination in the workplace", and that the station's music policy was "bordering on, if not actively, unlawful".[14]
Madonna posted a newspaper clipping that featured the story on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, and thanked her fans for their support. She also recalled discussing the incident with her manager Guy Oseary and admitted that it was perplexing for her to learn that artists in their fifties do not get played on radio, without exceptions. "We've made so many advances in other areas — civil rights, gay rights — but ageism is still an area that's taboo and not talked about and dealt with," she concluded.[15]
BBC rebuttal and aftermath[edit]
The BBC was quick to refute allegations of ageism, and explained that songs were chosen on a case-by-case basis for inclusion on their weekly playlist. Their representative noted that Paul McCartney had two songs on the playlist, although critics pointed out that both of these tracks were collaborations with younger artists (McCartney featured on "Only One", with Kanye West, and "FourFiveSeconds", with Rihanna).[16] The station further listed David Guetta, the Foo Fighters, and Sia as examples of older artists making their playlist. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Radio 1's controller Ben Cooper explained that the station has not banned Madonna, and that a group of twelve personnel aged 16–24 would meet on a regular basis to review the network's musical output, determining the relevant musical choice for their demographic.[16]
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Mills defended the station's decision not to play the song. He stated, "[Radio 1 are] trying to get the average age of the listener down and, to be honest, most Madonna fans are in their 30s and 40s. I don't actually mind the new single, but do I think Radio 1 should play it? Probably not."[17] According to the Official Charts Company, "Living for Love" moved towards the top-twenty of the UK Singles Chart with two days of available sales as reported in their mid-week chart report.[18] It ultimately debuted at number 26 on the chart with sales of 17,936 copies,[19][20] becoming Madonna's 71st top-forty single, extending her record as the female artist with the most top-forty UK singles.[21]