We need a national station that champions new and emerging Scottish artists and plays the carefully chosen, sometimes difficult records that will never test well in a focus group, but change someone’s life when they hear them at midnight.
The Scottish Music Industry Association, which represents more than 6,000 members across the sector, has already written to BBC Radio Scotland to ask for a pause, proper consultation, and a clear strategy for how the BBC will continue to meet its public service duties to Scottish music.
This decision, driven by a commercial radio mindset, is short-sighted and culturally damaging. It rips out nationally recognised spaces that have supported generations of Scottish artists, in order to chase the same ‘mainstream appeal’ you can hear on any number of stations already.