BBC 6 Music Audience Leaps to One Million

While it remains threatened with closure, BBC 6 Music continues to go from strength to strength. The digital station has now seen its audience increase by 50 percent in three months to reach one million listeners.

The BBC plans to axe its alternative music station as part of cost-cutting measures, but is facing a resolute campaign from fans and the music industry to save it. The latest figures from Rajar, the audience measurement body, show 6 Music has added a third of a million listeners from January to March.

This positive news comes just after the station won two gongs at the Sony Radio Academy Awards for former Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker and the Adam and Joe Show, as reported in Spinner. Meanwhile, trade body the British Phonographic Industry continues to apply pressure via its campaigning site www.joyof6.com, where Coldplay have added their support.

In a statement, the band say, "We have noticed, on our travels, that two of the things which people most love about Britain are its musical output and the BBC. They're both widely recognised as being second-to-none ... 6 Music, for example, nurtures and celebrates the music that hasn't yet joined the mainstream. It provides an important platform for developing left-of-centre artists, and its loss would be a significant blow to Britain's music industry both creatively and commercially."